I'l  B  R.AR.Y 

OF   THE 

U  N  IVE.RSITY 
Of    ILLINOIS 


RECORD 


—OF— 


LEE  COUNTY,  ILLINOIS, 


CONTAINING 


Biographical  Sketches  of  Prominent  and  Representative  Citizens, 
Together  with  Biographies  of  all  the 

SoYerrps  of  the  Itaie,  and  of  the  f  residents 

OF=    THE     UNITED     STATES. 


CHICAGO: 

BIOGRAPHICAL  PUBLISHING  CO. 

1892. 


GOVERNORS  OF  ILLINOIS, 


AND  OF  THE 


OFTHE 


}  HE  greatest  of  English  historians,  MACAULAY,  and  one  of  the  most  brilliant  writers  of 
the  present  century,  has  said:  "The  history  of  a  country  is  best  told  in  a  record  of  the 
lives  of  its  people."  In  conformity  with  this  idea  the  PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL 
ALBUM  Of  this  county  has  been  prepared.  Instead  of  going  to  musty  records,  and 
taking  therefrom  dry  statistical  matter  that  can  be  appreciated  by  but  few,  our 
corps  of  writers  have  gone  to  the  people,  the  men  and  women  who  have,  by  their 
enterprise  and  industry,  brought  the  county  to  rank  second  to  none  among  those 
comprising  this  great  and  noble  State,  and  from  their  lips  have  the  story  of  their  life 
struggles.  No  more  interesting  or  instructive  matter  could  be  presented  to  an  intelli- 
gent public.  In  this  volume  will  be  found  a  record  of  many  whose  lives  are  worthy  the 
imitation  of  coming  generations.  It  tells  how  some,  commencing  life  in  poverty,  by 
industry  and  economy  have  accumulated  wealth.  It  tells  how  others,  with  limited 
advantages  for  securing  an  education,  have  become  learned  men  and  women,  with  an 
influence  extending  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land.  It  tells  of  men  who 
have  risen  from  the  lower  walks  of  life  to  eminence  as  statesmen,  and  whose  names  have 
become  famous.  It  tells  of  those  in  every  walk  in  life  who  have  striven  to  succeed,  and 
records  how  that  success  has  usually  crowned  their  efforts.  It  tells  also  of  many,  very 
marly,  who,  not  seeking  the  applause  of  the  world,  have  pursued  "the  even  tenor  of  their  way,"  content 
to  have  it  said  of  them  as  Christ  said  of  the  woman  performing  a  deed  of  mercy — "they  have  done  what 
they  could."  It  tells  how  that  many  in  the  pride  and  strength  of  young  manhood  left  the  plow  and  the 
anvil,  the  lawyer's  office  and  the  counting-room,  left  every  trade  and  profession,  and  at  their  country's 
call  went  forth  valiantly  "to  do  or  die,"  and  how  through  their  efforts  the  Union  was  restored  and  peace 
once  more  reigned  in  the  land.  In  the  life  of  every  man  and  of  every  woman  is  a  lesson  that  should  not 
be  lost  upon  those  who  follow  after. 

Coming  generations  will  appreciate  this  volume  and  preserve  it  as  a  sacred  treasure,  from  the  fact 
that  it  contains  so  much  that  would  never  find  its  way  into  public  records,  and  which  would  otherwise  be 
inaccessible.  Great  care  has  been  taken  in  the  compilation  of  the  work  and  every  opportunity  possible 
given  to  those  represented  to  insure  correctness  in  what  has  been  written,  and  the  publishers  flatter  them- 
selves that  they  give  to  their  readers  a  work  with  few  errors  of  consequence.  In  addition  to  the  biograph- 
ical sketches,  portraits  of  a  number  of  representative  citizens  are  given. 

The  faces  of  some,  and  biographical  sketches  of  many,  will  be  missed  in  this  volume.  For  this  the 
publishers  are  not  to  blame.  Not  having  a  proper  conception  of  the  work,  some  refused  to  give  the 
information  necessary  to  compile  a  sketch,  while  others  were  indifferent.  Occasionally  some  member  of 
the  family  would  oppose  the  enterprise,  and  on  account  of  such  opposition  the  support  of  the  interested 
one  would  be  withheld.  In  a  few  instances  men  could  never  be  found,  though  repeated  calls  were  made 
at  their  residence  or  place  of  business. 

April,   18'J2.  r.m^H.uMiK  AL  PUBLISHING  Co. 


593029 


IHE  UBtUF,?    • 


— — ~^~-7^**7 


FIXST  PRESIDENT. 


i  .  'i  .  'i  .  "i  .  Ti '.  'i ',  Ti  '..'i '. '. '.  'i  '..<i '.'::' ;  >> :  i1 . 


BE  OB  BE  WASHINGTON. 


.'-'j'-.V)1.--;  v-w i1..'  i1,;  i1. ,•  V'.'  >' .'  ic','<i « 


HE  Father  of  our  Country  was 
born  in  Westmorland  Co.,  Va., 
Feb.    22,   1732.     His  parents 
were     Augustine    and     Mary 
(Ball)  Washington.  The  family 
to  which  he  belonged  has  not 
been    satisfactorily  traced    in 
England.       His    great-grand- 
father, John  Washington,  em- 
igrated to  Virginia  about  1657, 
and    became     a     prosperous 
planter.      He  had   two    sons, 
Lawrence    and     John.      The 
former   married    Mildred    Warner 
and    had    three    children,    John. 
Augustine  and  Mildred.      Augus- 
tine,  the   father  of   George,  first 
married    Jane   Butler,    who    bore 
him  four  children,  two  of  whom, 
Lawrence  and  Augustine,  reached 
maturity.     Of  six  children  by  his 
second  marriage,  George  was  the 
eldest,   the    others    being    Betty, 
Samuel,  John   Augustine,  Charles 
and  Mildred. 

Augustine  Washington,  the  father  of  George,  died 
in  1743,  leaving  a  large  landed  property.  To  his 
eldest  son,  Lawrence,  he  bequeathed  an  estate  on 
the  Patomac,  afterwards  known  as  Mount  Vernon, 
and  to  George  he  left  the  parental  residence.  George 
received  only  such  education  as  the  neighborhood 
schools  afforded,  save  for  a  short  time  after  he  left 
school,  when  lie  received  private  instruction  in 
narcs.  His  spelling  was  rather  defective. 


tnathe 


Remarkable  stories  are  told  of  his  great  physica 
strength  and  development  at  an  early  age.  He  wa; 
an  acknowledged  leader  among  his  companions,  anc 
was  early  noted  for  that  nobleness  of  character,  fair- 
ness and  veracity  which  characterized  his  whole  life, 

When  George  was  1 4  years  old  he  had  a  desire  to  go  tc 
sea,  and  a  midshipman's  warrant  was  secured  for  him 
but  through  the  opposition  of  his  mother  the  idea  wa; 
abandoned.  Two  years  later  he  \v;is  appointee 
surveyor  to  the  immense  estate  of  Lord  Fairfax.  Ir 
this  business  he  spent  three  years  in  a  rough  frontiei 
life,  gaining  experience  which  afterwards  proved  ver) 
essential  to  him.  In  1751,  though  only  19  years  oi 
age,  he  was  appointed  adjutant  with  the  rank  ol 
major  in  the  Virginia  militia,  then  being  trained  foi 
active  service  against  the  French  and  Indians.  Soon 
after  this  he  sailed  to  the  West  Indies  with  hisbrothei 
Lawrence,  who  went  there  to  restore  his  health  They 
soon  returned,  and  in  the  summer  of  1752  Lawrence 
died,  leaving  a  large  fortune  to  an  infant  daughter 
who  did  not  long  survive  him.  On  her  demise  the 
estate  of  Mount  Vernon  was  given  to  George. 

Upon  the  arrival  of  Robert  Dinwiddie,  as  Lieutcn- 
ant-Governor  of  Virginia,  in  1752,  the  militia  was 
reorganized,  and  the  province  divided  into  four  mili- 
tary districts,  of  which  the  northern  was  assigned  to 
Washington  as  adjutant  general.  Shortly  after  this 
a  very  perilous  mission  was  assigned  him  and  ac- 
cepted, which  others  had  refused.  This  was  to  pro- 
ceed to  the  French  post  near  Lake  Erie  in  North- 
western Pennsylvania.  The  distance  to  be  traversed 
was  between  500  and  600  miles.  Winter  was  at  hand, 
and  the  journey  was'  to  be  made  without  military 
escort,  through  a  territory  occupied  by  Indians.  The 


GEORGE   WASHINGTON. 


p  was  a  perilous  one,  and  several  limes  he  came  near 
sing  his  life,  yet  he  returned  in  safety  and  furnished 
full  and  useful  report  of  his  expedition.  A  regiment 
300  men  was  raised  in  Virginia  and  put  in  com- 
and  of  Col.  Joshua  Fry,  and  Major  Washington  was 
mmissioned  lieutenant-colonel.  Active  war  was 
en  begun  against  the  French  and  Indians,  in  which 
ashington  took  a  most  important  part.  In  the 
emorable  event  of  July  9,  1755,  known  as  Brad- 
ick's  defeat,  Washington  was  almost  the  only  officer 
distinction  who  escaped  from  the  calamities  of  the 
iy  with  life  and  honor.  The  other  aids  of  Braddock 
:re  disabled  early  in  the  action,  and  Washington 
ane  was  left  in  that  capacity  on  the  field.  In  a  letter 
his  brother  he  says :  "  I  had  four  bullets  through 
f  coat,  and  two  horses  shot  under  me,  yet  I  escaped 
ihurt,  though  death  was  leveling  my  companions 
every  side."  An  Indian  sharpshooter  said  he  was 
it  born  to  be  killed  by  a  bullet,  for  he  had  taken 
rect  aim  at  him  seventeen  times,  and  failed  to  hit 
m. 

After  having  been  five  years  in  the  military  service, 
id  vainly  sought  promotion  in  the  royal  army,  he 
•>k  advantage  of  the  fall  of  Fort  Duquesne  and  the 
pulsion  of  the  French  from  the  valley  of  the  Ohio, 
resign  his  commission.  Soon  after  he  entered  the 
:gislature,  where,  although  not  a  leader,  he  took  an 
live  and  important  part.  January  17,  1759,  he 
arried  Mrs.  Martha  (Dandridge)  Custis,  the  wealthy 
dow  of  John  Parke  Custis. 

When  the  British  Parliament  had  closed  the  port 
Boston,  the  cry  went  up  throughout  the  provinces 
at  "The  cause  of  Boston  is  the  cause  of  us  all." 
was  then,  at  the  suggestion  of  Virginia,  that  a  Con 
ess  of  all  the  colonies  was  called  to  meet  at  Phila- 
lphia,Sept.  5,  1774,  to  secure  their  common  liberties, 
aceably  if  possible.  To  this  Congress  Col.  Wash- 
gton  was  sent  as  a  delegate.  On  May  10,  1775,  the 
>ngress  re-assembled,  when  the  hostile  intentions  of 
igland  were  plainly  apparent.  The  battles  of  Con- 
rd  and  Lexington  had  been  fought.  Among  the 
st  acts  of  this  Congress  was  the  election  of  a  com- 
inder-in-chief  of  the  colonial  forces.  This  high  and 
sponsible  office  was  conferred  upon  Washington, 
10  was  still  a  member  of  the  Congress.  He  accepted 
on  June  19,  but  upon  the  express  condition  that  he 
ceive  no  salary.  He  would  keep  an  exact  account 
expenses  and  expect  Congress  lo  pay  them  and 
ithing  more.  It  is  not  the  object  of  this  sketch  to 
ice  the  military  acts  of  Washington,  to  whom  the 
rtunes  and  liberties  of  the  people  of  this  country 
:re  so  long  confided.  The  war  was  conducted  by 
m  under  every-  possible  disadvantage,  and  while  his 
rces  often  met  with  reverses,  yet  he  overcame  every 
stacle,  and  after  seven  years  of  heroic  devotion 
id  matchless  skill  he  gained  liberty  for  the  greatest 
ition  of  earth.  On  Dec.  23,  1783,  Washington,  in 
parting  address  of  surpassing  beauty,  resigned  his 


commission  as  commander-in-chief  of  the  army  \-> 
to  the  Continental  Congress  sitting  at  Annapolis.  He 
retired  immediately  to  Mount  Vernon  and  resumed 
his  occupation  as  a  farmer  and  planter,  shunning  all 
connection  with  public  life. 

In  February,  1789,  Washington  was  unanimously 
elected  President.  In  his  presidential  career  he  was 
subject  to  the  peculiar  trials  incidental  to  a  new 
government ;  trials  from  lack  of  confidence  on  the  pan 
of  other  governments;  trials  from  want  of  harmony 
between  the  different  sections  of  our  own  country; 
trials  from  the  impoverished  condition  of  the  country, 
owing  to  the  war  and  want  of  credit;  trials  from  the 
beginnings  of  party  strife.  He  was  no  partisan.  His 
clear  judg.nent  could  discern  the  golden  mean  ;  and 
while  perhaps  this  alone  kept  our  government  from 
sinking  at  the  very  outset,  it  left  him  exposed  to 
attacks  from  both  sides,  which  were  often  bitter  and 
very  annoying. 

At  the  expiration  of  his  first  term  he  was  unani- 
mously re-elected.  At  the  end  of  this  term  many 
were  anxious  that  he  be  re-elected,  but  he  absolutely 
refused  a  third  nomination.  On  the  fourth  of  March, 
1797,  at  the  expiraton  of  his  second  term  as  Presi- 
dent, he  returned  to  his  home,  hoping  to  pass  there 
his  few  remaining  years  free  from  the  annoyances  of 
public  life.  Later  in  the  year,  however,  his  repose 
seemed  likely  to  be  interrupted  by  war  with  France. 
At  the  prospect  of  such  a  war  he  was  again  urged  to 
take  command  of  the  armies.  He  chose  his  sub- 
ordinate officers  and  left  to  them  the  charge  of  mat- 
ters in  the  field,  which  he  superintended  from  his 
home.  In  accepting  the  command  he  made  the 
reservation  that  he  was  not  to  be  in  the  Held  until 
it  was  necessary.  In  the  midst  of  these  preparations 
h's  life  was  suddenly  cut  off.  December  12,  he  took 
n  seve'e  cold  from  a  ride  in  the  rain,  which,  settling 
in  Irs  throat,  produced  inflammation,  and  terminated 
fatally  on  the  night  of  the  fourteenth.  On  the  eigh- 
teenth his  body  was  borne  wi'h  military  honors  to  its 
final  resting  place,  and  interred  in  the  family  vault  at 
Mount  Vernon. 

Of  the  character  of  Washington  it  is  impossible  to 
speak  but  in  terms  of  the  highest  respect  and  ad- 
miration. The  more  we  see  of  the  operations  of 
our  government,  and  the  more  deeply  we  feel  the 
difficulty  of  uniting  all  opinions  in  a  common  interest, 
the  more  highly  we  must  estimate  the  force  of  his  tal- 
ent and  character,  which  have  be»"n  able  to  challenge 
the  reverence  of  all  parties,  and  principles,  and  na- 
tions, and  to  win  a  fame  as  extended  as  the  limits 
of  the  globe,  and  which  we  cannot  but  believe  will 
be  as  lasting  as  the  existence  of  man. 

The  person  of  Washington  was  unusally  tan,  erect 
and  well  proportioned.  His  muscular  strength  was 
great.  His  features  were  of  a  beautiful  symmetry. 
He  commanded  respect  without  any  appearance  of 
haughtiness,  and  ever  serious  without  l-^ing  dull. 


1 


SECOND  PRESIDENT: 


OHN  ADAMS,  the  second 
President  and  the  first  Vice- 
President  of  the  United  States, 
was  born  in  Braintree  ( now 
!L  Quincy),Mass.,  and  about  ten 
miles  from  Boston,  Oct.  19, 
1735.  His  great-grandfather,  Henry 
Adams,  emigrated  from  England 
about  1640,  with  a.  family  of  eight  ; 
sons,  and  settled  at  Braintree.  The 
parents  of  John  were  John  and 
Susannah  (Boylston)  Adams.  His 
father  was  a  farmer  of  limited 
means,  to  which  he  added  the  bus- 
iness of  shoemaking.  He  gave  his 
eldest  son,  John,  a  classical  educa- 
tion  at  Harvard  College.  John 
graduated  in  1755,  and  at  once  took  charge  of  the 
school  in  Worcester,  Mass.  This  he  found  but  a 
'school  of  affliction,"  from  which  he  endeavored  to 
gain  relief  by  devoting  himself,  in  addition,  to  the 
study  of  law.  For  this  purpose  he  placed  himself 
under  the  tuition  of  the  only  lawyer  in  the  town.  He 
had  thought  seriously  of  the  clerical  profession 
but  seems  to  have  been  turned  from  this  by  what  he 
termed  "  the  frightful  engines  of  ecclesiastical  coun- 
jils,  of  diabolical  malice,  and  Calvanistic  good  nature,'' 
of  the  operations  of  which  he  had  been  a  witness  in 
his  native  town.  He  was  well  fitted  for  the  legal 
profession,  possessing  a  clear,  sonorous  voice,  being 
ready  and  fluent  of  speech,  and  having  quick  percep- 
tive powers.  He  gradually  gained  practice,  and  in 
1764  married  Abigail  Smith,  a  daughter  of  a  minister, 
and  a  lady  of  superior  intelligence.  Shortly  after  his 
marriage,  (ijC's),  the  attempt  of  Parliamentary  taxa- 
Mon  turned  him  from  law  to  politics.  He  took  initial 
steps  toward  holdir.0  .1  town  meeting,  and  the  resolu- 


tions he  offered  on  the  subject  became  very  populai 
throughout  the  Province,  and  were  adopted  word  for 
word  by  over  forty  different  towns.  He  moved  to  Bos 
ton  in  1768,  and  became  one  of  the  most  courageous 
and  prominent  advocatesof  the  popular  cause,  and 
was  chosen  a  member  of  the  General  Court  (the  Leg- 
lislature)  in  1770. 

Mr.  Adams  was  chosen  one  of  the  first  delegates 
from  Massachusetts  to  the  first  Continental  Congrei-.s. 
which  met  in  1774.  Here  he  distinguished  himsel: 
by  his  capacity  for  business  and  for  debate,  and  ad- 
vocated the  movement  for  independence  against  tiie 
majority  of  the  members.  In  May,  1776,  he  moved 
and  carried  a  resolution  in  Congress  that  the  Colonies 
should  assume  the  duties  of  self-government.  He 
was  a  prominent  member  of  the  committee  of  nve 
appointed  June  n,  to  prepare  a  declaration  of  inde- 
pendence. This  article  was  drawn  by  Jefferson,  but 
on  Adams  devolved  the  task  of  battling  it  through 
Congress  in  a  three  days  debate. 

On  the  day  after  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
was  passed,  while  his  soul  was  yet  warm  with  th: 
glow  of  excited  feeling,  he  wrote  a  letter  to  his  wife 
which,  as  we  read  it  now,  seems  to  have  been  dictated 
by  the  spirit  of  prophecy.  "Yesterday,"  he  says,  "the 
greatest  question  was  decided  that  ever  was  debated 
in  America;  and  greater,  perhaps,  never  was  or  wil 
be  decided  among  men.  A  resolution  was  passed 
without  one  dissenting  colony,  '  that  these  United 
States  are,  and  of  right  ought  to  be,  free  and  inde- 
pendent states."  The  day  is  passed.  The  fourth  of 
July,  1776,  will  be  a  memorable  e;:och  in  the  history 
of  America.  I  am  apt  to  believe  it  will  be  celebrated 
by  succeeding  generations,  as  the  great  anniversary 
festival.  It  ought  to  be  commemorated  as  the  day  of 
deliverance  by  solemn  acts  of  devotion  to  Almighty 
God.  It  ought  to  be  solemnized  with  pomp,  show*. 


JOHN  ADAMS. 


games,  sports,  guns,  bells,  bonfires,  and  illuminations 
from  one  end  of  the  continent  to  the  other,  from  this 
time  forward  for  ever.  You  will  think  me  transported 
with  enthusiasm,  but  I  am  not.  I  am  well  aware  of 
the  toil,  and  blood  and  treasure,  that  it  will  cost  to 
maintain  this,,  .declaration,  and  support  and  defend 
the^e  States  ;"y'et,  through  all  the  gloom,  I  can  see  the 
rays  of  light  and  glory.  I  can  see  that  the  end  is 
Wv>rth  more  than  all  the- means;  and  that  posterity 
will  triumph,  although  you  and  I  may  rue,  which  I 
hope  we  shall  not." 

In  November,  1777,  Mr.  Adams  was  appointed  a 
delegate  to  France  and  to  co-operate  with  Bemjamin 
Franklin  and  Arthur  Lee,  who  were  then  in  Paris,  in 
the  endeavor  to  obtain  assistance  in  arms  and  money 
from  the  French  Government.  This  was  a  severe  trial 
to  his  patriotism,  as  it  separated  him  from  his  home, 
compelled  him  to  cross  the  ocean  in  winter,  and  ex- 
posed him  to  great  peril  of  capture  by  the  British  cruis- 
ers, who  were  seeking  him.  He  left  France  June  17, 
1779.  In  September  of  the  same  year  he  was  again 
chosen  to  go  to  Paris,  and  there  hold  himself  in  readi- 
ness to  negotiate  a  treaty  of  peace  and  of  commerce 
with  Great  Britiah,"  as  soon  as  the  British  Cabinet 
might  be  found  willing  to  listen  to  such  pvoposels.  He 
sailed  for -France  in  November,  from  there  he  went  to 
Holland,  where  he  negotiated  important  loans  and 
formed  important  comrnercial  treaties 

Finally  a  treaty  of  peace  with  England  was  signed 
Jan.  21,  1783.  'The  re-action  from  the  excitement, 
toil  and  anxiety  through  which  Mr.  Adams  had  passed 
threw  him  into  a  fever.  After  suffering  from  a  con- 
tinued fever  and  becoming  feeble  and  emaciated  he 
was  advised  to  go  to  England  to  drink  the  waters  of 
Bath.  While  in  England,  still  drooping  anddespond- 
ing,  he  received  dispatches  from  his  own  government 
urging  the  necessity  of  his  going  to  Amsterdam  to 
negotiate  another  loan.  It  was  winter,  his  health  was 
delicate,  yet- he  immediately  set  out,  and  through 
storm,  on  sea,  on  horseback  and  foot.he  made  the  trip. 

February  24,  1785;  Congress  appointed  Mr.  Adams 
envoy  to  the  Court  of  St.  James.  Here  he  met  face 
to  face  the  King  of  England,  who  had  so  long  re- 
garded him  as  a  traitor.  As  England  did  not 
condescend  to  appoint  a  minister  to  the  United 
States,  and  as  Mr.  Adams  felt  that  he  was  accom- 
plishing but  little,  he  sought  permission  to  return  to 
nis  own  country,  where  he  arrived  in  June,  1788. 

When  Washington  was  first  chosen  President,  John 
Adams,  rendered  illustiious  by  his  signal  services  at 
home  and  abroad,  was  chosen  Vice  President.  Again 
11  the  second  election  of  Washington  as  President, 
Adams  was  chosen  Vice  President.  In  1796,  Wash- 
ington retired  from  public  life,  and  Mr.  Adams  was 
elected  President,though  not  without  much  opposition. 
Serving  in  this  office  four  years,he  was  succeeded  by 
Mr.  Jefferson,'  his  opponent  in  politics. 

While   Mr.  Adams  was  Vice  President  the  great 


French  Revolution  shook  the  continent  of  Europe, 
and  it  was  upon  this  point  which  he  was  at  issue  with 
the  majority  of  his  countrymen  led  by  Mr.  Jefferson. 
Mr.  Adams  felt  no  sympathy  with  the  French  people- 
in  their  struggle,  for  he  had  no  confidence  in  their 
power  of  self-government,  and  he  utterly  abhored  the 
class  of  atheist  philosophers  who  he  claimed  caused  it. 
On  the  other  hand  Jefferson's  sympathies  were  strongly 
enlisted  in  behalf  of  the  French  people.  Hence  or- 
iginated the  alienation  between  these  distinguished 
men,  and  two  powerful  parties  were  thus  soon  organ- 
ized, Adams  at  the  head  of  the  one  whose  sympathies 
were  with  England  and  Jefferson  led  the  other  in 
sympathy  with  France. 

The  world  has  seldom  seen  a  spectacle  of  more 
moral  beauty  and  grandeur,  than  was  presented  by  the 
old  age  of  Mr.  Adams.  The  violence  of  party  feeling 
had  died  away,  and  he  had  begun  to  receive  that  just 
appreciation  which,  to  most  men,  is  not  accorded  till 
after  death.  No  one  could  look  upon  his  venerable 
form,  and  think  of  what  he  had  done  and  suffered, 
and  how  he  had  given  up  all  the  prime  and  strength 
of  his  life  to  the  public  good,  without  the  deepest 
emotion  of  gratitude  and  respect.  It  was  his  peculiar 
good  fortune  to  witness  the  complete  success  of  the 
institution  which  he  had  been  so  active  in  creating  and 
supporting.  In  1824,  his  cup  of  happiness  was  filled 
to  the  brim,  by  seeing  his  son  elevated  to  the  highest 
station  in  the  gift  of  the  people 

The  fourth  of  July,  1826,  which  completed  the  half 
century  since  the  signing  of  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence, arrived,  and  there  were  but  three  of  the 
signers  of  that  immortal  instrument  left  upon  the 
earth  to  hail  its  morning  light.  And,  as  it  is 
well  known,  on  that  day  two  of  these  finished  their 
earthly  pilgrimage,  a  coincidence  so  remarkable  as 
to  seem  miraculous.  For  a  few  days  before  Mr. 
Adams  had  been  rapidly  failing,  and  on  the  morning 
of  the  fourth  he  found  himself  too  weak  to  rise  from 
his  bed.  On  being  requested  to  name  a  toast  for  the 
customary  celebration  of  the  day,  he  exclaimed  "  IN- 
DEPENDENCE FOREVER."  When  the  day  was  ushered 
in,  by  the  ringing  of  bells  and  the  firing  of  cannons, 
he  was  asked  by  one  of  his  attendants  if  he  knew 
what  day  it  was?  He  replied,  "O  yes;  it  is  the  glor- 
ious fourth  of  July — God  bless  it — God  bless  you  all." 
In  the  course  of  the  day  he  said,  "  It  is  a  great  and 
glorious  day."  The  last  words  he  uttered  were, 
"Jefferson  survives."  But  he  had,  at  one  o'clock,  re- 
signed his  spiiit  into  the  hands  of  his  God. 

The  personal  appearance  and  manners  of  Mr 
Adams  were  not  particularly  piepossessinr.  His  face, 
as  his  portrait  manifests.was  intellectual  ard  expres 
sive,  but  his  figure  was  low  and  ungraceful,  and  h'S 
manners  were  frequently  abrupt  and  unconrteous 
He  had  neither  the  lofty  dignity  of  Washington,  not 
the  engaging  elegance  and  gracefulness  which  marked 
the  manners  and  address  of  Jefferson. 


,  : 


„, 


THIKD  PRESIDENT. 


HOMAS  JEFFERSON  was 
born  April  2,  1743,  at  Shad- 
well,  Albermarle  county,  Va. 
His  parents  were  Peter  and 
Jane  (  Randolph  )  Jefferson, 
the  former  a  native  of  Wales, 
and  the  latter  born  in  Lon- 
don. To  them  were  born  six 
daughters  and  two  sons,  of 
whom  Thomas  was  the  elder. 
When  14  years  of  age  his 
father  died.  He  received  a 
most  liberal  education,  hav- 
ing been  kept  diligently  at  school 
from  the  time  he  was  five  years  of 
age.  In  1760  he  entered  William 
end  Mary  College.  Williamsburg  was  then  the  seat 
of  the  Colonial  Court,  and'  it  was  the  obode  of  fashion 
and  splendor.  Young  Jefferson,  who  was  then  17 
years  old,  lived  somewhat  expensively,  keeping  fine 
horses,  and  much  caressed  by  gay  society,  yet  he 
•was  earnestly  devoted  to  his  studies,  and  irreproacha- 
able  in  his  morals.  It  is  strange,  however,  under 
such  influences, that  he  was  not  ruined.  In  the  sec- 
ond year  of  his  college  course,  moved  by  some  un- 
explained inward  impulse,  he  discarded  his  horses, 
society,  and  even  his  favorite  violin,  to  which  he  had 
previoxisly  given  much  time.  He  often  devoted  fifteen 
hours  a  day  to  haid  study,  allowing  himself  for  ex- 
ercise only  a  run  in  the  evening  twilight  of  a  mile  out 
of  the  city  and  back  again.  He  thus  attained  very 
high  intellectual  culture,  alike  excellence  in  philoso- 
phy and  the  languages.  The  most  difficult  Latin  and 
Greek  authors  he  read  with  facility.  A  more  finished 
scholar  has  seldom  gone  forth  from  college  halls;  and 


there  was  not  to  be  found,  perhaps,  in  all  Virginia,  a 
more  pureminded,  upright,  gentlemanly  young  man. 

Immediately  upon  leaving  college  he  began  the 
study  of  law.  For  the  short  time  he  continued  in  the 
practice  of  his  profession  he  rose  rapidly  and  distin- 
guished himself  by  his  energy  and  accuteness  as  a 
lawyer.  But  the  times  called  for  greater  action. 
The  policy  of  England  had  awakened  the  spirit  of 
resistance  of  the  American  Colonies,  and  the  enlarged 
views  which  Jefferson  had  ever  entertained,  soon  led 
him  into  active  political  life.  In  1769  he  .was  choser 
a  member  of  the  Virginia  House  of  Burgesses  In 
1772  he  married  Mrs.  Martha  Skelton,  a  very  beauti- 
ful, wealthy  and  highly  accomplished  young  widow 

Upon  Mr.  Jefferson's  large  estate  at  Shadwell,  there 
was  a  majestic  swell  of  land,  called  Monticello,  which 
commanded  a  prospect  of  wonderful  extent  and 
beauty.  This  spot  Mr.  Jefferson  selected  for  his  new 
home;  and  here  he  reared  a  mansion  of  modest  yet 
elegant  architecture,  which,  next  to  Mount  Vernon 
became  the  most  distinguished  resort  in  our  land. 

In  1775  he  was  sent  to  the  Colonial  Congress, 
where,  though  a  silent  member,  his  .abilities  as  a 
writer  and  a  reasoner  soon  become  known,  and  he 
was  placed  upon  a  number  of  important  committees, 
and  was  chairman  of  the  one  appointed  for  the  draw- 
ing up  of  a  declaration  of  independence.  This  com- 
mittee consisted  of  Thomas  Jefferson,  John  Adams, 
Benjamin  Franklin,  Roger  Sherman  and  Robert  R. 
Livingston.  Jefferson,  as  chairman;  was  appointed 
to  draw  up  the  paper.  Franklin  and  Adams  suggested 
a  few  verbal  changes  before  it  was  submitted  to  Con- 
gress. On  June  28,  a  few  slight  changes  were  made 
in  it  by  Congress,  and  it  was  passed  and  signed  July 
4,  1776.  What  must  have  been  the  feelings  of  that 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON: 


in — what  the  emotions  that  swelled  his  breast — 
10  was  charged  with  the  preparation  of  that  Dec- 
•ation,  which,  while  it  made  known  the  wrongs  of 
nerica,  was  also  to  publish  her  to  the  world,  free, 
verign  and  independent.  It  is  one  of  the  most  re- 
irkable  papers  ever  written  ;  and  did  no  other  effort 
the  mind  of  its  author  exist,  that  alone  would  be 
fficient  to  stamp  his  name  with  immortality. 
In  1779  Mr.  Jefferson  was  elected  successor  to 
.trick  Henry,  as  Governor  of  Virginia.  At  one  time 
e  British  officer,  Tarleton,  sent  a  secret  expedition  to 
onticello,  to  capture  the  Governor.  Scarcely  five 
nutes  elapsed  after  the  hurried  escape  of  Mr.  Jef- 
•son  and  his  family,  ere  his  mansion  was  in  posses- 
m  of  the  British  troops.  His  wife's  health,  never 
ry  good,  was  much  injured  by  this  excitement,  and 
the  summer  of  1782  she  died. 
Mr.  Jefferson  was  elected  to  Congress  in  1783. 
vo  ygars  later  he  was  appointed  Minister  Plenipo- 
itiary  to  France.  Returning  to  the  United  States 
September,  1789,  he  became  Secretary  of  State  : 
Washington's  cabinet.  This  position  he  resigned 
n.  r,  1794.  In  1797,  he  was  chosen  Vice  Presi-  j 
nt,  and  four  years  later  was  elected  President  over 
r.  Adams,  with  Aaron  Burr  as  Vice  President.  In 
04  he  was  re-elected  with  wonderful  unanimity,  ; 
d  George  Clinton,  Vice  President. 
The  early  part  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  second  adminstra- 
n  was  disturbed  by  an  event  which  threatened  the 
nquility  and  peace  of  the  Union ;  this  was  the  con- 
iracy  of  Aaron  Burr.  Defeated  in  the  late  election 
the  Vice  Presidency,  and  led  on  by  an  unprincipled 
ibition,  this  extraordinary  man  formed  the  plan  of  a 
litary  expedition  into  the  Spanish  territories  on  our 
athwestern  frontier,  for  the  purpose  of  forming  there 
lew  republic.  This  has  been  generally  supposed 
is  a  mere  pretext ;  and  although  it  has  not  been 
nerally  known  what  his  real  plans  were,  there  is  no 
ubt  that  they  were  of  a  far  more  dangerous 
aracter. 

In  1809,  at  the  expiration  of  the  second  term  for 
lich  Mr.  Jefferson  had  been  elected,  he  determined 
retire  from  political  life.  For  a  period  of  nearly 
ty  years,  he  had  been  continually  before  the  pub- 
,  and  all  that  time  had  been  employed  in  offices  of 
j  greatest  trust  and  responsibility.  Having  thus  de- 
ted  the  best  part  of  his  life  to  the  service  of  his 
untry,  he  now  felt  desirous  of  that  rest  which  his 
clining  years  required,  and  upon  the  organization  of 
;  new  administration,  in  March,  1809,  he  bid  fare- 
:11  forever  to  public  life,  and  retired  to  Monticello. 
Mr.  Jefferson  was  profuse  in  his  hospitality.  Whole 
nilies  came  in  their  coaches  with  their  hoises, — 
hers  and  mothers,  boys  and  girls,  babies  and 
rses, — and  remained  three  and  even  six  months. 
Pe  at  Monticello,  for  years,  resembled  that  at  a 
ihionable  watering-place. 
The  fourth  of  July,  1826,  being  the  fiftieth  anniver- 


sary of  the  Declaration  of  American  Independence; 
great  preparations  were  made  in  every  part  of  the 
Union  for  its  celebration,  as  the  nation's  jubilee,  and 
the  citizens  of  Washington,  to  add  to  the  solemnity 
of  the  occasion,  invited  Mr.  Jefferson,  as  the  framer. 
and  one  of  the  few  surviving  signers  of  the  Declara- 
tion, to  participate  in  their  festivities.  But  an  ill- 
ness, which  had  been  of  several  weeks  duration,  and 
had  been  continually  increasing,  compelled  him  to 
decline  the  invitation. 

On  the  second  of  July,  the  disease  under  which 
he  was  laboring  left  him,  but  in  such  a  reduced 
state  that  his  medical  attendants,  entertained  nc 
hope  of  his  recovery.  From  this  time  he  was  perfectly 
sensible  that  his  last  hour  was  at  hand.  On  the  next 
day,  which  was  Monday,  he  asked  of  those  around 
him,  the  day  of  the  month,  and  on  being  told  it  was 
the  third  of  July,  he  expresjed  the  earnest  wish  tha 
he  might  be  permitted  to  breathe  the  airof  the  fiftieth 
anniversary.  His  prayer  was  heard — that  day,  whose 
dawn  was  hailed  with  such  rapture  through  our  land, 
burst  upon  his  eyes,  and  then  they  were  closed  for- 
ever. And  what  a  noble  consummation  of  a  noble 
life!  To  die  on  that  day,— the  birthday  of  a  nation,-  - 
the  day  which  his  own  name  and  his  own  act  had 
rendered  glorious;  to  die  amidst  the  rejoicings  and 
festivities  of  a  whole  nation,  who  looked  up  to  him, 
as  the  author,  under  God,  of  their  greatest  blessings, 
was  all  that  was  wanting  to  fill  up  the  record  his  life. 

Almost  at  the  same  hour  of  his  death,  the  kin- 
dred spirit  of  the  venerable  Adams,  as  if  to  bear 
him  company,  left  the  scene  of  his  earthly  honors. 
Hand  in  hand  they  had  stood  forth,  the  champions  of 
freedom ;  hand  in  hand,  during'the  dark  and  desper- 
ate struggle  of  the  Revolution,  they  had  cheered  and 
animated  their  desponding  countrymen;  for  half  a 
century  they  had  labored  together  for  the  good  of 
the  country;  and  now  hand  in  hand  they  depart. 
In  their  lives  they  had  been  united  in  the  same  great 
cause  of  liberty,  and  in  their  deaths  they  were  not 
divided. 

In  person  Mr.  Jefferson  was  tall  and  thin,  rather 
above  six  feet  in  height,  but  well  formed;  his  eyes 
were  light,  his  hair  originally  red,  in  after  life  became 
white  and  silvery;  his  complexion  was  fair,  his  fore 
head  broad,  and  his  whole  countenance  intelligent  and 
thoughtful.  He  possessed  great  fortitude  of  mind  as 
well  as  personal  courage;  and  his  command  of  tem- 
per was  such  that  his  oldest  and  most  intimate  friends 
never  recollected  to  have  seen  him  in  a  passion. 
His  manners,  though  dignified,  were  simple  and  un- 
affected, and  his  hospitality  was  so  unbounded  that 
all  found  at  his  house  a  ready  welcome.  In  conver- 
sation he  was  fluent,  eloquent  and  enthusiastic;  and 
his  language  was  remarkably  pure  and  correct.  He 
was  a  finished  classical  scholar,  and  in  his  writings  is 
discernable  the  care  with  which  he  formed  his  style 
upon  the  best  models  of  antiquity. 


THE  LIBBARY 

„... , 


FOURTH  PRESIDENT. 


AMES    MADISON,    "Father 
of  the  Constitution,"  and  fourth 
'  President  of  the  United  States, 
was  born  March  16,  1757,  and 
died  at  his   home  in  Virginia, 
3^  June  28,  1836.     The  name  of 
James  Madison  is  inseparably  con- 
nected with  most  of  the  important 
events  in  that  heroic  period  of  our 
country  during  which  the  founda- 
tions of  this  great   republic  were 
laid.  He  was  the  last  of  the  founders 
of  the   Constitution   of  the    United 
States  to   be   called    to   his   eternal 
reward. 

The  Madison  family  were  among 
the  early  emigrants  to  the  New  World, 
landing  upon  the  shores  of  the  Chesa- 
peake but  15  years  after   the    settle- 
ment of  Jamestown.     The  father  of 
James    Madison    was    an     opulent 
planter,  residing  upon  a  very  fine  es- 
tate called  "Montpelier,"  Orange  Co., 
tjjjjb      Ya.     The  mansion  was  situated  in 
(^p       the    midst  of  scenery  highly  pictur- 
j         esque  and  romantic,  on  the  west  side 
of  South-west  Mountain,  at  the  foot  of 
Blue  Ridge.     It  was  but  25  miles  from  the   home  of 
Jefferson  at  Monticello.     The   closest    personal  and 
political  attachment  existed  between  these  illustrious 
men,  from  their  early  youth  until  death. 

The  early  education  of  Mr.  Madison  was  conducted 
mostly  at  home  under  a  private  tutor.  At  the  age  of 
1 8  he  was  sent  to  Princeton  College,  in  New  Jersey. 
Here  he  applied  himself  to  study  with  the  most  im- 


prudent zeal;  allowing  himself,  for  months,  but  three 
hours'  sleep  out  of  the  24.  His  health  thus  became  so 
seriously  impaired  that  he  never  recovered  any  vigor 
of  constitution.  He  graduated  in  177  i,  with  a  feeble 
body,  with  a  character  of  utmost  purity,  and  with  a 
mind  highly  disciplined  and  richly  stored  with  learning 
which  embellished  and  gave  proficiency  to  his  subsf 
quent  career. 

Returning  to  Virginia,  he  commenced  the  study  of 
law  and  a  course  of  extensive  and  systematic  reading. 
This  educational  course,  the  spirit  of  the  times  in 
which  he  lived,  and  the  society  with  which  he  asso- 
ciated, all  combined  to  inspire  him  with  a  strong 
love  of  liberty,  and  to  train  him  for  his  life-work  ol 
a  statesman.  Being  naturally  of  a  religious  turn  of 
mind,  and  his  frail  health  leading  him  to  think  that 
his  life  was  not  to  be  long,  he  directed  especial  atten- 
tion to  theological  studies.  Endowed  with  a  mind 
singularly  free  from  passion  and  prejudice,  and  with 
almost  unequalled  powers  of  reasoning,  he  weighed 
all  the  arguments  for  and  against  revealed  religion, 
until  his  faith  became  so  established  as  never  to 
be  shaken. 

In  the  spring  of  1776,  when  26  years  of  age,  he 
was  elected  a  member  of  the  Virginia  Convention,  to 
frame  the  constitution  of  the  State.  The  next  year 
(1777),  he  was  a  candidate  for  the  General  Assembly. 
He  refused  to  treat  the  whisky-loving  voters,  and 
consequently  lost  his  election ;  but  those  who  had 
witnessed  the  talent,  energy  and  public  spirit  of  the 
modest  young  man,  enlisted  themselves  in  his  behalf, 
and  he  was  appointed  to  the  Executive  Council. 

Both  Patrick  Henry  and  Thomas  Jefferson  were 
Governors  of  Virginia  while  Mr.  Madison  remained 
member  of  the  Council ;  and  their  appreciation  of  his 


/AMES  MADISON. 


itellectual,  social  and  moral  worth,  contributed  not 
little  to  his  subsequent  eminence.  In  the  year  I 
j  So,  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Continental 
ongress.  Here  he  met  the  most  illustrious  men  in 
ar  land,  and  he  was  immediately  assigned  to  one  of 
ic  most  conspicuous  positions  among  them. 

For  three  years  Mr.  Madison  continued  in  Con- 
ress,  one  of  its  most  active  and  influential  members, 
i  the  year  1784,  his  term  having  expired,  he  was 
lected  a  member  of  the  Virginia  Legislature. 

No  man  felt  more  deeply  than  Mr.  Madison  the 
tier  inefficiency  of  the  old  confederacy,  with  no  na- 
onal  government,  with  no  power  to  form  treaties 
hich  would  be  binding,  or  to  enforce  law.  There 
as  not  any  State  more  prominent  than  Virginia  in 
le  declaration,  that  an  efficient  national  government 
mst  be  formed.  In  January,  1786,  Mr.  Madison 
irried  a  resolution  through  the  General  Assembly  of 
irginia,  inviting  the  other  States  to  appoint  commis- 
oners  to  meet  in  convention  at  Annapolis  to  discuss 
lis  subject.  Five  States  only  were  represented.  The 
invention,  however,  issued  another  call,  drawn  up 
Y  Mr.  Madison,  urging  all  the  States  to  send  their 
elegates  to  Philadelphia,  in  May,  1787,  to  draft 
Constitution  for  the  United  -States,  to  take  the  place 
f  that  Confederate  League.  The  delegates  met  at 
ic  time  appointed.  Every  State  but  Rhode  Island 
'as  represented.  George  Washington  was  chosen 
resident  of  the  convention ;  and  the  present  Consti- 
ition  of  the  United  States  was  then  and  there  formed, 
'here  was,  perhaps,  no  mind  and  no  pen  more  ac- 
ve  in  framing  this  immortal  document  than  the  mind 
nd  the  pen  of  James  Madison. 

The  Constitution,  adopted  by  a  vote  81  to  79,  was 
>  be  presented  to  the  several  'States  for  acceptance, 
ut  grave  solicitude  was  felt.  Should  it  be  rejected 
•e  should  be  left  but  a  conglomeration  of  independent 
tates,  with  but  little  power  at  home  and  little  respect 
broad.  Mr.  Madison  was  selected  by  the  conven- 
on  to  draw  up  an  address  to  the  people  of  the  United 
tates,  expounding  the  principles  of  the  Constitution, 
nd  urging  its  adoption.  There  was  great  opposition 
)  it  at  first,  but  it  at  length  triumphed  over  all,  and 
•ent  into  effect  in  1789. 

Mr.  Madison  was  elected  to  the  House  of  Repre- 
entatives  in  the  first  Congress,  and  soon  became  the 
vowed  leader  of  the  Republican  party.  While  in 
lew  York  attending  Congress,  he  met  Mrs  Todd,  a 
oung  widow  of  remarkable  power  of  fascination, 
'horn  he  married.  She  was  in  person  and  character 
ueenly,  and  probably  no  lady  has  thus  far  occupied 
a  prominent  a  position  in  the  very  peculiar  society 
'hich  has  constituted  our  republican  court  as  Mrs. 
ladison. 

Mr.  Madison  served  as  Secretary  of  State  under 
efferson,  and  at  the  close  of  his  administration 
ras  chosen  President.  At  this  time  the  encroach- 
lentsof  England  had  brought  us  to  the  verge  of  war.  , 


British  orders  in  council  destioyed  our  commerce,  and 
our  flag  was  exposed  to  constant  insult.  Mr.  Madison 
was  a  man  of  peace.  Scholarly  in  his  taste,  retiring 
in  his  disposition,  war  had  no  charms  for  him.  But  the 
meekest  spirit  can  be  roused.  It  makes  one's  blood 
boil,  even  now,  to  think  of  an  American  ship  brought 
to,  upon  the  ocean,  by  the  guns  of  an  English  cruiser. 
A  young  lieutenant  steps  on  board  and  orders  the 
crew  to  be  paraded  before  him.  With  great  nonchal- 
ance he  selects  any  number  whom  he  may  please  to 
designate  as  British  subjects ;  orders  them  down  the 
ship's  side  into  his  boat;  and  places  them  on  the  gun- 
deck  of  his  man-of-war,  to  fight,  by  compulsion,  the 
battles  of  England.  This  right  of  search  and  im- 
pressment, no  efforts  of  our  Government  could  induce 
the  British  cabinet  to  relinquish. 

On  the  1 8th  of  June,  1812,  President  Madison  gave 
his  approval  to  an  act  of  Congress  declaring  war 
against  Great  Britain.  Notwithstanding  the  bitter 
hostility  of  the  Federal  party  to  the  war,  the  country 
in  general  approved;  and  Mr.  Madison,  on  the  4th 
of  March,  1813,  was  re-elected  by  a.  large  majority, 
and  entered  upon  his  second  term  of  office.  This  is 
not  the  place  to  describe  the  various  adventures  of 
this  war  on  the  land  and  on  the  water.  Our  infan. 
navy  then  laid  the  foundations  of  its  renown  in  grap- 
pling v.'ilh  the  most  formidable  power  which  ever 
swept  the  seas.  The  contest  commenced  in  earnest 
by  the  appearance  of  a  British  fleet,  early  in  February, 
1813,  in  Chesapeake  Bay,  declaring  nearly  the  whole 
coast  of  the  United  States  under  blockade. 

The  Emperor  of  Russia  offered  his  services  as  me 
dilator.  America  accepted ;  England  refused.  A  Brit- 
ish force  of  five  thousand  men  landed  on  the  banks 
of  the  Patuxet  River,  near  its  entrance  into  Chesa- 
peake Bay,  and  marched  rapidly,  by  way  of  Bladens- 
burg,  upon  Washington. 

The  straggling  little  city  of  Washington  was  thrown 
into  consternation.  The  cannon  of  the  brief  conflict 
at  Bladensburg  echoed  through  the  streets  of  the 
metropolis.  The  whole  population  fled  from  the  city. 
The  President,  leaving  Mrs.  Madison  in  the  White 
House,  with  her  carriage  drawn  up  at  the  doer  to 
await  his  speedy  return,  hurried  to  meet  the  officers 
in  a  council  of  war  He  met  our  troops  utterly  routed, 
and  he  could  not  go  back  without  danger  of  being 
captured.  But  few  hours  elapsed  ere  the  Presidential 
Mansion,  the  Capitol,  and  all  the  public  buildings  in 
Washington  were  in  flames. 

The  war  closed  after  two  years  of  fighting,  and  on 
Feb.  13,  1815,  the  treaty  of  peace  was  signed  at  Ghent. 

On  the  4th  of  March,  1817,  his  second  term  of 
office  expired,  and  he  resigned  the  Presidential  chair 
to  his  friend,  James  Monroe.  He  retired  to  his  beau- 
tiful home  at  Montpelier,  and  there  passed  the  re- 
mainder of  his  days.  On  June  28,  1836,  then  at  the 
age  of  85  years,  he  fell  asleep  in  death.  Mrs.  Madi- 
son died  July  12,  1849. 


ME  LIBRAHK 


7 


FIFTH  PRESIDENT. 


-:.-:  * 


AMES  MONROfi,  the  fifth 
.Presidentof  The  United  States, 
vas  born  in  Westmoreland  Co., 
Va.,  April  28,  1758.  His  early 
life  was  passed  at  the  place  of 
nativity.  His  ancestors  had  for 
many  years  resided  in  the  prov- 
ince in  which  he  was  born.  When, 
at  17  years  of  age,  in  the  process 
of  completing  his  education  at 
William  and  Mary  College,  the  Co- 
lonial Congress  assembled  at  Phila- 
delphia to  deliberate  upon  the  un- 
just and  manifold  oppressions  of 
Great  Britian,  declared  the  separa- 
tion of  the  Colonies,  and  promul- 
gated the  Declaration  of  Indepen- 
dence. Had  he  been  born  ten  years  before  it  is  highly 
probable  that  he  would  have  been  one  of  the  signers 
of  that  celebrated  instrument.  At  this  time  he  left 
school  and  enlisted  among  the  patriots. 

He  joined  the  army  when  everything  looked  hope- 
less and  gloomy.  The  number  of  deserters  increased 
from  day  to  day.  The  invading  armies  came  pouring 
in ;  and  the  lories  not  only  favored  the  cause  of  the 
mother  country,  but  disheartened  the  new  recruits, 
who  were  sufficiently  terrified  at  the  prospect  of  con- 
tending with  an  enemy  whom  they  had  been  taught 
to  deem  invincible.  To  such  brave  spirits  as  James 
Monroe,  who  went  right  onward,  undismayed  through 
ilirficulty  and  danger,  the  United  States  owe  their 
IKjlitical  emancipation.  The  young  cadet  joined  the 
r.inks,  and  espoused  the  cause  of  his  injured  country, 
with  a  firm  determination  to  live  or  die  with  her  strife 


for  liberty.  Firmly  yet  sadly  he  shared  in  the  mel- 
ancholy  retreat  from  Harleam  Heights  and  White 
Plains,  and  accompanied  the  dispirited  army  as  it  fled 
before  its  foes  through  New  Jersey.  In  four  months 
after  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  the  patriots 
had  been  beaten  in  seven  battles.  At  the  battle  of 
Trenton  he  led  the  vanguard,  and,  in  the  act  of  charg- 
ing upon  the  enemy  he  received  a  wound  in  the  left 
shoulder. 

As  a  reward  for  his  bravery,  Mr.  Monroe  was  pro- 
moted a  captain  of  infantry ;  and,  having  recovered 
from  his  wound,  he  rejoined  the  army.  He,  however, 
receded  from  the  line  of  promotion,  by  becoming  an 
officer  in  the  staff  of  Lord  Sterling.  During  the  cam- 
paigns of  1777  and  1778,  in  the  actions  of  Brandy 
wine,  Germantown  and  Monmouth,  he  continued 
aid-de-camp ;  but  becoming  desirous  to  regain  his 
position  in  the  army;  he  exerted  himself  to  collect  a 
regiment  for  the  Virginia  line.  This  scheme  failed 
owing  to  the  exhausted  condition  of  the  State.  Upon 
this  failure  he  entered  the  office  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  at 
that  period  Governor,  and  pursued,  with  considerable 
ardor,  the  study  of  common  law.  He  did  not,  however, 
entirely  lay  aside  the  knapsack  for  the  green  bag; 
but  on  the  invasions  of  the  enemy,  served  as  avolun 
teer,  during  the  two  years  of  his  legal  pursuits. 

In  1782,  he  was  elected  from  King  George  county, 
a  member  of  the  Legislature  of  Virginia,  and  by  that 
body  he  was  elevated  to  a  seat  in  the  Executive 
Council.  He  was  thus  honored  with  the  confidence 
of  his  fellow  citizens  at  23  years  of  age  ;  and  having 
at  this  early  period  displayed  some  of  that  ability 
and  aptitude  for  legislation,  which  were  afterwards 
employed  with  unremitting  energy  for  the  public  good, 


JAMES  MONROE. 


lie  was  in  the  succeeding  year  chosen  a  member  of 
the  Congress  of  the  United  States. 
Deeply  as  Mr.  Monroe  felt  the  imperfections  of  the  old 
Confederacy,  he  was  opposed  to  the  new  Constitution, 
thinking,  with  many  others  of  *he  Republican  party, 
that  it  gave  too  much  power  to  the  Central  Government, 
and  not  enough  to  the  individual  States.  Still  he  re- 
tained the  esteem  of  his  friends  who  were  its  warm 
supporters,  and  who,  notwithstanding  his  opposition 
secured  its  adoption.  In  1789,  he  became  a  member 
sf  the  United  States  Senate ;  which  office  he  held  for 
four  years.  Every  month  the  line  of  distinction  be- 
tween the  two  great  parties  which  divided  the  nation, 
the  Federal  and  the  Republican,  was  growing  more 
distinct.  The  two  prominent  ideas  which  now  sep- 
arated them  were,  that  the  Republican  party  was  in 
sympathy  with  France,  and  also  in  favor  of  such  a 
strict  construction  of  the  Constitution  as  to  give  the 
Central  Government  as  little  power,  and  the  State 
jovernments  as  much  power,  as  the  Constitution  would 
warrant.  The  Federalists  sympathized  with  England, 
ind  were  in  favor  of  a  liberal  construction  of  the  Con- 
stitution, which  would  give  as  much  power  to  the 
Central  Government  as  that  document  could  possibly 
authorize. 

The  leading  Federalists  and  Republicans  were 
alike  noble  men,  consecrating  all  their  energies  to  the 
*ood  of  the  nation.  Two  more  honest  men  or  more 
pure  patriots  than  John  Adams  the  Federalist,  and 
James  Monroe  the  Republican,  never  breathed.  In 
suilding  up  this  majestic  nation,  which  is  destined 
:o  eclipse  all  Grecian  and  Assyrian  greatness,  the  com- 
bination of  their  antagonism  was  needed  to  create  the 
:ight  equilibrium.  And  yet  each  in  his  day  was  de- 
nounced as  almost  a  demon. 

Washington  was  then  President.  England  had  es- 
poused the  cause  of  the  Bourbons  against  the  princi- 
ples of  the  French  Revolution.  All  Europe  was  drawn 
nto  the  conflict.  We  were  feeble  and  far  away. 
Washington  issued  a  proclamation  of  neutrality  be- 
:ween  these  contending  powers.  France  had  helped 
.is  in  the  struggle  for  our  liberties.  All  the  despotisms 
if  Europe' were  now  combined  to  prevent  the  French 
"rom  escaping  from  a  tyranny  a  thousand-fold  worse 
than  that 'which  we  had  endured  Col.  Monroe,  more 
nagnanimous  than  prudent,  was  anxious  that,  at 
ivhatever.  hazard,  we  should  help  our  old  allies  in 
:heir  extremity.  It  was  the  impulse  of  a  generous 
ind  noble  nature.  He  violently  opposed  the  Pres- 
dent's  proclamation  as  ungrateful  and  wanting  in 
magnanimity. 

Washington,  who  could  appreciate  such  a  character, 
ieveloped  his  calm,  serene,  almost  divine  greatness, 
3y  appointing  that  very  James  Monroe,  who  was  de- 
louncing  the  policy  of  the  Government,  as  the  minister 
)f  that  Government  to  the  Republic  of  France.  Mr. 
Monroe  was  welcomed  by  the  National  Convention 
n  France  with  the  most  enthusiastic  demonstrations. 


Shortly  after  his  return  to  this  country,  Mr.  Mon- 
roe was  elected  Governor  of  Virginia,  and  held  the 
office  for  three  yeais.  He  was  again  sent  to  Prance  to 
co-operate  with  Chancellor  Livingston  in  obtaining 
the  vast  territory  then  known  as  the  Province  of 
Louisiana,  which  France  had  but  shortly  before  ob- 
tained from  Spain.  Tneir  united  efforts  were  suc- 
cessful. For  the  comparatively  small  sum  of  fifteen 
millions  of  dollars,  the  entire  territory  of  Orleans  and 
district  of  Louisiana  were  added  to  the  United  States. 
This  was  probably  the  largest  transfer  of  real  estate 
which  was  ever  made  in  all  the  history  of  the  world 

From  France  Mr.  Monroe  went  to  England  to  ob- 
tain from  that  country  some  recognition  of  ou: 
rights  as  neutrals,  and  to  remonstrate  against  those 
odious  impressments  of  our  seamen.  But  Eng- 
land was  unrelenting.  He  again  returned  to  Eng- 
land on  the  same  mission,  but  could  receive  no 
redress.  He  returned  to  his  home  and  was  again 
chosen  Governor  of  Virginia.  This  he  soon  resigned 
to  accept  the  position  of  Secretary  of  State  unde" 
Madison.  While  in  this  office  war  with  England  was 
declared,  the  Secretary  of  War  resigned,  and  during 
these  trying  times,  the  deities  of  the  War  Department 
were  also  put  upon  him.  He  was  truly  the  armor- 
bearer  of  President  Madison,  and  the  most  efficient 
business  man  in  his  cabinet.  Upon  the  return  of 
peace  he  resigned  the  Department  of  War,  but  con- 
tinued in  the  office  of  Secretary  of  State  until  the  ex- 
piration of  Mr.  Madison's  adminstration.  At  the  elec- 
tion held  the  previous  autumn  Mr.  Monroe  himself  had 
been  chosen  President  with  but  little  opposition,  and 
upon  March  4,  iSfy,  was  inaugurated.  Four  year? 
later  he  was  elected  for  a  second  term. 

Among  the  important  measures  of  his  Presidency 
were  the  cession  of  Florida  to  the  United  States;  the 
Missouri  Compromise,  and  the  "  Monroe  doctrine.' 

This  famous  doctrine,  since  known  as  the  "  Monroe 
doctrine,"  was  enunciated  by  him  in  1823.  At  that 
time  the  United  States  had  recognized  the  independ- 
ence of  the  South  American  states,  and  did  not  wish 
to  have  European  powers  longer  attempting  to  sub 
due  portions  of  the  American  Continent.  The  doctrine 
is  as  follows:  "That  we  should  consider  any  attempt 
on  the  part  of  European  powers  to  extend  their  sys- 
tem to  any  portion  of  this  hemisphere  as  dangerous 
to  our  peace  and  safety,"  and  "that  we  could  no- 
view  any  interposition  for  the  purpose  of  oppressing 
or  controlling  American  governments  or  provinces  in 
any  other  light  than  as  a  manifestation  by  European 
powers  of  an  unfriendly  disposition  toward  the  Unitec 
States."  This  doctrine  immediately  affected  the  course 
of  foreign  governments,  and  has  become  the  approved 
sentiment  of  the  United  States. 

At  the  end  of  his  fecond  term  Mr  Monroe  retired 
to  his  home  in  Virginia,  where  he  lived  itmil  1830 
when  he  went  to  New  York  to  live  with  his  son-in 
law.  In  that  city  he  died, on  the  4th  of  July.  1831 


J , 


SIXTH  PRESIDENT. 


39 


OHN  QUINCY  ADAMS,  the 
sixth  President  of  the  United 
'States,  was  born  in  the  rural 
home  of  his    honored   father. 
John  Adams, in  Quincy,  Mass., 
on  the  i  ith  cf  July,  1767.  His 
mother,  a  woman  of  exalted 
worth,  watched  over  his  childhood 
iring   the  almost   constant   ab- 
sence of  his  father.      When    but 
eight  years  of  age,  he  stood  with 
his  mother  on  an  eminence,  listen- 
ing to  the  booming  of  the  great  bat- 
tle on  Bunker's  Hill,  and  gazing  on 
upon  the  smoke  and  flames  billow- 
ing up  from    the   conflagration   of 
Charlestown. 

When  but  eleven  years  old  he 
took  a  tearful  adieu  of  his  mother, 
to  sail  with  his  fattier  for  Europe, 
through  a  fleet  ot  hostile  British  cruisers.  The  bright, 
animated  boy  spent  a  year  and  a  half  in  Paris,  where 
liis  father  was  associated  with  Franklin  and  Lee  as 
minister  plenipotentiary.  His  intelligence  attracted 
the  notice  of  these  distinguished  men,  and  he  received 
from  them  flattering  marks  of  attention. 

Mr.  John  Adams  had  scarcely  returned  to  this 
cour.try,  in  1779,  ere  he  was  again  sent  abroad.  Again 
Jol'.n  Quincy  accompanied  his  father.  At  Paris  he 
applied  himself  with  great  diligence,  for  six  months, 
to  Jtudy;  then  accompained  his  father  to  Holland, 
where  he  entered,  first  a  school  in  Amsterdam,  then 
the  University  at  Leyden.  About  a  year  from  this 
time,  in  1781,  when  the  manly  boy  was  but  fourteen 
yea's  of  age,  he  was  selected  by  Mr.  Dana,  our  min- 
ister to  the  Russian  court,  as  his  private  secretary. 

In  this  school  of  incessant  lalxjr  and  of  enobling 
culture  he  spent  fourteen  months,  and  then  returned 
to  Holland  through  Sweden,  Denmark,  Hamburg  and 
Bremen.  This  long  journey  he  took  alone,  in  the 
winter,  when  in  his  sixteenth  year.  Again  he  resumed 
rus  studies,  under  a  pri"ate  tutor,  at  Hague.  Thence 


in  the  spring  of  1782,  he  accompanied  his  father  u 
Paris,  traveling  leisurely,  and  forming  acquaintanct 
with  the  most  distinguished  men  on  the  Continent 
examining  architectural  remains,  galleries  of  paintings 
and  all  renowned  works  of  art.  At  Paris  he  again 
became  associated  with  the  most  illustrious  men  ol 
all  lands  in  the  contemplations  of  the  loftiest  temporal 
themes  which  can  engross  the  human  mind.  Afte" 
a  short  visit  to  England  he  returned  to  Paris,  and 
consecrated  all  his  energies  to  study  until  May,  1785, 
when  he  returned  to  America.  To  a  brilliant  young 
man  of  eighteen,  who  had  seen  much  of  the  world, 
and  who  was  familiar  with  the  etiquette  of  courts,  a 
residence  with  his  father  in  London,  under  such  cir- 
cumstances, must  have  been  extremely  attractive 
but  with  judgment  very  rare  in  one  of  his  age,  he  pre- 
ferred to  return  to  America  to  complete  his  education 
in  an  American  college.  He  wished  then  to  study 
law,  that  with  an  honorable  profession,  he  might  be 
able  to  obtain  an  independent  support. 

Upon  leaving  Harvard  College,  at  the  age  of  twenty 
he  studied  law  for  three  years.  In  June,  1794,  be- 
ing then  but  twenty-seven  years  of  age,  he  was  ap- 
pointed by  Washington,  resident  minister  at  the 
Netherlands.  Sailing  from  Boston  in  July,  he  reached 
London  in  October,  where  .he  was  immediately  admit- 
ted to  the  deliberations  of  Messrs.  Jay  and  Pinckney 
assisting  them  in  negotiating  a  commercial  treaty  with 
Great  Britian.  After  thus  spending  a  fortnight  i. 
London,  he  proceeded  to  the  Hague. 

In  July,  1797,  he  left  the  Hague  to  go  to  Portugal  as 
minister  plenipotentiary.  On  his  way  to  Portugal, 
upon  arriving  in  London,  he  met  with  despatches 
directing  him  to  the  court  of  Benin,  but  requesting 
him  to  remain  in  London  until  he  should  receive  his 
instructions.  While  waiting  he  was  married  to  ar 
American  lady  to  whom  he  had  been  previously  en. 
gaged, — Miss  Louisa  Catherine  Johnson,  daughte 
of  Mr.  Joshua  Johnson,  American  consul  in  London 
a  lady  endownd  with  that  beauty  and  those  accom- 
plishment which  eminently  fitted  her  to  irove  in  tiit 
elevated  sphere  for  which  she  w»s  tWioed 


JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS. 


He  reached  Berlin  with  his  wife  in  November,  1797  ; 
where  he  remained  until  July,  1799,  when,  having  ful- 
filled all  the  purposes  of  his  mission,  he  solicited  his 
recall. 

Soon  after  his  return,  in  1802,  he  was  chosen  to 
the  Senate  of  Massachusetts,  from  Boston,  and  then 
was  elected  Senator  of  the  United  States  for  six  years, 
from  the  4th  of  March,  1804.  His  reputation,  his 
ability  and  his  experience,  placed  him  immediately 
among  the  most  prominent  and  influential  members 
of  that  body.  Especially  did  he  sustain  the  Govern- 
ment in  its  measures  of  resistance  to  the  encroach- 
ments of  England,  destroying  our  commerce  and  in- 
sulting our  flag.  There  was  no  man  in  America  more 
familiar  with  the  arrogance  of  the  British  court  upon 
these  points,  and  no  one  more  resolved  to  present 
a  firm  resistance. 

In  1809,  Madison  succeeded  Jefferson  in  the  Pres-   i 
idential  chair,  and  he  immediately  nominated  John 
Quincy  Adams  minister  to  St.  Petersburg.     Resign- 
ing his  professorship  in  Harvard  College,  he  embarked 
at  Boston,  in  August,  1809. 

While  in  Russia,  Mr.  Adams  was  an  intense  stu- 
dent. He  devoted  his  attention  to  the  language  and 
history  of  Russia;  to  the  Chinese  trade;  to  the 
European  system  of  weights,  measures,  and  coins  ;  to 
the  climate  and  astronomical  observations  ;  while  he 
kept  up  a  familiar  acquaintance  with  the  Greek  and 
Latin  classics.  In  all  the  universities  of  Europe,  a 
more  accomplished  scholar  could  scarcely  be  found. 
All  through  life  the  Bible  constituted  an  important 
part  of  his  studies.  It  was  his  rule  to  read  five 
chapters  every  day. 

On  the  4th  of  March,  1817,  Mr.  Monroe  took  the 
Presidential  chair,  and  immediately  appointed  Mr. 
Adams  Secretary  of  State.  Taking  leave  of  his  num- 
erous friends  in  public  and  private  life  in  Europe,  he 
sailed  in  June,  1819,  for  the  United  States.  On  the 
1 8th  of  August,  he  again  crossed  the  threshold  of  his 
home  in  Quincy.  During  the  eight  years  of  Mr.  Mon- 
roe's administration,  Mr.  Adams  continued  Secretary 
of  State. 

Some  tune  before  ':he  close  of  Mr.  Monroe's  second 
term  of  office,  new  candidates  began  to  be  presented 
for  the  Presidency.  The  friends  of  Mr.  Adams  brought 
forward  his  "name.  It  was  an  exciting  campaign. 
Party  spirit  was  never  more  bitter.  Two  hundred  and 
sixty  electoral  votes  were  cast.  Andrew  Jackson  re- 
ceived ninety-nine;  John  Quincy  Adams,  eighty-four; 
William  H.  Crawford,  forty-one;  Henry  Clay,  thirty- 
seven.  As  there  was  no  choice  by  the  people,  the 
question  went  to  the  House  of  Representatives.  Mr. 
Clay  gave  the  vote  of  Kentucky  to  Mr.  Adams,  and 
he  was  elected. 

The  friends  of  all  the  disappointed  candidates  now 
:ombined  in  a  venomous  and  persistent  assault  upon 
Mr.  Adams.  There  is  nothing  more  disgraceful  in 
'K«  past  history  of  our  country  than  the  abuse  which 


was  poured  in  one  uninterrupted  stream,  upon  this 
high-minded,  upright,  patriotic  man.  There  never  was 
an  administration  more  pure  in  principles,  more  con- 
scientiously devoted  to  the  best  interests  of  the  coun- 
try, than  that  of  John  Quincy  Adams ;  and  never,  per- 
haps, was  there  an  administration  more  unscrupu- 
lously and  outrageously  assailed. 

Mr.  Adams  was,  to  a  very  remarkable  degree,  ab- 
stemious and  temperate  in  his  habits;  always  rising 
early,  and  taking  much  exercise.  When  at  his  homein 
Quincy,  he  lias  been  known  to  walk,  before  breakfast, 
seven  miles  to  Boston.  In  Washington,  it  was  said 
that  he  was  the  first  man  up  in  the  city,  lighting  his 
own  fire  and  applying  himself  to  work  in  his  library 
often  long  before  dawn. 

On  the  4th  of  March,  1829,  Mr.  Adams  retired 
from  the  Presidency,  and  was  succeeded  by  Andrew 
Jackson.  John  C.  Calhoun  was  elected  Vice  Presi- 
dent. The  slavery  question  now  began  to  assume 
portentous  magnitude.  Mr.  Adams  returned  to 
Quincy  and  to  his  studies,  which  he  pursued  with  un- 
abated zeal.  But  he  was  not  long  permitted  to  re- 
main in  retirement.  In  November,  1830,  he  was 
elected  representative  to  Congress.  For  seventeen 
years,  antil  his  death,  he  occupied  the  post  as  repre- 
sentative, towering  above  all  his  peers,  ever  ready  to 
do  brave  battle' for  freedom,  and  winning  the  title  of 
"  the  old  man  eloquent."  Upon  taking  his  seat  in 
the  House, -he  announced  that  he:  should  hold  him- 
self bound  to  no  party.  Probably  there  never  was  a 
member  more  devoted  to  his  duties.  He  was  usually 
the  first  in  his  place  in  the  morning,  and  the  last  to 
leave  his  seat  in  the  evening.  Not  a  measure  could 
be  brought  forward  and  escape  his  scrutiny.  The 
battle  which  Mr.  Adams  fought,  almost  singly,  against 
the  proslavery  party  in  the  Government,  was  sublime 
in  its  moral  daring  and  heroism.  For  persisting  in 
presenting  petitions  for  the  abolition  of  slavery,  he 
was  threatened  with  indictment  by  the  grand  jury 
with  expulsion  from  the  House,  with  assassination 
but  no  threats  could  intimidate  him,  and  his  final 
triumph  was  complete. 

It  has  been  said  of  President  Adams,  that  when  his 
body  was  bent  and  his  hair  silvered  by  the  lapse  of 
fourscore  years,  yielding  to  the  simple  faith  of  a  little 
child,  he  was  accustomed  to  repeat  every  night,  before 
he  slept,  the  pra>er  which  his  mother  taught  him  in 
his  infant  years. 

On  the  2istof  February,  1848,  he  rose  on  the  floor 
of  Congress,  with  a  paper  in  his  hand,  to  address  the 
speaker.  Suddenly  he  fell,  again  stricken  by  parnly 
sis,  and  was  caught  in  the  arms  of  those  around  him. 
For  a  lime  he  was  senseless,  as  he  was  conveyed  to 
the  sofa  in  the  rotunda.  With  reviving  conscious- 
ness, he  opened  his  eyes,  looked  calmly  around  and 
said  "  This  is  the  end  of  earth  /'then  after  a  moment's 
pause  he  added,  "7am  content"  These  were  the 
last  words  of  the  grand  "  Old  Man  Eloquent." 


.      • 


SEVENTH  PRESIDENT. 


NDREW  JACKSON,  the 
seventh  President  of  the 
United  States,  was  born  in 
Waxhaw  settlement,  N.  C., 
March  15,  1767,  a  few  days 
after  his  father's  death.  His 
parents  were  poor  emigrants 
from  Ireland,  and  took  up 
their  abode  in  Waxhaw  set- 
tlement, where  they  lived  in 
deepest  poverty. 

^  Andrew,  or  Andy,  as  he  was 
universally  called,  grew  up  a  very 
rough,  rude,  turbulent  boy.  His 
features  were  coarse,  his  form  un- 
gainly; and  there  was  but  very 
little  in  his  character,  made  visible,  which  was  at- 
tractive. 

When  only  thirteen  years  old  he  joined  the  volun- 
teers of  Carolina  against  the  British  invasion.  In 
1781,  he. and  his  brother  Robert  were  captured  and 
imprisoned  for  a  time  at  Camden.  A  British  officer 
ordered  him  to  brush  his  mud-spattered  boots.  "  I  am 
a  prisoner  of  war,  not  your  servant,"  was  the  reply  of 
the  dauntless  boy. 

The  brute  drew  his  sword,  and  aimed  a  desperate 
olow  at  the  head  of  the  helpless  young  prisoner. 
Andrewi  raised  his  hand,  and  thus  received  two  fear- 
ful gashes,— one  on  the  hand  and  the  other  upon  the 
head.  The  officer  then  turned  to  his  brother  Robert 
with  the  same  demand.  He  also  refused,  and  re- 
ceived a  blow  from  the  keen-edged  sabre,  which  quite 
disabled  him,  and  which  probably  soon  after  caused 
his  death.  They  suffered  much  other  ill-treatment,  and 
were  finally  stricken  with  the  small-pox.  Their 
mother  was  successful  M.  .lotaining  their  exchange, 


and  took  her  sick  boys  home.  After  a  long  illn^si 
Andrew  recovered,  and  the  death  of  his  mother  soon 
left  him  entirely  friendless. 

Andrew  supported  himself  in  various  ways,  si:Iias 
working  at  the  saddler's  trade,  teaching  school  and 
clerking  in  a  general  store,  until  1784,  when  he 
entered  a  law  office  at  Salisbury,  N.  C.  He,  however, 
gave  more  attention  to  the  wild  amusements  of  the 
times  than  to  his  studies.  In  1788,  he  was  appointed 
solicitor  for  the  western  district  of  North  Carolina,  of 
which  Tennessee  was  then  a  part.  This  involved 
many  long  and  tedious  journeys  amid  dangers  of 
every  kind,  but  Andrew  Jackson  never  knew  fear, 
and  the  Indians  had  no  desire  to  repeat  a  skirmish 
witn  the  Sharp  Knife. 

In  1791,  Mr.  Jackson  was  married  to  a  woman  who 
supposed  herself  divorced  from  her  former  husband! 
Great  was  the  surprise  of  both  partiesjwo  years  later, 
to  find  that  the  conditions  of  the  divorce  had  just  been 
definitely  settled  by  the  first  husband.  The  marriage 
ceremony  was  performed  a  second  time,  but  the  occur, 
rence  was  often  used  by  his  enemies  to  bring  Mr. 
Jackson  into  disfavor. 

During  these  years  he  worked  hard  at  his  profes 
sion,  and  frequently  had  one  or  more  duels  on  hand, 
one  of  which,  when  he  killed  Dickenson,  was  espec- 
ially disgraceful. 

In  January,  1796,  the  Territory  of  Tennessee  then 
containing  nearly  eighty  thousand  inhabitants,  the 
people  met  in  convention  at  Knoxville  to  frame  a  con- 
stitution. Five  were  sent  from  each  of  the  elevsn 
counties.  Andrew  Jackson  was  one  of  the  delegates. 
The  new  State  was  entitled  to  but  one  member  iu 
the  National  House  of  Representatives.  Andrew  Jack- 
son was  chosen  that  member.  Mounting  his  horse  he 
rode  to  Philedelphia,  where  Congress  then  held  its 


ANDRE  W  JACKSON. 


sessions, — a  distance  of  about  eight   hundred    miles. 

Jackson  was  an  earnest  advocate  of  the  Demo- 
cratic purty.  Jefferson  was  his  idol.  He  admired 
Bonaparte,  loved  France  and  hated  England.  As  Mr. 
Jackson  took  his  seat,  Gjn.  Washington,  whose 
second  term  of  office  was  then  expiring,  delivered  his 
last  speech  to  Congress.  A  committee  drew  up  a 
complimentary  address  in  reply.  Andrew  Jackson 
did  not  approve  of  the  address,  and  was  one  of  the 
twelve  who  voted  against  it.  He  was  not  willing  to 
say  that  Gen.  Washington's  adminstration  had  been 
"  wise,  firm  and  patriotic." 

Mr.  Jackson  was  elected  to  the  United  States 
Senate  in  1797,  but  soon  resigned  and  returned  home. 
Soon  after  he  was  chosen  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court 
of  his  State,  which  position  he  held  for  six  years. 

When  the  war  of  1812  with  Great  Britian  com- 
menced, Madison  occupied  the  Presidential  chair. 
Aaron  B.irr  sent  word  to  the  President  that  there  was 
an  unknown  man  in  the  West,  Andrew  Jackson,  who 
would  do  credit  to  a  commission  if  one  were  con- 
ferred upon  him.  Just  at  that  time  Gen.  Jackson 
jffeied  his  services  and  those  of  twenty-five  hundred 
volunteers.  His  offer  was  accepted,  and  the  troops 
were  assembled  at  Nashville. 

As  the  British  were  hourly  expected  to  make  an  at- 
tack upon  New  Orleans,  where  Gen  Wilkinson  was 
in  command,  he  was  ordered  to  descend  the  river 
with  fifteen  hundred  troops  to  aid  Wilkinson.  The 
expedition  reached  Natchez;  and  after  a  delay  of  sev 
eral  weeks  there,  without  accomplishing  anything, 
the  men  were  ordered  back  to  their  homes.  But  the 
energy  Gen.  Jackson  had  displayed,  and  his  entire 
devotion  to  the  comrfort  of  his  soldiers,  won  him 
golden  opinions;  and  he  became  the  most  popular 
man  in  the  State.  It  was  in  this  expedition  that  his 
toughness  gave  him  the  nickname  of"  Old  Hickory." 

Soon  after  this,  while  attempting  to  horsewhip  Col. 
Thomas  H.  Benton,  for  a  remark  that  gentleman 
made  about  his  taking  a  part  as  second  in  a  duel,  in 
which  a  younger  brother  of  Benton 's  was  engaged, 
he  received  two  severe  pistol  wounds.  While  he  was 
'lingering  upon  a  bed  of  suffering  news  came  that  the 
Indians,  who  had  combined  under  Tecumseh  from 
Florida  to  the  Lakes,  to  exterminate  the  white  sel- 
lers, were  committing  the  most  awful  ravages.  De- 
cisive action  became  necessary.  Gen.  Jackson,  with 
his  fractured  bone  just  beginning  to  heal,  his  arm  in 
a  sling,  and  unable  to  mount  his  horse  without  assis- 
tance, gave  his  amazing  energies  to  the  raising  of  an 
army  to  rendezvous  at  Fayettesville,  Alabama. 

The  Creek  Indians  had  established  a  strong forton 
one  of  the  bends  of  theTallaooosa  River,  near  the  cen- 
ter of  Alabama,  about  fifty  miles  below  Fort  Strother. 
With  an  army  of  two  thousand  men,  Gen.  Jackson 
traversed  the  pathless  wilderness  in  a  inarch  of  eleven 
days.  He  reached  their  fort,  called  Tohopeka  or 
Horse-shoe,  on  the  27th  of  March.  1814.  The  bend 


of  the  river  enclosed  nearly  one  hundred  acres  of 
tangled  forest  and  wild  ravine.  Across  the  narrow 
neck  the  Indians  had  constructed  a  formidable  breast- 
work of  logs  and  brush.  Here  nine  hundred  warriors, 
with  an  ample  suply  of  aru.s  were  assembled. 

The  fort  was  stormed.  The  fight  was  utterly  des- 
perate Not  an  Indian  would  accept  of  quarter.  When 
bleeding  and  dying,  they  would  fight  those  who  en- 
deavored to  spare  their  lives.  From  ten  in  the  morn- 
ing until  dark,  the  battle  raged.  The  carnage  was 
awful  and  revolting.  Some  threw  themselves  into  the 
river;  but  the  unerring  bullet  struck  their  heads  as 
they  swam.  Nearly  everyone  of  the  nine  hundred  war- 
rios  were  killed  A  few  probably,  in  the  night,  swam 
the  river  and  escaped.  This  ended  the  war.  The 
power  of  the  Creeks  was  broken  forever.  This  bold 
plunge  into  the  wilderness,  with  itsterriffic  slaughter, 
so  appalled  the  savages,  that  the  haggard  remnants 
of  the  bands  came  to  the  camp,  begging  for  peace. 

This  closing  of  the  Creek  war  enabled  us  to  con- 
centrate all  our  militia  upon  the  British,  who  were  the 
allies  of  the  Indians  No  man  of  less  resolute  will 
than  Gen.  Jackson  could  have  conducted  this  Indian 
campaign  to  so  successful  an  issue  Immediately  he 
was  appointed  major-general. 

Late  in  August,  with  an  army  of  two  thousand 
men,  on  a  rushing  march,  Gen.  Jackson  came  to 
Mobile.  A  British  fleet  came  from  Pensacola,  landed 
a  force  upon  the  beach,  anchored  near  the  little  fort, 
and  from  both  ship  and  shore  commenced  a  furious 
assault  The  battle  was  long  a r,d  doubtful.  At  length 
one  of  the  ships  was  blown  up  and  the  rest  retired. 

Garrisoning  Mobile,  where  he  had  taken  his  little 
army,  he  moved  his  troops  to  New  Orleans, 
And  the  battle  of  New  Orleans  which  soon  ensued, 
was  in  reality  a  very  arduous  campaign.  This  won 
for  Gen.  Jackson  an  imperishable  name.  Here  his 
troops,  which  numbered  about  four  thousand  men, 
won  a  signal  victory  over  the  British  army  of  about 
nine  thousand.  His  loss  was  but  thirteen,  while  the 
loss  of  the  British  was  two  thousand  six  hundred. 

The  name  of  Gen.  Jackson  soon  began  to  be  men- 
tioned in  connection  with  the  Presidency,  but,  in  1824, 
he  was  defeated  by  Mr.  Adams.  He  was,  however, 
successful  in  the  election  of  1828,  and  was  re-elected 
for  a  second  term  in  1832.  In  1829,  just  before  he 
assumed  the  reins  of  the  government,  he  met  with 
the  most  terrible  affliction  of  his  life  in  the  death  of 
his  wife,  whom  he  had  loved  with  a  devotion  which  has 
perhaps  never  been  surpassed.  From  the  shock  of 
her  death  he  never  recovered. 

His  administration  was  one  of  the  most  mc-mcrabie 
in  the  annals  of  our  country;  applauded  oyone  party, 
condemned  by  the  other.  No  man  had  more  bitter 
enemies  or  warmer  friends.  At  the  expiration  of  his 
two  terms  of  office  he  retired  to  the  Hermitage,  where 
he  died  June  8,  1845.  The  Imt  years  of  Mr.  Jack- 
son's life  were  that  of  a  devoted  Christian  man. 


V  7  'J 


EIGHTH  PRESIDENT. 


ARTIN  VAN  BUREN,  the 
eighth      President     of     the 
United  States,  was  born  at 
Kinderhook,  N.  Y.,  Dec.   5, 
1782.     He  died  at  the  same 
place,  July    24,    1862.      His 
body  rests  in   the  cemetery 
at  Kinderhook.     Above  it  is 
a  plain  granite   shaft  fifteen  feet 
high,  bearing  a  simple  inscription 
about  half  way  up  on  one    face. 
The  lot  is  unfenced,  unbordered 
or  unbounded  by  shrub  or  flower. 

There  is  but  little  in  the  life  of  Martin  Van  BUTCH 
of  romantic  interest.  He  fought  no  battles,  engaged 
in  no  wild  adventures.  Though  his  life  was  stormy  in 
political  and  intellectual  conflicts,  and  he  gained  many 
signal  victories,  his  days  passed  uneventful  in  those 
incidents  which  give  zest  to  biography.  His  an- 
cestors, as  his  name  indicates,  were  of  Dutch  origin, 
and  were  among  the  earliest  emigrants  from  Holland 
to  the  banks  of'the  Hudson.  His  father  was  a  farmer, 
residing  in  the  old  town  of  Kinderhook.  His  mother, 
also  of  Dutch  lineage,  was  a  woman  of  superior  intel- 
ligence and  exemplary  piety. 

,ie  was  decidedly  a  precocious  boy,  developing  un- 
usual activity,  vigor  and  strength  of  mind.  At  the 
age  of  fourteen,  he  had  finished  his  academic  studies 
In  his  native  village,  and  commenced  the  study  of 
law.  As  he  had  not  a  collegiate  education,  seven 
years  of  study  in  a  law-office  were  required  of  him 
before  he  could  be  admitted  to  the  bar.  Inspired  with 
A  lofty  ambition,  and  conscious  of  his  powers,  he  pur- 
sued his  studies  with  indefatigable  industry.  After 
spending  six  ye;ir<  in  an  office  in  u;.j  native  village, 


he  went  to  the  city  of  New  York,  and  prosecuted  his 
studies  for  the  seventh  year. 

In  1803,  Mr.  Van  Buren,  then  twenty-one  years  ol 
age,  commenced  the  practice  of  law  in  his  native  vil- 
lage. The  great  conflict  between  the  Federal  and 
Republican  party  was  then  at  its  height.  Mr.  Van 
Buren  was  from  the  beginning  a  politician.  He  had, 
perhaps,  imbibed  that  spirit  while  listening  to  the 
many  discussions  which  had  been  carried  on  in  his 
father's  hotel.  He  was  in  cordial  sympathy  with 
Jefferson,  and  earnestly  and  eloquently  espoused  the 
cause  of  State  Rights ;  though  at  that  time  the  Fed- 
eral party  held  the  supremacy  both  in  his  town 
and  State. 

His  success  and  increasing  ruputation  led  him 
after  six  years  of  practice,  to  remove  to  Hudson,  tin 
county  seat  of  his  county.  Here  he  spent  seven  years 
constantly  gaining  strength  by  contending  in  tin 
courts  with  some  of  the  ablest  men  who  have  adorned 
the  bar  of  his  State. 

Just  before  leaving  Kinderhook  for  Hudson,  Mi. 
Van  Buren  married  a  lady  alike  distinguished  for 
beauty  and  accomplishments.  After  twelve  short 
years  she  sank  into  the  grave,  the  victim  of  consump- 
tion, leaving  her  husband  and  four  sons  to  weep  over 
her  loss.  For  twenty-five  years,  Mr.  Van  Buren  was 
an  earnest,  successful,  assiduous  lawyer.  The  record 
of  those  years  is  barren  in  items  of  public  interest. 
In  t8i  2,  when  thirty  years  of  age,  he  was  chosen  to 
the  State  Senate,  and  gave  his  strenuous  support  to 
Mr.  Madison's  adminstration.  In  1815,  he  was  ap- 
pointed Attorney-General,  and  the  next  year  moved 
to  Albany,  the  capital  of  the  State. 

While  he  was  acknowledged  as  one  of  the  most 
p. eminent  leaders  of  th«  Democratic  party,  he  had 


MARTIN  VAN  BUREN. 


the  moral  courage  to  avow  that  true  democracy  did 
not  require  th^t  ''  universal  suffrage"  which  admits 
the  vile,  the  degraded,  the  ignorant,  to  the  right  of 
governing  the  State.  In  true  consistency  with  his 
democratic  principles,  he  contended  that,  while  the 
path  leading  to  the  privilege  of  voting  should  be  open 
to  every  man  without  distinction,  no  one  should  be 
invested  with  that  sacred  prerogative,  unless  he  were 
in  some  degree  qualified  for  it  by  intelligence,  virtue 
and  some  property  interests  in  the  welfare  of  the 
State. 

In  1821  he  was  elected  ;  member  of  the  United 
States  Senate;  and  in  the  same  year,  he  took  a  seat 
in  the  convention  to  revise  the  constitution  of  his 
native  State.  His  course  in  this  convention  secured 
the  approval  of  men  of  all  parties.  No  one  could 
doubt  the  singleness  of  his  endeavors  to  promote  the 
interests  of  all  classes  in  the  community.  In  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States,  he  rose  at  once  to  a 
conspicuous  position  as  an  active  and  useful  legislator. 

In  1827,  John  Quincy  Adams  beirg  then  in  the 
Presidential  chair,  Mr.  Van  Buren  was  re-elected  to 
.he  Senate.  He  had  been  from  the  beginning  a  de- 
.-ermined  opposer  of  the  Administration,  adopting  the 
'State  Rights "  view  in  opposition  to  what  was 
deemed  the  Federal  proclivities  of  Mr.  Adams. 

Soon  after  this,  in  1828,  he  was  chosen  Governorof 
the  State  of  New  York,  and  accordingly  resigned  his 
seat  in  the  Senate.  Probably  no  one  in  the  United 
States  contributed  so  much  towards  ejecting  John  Q. 
Adams  from  the  Presidential  chair,  and  placing  in  it 
Andrew  Jackson,  as  did  Martin  Van  Buren.  Whether 
entitled  to  the  reputation  or  not,  he  certainly  was  re- 
garded throughout  the  United  States  as  one  of  the 
most  skillful,  sagacious  and  cunning  of  politicians 
It  was  supposed  that  no  one  knew  so  well  as  he  how 
:o  touch  the  secret  spiings  of  action;  how  to  pull  all 
:he  wires  to  put  his  machinery  in  motion ;  and  how  to 
organize  a  political  army  which  would,  secretly  and 
;-te?'thily  accomplish  the  most  gigantic  results.  By 
these  powers  it  is  said  that  he  outwitted  Mr.  Adams, 
Mr.  Clay,  Mr.  Webster,  and  secured  results  which 
few  thought  then  could  be  accomplished. 

When  Andrew  Jackson  was  elected  President  he 
appointed  Mr.  Van  Buren  Secretary  of  State.  This 
position  he  resigned  in  r83i,  and  was  immediately 
appointed  Minister  to  England,  where  he  went  the 
s-ime  autumn.  The  Senate,  however,  when  it  met, 
refused  to  ratify  the  nomination,  and  he  returned 


home,  apparently  untroubled;  was  nominated  Vice 
President  in  the  place  of  Calhoun,  at  the  re-election 
of  President  Jackson ;  a:id  with  smiles  for  all  and 
frowns  for  none,  he  took  his  place  at  the  head  of  that 
Senate  which  had  refused  to  confirm  his  nomination 
as  ambassador. 

His  rejection  by  the  Senate  roused  all  the  zeal  of 
President  Jackson  in  behalf  of  his  repudiated  favor- 
ite; and  this,  probably  m;jre  than  any  other  cause, 
secured  his  elevation  to  the  chair  of  the  Chief  Execu 
live.  On  the  2oth  of  May,  1836,  Mr.  Van  Buren  re- 
ceived the  Democratic  nomination  to  succeed  Gen. 
Jackson  as  President  of  the  United  States.  He  was 
elected  by  a  handsome  majority,  to  the  delight  of  the 
retiring  President.  "  Leaving  New  York  out  of  the 
canvass,"  says  Mr.  Parton,  "the  election  of  Mr.  Van 
Buren  to  the  Presidency  was  as  much  the  act  of  Gen. 
Jackson  as  though  the  Constitution  had  conferred 
upon  him  the  power  to  appoint  a  successor." 

His  administration  was  filled  with  exciting  events- 
The  insurrection  in  Canada,  which  threatened  to  in  - 
volve  this  country  in  war  with  England,  the  agitation 
of  the  slavery  question,  and  finally  the  great  commer- 
cial panic  which  spread  over  the  country,  all  were 
trials  to  his  wisdom.  The  financial  distress  was  at- 
tributed to  the  management  of  the  Democratic  party, 
and  brought  the  President  into  such  disfavor  that  he 
failed  of  re-election. 

With  the  exception  of  being  nominated  for  the 
Presidency  by  the  "Free  Soil"  Democrats,  in  1848, 
Mr.  Van  Buren  lived  quietly  upon  his  estate  until 
his  death. 

He  had  ever  been  a  prudent  man,  of  frugal  habits, 
and  living  within  his  income,  had  now  fortunately  a 
competence  for  his  declining  years.  His  unblemished 
character,  his  commanding  abilities,  his  unquestioned 
patriotism,  and  the  distinguished  positions  which  he 
had  occupied  in  the  government  of  our  country,  se- 
cured to  him  not  only  the  homage  of  his  party,  but 
the  respect  ot  the  whole  community.  It  was  on  the 
4th  of  March,  1841,  that  Mr.  Van  Buren  retired  from 
the  presidency.  From  his  fine  estate  at  Lindenwald, 
he  still  exerted  a  powerfulinfluence  upon  the  politics 
of  the  country.  From  this  time  until  his  death,  on 
the  24th  of  July,  1862,  at  (he  age  of  eighty  years,  he 
resided  at  Lindenwald,  a  gentleman  of  leisure,  of 
culture  and  of  wealth;  enjoying  in  a  healthy  old 
age,  probably  far  more  happiness  than  he  had  before 
experienced  amid  the  stormv  scenes  of  his  active  life- 


NINTH  PRESIDENT. 


WILLIAM.   HENRY    HARRISO.N. 


ILLIAM  HENRY  HARRI- 
SON, the  ninth   President  of 
the   United  States,  was  born 
at  Berkeley,  Va.,  Feb.  9, 1773. 
His  father,   Benjamin   Harri- 
son, was  in  comparatively  op- 
ulent circumstances,  and  was 
one  of  the  most  distinguished 
men  of  his  day.      He  was  an 
intimate    friend    of     George 
Washington,  \\  as  early  elected 
a  member  of  the  Continental 
Congress,    and  was    conspicuous 
among  the  patriots  of  Virginia  in 
resisting  the  encroachments  of  the 
British  crown.     In  the  celebrated 
Congress  of  1775,  Benjamin  Har- 
rison   and   John    Hancock   were 
both  candidates  for  the  office  of 
speaker. 

Mr  Harrison  was  subsequently 
chosen  Governor  of  Virginia,  and 
was  twice    re-elected.       His  son, 
j  William  Henry,  of  course  enjoyed 

in  childhood  all  the  advantages  which  wealth  and 
intellectual  and  cultivated  society  could  give.  Hav- 
ing received  a  thorough  common-school  education,  he 
entered  Hampden  Sidney  College,  where  he  graduated 
with  honor  soon  after  the  death  of  his  father.  He 
then  repaired  to  Philadelphia  to  study  medicine  under 
the  instructions  of  Dr.  Rush  and  the  guardianship  of 
Robert  Morris,  both  of  whom  were,  with  his  father, 
signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 

Upon  the  outbreak  of  the  Indian  troubles,  and  not- 
withstanding the  Tainonstrances  of  his  friends,  he 
abandoned  his  medical  studies  and  entered  the  army, 
.laving  obtained  n  commission  of  Ensign  from  Presi- 


dent Washington.  He  was  then  but  19  years  old 
From  that  time  he  passed  gradually  upward  in  rank 
until  he  became  aid  to  General  Wayne,  after  whose 
death  he  resigned  his  commission.  He  was  then  ap- 
pointed Secretary  of  the  North-western  Territory.  This 
Territory  was  then  entitled  to  but  one  member  in 
Congress  and  Capt.  Harrison  was  chosen  to  fill  that 
position. 

In  the  spring  of  1800  the  North-western  Territory 
was  divided  by  Congress  into  two  portions.  The 
eastern  portion,  comprising  the  region  now  embraced 
in  the  State  of  Ohio,  was  called  "  The  Territory 
north-west  of  the  Ohio."  The  western  portion,  which 
included  what  is  now  called  Indiana,  Illinois  and 
Wisconsin,  was  called  the  "Indiana  Territory."  Wil. 
liam  Henry  Harrison,  then  27  years  of  age,  was  ap 
pointed  by  John  Adams,  Governor  of  the  Indiana 
Territory,  and  immediately  after,  also  Governor  of 
Upper  Louisiana.  He  was  thus  ruler  over  almost  as 
extensive  a  realm  as  any  sovereign  upon  the  globe.  He 
was  Superintendent  of  Indian  Affairs,  and  was  in- 
vested with  powers  nearly  dictatorial  over  the  now 
rapidly  increasing  white  population.  The  ability  and 
fidelity  with  which  he  discharged  these  responsible 
duties  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  he  was  four 
times  appointed  to  this  office — first  by  John  Adams, 
twice  by  Thomas  Jefferson  and  afterwards  by  Presi- 
dent Madison. 

When  he  began  his  adminstration  there  were  but 
three  white  settlements  in  that  almost  boundless  region, 
now  crowded  with  cities  and  resounding  with  all  the 
tumult  of  wealth  and  traffic.  One  of  these  settlements 
was  on  the  Ohio,  nearly  opposite  Louisville;  one  at 
Vincennes,  on  the  Wabash,  and  the  third  a  French 
settlement. 

The  vast  wilderness  over  which  Gov.  Harrison 
reigned  was  filled  with  many  tribes  of  Indians.  Abon' 


WILLIAM  HENRY  HARRISON. 


the  year  1806,  two  extraordinary  men,  twin  brothers, 
of  the  Shawnese  tribe,  rose  among  them.  Or.e  of 
these  was  called  Tecumseh,  or  "  The  Crouching 
Panther;"  the  other,  Olliwacheca,  or  "The  Prophet." 
Tecumseh  was  not  only  an  Indian  warrior,  but  a  man 
of  great  sagacity,  far-reaching  foresight  and  indomit- 
able perseverance  in  any  enterprise  in  which  he  might 
engage.  He  was  inspired  with  the  highest  enthusiasm, 
and  had  lo:ig  regarded  with  dread  and  with  hatred 
the  encroachment  of  the  whites  upon  the  hunting- 
grounds  of  his  fathers.  His  brother,  the  Prophet,  was 
an  orator,  who  could  sway  the  feelings  of  the  untutored 
Indian  as  the  gale  tossed  the  tree -tops  beneath  which 
they  dwelt. 

But  the  Prophet  was  not  merely  an  orator :  he  was, 
in  the  superstitious  minds  of  the  Indians,  invested 
with  the  superhuman  dignity  of  a  medicine-man  or  a 
magician.  With  an  enthusiasm  unsurpassed  by  Peter 
the  Hermit  rousing  Europe  to  the  crusades,  he  went 
from  tribe  to  tribe,  assuming  that  he  was  specially  sent 
by  the  Great  Spirit. 

Gov.  Harrison  made  many  attempts  to  conciliate 
the  Indians,  but  at  last  the  war  came,  and  at  Tippe- 
canoe  the  Indians  were  routed  with  great  slaughter. 
October  28,  1812,  his  army  began  its  march.  When 
near  the  Prophet's  town  three  Indians  of  rank  made 
their  appearance  and  inquired  why' Gov.  Harruon  was 
approaching  them  in  so  hostile  an  attitude.  After  a 
short  conference,  arrangements  were  made  for  a  meet- 
ing the  next  day,  to  agree  upon  terms  of  peace. 

But  Gov.  Harrison  was  too  well  acquainted  with 
the  Indian  character  to  be  deceived  by  such  protes- 
tations Selecting  a  favorable  spot  for  his  night's  en- 
campment, he  took  every  precaution  against  surprise 
His  troops  were  posted  in  a  hollow  square,  and  slept 
upon  their  arms. 

The  troops  threw  themselves  upon  the  ground  for 
rest;  but  every  man  had  his  accoutrements  on,  his 
loaded  musket  by  his  side, and  his  bayonet  fixed.  The 
wakeful  Governor,  between  three  and  four  o'clock  in 
the  morning,  had  risen,  and  was  sitting  in  conversa- 
tion with  his  aids  by  the  embers  of  a  waning  fire.  It 
was  a  chill,  cloudy  morning  with  a  drizzling  rain.  In 
the  darkness,  the  Indians  had  crept  as  near  as  possi- 
ble, and  j'-.st  then,  with  a  savage  yell,  rushed,  with  all 
the  desperation  which  superstition  and  passion  most 
highly  inflamed  could  give,  upon  the  left  flank  of  the 
little  army.  The  savages  had  bean  amply  provided 
with  guns  and  ammunition  by  the  English.  Their 
war-whoop  was  accompained  by  a  shower  of  bullets. 

The  ca:np-fires  were  instantly  extinguished,  as  the 
light  aided  the  Indians  in  their  aim.  With  hide- 
rus  yells,  the  Indian  bands  rushed  on,  not  doubtir.g  a 
speedy  and  an  entire  victory.  But  Gen.  Harrison's 
troops  stood  as  immovable  as  the  rocks  around  them 
until  day  dawned:  they  then  made  a  simultaneous 
charge  with  the  bayonet,  and  swept  every  thing  be- 
ibre  them,  and  completely  routing  th<*  foe. 


Gov.  Harrison  now  had  all  his  energies  tasked 
to  the  utmost.  The  British  descending  from  the  Can  - 
adas,  were  of  themselves  a  very  formidable  force  ;  but 
with  their  savage  allies,  rushing  like  wolves  from  the 
forest,  searching  out  every  remote  farm-house,  burn- 
ing, plundering,  scalping,  torturing,  the  wide  frontier 
was  plunged  into  a  state  of  consternation  which  even 
the  most  vivid  imagination  can  but  faintly  conceive. 
The  war-whoop  was  resounding  everywhere  in  the 
forest.  The  horizon  was  illuminated  with  the  conflagra- 
tion of  the  cabins  of  the  settlers.  Gen  Hull  had  made 
the  ignominious  surrender  of  his  forces  at  Detroit. 
Under  these  despairing  circumstances,  Gov.  Harrison 
was  appointed  by  President  Madison  commander-in- 
chief  of  the  North-western  army,  with  orders  to  retake 
Detroit,  and  to  protect  the  frontiers. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  place  a  man  in  a  situation 
demanding  more  energy,  sagacity  and  courage;  but 
General  Harrison  was  found  equal  to  the  position, 
and  nobly  and  triumphantly  did  he  meet  all  the  re 
sponsibilities. 

He  won  the  love  of  his  soldiers  by  always  sharing 
with  them  their  fatigue.  His  whole  baggage,  while 
pursuing  the  foe  up  the  Thames,  was  carried  in  a 
valise;  and  his  bedding  consisted  of  a  single  blanket 
lashed  over  his  saddle  Thirty-five  British  officers, 
his  prisoners  of  war,  supped  with  him  after  the  battle. 
The  only  fare  he  could  give  them  was  beef  roasted 
before  the  fire,  without  bread  or  salt. 

In  181 6,  Gen.  Harrison  was  chosen  a  member  of 
the  National  House  of  Representatives,  to  represent 
the  District  of  Ohio.  In  Congress  he  proved  an 
active  member;  and  whenever  he  spoke,  it  was  with 
force  of  reason  and  power  of  eloquence,  which  arrested 
the  attention  of  all  the  members. 

In  1819,  Harrison  was  elected  to  the  Senate  oi 
Ohio;  and  in  1824,  as  one  of  the  presidential  electors 
of  that  State,  he  gave  his  vote  for  Henry  Clay.  The 
same  year  he  was  chosen  to  the  United  States  Senate. 

In  1836,  the  friends  of  Gen.  Harrison  brought  him 
forward  as  a  candidate  for  the  Presidency  against 
Van  Buren,  but  he  was  defeated.  At  the  close  of 
Mr.  Van  Buren 's  term,  he  was  re-nomirated  by  his 
party,  and  Mr.  Harrison  was  unanimously  nominated 
by  the  Whigs,  with  John  Tyler  for  the  Vice  Presidency. 
The  contest  was  very  animated.  Gen  Jackson  gave 
all  his  influence  to  prevent  Harrison's  election  ;  but 
his  triumph  was  signal. 

The  cabinet  which  he  formed,  with  Daniel  Webster 
at  its  head  as  Secretary  of  State,  was  one  of  the  most 
brilliant  with  which  any  President  had  ever  been 
surrounded.  Never  were  the  prospects  of  an  admin- 
istration more  flattering,  or  the  hopes  of  the  country 
more  sanguine.  In  the  midst  of  these  bright  and 
joyous  prospects,  Gen.  Harrison  was,  seized  by  a 
pleurisv-fever  and  after  a  few  days  of  violent  sick- 
ness, died  on  the  4th  of  April ;  just  one  month  after 
his  inauguration  as  President  of  the  United  States. 


, 


TENTH  PRESIDENT. 


JDHI^PTLEE, 


OHN    TYLER,     the    tenth 
Presidentof  the  United  States. 
He  was  born  in  Charles-city 
Co.,  Va.,  March  29, 1790.  He 
was  the  favored  child   of  af- 
fluence and  high   social    po- 
sition.    At  the   early  age   of 
twelve,  John  entered  William 
and   Mary  College  and  grad- 
uated with  much  honor  when 
but  seventeen  years  old.  After 
graduating,  he  devoted  him- 
self with    great   assiduity  to   the 
study    of    law,    partly   with    his 
father   and   partly  with   Edmund 
Randolph,  one  of  the  most  distin- 
guished lawyers  of  Virginia. 

At  nineteen  years  of  age,  lie 
commenced  the  practice  of  law. 
His  success  was  rapid  and  aston- 
ishing. It  is  said  that  three 
months  had  not  elapsed  ere  there 
was  scarcely  a  case  on  the  dock- 
et  of  the  court  in  which  he  was 
i.3t  retained.  When  but  twenty-one  years  of  age,  he 
was  almost  unanimously  e'ected  to  a  seat  in  the  State 
Legislature.  He  connected  himself  with  the  Demo- 
cratic party,  and  warmly  advocated  the  measures  of 
Jefferson  and  Madison.  For  five  successive  years  he 
was  elected  to  the  Legislature,  receiving  nearly  the 
unanimous  vote  or  his  county. 

When  but  twenty-six  years  of  age,  he  was  elected 
a  member  of  Congress.  Here  he  acted  earnestly  and 
ably  with  the  Democratic  party,  opposing  a  national 
bank,  internal  improvements  by  the  General  ^ktvern- 


ment,  a  protective  tariff,  and  advocating  a  strict  con- 
struction of  the  Constitution,  and  the  most  careful 
vigilance  over  State  rights.  His  labors  in  Congress 
were  so  arduous  that  before  the  close  of  his  second 
term  he  found  it  necessary  to  resign  and  retire  to  his 
estate  in  Charles-city  Co.,  to  recruit  his  health.  He, 
however,  soon  after  consented  to  take  his  seat  in  the 
State  Legislature,  where  his  influence  was  powerful 
in  promoting  public  works  of  great  utility.  With  a 
reputation  thus  canstantly  increasing,  he  was  chosen 
by  a  very  large  majority  of  votes,  Governor  of  his 
native  State.  His  administration  was  signally  a  suc- 
cessful one.  His  popularity  secured  his  re-election. 

John  Randolph,  a  brilliant,  erratic,  half-crazed 
man,  then  represented  Virginia  in  the  Senate  of  the 
United  States.  A  portion  of  the  Democratic  party 
was  displeased  with  Mr.  Randolph's  wayward  course, 
and  brought  forward  John  Tyler  as  his  opponent, 
considering  him  the  only  man  in  Virginia  of  sufficient 
popularity  to  succeed  against  the  renowned  orator  of 
Roanoke.  Mr.  Tyler  \\asthe  victor. 

In  accordance  with  his  professions,  upon  taking  his 
seat  in  the  Senate,  he  joined  th  j  ranks  of  the  opposi- 
tion. He  opposed  the  tariff;  he  spoke  against  and 
voted  against  the  bank  as  unconstitutional ;  he  stren- 
uously opposed  all  restrictions  upon  slavery,  resist- 
ing all  projects  of  internal  improvements  by  the  Gen- 
eral Government,  and  avowed  his  sympathy  with  Mr. 
Calhoun's  view  of  nullification  ;  he  declared  that  Gen. 
Jackson,  by  his  opposition  to  the  nullifiers,  had 
abandoned  the  piinciples  of  the  Democratic  party. 
Such  was  Mr.  Tyler's  record  in  Congress, — a  record 
in  perfect  accordance  with  the  principles  which  be 
had  always  avowed. 

Returning  to  Virginia,  lie  resumed  the  practice  of 
his  profession.  There  was  a  :pl:i  in  the  Democratic 


JOHN  TYLER. 


/.arty.  His  friends  still  regarded  him  as  a  true  Jef- 
fersonian,  gave  him  a  dinner,  and  showered  compli- 
ments upon  him.  He  had  now  attained  the  age  of 
forty-six.  His  career  had  been  very  brilliant.  In  con- 
sequence of  his  devotion  to  public  business,  his  pri- 
vate affairs  had  fallen  into  some  disorder;  and  it  was 
not  without  satisfaction  that  he  resumed  the  practice 
of  law,  and  devoted  himself  to  the  culture  of  his  plan- 
tation. Soon  after  this  he  removed  to  Williamsburg, 
for  the  better  education  of  his  children  ;  and  he  again 
look  his  seat  in  the  Legislature  of  Virginia. 

By  the  Southern  Whigs,  he  was  sent  to  the  national 
convention  at  Harrisburg  to  nominate  a  President  in 
1839.  The  majority  of  votes  wer>j  given  to  Gen.  Har- 
rison, a  genuine  Whig,  much  to  the  disappointment  of 
the  South,  who  wished  for  Henry  Clay.  To  concili- 
ate the  Southern  Whigs  and  to  secure  their  vote,  the 
convention  then  nominated  John  Tyler  for  Vice  Pres- 
ident. It  was  well  known  that  he  was  not  in  sympa- 
thy with  the  Whig  party  in  the  NoUh:  but  the  Vice 
President  has  but  very  little  power  in  the  Govern- 
ment, his  main  and  almost  only  duty  being  to  pre- 
side over  the  meetings  of  the  Senate.  Thus  it  hap- 
pened that  a  Whig  President,  and,  in  reality,  a 
Democratic  Vice  President  were  chosen. 

In  1841,  Mr.  Tyler  was  inaugurated  Vice  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States.  In  one  short  month  from 
that  time,  President  Harrison  died,  and  Mr.  Tyler 
thus  -;und  himself,  to  his  own  surprise  and  that  of 
the  whole  Nation,  an  occupant  of  the  Presidential 
chair.  This  was  a  new  test  of  the  stability  of  our 
institutions,  as  it  was  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  our 
country  that  such  an  event  had  occured.  Mr.  Tyler 
was  at  home  in  Williamsburg  when  he  received  the 
unexpected  tidings  of  the  death  of  President  Harri- 
son. He  hastened  to  Washington,  and  on  the  6th  of 
April  -./as  inaugurated  to  the  high  and  responsible 
office.  He  was  placed  in  a  position  of  exceeding 
delicacy  and  difficulty.  All  his  long  life  he  had  been 
opposed  to  the  main  principles  of  the  party  which  had 
brought  him  into  power.  He  had  ever  been  a  con- 
sistent, honest  man,  with  an  unblemished  record. 
Gen.  Harrison  had  selected  a  Whig  cabinet.  Should 
he  retain  them,  and  thus  surround  himself  with  coun- 
sellors whose  views  were  antagonistic  to  his  own?  or, 
on  the  other  hand,  should  he  turn  against  the  party 
which  had  elected  him  and  select  a  cabinet  in  har- 
mony with  himself,  and  which  would  oppose  all  those 
views  which  the  Whigs  deemed  essential  to  the  pub- 
lic welfare?  This  was  his  fearful  dilemma.  He  in- 
vited the  cabinet  which  President  Harrison  had 
selected  to  retain  their  seats.  He  reccomm:nded  a 
day  of  fasting  and  prayer,  that  God  would  guide  and 
bless  us. 

The  Whigs  carried  through  Congress  a  bill  for  the 
incor|x>ration  of  a  fiscal  bank  of  the  United  States. 
The  President,  after  ten  days'  delay,  returned  it  with 
nis  veto.  He  suggested,  however,  that  he  >vould 


approve  of  a  bill  drawn  up  upon  such  a  plan  as  he 
proposed.  Such  a  bill  was  accordingly  prepared,  and 
privately  submitted  to  him.  He  gave  it  his  approval. 
It  was  passed  without  alteration,  and  he  sent  it  back 
with  his  veto.  Here  commenced  the  open  rupture. 
It  is  said  that  Mr.  Tyler  was  provoked  to  this  meas- 
ure by  a  published  letter  from  the  Hon.  John  M. 
Bolts,  a  distinguished  Virginia  Whig,  who  severely 
touched  the  pride  of  the  President. 

The  opposition  now  exultingly  received  the  Presi- 
dent into  their  arms.  The  party  which  elected  him 
denounced  him  bitterly.  All  the  members  of  his 
cabinet,  excepting  Mr.  Webster,  resigned.  The  Whigs 
of  Congress,  both  the  Senale  and  Ihe  House,  held  a 
meeting  and  issued  an  address  to  the  people  of  the 
United  States,  proclaiming  thai  all  polilical  alliance 
between  the  Whigs  and  President  Tyler  were  at 
an  end. 

Still  Ihe  President  attempted  to  conciliate.  He 
appointed  a  new  cabinet  of  distinguished  Whigs  and 
Conservatives,  carefully  leaving  out  all  strong  party 
men.  Mr.  Webster  soon  found  it  necessary  to  resign, 
forced  out  by  the  pressure  of  his  Whig  friends.  Thus 
the  four  years  of  Mr.  Tyler's  unfortunate  administra- 
tion passed  sadly  away.  No  one  was  satisfied.  The 
land  was  filled  with  murmurs  and  vituperation.  Whigs 
and  Democrats  alike  assailed  him.  More  and  more, 
however,  he  brought  himself  into  sympathy  with  his 
old  friends,  the  Democrats,  until  atth'e  close  of  his  term, 
he  gave  his  whole  influence  to  the  support  of  Mr. 
Polk,  the  Democratic  candidate  for  his  successor. 

On  the  4th  of  March,  1845,  he  retired  from  the 
harassments  of  office,  to  the  regret  of  neitherparty,  and 
probably  to  his  own  unspeakable  iclief.  His  firsl  wife, 
Miss  Letitia  Christian,  died  in  Washington,  in  1842; 
and  in  June,  1844,  President  Tyler  was  again  married, 
at  New  York,  to  Miss  Julia  Gardiner,  a  young  lady  of 
many  personal  and  intellectual  accomplishments. 

The  remainder  of  his  days  Mr.  Tyler  passed  mainly 
in  retirement  at  his  beautiful  home, — Sherwood  For- 
est, Charles-city  Co.,  Va.  A  polished  gentleman  in 
his  manners,  richly  furnished  with  information  from 
books  and  experience  in  the  world,  and  possessing 
brilliant  powers  of  conversation,  his  family  circle  was 
the  scene  of  unusual  attractions.  With  sufficient 
means  for  the  exercise  of  a  generous  hospitality,  he 
might  have  enjoyed  a  serene  old  age  with  the  few 
friends  who  gathered  around  him,  were  it  not  for  the 
storms  of  civil  war  which  his  own  principles  and 
policy  had  helped  to  introduce. 

When  the  great  Rebellion  rose,  which  the  State 
rights  and  nullifying  doctrines  of  Mr.  John  C.  Ca\- 
houn  had  inaugurated,  President  Tyler  renounced  his 
allegiance  to  the  United  States,  and  joined  the  Confed- 
erates. He  was  chosen  a  member  of  their  Congress; 
and  while  engaged  in  active  measures  to  destroy,  b" 
force  of  arms,  the  Government  over  which  he  had 
once  presided,  he  was  taken  sick  and  soon  died. 


-fx?    Vc~  < 


ELE YEN TH  PRESIDENT. 


59 


JAMES  Ko  P013L 


AMES  K.  POLK,  the  eleventh 
President  of  the  United  States, 
was  born  in  Mecklenburg  Co., 
N.  C.,  Nov.  2,  1795.     His  par- 
ents were   Samuel   and   Jane 
(Knox)  Polk,  the  former  a  son 
of  Col.  Thomas  Polk,  who  located 
at  the  above  place,  as  one  of  the 
first  pioneers,  in  1735. 

In  the  year  1 806,  with  his  wife 
and  children,  and  soon  after  fol- 
lowed by  most  of  the   members   of 
the  Polk  fainly,  Samuel    Polk   emi- 
grated some   two   or  three  hundred 
miles  farther  west,  to  the  rich  valley 
of  the  Duck   River.      Here   in   the 
midst  of  the  wilderness,  in  a  region 
which  was  subsequently  called  Mau- 
ry  Co.,  they  reared   their  log  huts, 
and  established  their  homes.    In  the 
hard  toil  of  a  new  farm  in  the  wil- 
derness, James  K.  Polk   spent   the 
early  years  of  his   childhood   and 
youth.     His  father,  adding  the  pur- 
Suit  of  a  surveyor  to  that  of  a  farmer, 
gradually  increased  in  wealth  until 
he  became  one  of  the  leading  men  of  the  region.  His 
mother  was  a  superior  woman,  of  strong  common 
sense  and  earnest  piety. 

Very  early  in  life,  James  developed  a  taste  for 
reading  and  expressed  the  strongest  desire  to  obtain 
a  liberal  education.  His  mother's  training  had  made 
him  methodical  in  his  habits,  had  taught  him  punct- 
uality and  industry,  and  had  inspired  him  with  lofty 
principles  of  morality.  His  health  was  frail ;  and  his 
father,  fearing  that  he  might  not  be  able  to  endure  a 


sedentary  life,  got  a  situation  for  him  behind  the 
counter,  hoping  to  fit  him  for  commercial  pursuits. 

This  was  to  James  a  bitter  disappointment.  He 
had  no  taste  for  these  duties,  and  his  daily  tasks 
were  irksome  in  the  extreme.  He  remained  in  this 
uncongenial  occupation  but  a  few  weeks,  when  at  his 
earnest  solicitation  his  father  removed  him,  and  made 
arrangements  for  him  to  prosecute  his  studies.  Soon 
after  he  sent  him  to  Murfreesboro  Academy.  With 
ardor  which  could  scarcely  be  surpassed,  he  pressed 
forward  in  his  studies,  and  in  less  than  two  and  a  half 
years,  in  the  autumn  of  1815,  entered  the  sophomore 
class  in  the  University  of  North  Carolina,  at  Chapel 
Hill.  Here  he  'as  one  of  the  most  exemplary  of 
scholars,  punctual  in  every  exercise,  never  allowing 
himself  to  be  absent  from  a  recitation  or  a  religious 
service. 

He  graduated  in  1818,  with  the  highest  honors,  be« 
ing  deemed  the  best  scholar  of  his  class,  both  in 
mathematics  and  the  classics.  He  was  then  twenty- 
three  years  of  age.  Mr.  Folk's  health  was  at  this 
time  much  impaired  by  the  assiduity  with  which  he 
had  prosecuted  his  studies.  After  a  short  season  of 
relaxation  he  went  to  Nashville,  and  entered  the 
office  of  Felix  Grundy,  to  study  law.  Here  Mr.  Polk 
renewed  his  acquaintance  with  Andrew  Jackson,  who 
resided  on  his  plantation,  the  Hermitage,  but  a  few 
miles  from  Nashville.  They  had  probably  beer 
slightly  acquainted  before. 

Mr.  Folk's  father  was  a  Jeffersonian  Republican 
and  James  K.  Polk  ever  adhered  to  the  same  politi- 
cal faith.  He  was  a  popular  public  speaker,  and  was 
constantly  called  upon  to  address  the  meetings  of  his 
party  friends.  His  skill  as  a  speaker  was  such  that 
he  was  popularly  called  the  Napoleon  of  the  stump. 
He  was  a  man  of  unblemished  morals,  genial  and 


6o 


JAMES  K.  POLK. 


courterus  in  his  bearing,  and  with  that  sympathetic 
nature  in  the  jo>  s  and  griefs  of  others  which  ever  gave 
him  troops  of  friends.  In  1823,  Mr.  Polk  was  elected 
to  the  Legislature  of  Tennessee.  Here  he  gave  his 
strong  influence  towards  the  election  of  his  friend, 
Mr.  Jackson,  to  the  Presidency  of  the  United  States. 

In  January,  1824,  Mr.  Polk  married  Miss  Sarah 
Childress,  of  Rutherford  Co.,  Tenn.  His  bride  was 
altogether  worthy  of  him, — a  lady  of  beauty  and  cul- 
ture. In  the  fall  of  1825,  Mr.  Polk  was  chosen  a 
member  of  Congress.  The  satisfaction  which  he  gave 
to  his  constituents  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact,  that 
for  fourteen  successive  years,  until  1839,  he  was  con- 
tinued in  that  office.  He  then  voluntarily  withdrew, 
only  that  he  might  accept  the  Gubernatorial  chair 
of  Tennessee.  In  Congress  he  was  a  laborious 
member,  a  frequent  and  a  popular  speaker.  He  was 
always  in  his  seat,  always  courteous ;  and  whenever 
he  spoke  it  was  always  to  the  point,  and  without  any 
ambitious  rhetorical  display. 

During  five  sessions  of  Congress,  Mr.  Polk  was 
Speaker  of  the  House  Strong  passions  were  roused, 
and  stormy  scenes  were  witnessed  ;  but  Mr.  Polk  per- 
formed his  arduous  duties  to  a  very  general  satisfac- 
tion, and  a  unanimous  vote  of  thanks  to  him  was 
passed  by  the  House  as  he  withdrew  on  the  4th  of 
March,  1839. 

In  accordance  with  Southern  usage,  Mr.  Polk,  as  a 
candidate  for  Governor,  canvassed  the  State.  He  was 
elected  by  a  large  majority,  and  on  the  i4th  of  Octo- 
ber, 1839,  took  the  oath  of  office  at  Nashville.  In  1841, 
his  term  of  office  expired,  and  he  was  again  the  can- 
didate of  the  Democratic  party,  but  was  defeated. 

On  the  4th  of  March,  1845,  Mr.  Polk  was  inaugur- 
ated President  of  the  United  States.  The  verdict  of 
the  country  in  favor  of  the  annexation  of  Texas,  exerted 
its  influence  upon  Congress  ;  and  the  last  act  of  the 
administration  of  President  Tyler  was  to  affix  his-sig- 
nature  to  a  joint  resolution  of  Congress,  passed  on  the 
^d  of  March,  approving  of  the  annexation  of  Texas  to 
the  American  Union.  As  Mexico  still  claimed  Texas 
as  one  of  her  provinces,  the  Mexican  minister, 
Almonte,  immediately  demanded  his  passports  and 
left  the  country,  declaring  the  act  of  the  annexation 
to  be  an  act  hostile  to  Mexico. 

In  his  first  message,  President  Polk  urged  that 
Texas  should  immediately,  by  act  of  Congress,  be  re- 
ceived into  the  Union  on  the  same  footing  with  the 
other  States.  In  the  meantime,  Gen.  Taylor  was  sent 


with  an  army  into  Texas  to  hold  the  country.  He  was 
sent  first  to  Nueces,  which  the  Mexicans  said  was  the 
western  boundary  of  Texas.  Then  he  was  sent  nearly 
two  hundred  miles  further  west,  to  the  Rio  Grande, 
where  he  erected  batteries  which  commanded  the 
Mexican  city  of  Matamoras,  which  was  situated  on 
the  western  banks. 

The  anticipated  collision  soon  took  place,  and  wa: 
was  declared  against  Mexico  by  President  Polk.  Tht 
war  was  pushed  forward  by  Mr.  Folk's  administration 
with  great  vigor.  Gen.  Taylor,  whose  army  was  first 
called  one  of  "observation,"  then  of  "occupation," 
then  of  "  invasion,  "was  sent  forward  to  Monterey.  The 
feeble  Mexicans,  in  every  encounter,  were  hopelessly 
and  awfully  slaughtered.  The  day  of  judgement 
alone  can  reveal  the  misery  which  this  war  caused. 
It  was  by  the  ingenuity  of  Mr.  Polk's  administration 
that  the  war  was  brought  on. 

'To  the  victors  belong  the  spoils."  Mexico  was 
prostrate  before  us.  Her  capital  was  in  our  hands.  • 
We  now  consented -to  peace  upon  the  condition  that 
Mexico  should  surrender  to  us,  in  addition  to  Texas, 
all  of  New  Mexico,  and  all  of  Upper  and  Lower  Cal- 
ifornia. This  new  demand  embraced,  exclusive  of 
Texas,  eight  hundred  thousand  square  miles.  This 
was  an  extent  of  territory  equal  to  nine  States  of  the 
size  of  New  York.  Thus  slavery  was  securing  eighteen 
majestic  States  to  be  added  to  the  Union.  There  were 
some  Americans  who  thought  it  all  right :  there  were 
others  who  thought  it  all  wrong.  In  the  prosecution 
of  this  war,  we  expended  twenty  thousand  lives  and 
more  than  a  hundred  million  of  dollars.  Of  this 
money  fifteen  millions  were  paid  to  Mexico. 

On  the  3d  of  March,  1849,  Mr.  Polk  retired  from 
office,  having  served  one  term.  The  next  day  was 
Sunday.  On  the  5th,  Gen.  Taylor  was  inaugurated 
as  his  successor.  Mr.  Polk  rode  to  the  Capitol  in  the 
same  carriage  with  Gen.  Taylor;  and  the  same  even- 
ing, with  Mrs.  Polk,  he  commenced  his  return  to 
Tennessee.  He  was  then  but  fifty-four  years  of  age. 
He  had  ever  been  strictly  temperate  in  all  his  habits, 
and  his  health  was  good.  With  an  ample  fortune, 
a  choice  library,  a  cultivated  mind,  and  domestic  ties 
of  the  dearest  nature,  it  seemed  as  though  long  years 
of  tranquility  and  happiness  were  before  him.  But  the 
cholera — that  fearful  scourge — was  then  sweeping  up 
the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi.  This  he  contracted, 
and  died  on  the  151)1  of  June,  1849,  in  the  fiftv-fourth 
year  of  his  age,  greatly  mourned  by  his  countrymen. 


I 


TWELFTH  PRESIDENT. 


ACHARY  TAYLOR,  twelfth 
President  of  the  United  States, 
'was  born  on  the  24th  of  Nov., 
1784,  in  Orange  Co.,  Va.  His 
father,  Colonel  Taylor,  was 
a  Virginian  of  note,  and  a  dis- 
tinguished  patriot  and  soldier  of 
the  Revolution.  When  Zachary 
was  an  infant,  his  father  with  his 
wife  and  two  children,  emigrated 
to  Kentucky,  where  he  settled  in 
the  pathless  wilderness,  a  few 
miles  from  Louisville.  In  this  front- 
ier home,  away  from  civilization  and 
all  its  refinements,  young  Zachary 
could  enjoy  but  few  social  and  educational  advan- 
tages. When  six  years  of  age  he  attended  a  common 
school,  and  was  then  regarded  as  a  bright,  active  boy, 
rather  remarkable  for  bluntness  and  decision  of  char- 
acter He  was  strong,  feailess  and  self-reliant,  and 
manifested  a  strong  desire  to  enter  the  army  to  fight 
the  Indians  who  were  ravaging  the  frontiers.  There 
is  little  to  be  recorded  of  the  uneventful  years  of  his 
childhood  on  his  father's  large  but  lonely  plantation. 
In  1808,  his  father  succeeded  in  obtaining  for  him 
the  commission  of  lieutenant  in  the  United  States 
army ;  and  he  joined  the  troops  which  were  stationed 
at  New  Orleans  under  Gen.  Wilkinson.  Soon  after 
this  he  married  Miss  Margaret  Smith,  a  young  lady 
from  one  of  the  first  families  of  Maryland. 

Immediately  after  the  declaration  of  war  with  Eng- 
land, in  1812,  Capt.  Taylor  (for  he  had  then  been 
promoted  to  that  rank)  was  put  in"  command  of  Fort 
Harrison,  on  the  Wabash,  about  fifty  miles  above 
Vincennes.  This  fort  had  been  built  in  the  wilder- 
ness by  Gen.  Harrison.on  his  march  to  Tippecanoe. 
It  was  one  of  the  first  points  of  attack  by  the  Indians, 
led  by  Tecumseh.  Its  garrison  consisted  of  a  broken 


company  of  infantry  numbering   fifty  men,    many  of 
whom  were  sick. 

Early  in  the  autumn  of  1812,  the  Indians,  stealthily, 
and  in  large  numbers,  moved  upon  the  fort.  Their 
approach  was  first  indicated  by  the  murder  of  two 
soldiers  just  outside  of  the  stockade.  Capt.  Taylor 
made  every  possible  preparation  to  meet  the  antici- 
pated assault.  On  the  4th  of  September,  a  band  of 
forty  painted  and  plumed  savages  came  to  the  fort, 
waving  a  white  flag,  and  informed  Capt.  Taylor  that 
in  the  morning  their  chief  would  con.e  to  have  a  talk 
with  him.  It  was  evident  that  their  object  was  merely 
to  ascertain  the  state  of  things  at  the  fort,  and  Capt.' 
Taylor,  well  versed  in  the  wiles  of  the  savages,  kept 
them  at  a  distance. 

The  sun  went  down  ;  the  savages  disappeared,  the 
garrison  slept  upon  their  arms.  One  hour  before 
mid  night  the  war  whoop  burst  from  a  thousand  lips 
in  the  forest  around,  followed  by  the  discharge  of 
musketry,  and  the  rush  of  the  foe.  Every  man,  sick 
and  well,  sprang  to  his  post.  Every  man  knew  that 
defeat  was  not  merely  death,  but  in  the  case  of  cap- 
ture, death  by  the  most  agonizing  and  prolonged  tor- 
ture. No  pen  can  describe,  no  immagination  can 
conceive  the  scenes  which  ensued.  The  savages  suc- 
ceeded in  setting  lire  to  one  of  the  block-houses- 
Until  six  o'clock  in  the  morning,  this  awful  conflict 
continued.  The  savages  then,  baffled  at  every  point, 
and  gnashing  their  teeth  with  rage,  retired.  Capt. 
Taylor,  for  this  gallant  defence,  was  promoted  to  the 
rank  of  major  by  brevet. 

Until  the  close  of  the  war,  Major  Taylor  was  placed 
in  such  situations  that  he  saw  but  little  more  of  active, 
service.  He  was  sent  far  away  into  the  depths  of  the 
wilderness,  to  Fort  Crawford,  on  Fox  River,  which 
empties  into  Green  Bay.  Here  there  was  but  little 
to  be  done  but  to  wear  away  the  tedious  hours  as  one 
best  could.  There  were  no'  books,  no  society,  no  in- 


ZACHARY  TAYLOR 


llectuai  stimulus.  Thus  with  him  the  uneventful 
:ars  rolled  on  Gradually  he  rose  to  the  rank  of 
ilonel.  In  the  Black-Hawk  war,  which  resulted  in 
e  capture  of  that  renowned  chieftain,  Col  Taylor 
ok  a  subordinate  but  a  brave  and  efficient  part. 
For  twenty-four  years  Col.  Taylor  was  engaged  in 
e  defence  of  the  frontiers,  in  scenes  so  remote,  and  in 
nployments  so  obscure,  that  his  name  was  unknown 
:yond  the  limits  of  his  own  immediate  acquaintance, 
i  the  year  1836,  he  was  sent  to  Florida  to  compel 
e  Seminole  Indians  to  vacate  that  region  and  re- 
pe  beyond  the  Mississippi,  as  their  chiefs  by  treaty, 
ic1  promised  they  should  do.  The  services  rendered 
:;e  secured  for  Col.  Taylor  the  high  appreciation  of 
e  Government;  and  as  a  reward,  he  was  elevated 
;he  rank  of  brigadier-general  by  brevet ;  and  soon 
ter,  in  May,  1838,  was  appointed  to  the  chief  com- 
and  of  the  United  States  troops  in  Florida. 
After  two  years  of  such  wearisome  employment 
nidst  the  everglades  of  the  peninsula,  Gen.  Taylor 
itained,  at  his  own  request,  a  change  of  command, 
id  was  stationed  over  the  Department  of  the  South- 
;sr.  This  field  embraced  Louisiana,  Mississippi, 
abama  and  Georgia.  Establishing  his  headquarters 
Fort  Jessup,  in  Louisiana,  he  removed  his  family 
a  plantation  which  he  purchased,  near  Baton  Rogue, 
ere  he  remained  for  five  years,  buried,  as  it  were, 
>m  the  world,  but  faithfully  discharging  every  duty 
iposed  upon  him. 

In  1846,  Gen.  Taylor  was  sent  to  guard  the  land 
itween  the  Nueces  and  Rio  Grande,  the  latter  river 
:tng  the  boundary  of  Texas,  which  was  then  claimed 
the  United  States.  Soon  the  war  with  Mexico 
is  brought  on,  and  at  Palo  Alto  and  Resaca  de  la 
lima,  Gen.  Taylor  won  brilliant  victories  over  the 
cxicans.  The  rank  of  major-general  by  brevet 
is  then  conferred  upon  Gen.  Taylor,  and  his  name 
is  received  with  enthusiasm  almost  everywhere  in 
e  Nation.  Then  came  the  battles  of  Monterey  and 
aena  Vista  in  which  he  won  signal  victories  over 
rces  much  larger  than  he  commanded. 
His  careless  habits  of  dress  and  his  unaffected 
nplicity,  secured  for  Gen.  Taylor  among  his  troops, 
e  sobriquet  of  "Old  Rough  and  Ready.' 
The  tidings  of  the  brilliant  victory  of  Buena  Vista 
•read  the  wildest  enthusiasm  over  the  country.  The 
ime  of  Gen.  Taylor  was  on  every  one's  lips.  The 
hig  party  decided  to  take  advantage  of  this  wonder- 
1  popularity  in  bringing  forward  the  unpolished,  un- 
bred, honest  soldier  as  their  candidate  for  the 
•esidency.  Gen.  Taylor  was  astonished  at  the  an- 
luncement, and  for  a  time  would  not  listen  toil;  de- 
firing  that  he  was  notatal!  qualified  for  such  an 
See.  So  little  interest  had  he  taken  in  politics  that, 
r  forty  years,  he  had  net  cast  a  vote.  It  was  not 
thout  chagrin  that  several  distinguished  statesmen 
bo  had  been  long  years  in  the  public  service  found 
sir  claims  set  aside  in  behalf  of  one  whose  name 


had  never  been  heard  of,  save  in  connection  with  Palo 
Alto,  Resaca  de  la  Palma,  Monterey  and  Buena 
Vista.  It  is  said  that  Daniel  Webster,  in  his  haste  re- 
marked, "  It  is  a.  nomination  not  fit  to  be  made." 

Gen.  Taylor  was  not  an  eloquent  speaker  nor  a  fine 
writer  His  friends  took  possession  of  him,  and  pre- 
pared such  few  communications  as  it  was  needful 
should  be  presented  to  the  public.  The  popularity  of 
the  successful  warrior  swept  the  land.  He  was  tri- 
umphantly elected  over  two  opposing  candidates, — 
Gen.  Cass  and  Ex-President  Martin  Van  Buren. 
Though  he  selected  an  excellent  cabinet,  the  good 
old  man  found  himself  in  a  very  uncongenial  position, 
and  was,  at  times,  sorely  perplexed  and  harassed. 
His  mental  sufferings  were  very  severe,  and  probably 
tended  to  hasten  his  death.  The  pro-slavery  party 
was  pushing  its  claims  with  tireless  energy ,  expedi- 
tions were  fitting  out  to  capture  Cuba  ;  California  was 
pleading  for  admission  to  the  Union,  while  slavery 
stood  at  the  door  to  bar  her  out.  Gen.  Taylor  found 
the  political  conflicts  in  Washington  to  be  far  more 
trying  to  the  nerves  than  battles  with  Mexicans  or 
Indians 

In  the  midst  of  all  these  troubles,  Gen.  Taylor, 
after  he  had  occupied  the  Presidential  chair  but  little 
over  a  year,  took  cold,  and  after  a  brief  sickness  of 
but  little  over  five  days,  died  on  the  pth  of  July,  1850. 
His  last  woids  were,  "  I  am  not  afraid  to  die.  I  am 
ready.  I  have  endeavored  to  do  my  duty."  He  died 
universally  respected  and  beloved.  An  honest,  un- 
pretending man,  he  had  been  steadily  growing  in  the 
affections  of  the  people ;  and  the  Nation  bitterly  la- 
mented his  death. 

Gen.  Scott,  who  was  thoroughly  acquainted  with 
Gen.  Taylor,  gave  the  following  graphic  and  truthful 
description  of  his  character: — "  With  a  good  store  of 
common  sense,  Gen.  Taylor's  mind  had  not  been  en- 
larged and  refreshed  by  reading,  or  much  converse 
with  the  world.  Rigidity  of  ideas  was  the  conse- 
quence. The  frontiers  and  small  military  posts  had 
been  his  home.  Hence  he  was  quite  ignorant  for  his 
rank,  and  quite  bigoted  in  his  ignorance.  His  sim- 
plicity was  child-like,  and  with  innumerable  preju- 
dices, amusing  and  incorrigible,  well  suited  to  the 
tender  age.  Thus,  if  a  man,  however  respectable, 
chanced  to  wear  a  coat  of  an  unusual  color,  or  his  hat 
a  little  on  one  side  of  his  head ;  or  an  officer  to  leave 
a  corner  of  his  handkerchief  dangling  from  an  out* 
side  pocket, — in  any  such  case,  this  critic  held  the 
offender  to  be  a  coxcomb  (perhaps  something  worse), 
whom  he  would  not,  to  use  his  oft  repeated  phrase, 
'  touch  with  a  pair  of  tongs.' 

"Any  allusion  to  literature  beyond  good  old  Dil- 
worth's  spelling-book,  on  the  part  of  one  wearing  a 
sword,  was  evidence,  with  the  same  judge,  of  utter 
unfitness  for  heavy  marchings  and  combats.  In  shot* 
few  men  have  ever  had  a  more  comfortable,  *•>>«»,. 
saving  contempt  for  learning  of  every  kind.' 


. 


THIRTEENTH  PRESIDENT. 


ILLARD  FILLMORE,  thir- 
teenth President  of  the  United 
States,   was  born  at  Summer 
Hill,  Cayuga  Co.,   N.  Y  .,  on 
the  yth  of  January,  1800.  His 
father  was  a  farmer,  and  ow- 
ing to  misfortune,  in  humble  cir- 
cumstances.    Of  his  mother,  the 
daughter  of  Dr.  AbiatharMillard, 
of  Pittsfield,  Mass.,  it   has  been 
said  that  she  possessed  an  intellect 
of  very  high  order,  united  with  much 
personal  loveliness,  sweetness  of  dis- 
position, graceful  manners  and   ex- 
quisite sensibilities.      She   died   in 
1831 ;  having  lived  to  see  her  son  a 
•  '        young  man  of  distinguished    prom- 

ise, though  she  was  not  permitted  to  witness  the  high 
dignity  which  he  finally  attained. 

In  consequence  of  the  secluded  home  and  limited 
means  of  his  father,  Millard  enjoyed  but  slender  ad- 
vantages for  education  in  his  early  years.  The  com- 
mon schools,  which  he  occasionally  attended  were 
very  imperfect  institutions;  and  books  were  scarce 
and  expensive.  There  was  nothing  then  in  his  char- 
acter to  indicate  the  brilliant  career  upon  which  he 
was  about  to  enter.  He  was  a  plain  farmer's  boy ; 
intelligent,  good-looking,  kind-hearted.  The  sacred 
influences  of  home  had  taught  him  to  revere  the  Bible, 
and  had  laid  the  foundations  of  an  upright  character. 
When  fourteen  years  of  age,  his  father  sent  him 
some  hundred  miles  from  home,  to  the  then  wilds  of 
Livingston  County,  to  learn  the  trade  of  a  clothier. 
Near  the  mill  there  was  a  small  villiage,  where  some 


enterprising  man  had  commenced  the  collection  of  a 
village  library.  This  proved  an  inestimable  blessing 
to  young  Fillmore.  His  evenings  were  spent  in  read- 
ing. Soon  every  leisure  moment  was  occupied  with 
books.  His  thirst  for  knowledge  became  insatiate 
and  the  selections  which  he  made  were  continually 
more  elevating  and  instructive.  He  read  history, 
biography,  oratory,  and  thus  gradually  there  was  en- 
kindled in  his  heart  a  desire  to  be  something  more 
than  a  mere  worker  with  his  hands;  and  he  was  be- 
coming, almost  unknown  to  himself,  a  well-informed, 
educated  man. 

The  young  clothier  had  now  attained  the  age  of 
nineteen  years,  and  was  of  fine  personal  appearance 
and  of  gentlemanly  demeanor.  It  so  happened  tha'. 
there  was  a  gentleman  in  the  neighborhood  of  ample 
pecuniary  means  and  of  benevolence, — Judge  Walter 
Wood, — who  was  struck  with  the  prepossessing  an- 
pearance  of  young  Fillmore.  He  made  his  acquaint- 
ance, and  was  so  much  impressed  with  his  ability  and 
attainments  that  he  advised  him  to  abandon  his 
trade  and  devote  himself  to  the  study  of  the  law.  The 
young  man  replied,  that  he  had  no  means  of  his  own, 
r.o  friends  to  help  him  and  that  his  previous  educa- 
tion had  been  very  imperfect.  But  Judge  Wood  had 
so  much  confidence  in  him  that  he  kindly  offered  to 
take  him  into  his  own  office,  and  to  loan  him  such 
money  as  he  needed.  Most  gratefully  the  generous 
offer  was  accepted. 

There  is  in  many  minds  a  strange  delusion  about 
a  collegiate  education.  A  young  man  is  supposed  to 
be  liberally  educated  if  he  has  graduated  at  some  col- 
lege. But  many  a  boy  loiters  through  university  hal! : 
ind  then  enters  a  law  office,  who  is  by  no  means  as 


MILLARD  FILLMORE. 


well  prepared  to  prosecute  his  legal  studies  as  was 
Millard  Fillmore  when  he  graduated  at  the  clothing- 
mill  at  the  end  of  four  years  of  manual  labor,  during 
which  every  leisure  moment  had  been  devoted  to  in- 
tense mental  culture. 

In  1823,  when  twenty-three  years  of  age,  he  was 
admitted  to  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas.  He  then 
went  to  the  village  of  Aurora,  and  commenced  the 
practice  of  law.  In  this  secluded,  peaceful  region, 
his  practice  of  course  was  limited,  and  there  was  no 
opportunity  for  a  sudden  rise  in  fortune  or  in  fame. 
Here,  in  the  year  1826,  he  married  a  lady  of  great 
moral  worth,  and  one  capable  of  adorning  any  station 
she  might  be  called  to  fill, — Miss  Abigail  Powers. 

His  elevation  of  character,  his  untiring  industry, 
his  legal  acquirements,  and  his  skill  as  an  advocate, 
gradually  attracted  attention  ;  and  he  was  invited  to 
enter  into  partnership  under  highly  advantageous 
circumstances,  with  an  elder  member  of  the  bar  in 
Buffalo.  Just  before  removing  to  Buffalo,  in  1829, 
he  took  his  seat  in  the  House  of  Assembly,  of  the 
State  of  New  York,  as  a  representative  from  Erie 
County.  Though  he  had  never  taken  a  very  active 
part  in  politics,  his  vote  and  his  sympathies  were  with 
the  Whig  party.  The  State  was  then  Democratic, 
and  he  found  himself  in  a  helpless  minority  in  the 
Legislature ,  still  the  testimony  comes  from  all  parties, 
that  his  courtesy,  ability  and  integrity,  won,  to  a  very 
unusual  degn  e  the  respect  of  his  associates. 

In  the  autumn  of  1832,  he  was  elected  to  a  seat  in 
the  United  States  Congress  He  entered  that  troubled 
irena  in  some  of  the  most  tumultuous  hours  of  our 
national  history.  The  great  conflict  respecting  the 
national  bank  and  the  removal  of  the  deposits,  was 
then  raging. 

His  term  of  two  years  closed  ;  and  he  returned  to 
his  profession,  which  he  pursued  with  increasing  rep- 
utation and  success.  After  a  lapse  of  two  years 
he  again  became  a  candidate  for  Congress ;  was  re- 
elected,  and  took  his  seat  in  1837.  His  past  expe- 
rience as  a  representative  gave  him  stiength  and 
confidence.  The  first  term  of  service  in  Congress  to 
any  man  can  be  but  little  more  than  an  introduction. 
He  was  now  prepared  for  active  duty.  All  his  ener- 
gies were  brought  to  bear  upon  the  public  good.  Every 
measure  received  his  impress. 

Mr.  Fillmore  was  now  a  man  of  wide  repute,  and 
his  popularity  filled  the  State,  and  in  the  year  1847, 
he  was  elected  Comptroller  of  the  State. 


Mr.  Fillmore  had  attained  the  age  of  forty-seven 
years.  His  labors  at  the  bar,  in  the  Legislature,  in 
Congress  and  as  Comptroller,  had  given  him  very  con- 
siderable fame.  The  Whigs  were  casting  about  to 
find  suitable  candidates  for  President  and  Vice-Presi- 
dent  at  the  approaching  election.  Far  away,  on  the 
waters  of  the  Rio  Grande,  there  was  a  rough  old 
soldier,  who  had  fought  one  or  two  successful  battles 
with  the  Mexicans,  which  had  caused  his  name  to  be 
proclaimed  in  tiumpet-tones  all  over  the  land.  But 
it  was  necessary  to  associate  with  him  on  the  same 
ticket  some  man  of  reputation  as  a  statesman. 

Under  the  influence  of  these  considerations,  the 
namesof  Zachary  Taylor  and  Millard  Fillmore  became 
the  rallying-cry  of  the  Whigs,  as  their  candidates  for 
President  and  Vice-Peesident.  The  Whig  ticket  was 
signally  triumphant.  On  the  4th  of  March,  1849, 
Gen.  Taylor  was  inaugurated  President,  and  Millard 
Fillmore  Vice-President,  of  the  United  States. 

On  the  9th  of  July,  1850,  President  Taylor,  but 
about  one  year  and  four  months  after  his  inaugura 
tion,  was  suddenly  taken  sick  and  died.  By  the  Con- 
stitution, Vice-President  Fillmore  thus  became  Presi- 
dent. He  appointed  a  very  able  cabinet,  of  which 
the  illustrious  Daniel  Webster  was  Secretary  of  State. 

Mr.  Fillmore  had  very  serious  difficulties  to  contend 
with,  since  the  opposition  had  a  majority  in  both 
Houses.  He  did  everything  in  his  power  to  conciliate 
the  South  ;  but  the  pro-slavery  party  in  the  South  felt 
the  inadequacy  of  all  measures  of  transient  conciliation. 
The  population  of  the  free  States  was  so  rapidly  in- 
creasing over  that  of  the  slave  States  that  it  was  in-' 
evitable  that  the  power  of  the  Government  should 
soon  pass  into  the  hands  of  the  free  States.  The 
famous  com  promise  measures  were  adopted  under  Mr. 
Fillmcre's  adminstration,  and  the  Japan  Expedition 
was  sent  out.  On  the  4th  of  March,  1853,  Mr.  Fill- 
more,  having  served  one  term,  retired. 

In  1856,  Mr.  Fillmore  was  nominated  for  the  Pres- 
idency by  the  "  Know  Nothing  "  party,  but  was  beaten 
by  Mr.  Buchanan.  After  that  Mr.  Fillmore  lived  in 
retirement.  During  the  terrible  conflict  of  civil  war, 
he  was  mostly  silent.  It  was  generally  supposed  that 
his  sympathies  were  rather  with  those  who  were  en- 
deavoring to  overthrow  our  institutions.  President 
Fillmore  kept  aloof  from  the  conflict,  without  any 
cordial  words  of  cheer  to  the  one  party  or  the  other. 
He  was  thus  forgotten  by  both.  He  lived  to  a  ripe 
old  age,  and  died  in  Buffalo.  N.  Y.,  March  8,  1874. 


. 


FOURTEENTH  PRESIDENT. 


RANKLIN    PIERCE,   the 
fourteenth   President  of  the 
'  United  States,  was  born  in 
Hillsborough,   N.    H.,    Nov. 
23,  1804.     His  father  was  a 
Revolutionary   soldier,   who, 
with   his   own    strong    arm, 
hewed   out  a   home  in   the 
wilderness.     He  was  a  man 
of    inflexible    integrity;     of 
strong,  though   uncultivated 
mind,  and  an  uncompromis- 
ing Democrat.      The   mother  of 
Franklin  Pierce  was  all  that  a  son 
could  desire, — an  intelligent,  pru- 
dent, affectionate,  Christian  wom- 
an.    Franklin  was  the  sixth  of  eight  children. 

Franklin  was  a  very  bright  and  handsome  boy,  gen- 
erous, warm-hearted  and  brave.  He  won  alike  the 
love  of  old  and  young.  The  boys  on  the  play  ground 
loved  him.  His  teachers  loved  him.  The  neighbors 
looked  upon  him  with  pride  and  affection.  He  was 
by  instinct  a  gentleman;  always  speakingkind  words, 
doing  kind  deeds,  with  a  peculiar  unstudied  tact 
which  taught  him  what  was  agreeable.  Without  de- 
veloping any  precocity  of  genius,  or  any  unnatural 
devotion  to  books,  he  was  a  good  scholar ;  in  body, 
in  mind,  in  affections,  a  finely-developed  boy. 

When  sixteen  years  of  age,  in  the  year  1820,  he 
entered  Bowdoin  College,  at  Brunswick,  Me  He  was 
one  of  the  most  popular  young  men  in  the  college. 
The  purity  cf  his  moral  character,  the  unvarying 
courtesy  of  his  demeanor,  his  rank  as  a  scholar,  and 


genial  nature,  rendered  him  a  universal  favorite. 
There  was  something  very  peculiarly  winning  in  his 
address,  and  it  was  evidently  not  in  the  slightest  de- 
gree studied :  it  was  the  simple  outgushing  of  his 
own  magnanimous  and  loving  nature. 

Upon  graduating,  in  the  year  1824,  Franklin  Pierce 
commenced  the  study  of  law  in  the  office  of  Judge 
Woodbury,  one  of  the  most  distinguished  lawyers  of 
the  State,  and  a  man  of  great  private  worth.  The 
eminent  social  qualities  of  the  young  lawyer,  his 
father's  prominence  as  a  public  man,  and  the  brilliant 
political  career  into  which  Judge  Woodbury  was  en- 
tering, all  tended  to  entice  Mr.  Pierce  into  the  faci- 
nating  yet  perilous  path  of  political  life.  With  all 
the  ardor  of  his  nature  he  espoused  the  cause  of  Gen. 
Jackson  for  the  Presidency.  He  commenced  the 
practice  of  law  in  Hillsborough,  and  was  soon  elected 
to  represent  the  town  in  the  State  Legislature.  Here 
he  served  for  four  yeais.  The  last  two  years  he  was 
chosen  speaker  of  the  house  by  a  very  large  vote. 

In  1833,  at  the  age  of  twenty-nine,  he  was  elected 
a  member  of  Congress.  Without  taking  an  active 
part  in  debates,  he  was  faithful  and  laborious  in  duty 
and  ever  rising  in  the  estimation  of  those  with  whom 
he  was  associatad. 

In  1837,  being  then  but  thirty-three  years  of  age, 
he  was  elected  to  the  Senate  of  the  United  States; 
taking  his  seat  just  as  Mr.  Van  Buren  commenced 
his  administration.  He  was  the  youngest  member  in 
the  Senate.  In  the  year  1834,  he  married  Miss  Jane 
Means  Appleton,  a  lady  of  rare  beauty  and  accom- 
plishments, and  one  admirably  fitted  to  adorn  every 
station  with  which  her  husband  was  honoied.  Of  the 


IfRANKLIN  PIERCE. 


three  sons  who  were  born  to  them,  all  now  sleep  with 
their  parents  in  the  grave. 

In  the  year  1838,  Mr.  Pierce,  with  growing  fame 
and  increasing  business  as  a  lawyer,  took  up  his 
residence  in  Concord,  the  capital  of  New  Hampshire. 
President  Polk,  upon  his  accession  to  office,  appointed 
Mr.  Pierce  attorney-general  of  the  United  States ;  but 
the  offer  was  declined,  in  consequence  of  numerous 
professional  engagements  at  home,  and  the  precariuos 
state  of  Mrs.  Pierce's  health.  He  also,  about  the 
same  time  declined  the  nomination  for  governor  by  the 
Democratic  party.  The  war  with  Mexico  called  Mr. 
Pierce  in  the  army.  Receiving  the  appointment  of 
brigadier-general,  he  embarked,  with  a  portion  of  his 
troops,  at  Newport,  R.  I.,  on  the  27th  of  May,  1847. 
He  took  an  important  part  in  this  war,  proving  him- 
self a  brave  and  true  soldier. 

When  Gen.  Pierce  reached  his  home  in  his  native 
State,  he  was  received  enthusiastically  by  the  advo- 
cates of  the  Mexican  war,  and  coldly  by  his  oppo- 
nents. He  resumed  the  practice  of  his  profession, 
very  frequently  taking  an  active  part  in  political  ques- 
tions, giving  his  cordial  support  to  the  pro-slavery 
wing  of  the  Democratic  party.  The  compromise 
measures  met  cordially  with  his  approval;  and  he 
strenuously  advocated  the  enforcement  of  the  infa- 
mous fugitive-slave  law,  which  so  shocked  the  religious 
sensibilities  of  the  North.  He  thus  became  distin- 
guished as  a  "  Northern  man  with  Southern  principles.'' 
The  strong  partisans  of  slavery  in  the  South  conse- 
quently regarded  him  as  a  man  whom  they  could 
safely  trust  in  office  to  carry  out  their  plans. 

On  the  1 2th  of  June,  1852,  the  Democratic  conven- 
tion met  in  Baltimore  to  nominate  a  candidate  for  the 
Presidency.  For  four  days  they  continued  in  session, 
and  in  thirty-five  ballotings  no  one  had  obtained  a 
two-thirds  vote.  Not  a  vote  thus  far  had  been  thrown 
for  Gen.  Pierce.  Then  the  Virginia  delegation 
brought  forward  his  name.  There  were  fourteen 
more  ballotings,  during  which  Gen.  Pierce  constantly 
gained  strength,  until,  at  the  forty-ninth  ballot,  he 
received  two  hundred  and  eighty-two  votes,  and  all 
other  candidates  eleven.  Gen.  Winfield  Scott  was 
the  Whig  candidate.  Gen.  Pierce  was  chosen  with 
great  unanimity.  Only  four  States — Vermont,  Mas- 
sachusetts, Kentucky  and  Tennessee  —  cast  their 
electoral  votes  against  him  Gen.  Franklin  Pieice 
was  therefore  inaugurated  President  of  the  United 
States  on  the  4th  of  March,  1853. 


His  administration  proved  one  of  the  most  stormy  our 
country  had  ever  experienced.  The  controversy  be 
tween  slavery  and  freedom  was  then  approaching  its 
culminating  point  It  became  evident  that  there  was 
an  "irrepressible  conflict"  between  them,  and  that 
this  Nation  could  not  long  exist  "  half  slave  and  half 
free."  President  Pierce,  during  the  whole  of  his  ad- 
ministration, did  every  thing  he  could  to  conciliate 
the  South  ;  but  it  was  all  in  vain.  The  conflict  every 
year  grew  more  violent,  and  threats  of  the  dissolution 
of  the  Union  were  borne  to  the  North  on  every  South- 
ern breeze. 

Such  was  the  condition  of  affairs  when  President 
Pierce  approached  the  close  of  his  four-years'  term 
of  office.  The  North  had  become  thoroughly  alien- 
ated from  him.  The  anti-slavery  sentiment,  goaded 
by  great  outrages,  had  been  rapidly  increasing;  all 
the  intellectual  ability  and  social  worth  of  President 
Pierce  were  forgotten  in  deep  reprehension  of  his  ad- 
ministrative acts.  The  slaveholders  of  the  South,  also, 
unmindful  of  the  fidelity  with  which  he  had  advo- 
cated those  measures  of  Government  which  they  ap- 
proved, and  perhaps,  also,  feeling  that  he  had 
rendered  himself  so  unpopular  as  no  longer  to  be 
able  acceptably  to  serve  them,  ungratefully  dropped 
him,  and  nominated  James  Buchanan  to  succeed  him. 

On  the  4th  of  March,  1857,  President  Pierce  re- 
tired to  his  home  in  Concord.  Of  three  children,  two 
had  died,  and  his  only  surviving  child  had  been 
killed  before  his  eyes  by  a  railroad  accident ;  and  his 
wife,  one  of  the  most  estimable  and  accomplished  of 
ladies,  was  rapidly  sinking  in  consumption.  The 
hour  of  dreadful  gloom  soon  came,  and  he  was  left 
alone  in  the  world,  without  wife  or  child. 

When  the  terrible  Rebellion  burst  forth,  which  di- 
vided our  country  into  two  parties,  and  two  only,  Mr. 
Pierce  remained  steadfast  in  the  principles  which  he 
had  always  cherished,  and  gave  his  sympathies  to 
that  pro-slavery  party  with  which  he  had  ever  been 
allied.  He  declined  to  do  anything,  either  by  voice 
or  pen,  to  strengthen  the  hand  of  the  National  Gov- 
ernment. He  continued  to  reside  in  Concord  until 
the  time  of  his  death,  which  occurred  in  October, 
1869.  He  was  one  of  the  most  genial  and  social  o( 
men,  an  honored  communicant  of  the  Episcopal 
Church,  and  one  of  the  kindest  of  neighbors.  Gen 
erous  to  a  fault,  he  contributed  liberally  for  the  al- 
leviation of  suffering  and  want,  and  many  of  his  towns 
people  were  often  gladened  by  his  material  bounty 


£  i: 


FIFTEENTH  PRESIDENT, 


AMES  BUCHANAN,  the  fif- 
teenth President  of  the  United 
States,  was  born  in  a  small 
frontier  town,  at  the  foot  of  the 
eastern  ridge  of  the  Allegha- 
nies,  in  Franklin  Co.,  Penn.,on 
the  23d  of  April,  1791.  The  place 
where  the  humble  cabin  of  his 
father  stood  was  called  Stony 
Batter.  It  was  a  wild  and  ro- 
mantic spot  in  a  gorge  of  the  moun- 
tains, with  towering  summits  rising 
grandly  all  around.  His  father 
was  a  native  of  the  north  of  Ireland ; 
a  poor  man,  who  had  emigrated  in 
1783,  with  little  property  save  his 
own  strong  arms.  Five  years  afterwards  he  married 
Elizabeth  Spear,  the  daughter  of  a  respectable  farmer, 
and,  with  his  young  bride,  plunged  into  the  wilder- 
ness, staked  his  claim,  reared  his  log-hut,  opened  a 
clearing  with  his  axe,  and  settled  down  there  to  per- 
form his  obscure  part  in  the  drama  of  life.  In  this  se- 
cluded home,  where  James  was  born,  he  remained 
for  eight  years,  enjoying  but  few  social  or  intellectual 
advantages.  When  James  was  eight  yeaisof  age,  his 
father  removed  to  the  village  of  Mercersburg,  where 
his  son  was  placed  at  school,  and  commenced  a 
course  of  study  in  English,  Latin  and  Greek.  His 
progress  was  rapid,  and  at  the  age  of  fourteen,  he 
entered  Dickinson  College,  at  Carlisle.  Here  he  de 
veloped  remarkable  talent,  and  took  his  stand  among 
the  first  scholars  in  the  institution.  His  application 
to  study  was  intense,  and  yet  his  native  powers  en- 


abled him  to  master  the  most  abstruse  subjects  wf  '• 
facility. 

In  the  year  1809,  he  graduated  with  the  highes\ 
honors  of  his  clas:..  He  was  then  eighteen  years  of 
age;  tall  and  graceful,  vigorous  in  health,  fond  of 
athletic  sport,  an  unerring  shot,  and  enlivened  with 
an  exuberant  flow  of  animal  spirits.  He  immediately 
commenced  the  study  of  law  in  the  city  of  Lancaster, 
and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1812,  when  he  was 
but  twenty-one  years  of  age.  Very  rapidly  he  rose 
in  his  profession,  and  at  once  took  undisputed  stand 
with  the  ablest  lawyers  of  the  State.  When  but 
twenty-six  years  of  age,  unaided  by  counsel,  he  suc- 
cessfully defended  before  the  State  Senate  ore  of  the 
judges  of  the  State,  who  was  tried  upon  articles  of 
impeachment.  At  the  age  of  thirty  it  was  generally 
admitted  that  he  stood  at  the  head  of  the  bar;  and 
there  was  no  lawyer  in  the  State  who  had  a  more  lu- 
crative practice. 

In  1820,  he  reluctantly  consented  to  run  as  a 
candidate  for  Congress.  He  was  elected,  and  for 
ten  years  he  remained  a  member  of  the  Lower  House. 
During  the  vacations  of  Congress,  he  occasionally 
tried  some  important  case.  In  1831,  he  retired 
altogether  from  the  toils  of  his  profession,  having  ac- 
quired an  ample  fortune. 

Gen.  Jackson,  upon  his  elevation  to  the  Presidency, 
appointed  Mr.  Buchanan  minister  to  Russia.  The 
duties  of  his  mission  he  performed  with  ability,  which 
gave  satisfaction  to  all  parties.  Upon  his  return,  in 
1833,  he  was  elected  to  a  seat  in  the  United  States 
Senate.  He  there  met,  as  his  associates,  Webster. 
Clay,  Wright  and  Calhoun.  He  advocated  the  meas- 
ures proposed  by  President  Jackson,  of  nvtlring  repn- 


JAMES  BUCHANAN. 


sals  against  France,  to  enforce  the  payment  of  our 
claims  against  that  country;  and  defended  the  course 
of  the  President  in  his  unprecedented  and  wholesale 
removal  from  office  of  those  who  were  not  the  sup- 
porters of  his  administration.  Upon  this  question  he 
was  brought  into  direct  collision  with  Henry  Clay. 
He  also,  with  voice  and  vote,  advocated  expunging 
from  the  journal  of  the  Senate  the  vote  of  censure 
against  Gen.  Jackson  for  removing  the  deposits. 
Earnestly  he  opposed  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the 
District  of  Columbia,  and  urged  the  prohibition  of  the 
circulation  of  anti-slavery  documents  by  the  United 
States  mails. 

As  to  petitions  on  the  subject  of  slavery,  he  advo- 
cated that  they  should  be  respectfully  received;  and 
that  the  reply  should  be  returned,  that  Congress  had 
no  power  to  legislate  upon  the  subject.  '  Congress," 
said  he,  "  might  as  well  undertake  to  interfere  with 
slavery  under  a  foreign  government  as  in  any  of  the 
States  where  it  now  exists." 

U|xm  Mr.  Polk's  accession  to  the  Presidency,  Mr. 
Buchanan  became  Secretary  of  State,  and  as  such, 
took  his  share  of  the  responsibility  in  the  conduct  of 
the  Mexican  War.  Mr.  Polk  assumed  that  crossing 
the  Nueces  by  the  American  troops  into  the  disputed 
territory  was  not  wrong,  but  for  the  Mexicans  to  cross 
the  Rio  Grande  into  that  territory  was  a  declaration 
of  war.  No  candid  man  can  read  with  pleasure  the 
account  of  the  course  our  Government  pursued  in  that 
movement 

Mr.  Buchanan  identified  himself  thoroughly  with 
the  party  devoted  to  the  perpetuation  and  extension 
of  slavery,  and  brought  all  the  energies  of  his  mind 
to  bear  agdinst  the  Wilmot  Proviso.  He  gave  his 
cordial  approval  to  the  compromise  measures  of  1050, 
which  included  the  fugitive-slave  law.  Mr.  Pierce, 
upon  his  election  to  the  Presidency,  honored  Mr. 
Buchanan  with  the  mission  to  England. 

In  the  year  1856,  a  national  Democratic  conven- 
tion nominated  Mr.  Buchanan  forthe  Presidency.  The 
political  conflict  was  one  of  the  most  severe  in  which 
our  country  has  ever  engaged.  All  the  friends  of 
slavery  were  on  one  side;  all  the  advocates  of  its  re- 
striction and  final  abolition,  on  the  other.  Mr.  Fre- 
mont, the  candidate  of  .the  enemies  of  slavery,  re- 
reived  114  electoral  votes.  Mr.  Buchanan  received 
T74,  and  was  elected.  The  popular  vote  stood 
1,340,618,  for  Fremont,  1,224,750  for  Buchanan.  On 
March  4th.  1857,  Mr.  Buchanan  was  inaugurated. 

Mr.  Buchanan  was  far  advanced  in  life.  Only  four 
vears  were  wanting  to  fill  up  his  threescore  years  and 
ten.  His  own  friends,  those  with  whom  he  had  been 
allied  in  political  principles  and  action  for  years,  were 
seeking  the  destruction  of  the  Government,  that  they 
might  rear  upon  the  ruins  of  our  free  institutions  a 
nation  whose  corner-stone  should  be  human  slavery. 
In  this  emergency,  Mr.  Buchanan  was  hopelessly  be- 
wildered He  could  not,  with  his  long-avowed  prin- 


ciples, consistently  oppose  the  State-rights  party 
thei/  assumptions.  As  President  of  the  United  Stat 
bound  by  his  oath  faithfully  to  administer  the  la\ 
he  could  not,  without  perjury  of  the  grossest  kir 
unite  with  those  endeavoring  to  overthrow  the  repu 
lie.  He  therefore  did  nothing. 

The  opponents  of  Mr.  Buchanan's  administrati 
nominated  Abraham  Lincoln  as  their  standard  beat 
in  the  next  Presidential  canvass.  The  pro-slave 
party  declared,  that  if  he  were  elected,  and  the  co 
trol  of  the  Government  were  thus  taken  from  th< 
hands,  they  would  secede  from  the  Union,  taki: 
with  them,  as  they  retired,  the  National  Capitol 
Washington,  and  the  lion's  share  of  the  territory 
the  United  States. 

Mr.  Buchanan's  sympathy  with  the  pro-slave 
party  was  such,  that  he  had  been  willing  to  offerthe 
far  more  than  they  had  ventured  to  claim.  All  t 
South  had  professed  to  ask  of  the  North  was  no 
intervention  upon  the  subject  of  slavery.  Mr.  B 
chanan  had  been  ready  to  offer  them  the  active  c 
operation  of  the  Government  to  defend  and  extei 
the  institution. 

As  the  storm  increased  in  violence,  the  slaveholdc 
claiming  the  right  to  secede,  and  Mr.  Buchanan  avo 
ing  that  Congress  had  no  power  to  prevent  it,  one 
the  most  pitiable  exhibitions  of  governmental  ii 
becility  was  exhibited  the  world  has  ever  seen.  I 
declared  that  Congress  had  no  power  to  enforce 
laws  in  any  State  which  had  withdrawn,  or  whi< 
was  attempting  to  withdraw  from  the  Union.  Tl 
was  not  the  doctrine  of  Andrew  Jackson,  when,  wi 
his  hand  upon  his  sword  hilt,  he  exclaimed.  "T 
Union  must  and  shall  be  preserved!" 

South  Carolina  seceded  in  December,  1860;  neai 
three  months  before  the  inauguration  of  Preside 
Lincoln.  Mr.  Buchanan  looked  on  in  listless  despa 
The  rebel  flag  was  raised  in  Charleston  ;  Fort  Sumpl 
was  besieged ;  our  forts,  navy-yards  and  arsen; 
were  seized ;  our  depots  of  military  stores  were  plu 
dered  ;  and  our  custom-houses  and  post-offices  we 
appropriated  by  the  rebels. 

The  energy  of  the  rebels,  and  the  imbecility  of  c 
Executive,  were  alike  marvelous.  The  Nation  look 
on  in  agony,  waiting  for  the  slow  weeks  to  glide  aw: 
and  close  the  administration,  so  terrible  in  its  wea 
ness  At  length  the  long-looked-for  hour  of  delivi 
ance  came,  when  Abraham  Lincoln  was  to  receive  t 
scepter. 

The  administration  of  President  Buchanan  v 
certainly  the  most  calamitous  our  country  has  < 
perienced.  His  best  friends  cannot  recall  it  w 
pleasure.  And  still  more  deplorable  it  is  for  his  far 
that  in  that  dreadful  conflict  which  rolled  its  billo 
of  flame  and  blood  over  our  whole  land,  no  word  cai 
from  his  lips  to  indicate  his  wish  that  our  counti 
banner  should  triumph  over  the  flag  rf  the  rebellii 
He  died  at  his  Wheat  land  rt-treat,  J,me  i,  18 


SIXTEENTH  PRKi>SDEVT. 




<  ABRAHAM) 


BRAHAM  LINCOLN,  the 
sixteenth  President  of  the 
United  States,  was  horn  in 
Hardin  Co.,  Ky.,  Feb.  12, 
1 809.  About  the  year  1 7  80,  a 
man  by  the  name  of  Abraham 
Lincoln  left  Virginia  with  his 
nily  and  moved  into  the  then 


hose  name 


wilds  of  Kentucky.  Only  two  years 
after  this  emigration,  still  a  young 
man,  while  working  one  day  in  a 
field,  was  stealthily  approached  by 
an  Indian  and  shot  dead.  His  widow 
was  left  in  extreme  poverty  with  five 
little  children,  three  boys  and  two 
girls.  Thomas,  the  youngest  of  the 
boys,  was  four  years  of  age  at  his 
father's  death.  This  Thomas  was 
the  father  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  the 
President  of  the  United  States 
ust  henceforth  forever  be  enrolled 
ith  the  most  prominent  in  the  annals  of  our  world. 
Of  course  no  record  has  been  kept  of  the  life 
f  one  so  lowly  as  Thomas  Lincoln.  He  was  among 
ic  poorest  of  the  poor.  His  home  was  a  wretched 
ig  -cabin;  his  food  the  coarsest  and  the  meanest. 
iducation  he  had  none;  he  could  never  either  read 
r  write.  As  soon  as  he  was  able  to  do  anything  for 
imself,  he  was  compelled  to  leave  the  cabin  of  his 
:arving  mother,  and  push  out  into  the  world,  a  friend- 
:ss,  wandering  boy,  seeking  work.  He  hired  him- 
:lfout,  and  thus  spent  the  whole  of  his  youth  as  a 
iborer  in  the  fields  of  others. 

When  twenty-eight  years  of  age  he  built  a  log- 
ibin  of  his  own,  and  married  Nancy  Hanks,  the 
aughter  of  another  family  of  poor  Kentucky  emi- 
rants,  who  had  also  come  from  Virginia.  Their 
;cond  child  was  Abraham  Lincoln,  the  subject  of 
lis  sketch.  The  mother  of  Abraham  was  a  noble 
•oman,  gentle,  loving,  pensive,  created  to  adorn 
palace,  doomed  to  toil  and  pine,  and  die  in  a  hovel. 
All  'hat  I  am,  or  hope  to  be,"  exclaims  the  grate- 
il  son  "  I  owe  to  my  angel-mother.  " 
When  he  was  eight  years  of  age,  his  father  sold  his 


cabin  and  small  farm,  and  moved  TO  Indiana.   Whei- 
two  years  later  his  mother  died. 

Abraham  soon  became  the  scribe  of  the  uneducated 
community  around  him.  He  could  not  have  had  a 
better  school  than  this  to  teach  him  to  put  thoughts 
into  words.  He  also  became  an  eager  reader.  The 
books  he  could  obtain  were  few ;  but  these  he  'ead 
and  re-read  until  they  were  almost  committe  ^  tc 
memory. 

As  the  years  rolled  on,  the  lot  of  this  lowly  faroil) 
was  the  usual  lot  of  humanity.  There  were  joys  and 
griefs,  weddings  and  funerals.  Abraham's  sisto 
Sarah,  to  whom  he  was  tenderly  attached,  was  mai 
ried  when  a  child  of  but  fourteen  years  of  age,  and 
soon  died.  The  family  was  gradually  scattered.  Mr 
Thomas  Lincoln  sold  out  his  squatter's  claim  in  1830 
and  emigrated  to  Macon  Co.,  111. 

Abraham  Lincoln  was  then  twenty-one  years  of  age. 
With  vigorous  hands  he  aided  his  father  in  rearing 
another  log-cabin.  Abraham  worked  diligently  at  this 
until  he  saw  the  family  comfortably  settled,  and  then 
small  lot  of  enclosed  prairie  planted  with  corn,  when 
he  announced  to  his  father  his  intention  to  leave 
home,  and  to  go  out  into  the  world  and  seek  his  for- 
tune. Little  did  he  or  his  friends  imagine  how  bril- 
liant that  fortune  was  to  be.  He  saw  the  value  oi 
education  and  was  intensely  earnest  to  improve  his 
mind  to  the  utmost  of  his  power  He  saw  the  ruin 
which  ardent  spirits  were  causing,  and  l:erame 
strictly  temperate;  refusing  to  allow  a  drop  of  intoxi- 
cating liquor  to  pass  his  lips.  And  he  had  read  in 
God's  word,  "Thou  shah  rot  take  the  name  of  the. 
Lord  thy  God  in  vain ;"  and  a  profane  expression  ho 
was  never  heard  to  utter.  Religion  he  revered.  His 
morals  were  pure,  and  he  was  uncontaminated  by  a 
single  vice. 

Young  Abraham  worked  for  a  time  as  a  hired  lab'orej 
among  the  farmers.  Then  he  went  to  Springfield, 
where  he  was  employed  in  building  a  large  flat-boat 
In  this  he  took  a  herd  of  swine,  floated  them  down 
the  Sangamon  to  the  Illinois,  and  thence  by  the  Mis- 
sissippi  to  New  Orleans.  Whatever  Abraham  Lin- 
coln undertook,  he  performed  so  faithfully  as  to  give 
great  satisfaction  to  his  employers.  In  this  adven 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 


ture  his  employers  were  so  well  pleased,  that  upon 
his  return  tuey  placed  a.  store  and  mill  under  his  care. 

In  1832,  at  the  outbreak  of  the  Black  Hawk  war,  he 
enlisted  and  was  chosen  captain  of  a  company.  He 
returned  to  Sangamon  County,  and  although  only  23 
years  of  age,  was  a  candidate  for  the  Legislature,  but 
was  defeated.  He  soon  after  received  from  Andrew 
Jackson  the  appointment  of  Postmaster  of  New  Salem, 
His  only  post-office  was  his  hat.  All  the  letters  he 
received  he  carried  there  ready  to  deliver  to  those 
he  chanced  to  meet.  He  studied  surveying,  and  soon 
made  this  his  business.  In  1834  he  again  became  a 
candidate  for  the  Legislature,  and  was  elected  Mr. 
Stuart,  of  Springfield,  advised  him  to  study  law.  He 
walked  from  New  Salem  to  Springfield,  borrowed  of 
Mr.  Stuart  a  load  of  books,  carried  them  back  and 
began  his  legal  studies.  When  the  Legislature  as- 
sembled he  trudged  on  foot  with  his  pack  on  his  back 
one  hundred  miles  to  Vandalia,  then  the  capital.  In 
1836  he  was  re-elected  to  the  Legislature.  Here  it 
was  he  first  met  Stephen  A.  Douglas.  In  1839  he  re- 
moved to  Springfield  and  began  the  practice  of  law. 
His  success  with  the  jury  was  so  great  that  he  was 
soon  engaged  in  almost  every  noted  case  in  the  circuit. 

In  1854  the  great  discussion  began  between  Mr. 
Lincoln  and  Mr.  Douglas,  on  the  slavery  question. 
In  the  organization  of  the  Republican  party  in  Illinois, 
in  1856,  he  took  an  active  part,  and  at  once  became 
one  of  the  leaders  in  that  party.  Mr.  Lincoln's 
speeches  in  opposition  to  Senator  Douglas  in  the  con- 
test in  1858  for  a  seat  in  the  Senate,  form  a  most 
notable  part  of  his  history.  The  issue  was  on  the 
slavery  question,  and  he  took  the  broad  ground  of 
.he  Declaration  of  Independence,  that  all  men  are 
created  equal.  Mr.  Lincoln  was  defeated  in  this  con- 
test, but  won  a  far  higher  prize. 

The  great  Republican  Convention  met  at  Chicago 
on  the  i6th  of  June,  1860.  The  delegates  and 
strangers  who  crowded  the  city  amounted  to  twenty- 
five  thousand.  An  immense  building  called  "  The 
Wigwam,"  was  reared  to  accommodate  the  Conven- 
tion. There  were  eleven  candidates  for  whom  votes 
were  thrown.  William  H  Seward,  a  man  whose  fame 
as  a  statesman  had  long  filled  the  land,  was  the  most 
orominent.  It  was  generally  supposed  he  would  be 
the  nominee.  Abraham  Lincoln,  however,  received 
the  nomination  on  the  third  ballot.  Little  did  he  then 
dream  of  the  weary  years  of  toil  and  care,  and  the 
bloody  death,  to  whi  :h  that  nomination  doomed  him: 
and  as  little  did  he  dream  that  he  was  to  render  services 
to  his  country,  which  would  fix  upon  him  the  eyes  of 
the  whole  civilized  world,  and  which  would  give  him 
a  place  in  the  affections  of  his  countrymen,  second 
cnly,  if  second,  to  that  of  Washington. 

Election  day  came  and  Mr.  Lincoln  received  180 
electoral  votes  out  of  203  cast,  and  was,  therefore, 
constitutionally  elected  President  of  the  United  States. 
The  tirade  of  abuse  that  was  poured  upon  this  good 


and  merciful  man,  especially  by  the  slaveholders,  was 
greater  than  upon  any  other  man  ever  elected  to  this 
high  position.  In  February,  1861,  Mr.  Lincoln  started 
for  Washington,  stopping  in  all  the  large  cities  on  his 
way  making  speeches.  The  whole  journey  was  fraught 
with  much  danger.  Many  of  the  Southern  States  had 
already  seceded,  and  several  attempts  at  assassination 
were  afterwards  brought  to  light.  A  gang  in  Balti- 
more had  arranged,  upon  his  arrival to"get  up  a  row," 
and  in  the  confusion  to  make  sure  of  his  death  with 
revolvers  and  hand-grenades.  A  detective  unravelled 
the  plol.  A  secret  and  special  train  was  provided  to 
take  him  from  Harrisburg,  through  Baltimore,  at  an 
unexpected  hour  of  the  night.  The  train  started  at 
half-past  ten  ;  and  to  prevent  any  possible  communi- 
cation on  the  part  ot  the  Secessionists  with  their  Con- 
federate gang  in  Baltimore,  as  soon  as  the  train  had 
started  the  telegraph-wires  were  cut.  Mr.  Lincoln 
reached  Washington  in  safety  and  was  inaugurated, 
although  great  anxiety  was  felt  by  all  loyal  people 

In  the  selection  of  his  cabinet  Mr.  Lincoln  gave 
to  Mr  Seward  the  Department  of  State,  and  to  other 
prominent  opponents  before  the  convention  he  gave 
important  positions. 

During  no  other  administration  have  the  duties 
devolving  upon  the  President  been  so  manifold,  and 
the  responsibilities  so  great,  as  those  which  fell  to 
the  lot  of  President  Lincoln.  Knowing  this,  and 
feeling  his  own  weakness  and  inability  to  meet,  and  in 
his  own  strength  to  cope  with,  the  difficulties,  he 
learned  early  to  seek  Divine  wisdom  and  guidance  in 
determining  his  plans,  and  Divine  comfort  in  all  his 
trials,  bo*h  personal  and  national  Contrary  to  his 
own  estimate  of  himself,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  one  of  the 
most  courageous  of  men.  He  went  directly  into  the 
rebel  capital  just  as  the  retreating  foe  was  leaving, 
with  no  guard  but  a  few  sailors.  From  the  time  he 
had  left  Springfield,  in  1861,  however,  plans  had  been 
made  for  his  assassination, and  he  at  last  fell  a  victim 
to  one  of  them.  April  14,  1865,  he,  with  Gen.  Grant, 
was  urgently  invited  to  attend  Fords'  Theater.  It 
was  announced  that  they  would  Le  present.  Gen. 
Grant,  however,  left  the  city.  President  Lincoln,  feel- 
ing, witn  his  characteristic  kindliness  of  heart,  that 
it  would  be  a  disappointment  if  he  should  fail  them, 
very  reluctantly  consented  to  go.  While  listening  to 
the  play  an  actor  by  the  name  of  John  Wilkes  Booth 
entered  the  box  where  the  President  and  family  were 
seated,  and  fired  a  bullet  into  his  brains.  He  died  the 
next  morning  at  seven  o'clock. 

Never  before,  in  the  history  of  the  world  was  a  nation 
plunged  into  such  deep  grief  by  the  death  of  its  ruler. 
Strong  men  met  in  the  streets  and  wept  in  speechless 
anguish.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  a  nation  was 
in  tears.  His  was  a  life  which  will  fitly  become  a 
model.  His  name  as  the  savior  of  his  country  will 
live  with  that  of  Washington V,  its  father;  his  c^untry- 
men  being  unable  to  decide  whi,  K  U  tl'e  sreater. 


THE  LIBRARY 

' 


SEVENTEENTH  PRESIDENT. 


NDREW  JOHNSON,  seven- 
teenth President  of  the  United 
States.  The  early  life  of 
Andrew  Johnson  contains  but 
the  record  of  poverty,  destitu- 
tion and  friendlessness.  He 
was  born  December  29,  1808, 
in  Raleigh,  N.  C.  His  parents, 
belonging  to  the  class  of  the 
"poor  whites  "  of  the  South,  were 
in  such  circumstances,  that  they 
cou'd  not  c~:nf;r  ,;e\\  the  slight- 
est advantages  of  education  upon 
their  child.  When  Andrew  was  five 
years  of  age,  his  father  accidentally 
lost  his  life  while  herorically  endeavoring  to  save  a 
friend  from  diowning.  TTr>ul  ten  years  of  age,  Andrew 
was  a  ragged  boy  abour  the  streets,  supported  by  the 
labor  of  his  mother,  who  obtained  her  living  with 
her  own  hands. 

He  then,  having  never  attended  a  school  one  day, 
and  being  unable  either  to  read  or  write,  was  ap- 
prenticed to  a  tailor  in  his  native  town.  A  gentleman 
was  in  the  habit  of  going  to  the  tailor's  shop  occasion- 
ally, and  reading  to  the  boys  at  work  there.  He  often 
read  from  the  speeches  of  distinguished  British  states- 
men. Andrew,  who  was  endowed  with  a  mind  of  more 
than  ordinary  native  ability,  became  much  interested 
in  these  speeches ;  his  ambition  was  roused,  and  he 
was  inspired  with  a  strong  desire  to  learn  to  read. 

He  accordingly  applied  himself  to  the  alphabet,  and 
with  the  assistance  of  some  of  his  fellow- workmen, 
learned  his  letters.  He  then  called  upon  the  gentle- 
man to  borrow  the  book  of  speeches.  The  owner, 


pleased  with  his  zeal,  not  only  gave  him  the  book, 
but  assisted  him  in  learning  to  combine  the  letters 
into  words.  Under  such  difficulties  he  pressed  y-L. 
ward  laboriously,  spending  usually  ten  or  twelve  hours 
at  work  in  the  shop,  and  then  robbing  himself  of  rest 
and  recreation  to  devote  such  time  a,s  he  could  to 
reading. 

He  went  to  Tennessee  in  1826,  and  located  at 
Greenville,  where  he  married  a  young  lady  who  pos 
sessed  some  education.  Under  her  instructions  he 
learned  to  write  and  cipher.  He  became  prominent 
in  the  village  debating  society,  and  a  favorite  with 
the  students  of  Greenville  College.  In  1828,  he  or- 
ganized a  working  man's  party,  which  elected  him 
alderman,  and  in  1830  elected  him  mayor,  which 
position  he  held  three  years. 

He  now  began  to  take  a  lively  interest  in  political 
affairs ;  identifying  himself  with  the  working-classes, 
to  which  he  belonged.  In  1835,  he  was  elected  a 
member  of  the  House  of  Representatives  of  Tennes- 
see. He  was  then  just  twenty-seven  years  of  age. 
He  became  a  very  active  member  of  the  legislature 
gave  his  adhesion  to  the  Democratic  party,  and  in 
1840  "stumped  the  State,"  advocating  Martin  ''"an 
Buren's  claims  to  the  Presidency,  in  opposition  to  thosv. 
of  Gen.  Harrison.  In  this  campaign  he  acquired  much 
readiness  as  a  speaker,  and  extended  and  increased 
his  reputation. 

In  1841,  he  was  elected  State  Senator;  in  1843,  he 
was  elected  a  member  of  Congress,  and  by  successive 
elections,  held  that  important  post  for  ten  years.  Ir, 
1853,  he  was  elected  Governor  of  Tennessee,  and 
was  re-elected  in  1855.  In  all  these  responsible  posi- 
tions, he  discharged  his  duties  with  distinguished  abi. 


ANDRE 


ity,  and  proved  himself  the  warm  friend  of  the  work- 
ing classes.  In  1857,  Mr.  Johnson  was  elected 
United  States  Senator. 

Years  before,  in  1845,  he  had  warmly  advocated 
the  annexation  of  Texas,  stating  however,  as  his 
reason,  that  he  thought  this  annexation  would  prob- 
ably prove  "  to  be  the  gateway  out  of  which  the  sable 
sons  of  Africa  are  to  pass  from  bondage  to  freedom, 
Mid  become  merged  in  a  mpulation  congenial  to 
themselves."  In  1850,  he  al  1  supported  the  com- 
promise measures,  the  two  e-  *tial  features  of  which 
were,  that  the  white  people  of  '.he  Territories  should 
be  permitted  to  decide  for  themselves  whether  they 
would  enslave  the  colored  people  or  not,  and  that 
the  free  States  of  the  North  should  return  to  the 
South  persons  who  attempted  to  escape  from  slavery. 

Mr.  Johnson  was  never  ashamed  of  his  lowly  origin: 
on  the  contrary,  he  often  took  pride  in  avowing  that 
he  owed  his  distinction  to  his  own  exertions.  "Sir," 
said  he  on  the  floor  of  the  Senate,  "  I  do  not  forget 
that  I  am  a  mechanic;  neither  do  I  forget  that  Adam 
was  a  tailor  and  sewed  fig-leaves,  and  that  our  Sav- 
ior was  the  son  of  a  carpenter." 

In  the  Charleston-Baltimore  convention  of  i8bo,  iie 
was  the  choice  of  the  Tennessee  Democrats  for  the 
Presidency.  In  1861,  when  the  purpose  of  the  South- 
ern Democracy  became  apparent,  he  took  a  decided 
stand  in  favor  of  the  Union,  and  held  that  "  slavery 
must  be  held  subordinate  to  the  Union  at  whatever 
cost."  He  returned  to  Tennessee,  and  repeatedly 
imperiled  his  own  life  to  protect  the  Unionists  of 
Tennesee.  Tennessee  having  seceded  from  the 
Union,  President  Lincoln,  on  March  4th,  1862,  ap- 
pointed him  Military  Governor  of  the  State,  and  he 
established  the  most  stringent  military  rule.  His 
numerous  proclamations  attracted  wide  attention.  In 

1864,  he  was  elected  Vice-President  of  the    United 
States,  and  upon  the  death  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  April  15, 

1865,  became  President.     In  a  speech  two  days  later 
he  said,  "  The  American  people  must  be   taught,   if 
fhey  do  not  already  feel,  that  treason  is  a  crime  and 
must  be  punished ;  that   the     Government  will    not 
always  beai  with  its  enemies ;  that  it  is   strong   not 
only  to  protect,  but   to    punish.     *     *     The  people 
must  understand  that  it  (treason)  is  the   blackest   of 
crimes,  and  will  surely  be  punished."    Yet  his  whole 
administration,  the  history  of  which  is  so  well  known, 
was  in  utter  inconsistency  with,  and  the  most  violent 


opposition  to.  the  principles  laid  down  in  that  speech. 

In  his  loose  policy  of  reconstruction  and  genera) 
amnesty,  he  was  opposed  by  Congress ;  and  he  char- 
acterized  Congress  as  a  new  rebellion,  and  lawlessly 
defied  it,  in  everything  possible,  to  the  utmost.  In 
the  beginning  of  1868,  on  account  of  "  high  crimes 
and  misdemeanors,"  the  principal  of  which  was  the 
removal  of  Secretary  Stanton,  in  violation  of  the  Ten- 
ure of  Office  Act,  articles  of  impeachment  were  pre- 
ferred against  him,  and  the  trial  began  March  23. 

It  was  very  tedious,  continuing  for  nearly  three 
months.  A  test  article  of  the  impeachment  was  at 
length  submitted  to  the  court  for  its  action.  It  was 
certain  that  as  the  court  voted  upon  that  article  so 
would  it  vote  upon  all.  Thirty-four  voices  pronounced 
the  President  guilty.  As  a  two-thirds  vote  was  neces- 
sary to  his  condemnation,  he  was  pronounced  ac- 
quitted, notwithstanding  the  great  majority  against 
him.  The  change  of  one  vote  from  the  not  guilty 
side  would  have  sustained  the  impeachment. 

The  President,  for  the  remainder  of  his  term,  was 
but  little  regarded.  He  continued,  though  im potently, 
his  conflict  with  Congress.  His  own  party  did  not 
think  it  expedient  to  renominate  him  for  the  Presi- 
dency. The  Nation  rallied,  with  enthusiasm  unpar- 
alleled since  the  days  of  Washington,  around  the  name 
of  Gen.  Grant.  Andrew  Johnson  was  forgotten. 
The  bullet  of  the  assassin  introduced  him  to  the 
President's  chair.  Notwithstanding  this,  never  was 
there  presented  to  a  man  a  better  opportunity  to  im- 
mortalize his  name,  and  to  win  the  gratitude  of  a 
nation.  He  failed  utterly.  He  retired  to  his  home 
in  Greenville,  Tenn.,  taking  no  very  active  part  in 
politics  until  1875.  On  Jan.  26,  after  an  exciting 
struggle,  he  was  chosen  by  the  Legislature  of  Ten- 
nessee, United  States  Senator  in  the  forty-fourth  Con- 
gress, and  took  his  seat  in  that  body,  at  the  specia" 
session  convened  by  President  Grant,  on  the  5th  of 
March.  On  the  27th  of  July,  1875,  the  ex-President 
made  a  visit  to  his  daughter's  home,  near  Carter 
Station,  Tenn.  When  he  started  on  his  journey,  he  was 
apparently  in  his  usual  vigorous  health,  but  on  reach- 
ing the  residence  of  his  child  the  following  day,  was 
stricken  with  paralysis,  rendering  him  unconscious. 
He  rallied  occasirnally,  but  finally  passed  away  at 
2  A.M.,  July  31,  aged  sixty-seven  years.  His  fun- 
eral was  attended  at  Geenville,  on  the  3d  of  August, 
with  every  demonstration  of  respect 


IKE  LIBUARY 


EIGHTEENTH  PRESIDENT. 


LYSSES  S.  GRANT,  the 
eighteenth  President  of  the 
United  States,  was  born  on 
the  29th  of  April,  1822,  of 
Christian  parents,  in  a  humble 
home,  at  Point  Pleasant,  on  the 
banks  of  the  Ohio.  Shortly  after 
his  father  moved  to  George- 
town, Brown  Co.,  O.  In  this  re- 
mote frontier  hamlet,  Ulysses 
received  a  common-school  edu- 
cation. At  the  age  of  seven- 
teen, in  the  year  1839,  he  entered 
the  Military  Academy  at  West 
Point.  Here  he  was  regarded  as  a 
solid,  sensible  young  man  of  fair  abilities,  and  of 
sturdy,  honest  character.  He  took  respectable  rank 
as  a  scholar.  In  June,  1843,  he  graduated,  about  the 
middle  in  his  class,  and  was  sent  as  lieutenant  of  in- 
fantry to  one  of  the  distant  military  posts  in  the  Mis- 
souri Territory.  Two  years  he  past  in  these  dreary 
solitudes,  watching  the  vagabond  and  exasperating 
Indians. 

The  war  with  Mexico  came.  Lieut.  Grant  was 
;ent  with  his  regiment  to  Corpus  Christi.  His  first 
battle  was  at  Palo  Alto.  There  was  no  chance  here 
for  the  exhibition  of  either  skill  or  heroism,  nor  at 
Resaca  de  la  Palma,  his  second  battle.  At  the  battle 
of  Monterey,  his  third  engagement,  it  is  said  that 
ne  performed  a  signal  service  of  daring  and  skillful 
horsemanship.  His  brigade  had  exhausted  its  am- 
munition. A  messenger  must  be  sent  for  more,  along 
a  route  exposed  to  the  bullets  of  the  foe.  Lieut. 
Grant,  adopting  an  expedient  learned  of  the  Indians, 
grasped  the  mane  of  his  horse,  and  hanging  upon  one 
side  of  the  anir°.il,  ran  the  gauntlet  in  entire  safety. 


From  Monterey  he  was  sent, with  the  fourth  infantry, 
10  aid  Gen.  Scott,  at  the  siege  of  Vera  Cruz.  In 
preparation  for  the  march  to  the  city  of  Mexico,  he 
was  appointed  quartermaster  of  his  regiment.  At  the 
battle  of  Molino  del  Rey,  he  was  promoted  to  a 
first  lieutenancy,  and  was  brevetted  captain  at  Cha- 
pultepec. 

At  the  close  of  the  Mexican  War,  Capt.  Grant  re- 
turned with  his  regiment  to  New  York,  and  was  again 
sent  to  one  of  the  military  posts  on  the  frontier.  The 
discovery  of  gold  in  California  causing  an  immense 
tide  of  emigration  to  flow  to  the  Pacific  shores,  Capt. 
Grant  was  sent  with  a  battalion  to  Fort  Dallas,  in 
Oregon,  for  the  protection  of  the  interests  of  the  im- 
migrants. Life  was  wearisome  in  those  wilds.  Capt. 
Grant  resigned  his  commission  and  returned  to  the 
States;  and  having  married,  entered  upon  the  cultiva- 
tion of  a  small  farm  near  St.  Louis,  Mo.  He  had  but 
little  skill  as  a  farmer.  Finding  his  toil  not  re- 
munerative, he  turned  to  mercantile  life,  entering  into 
the  leather  business,  with  a  younger  brother,  at  Ga- 
lena, 111.  This  was  in  the  year  1860.  As  the  tidings 
of  the  rebels  firing  on  Fort  Sumpter  reached  the  ears 
of  Capt.  Grant  in  his  counting-room,  he  said, — 
"Uncle  Sam  has  educated  me  for  the  army;  though 
I  have  served  him  through  one  war,  I  do  not  fee(  that 
I  have  yet  repaid  the  debt.  I  am  still  ready  todischarge 
my  obligations.  I  shall  therefore  buckle  on  my  tword 
and  see  Uncle  Sam  through  this  war  too." 

He  went  into  the  streets,  raised  a  company  of  vol- 
unteers, and  led  them  as  their  captain  to  Springfield, 
the  capital  of  the  State,  where  their  services  were 
offered  to  Gov.  Yates.  The  Governor,  im  pressed  by 
the  zeal  and  straightforward  executive  ability  of  Capt. 
Grant,  gave  him  a  desk  in  his  office,  to  assist  in  the 
volunteer  organization  that  was  being  formed  in  the 
State  in  behalf  of  the  Government.  On  the  isth  of 


ULYSSES  S.  GRANT. 


une,  1861,  Capt.  Grant  received  a  commission  as 
Jolonel  of  the  Twenty-first  Regiment  of  Illinois  Vol- 
inteers.  His  merits  as  a  West  Point  graduate,  who 
lad  served  for  15  years  in  the  regular  army,  were  such 
hat  he  was  soon  promoted  to  the  rank  of  Brigadier- 
ieneral  and  was  placed  in  command  at  Cairo.  The 
ebels  raised  their  banner  at  Paducah,  near  the  mouth 
f  the  Tennessee  River.  Scarcely  had  its  folds  ap- 
peared in  the  breeze  ere  Gen.  Grant  was  there.  The 
•ebels  fled.  Their  banner  fell,  and  the  star  and 
itripes  were  unfurled  in  its  stead. 

He  entered  the  service  with  great  determination 
md  immediately  began  active  duty.  This  was  the  be- 
ginning, and  until  the  surrenderor  Lee  at  Richmond 
ic  was  ever  pushing  the  enemy  with  great  vigor  and 
:ffectiveness.  At  Belmont,  a  few  days  later,  he  stir- 
)rised  and  routed  the  rebels,  then  at  Fort  Henry 
von  another  victory.  Then  came  the  brilliant  fight 
it  Fort  Donelson.  The  nation  was  electrified  by  the 
•ictory,  and  the  brave  leader  of  the  boys  in  blue  was 
mmediately  made  a  Mruor-General,  and  the  military 
iistrict  of  Tennessee  was  assigned  to  him. 

Like  all  great  captains,  Gen.  Grant  knew  well  how 
o  secure  the  results  of  victory.  He  immediately 
mshed  on  to  the  enemies'  lines.  Then  came  the 
errible  battles  of  Pittsburg  Landing,  Corinth,  and  the 
iege  of  Vicksburg,  where  Gen.  Pemberton  made  an 
mconditional  surrender  of  the  city  with  over  thirty 
housand  men  and  one-hundred  and  seventy-two  can- 
ion.  The  fall  of  Vicksburg  was  by  far  the  most 
evere  blow  which  the  rebels  had  thus  far  encountered, 
md  opened  up  the  Mississippi  from  Cairo  to  the  Gulf. 

Gen.  Grant  was  next  ordered  to  co-operate  with 
len.  Banks  in  a  movement  upon  Texas,  and  pro- 
•eeded  to  New  Orleans,  where  he  was  thrown  from 
;is  horse,  and  received  severe  injuries,  from  which  he 
vas  laid  up  for  months.  He  then  rushed  to  the  aid 
)f  Gens.  Rosecrans  and  Thomas  at  Chattanooga,  and 
)y  a  wonderful  series  of  strategic  and  technical  meas- 
ires  put  the  Union  Army  in  fighting  condition.  Then 
bllowed  the  bloody  battles  at  Chattanooga,  Lookout 
Mountain  and  Missionary  Ridge,  in  which  the  rebels 
ver?  routed  with  great  loss.  This  won  for  him  un- 
xmnded  praise  in  the  No'rth.  On  the  4th  of  Febru- 
iry,  1864,  Congress  revived  the  grade  of  lieutenant- 
general,  and  the  rank  was  conferred  on  Gen.  Grant, 
tie  repaired  to  Washington  to  receive  his  credentials 
,;;d  enter  upon  tb<"  duties  of  his  new  office 


Gen.  Grant  decided  as  soon  as  he  took  charge  of 
the  army  to  concentrate  the  widely-dispersed  National 
troops  for  an  attack  upon  Richmond,  the  nominal 
capital  of  the  Rebellion,  and  endeavor  there  to  de- 
stroy the  rebel  armies  which  would  be  promptly  as- 
sembled from  all  quarters  for  its  defence.  The  whole 
continent  seemed  to  tremble  under  the  tramp  of  these 
majestic  armies,  rushing  to  the  decisive  battle  field. 
Steamers  were  crowded  with  troops.  Railway  trains 
were  burdened  with  closely  packed  thousands.  His 
plans  were  comprehensive  and  involved  a  series  of 
campaigns,  which  were  executed  with  remarkable  en- 
ergy and  ability,  and  were  consummated  at  the  sur- 
render of  Lee,  April  9,  1865. 

The  war  was  ended.  The  Union  was  saved.  The 
almost  unanimous  voice  of  the  Nation  declared  Gen. 
Grant  to  be  the  most  prominent  instrument  in  its  sal- 
vation. The  eminent  services  he  had  thus  rendered 
the  country  brought  him  conspicuously  forward  as  the 
Republican  candidate  for  the  Presidential  chair. 

At  the  Republican  Convention  held  at  Chicago. 
May  21,  1868,  he  was  unanimously  nominated  for  the 
Presidency,  and  at  the  autumn  election  received  a 
majority  of  the  popular  vote,  and  214  out  of  294 
electoral  votes. 

The  National  Convention  of  the  Republican  party 
which  met  at  Philadelphia  on  the  5th  of  June,  1872, 
placed  Gen.  Grant  in  nomination  for  a  second  term 
by  a  unanimous  vote.  The  selection  was  emphati- 
cally indorsed  by  the  people  five  months  later,  292 
electoral  votes  being  cast  for  him. 

Soon  after  the  close  of  his  second  term,  Gen.  Grant 
started  upon  his  famous  trip  around  the  world.  He 
visited  almost  every  country  of  the  civilized  world, 
and  was  everywhere  received  with  such  ovations 
and  demonstrations  of  respect  and  honor,  private 
as  well  as  public  and  official,  as  were  never  before 
bestowed  upon  any  citizen  of  the  United  States. 

He  was  the  most  prominent  candidate  before  the 
Republican  National  Convention  in  1880  for  a  re- 
nomination  for  President.  He  went  to  New  York  and 
embarked  in  the  brokerage  business  under  the  firm 
nameof  Grant  &  Ward.  The  latter  proved  a  villain, 
wrecked  Grant's  fortune,  and  for  larceny  was  sent  to 
the  penitentiary.  The  General  was  attacked  with 
cancer  in  the  throat,  but  suffered  in  his  stoic-like 
manner,  never  complaining.  He  was  re-instated  as 
General  of  the  Army  and  retired  by  Congress.  The 
cancer  soon  finished  its  deadly  work,  and  July  23, 
1885,  the  nation  wenf  in  mourning  over  the  death  of 
the  illustrious  General. 


.  - 


NINETEENTH  PRESIDENT. 


UTHERFORD  B.  HAYES, 
nineteenth  President  of 
ythe  United  States,  was  born  in 
Delaware,  O.,  Oct.  4,  1822,  al- 
most three  months  after  the 
death  of  his  father,  Rutherford 
Hayes.  His  ancestry  on  both 
the  paternal  and  maternal  sides, 
was  of  the  most  honorable  char- 
acter. It  can  be  traced,  it  is  said, 
as  far  back  as  1280,  when  Hayes  and 
Rutherford  were  two  Scottish  chief- 
tains, fighting  side  by  side  with 
Baliol,  William  Wallace  and  Robert 
Bruce.  Both  families  belonged  to  the 
nobility,  owned  extensive  estates, 
and  had  a  large  following.  Misfor- 
cane  overtaking  the  family,  George  Hayes  left  Scot- 
land in  1680,  and  settled  in  Windsor,  Conn.  His  son 
George  was.  born  in  Windsor,  and  remained  there 
during  his  liJe.  Daniel  Hayes,  son  of  the  latter,  mar- 
ried Sarah  Lee,  and  lived  from  the  time  of  his  mar- 
riage until  his  death  in  Simsbury,  Conn.  Ezekiel, 
son  of  Daniel,  was  born  in  1724.  and  was  a  manufac- 
turer of  scythes  at  Bradford,  Conn.  Rutherford  Hayes, 
son  of  Ezekiel  ai/d  grandfather  of  President  Hayes,  was 
born  inNewHaven,  in  August,  1756.  He  was  a  fanner, 
blacksmith  and  tavern-keeper.  He  emigrated  to 
Vermont  at  an  unknown  date,  settling  in  Brattleboro, 
where  he  established  a  hotel.  Here  his  son  Ruth- 
erford Hayes  the  father  of  President  Hayes,  was 


born.  He  was  married,  in  September,  1813,  to  Sophia 
Birchard,  of  Wilmington,  Vt.,  whose  ancestors  emi- 
grated thither  from  Connecticut,  they  having  been 
among  the  wealthiest  and  best  famlies  of  Norwich. 
Her  ancestry  on  the  male  side  are  traced  back  to 
1635,  to  John  Birchard,  one  of  the  principal  founders 
of  Norwich.  Both  of  her  grandfathers  were  soldiers 
in  the  Revolutionary  War. 

The  father  of  President  Hayes  was  an  industrious 
frugal  and  opened-hearted  man.  He  was  of  a  me 
chanical  turn,  and  could  mend  a  plow,  knit  a  stock- 
ing, or  do  almost  anything  else  that  he  choose  to 
undertake.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Church,  active 
in  all  the  benevolent  enterprises  of  the  town,  and  con- 
ducted his  business  on  Christian  principles.  After 
the  close  of  the  war  of  1812,  for  reasons  inexplicable 
to  his  neighbors,  he  resolved  to  emigrate  to  Ohio. 

The  journey  from  Vermont  to  Ohio  in  that  day 
when  there  were  no  canals,  steamers,  not  railways, 
was  a  very  serious  affair.  A  tour  of  inspection  was 
first  made,  occupying  four  months.  Mr.  Hayes  deter 
mined  to  move  to  Delaware,  where  the  family  arrived 
in  1817.  He  died  July  22,  1822,  a  victim  of  malarial 
fever,  less  than  three  months  before  the  birth  of  the 
son,  of  whom  we  now  write.  Mrs.  Hayes,  in  her  sore  be- 
reavement, found  the  support  she  so  much  needed  in 
her  brother  Sardis,  who  had  been  a  member  of  the 
household  from  the  day  of  its  departure  from  Ver- 
mont, and  in  an  orphan  girl  whom  she  had  adopted 
some  time  before  as  an  act  of  charity. 

Mrs.  Hayes  at  this  period  was  very  weak,  and  the 


RUTHERFORD  B.  HAYES. 


subject  of  this  sketch  was  so  feeble  at  birth  that  he 
was  not  expected  to  live  beyond  a  month  or  two  at 
most.  As  the  months  went  by  he  grew  weaker  and 
weaker,  so  that  the  neighbors  were  in  the^habit  of  in- 
quiring from  time  to  time  "  if  Mrs.  Hayes'  baby  died 
last  night."  On  one  occasion  a  neighbor,  who  was  on 
familiar  terms  with  the  family,  after  alluding  to  the 
boy's  big  head,  and  the  mother's  assiduous  care  of 
nim,  said  in  a  bantering  way,  "  That's  right!  Stick  to 
him.  You  have  got  him  along  so  far,  and  I  shouldn't 
wonder  if  he  would  really  come  to  something  yet." 

"  You  need  not  laugh,"  said  Mrs.  Hayes.  "You 
vait  and  see.  You  can't  tell  but  I  shall  make  him 
President  of  the  United  States  yet."  The  boy  lived, 
in  spite  of  the  universal  predictions  of  his  speedy 
death;  and  when,  in  1825,  his  older  brother  was 
drowned,  he  became,  if  possible,  still  dearer  to  his 
mother. 

The  boy  was  seven  years  old  before  he  w<:nt  to 
school.  His  education,  however,  was  not  neglected. 
He  probably  learned  as  much  from  his  mother  and 
;  ister  as  he  would  have  done  at  school.  His  sports 
were  almost  wholly  within  doors,  his  playmates  being 
his  sister  and  her  associates.  These  circumstances 
tended,  no  doubt,  to  foster  that  gentleness  of  dispo- 
sition, and  that  delicate  consideration  for  the  feelings 
of  others,  which  are  marked  traits  of  his  character. 

His  uncle  Sardis  Birchard  took  the  deepest  interest 
in  his  education ;  and  as  the  boy's  health  had  im- 
proved, and  he  was  making  good  progress  in  his 
studies,  he  proposed  to  send  him  to  college.  His  pre- 
paration commenced  with  a  tutor  at  home;  b-it  he 
was  afterwards  sent  for  one  year  to  a  professor  in  the 
Wesleyan  University,  in  Middletown,  Conn.  He  en- 
tered Kenyon  College  in  1838,31  the  age  of  sixteen, 
and  was  graduated  at  the  head  of  his  class  in  1842. 

Immediately  after  his  graduation  he  began  the 
study  of  law  in  the  office  of  Thomas  Sparrow,  Esq., 
in  Columbus.  Finding  his  opportunities  for  study  in 
Columbus  somewhat  limited,  he  determined  to  enter 
the  Law  School  at  Cambridge,  Mass.,  where  he  re- 
mained two  years. 

In  1845,  after  graduating  at  the  Law  School,  he  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  at  Marietta,  Ohio,  and  shortly 
afterward  went  into  practice  as  an  attorney-at-law 
with  Ralph  P.  Buckland,  of  Fremont.  Here  he  re- 
mained three  years,  acquiring  but  a  limited  practice, 
and  apparently  unambitious  of  distinction  in  his  pro- 
fession. 

\n  1 849  he  rrtO ved  to  Cincinnati,  where  his  ambi- 
tion found  a  new  stimulus.  For  several  years,  how- 
ever, his  progress  was  slow.  Two  events,  occurring  at 
this  period,  had  a  powerful  influence  upon  his  subse- 
quent ":fe.  One  of  these  was  his  marrage  with  Miss 
Lucy  Ware  Webb,  daughter  of  Dr.  James  Webb,  of 
Chilicothe;  the  other  was  his  introduction  to  the  Cin- 
cinnati Literary  Club,  a  body  embracing  among  its 
members  such  men  as^hief  Justice  Salmon  P.  Chase, 


Gen.  John  Pope,  Gov.  Edward  F.  Noyes,  and  many 
others  hardly  less  distinguished  in  after  life.  The 
marriage  was  a  fortunate  one  in  every  respect,  as 
everybody  knows.  Not  one  of  all  the  wives  of  our 
Presidents  was  more  universally  admired,  reverenced 
and  beloved  than  was  Mrs.  Hayes,  and  no  one  did 
more  than  she  to  reflect  honor  upon  American  woman 
hood.  The  Literary  Cluu  brought  Mr.  Hayes  into 
constant  association  with  young  men  of  high  char- 
acter and  noble  aims,  and  lured  him  to  display  the 
qualities  so  long  hidden  by  his  bashfulness  and 
modesty. 

In  1856  he  was  nominated  to  the  office  of  Judgs  of 
the  Court  of  Common  Pleas;  but  he  declined  to  ac- 
cept the  nomination.  Two  years  later,  the  office  of 
city  solicitor  becoming  vacant,  the  City  Council 
elected  him  for  the  unexpired  term. 

In  1 86 1,  when  the  Rebellion  broke  out,  he  was  at 
the  zenith  of  his  professional  lif ,.  His  rank  at  the 
bar  was  among  the  the  first.  But  the  news  of  the 
attack  on  Fort  Sumpter  found  him  eager  to  take  uu 
arms  for  the  defense  of  his  country. 

His  military  record  was  bright  and  illustrious.  In 
October,  1861,  he  was  made  Lieutenant-Colonel,  and 
in  August,  1862,  promoted  Colonel  of  the  79th  Ohio 
regiment,  but  he  refused  to  leave  his  old  comrades 
and  go  among  strangers.  Subsequently,  however,  h^ 
was  made  Colonel  of  his  old  regiment.  At  the  battle 
of  South  Mountain  he  received  a  wound,  and  while 
faint  and  bleeding  displayed  courage  and  fortitude 
that  won  admiration  from  all. 

Col.  Hayes  was  detached  from  his  regiment,  after 
his  recovery,  to  act  as  Brigadier-General,  and  placed 
in  command  of  the  celebrated  Kanawha  division, 
and  for  gallant  and  meritorious  services  in  the  battles 
of  Winchester,  Fisher's  Hill  and  Cedar  Creek,  he  was 
promoted  Brigadier-General.  He  was  also  brevetted 
Major-General,  "for gallant  and  distinguished  services 
during  the  campaigns  of  1864,  in  West  Virginia."  In 
the  course  of  his  arduous  services,  four  horses  were 
shot  from  under  him,  and  he  was  wounded  four  times. 

In  1864,  Gen.  Hayes  was  elected  to  Congress,  from 
the  Second  Ohio  District,  which  had  long  been  Dem- 
ocratic. He  was  not  present  during  the  campaign, 
and  after  his  election  was  importuned  to  resign  his 
commission  in  the  army ;  but  he  finally  declared,  "  I 
shall  never  come  to  Washington  until  I  can  come  by 
the  way  of  Richmond."  He  was  re-elected  in  1866. 

Ir.  1867,  Gen  Hayes  was  elected  Governor  of  Ohio, 
over  Hon.  Allen  G.  Thurman,  a  populai  Democrat. 
In  r869  was  re-eiected  over  George  H.  Pendleton. 
He  was  elected  Governor  for  the  third  term  in  1875. 

In  1876  he  was  the  standard  bearer  of  the  Repub- 
lican Party  in  the  Presidential  contest,  and  after  a 
hard  long  contest  was  chosen  President,  and  was  in 
augurated  Monday,  March  5,  1875.  He  served  his 
full  term,  not,  however,  with  satisfaction  to  his  party, 
but  his  administration  was  an  average  or>? 





TWENTIETH  PRESIDENT. 


AMES  A.  GARiflELD,  twen- 
eth  President  of  the  United 
States,    was    born    Nov.    19, 
1831,  in  the  woods  of  Orange, 
Cuyahoga  Co.,  O      His    par- 
ents were  Abram  and    Eliza 
(Ballou)    Garfield,   both   of  New 
England  ancestry  and  from  fami- 
lies well  known  in  the  early  his- 
tory of  that  section  of  our  coun- 
try, but  had  moved  to  the  Western 
Reserve,  in  Ohio,  early  in  its  settle- 
ment. 

The  house  in  which  James  A.  was 
born  was  not  unlike  the  houses  of 
poor  Ohio  farmers  of  that  day.  It 
.as  about  20x30  feet,  built  of  logs,  with  the  spaces  be- 
.ween  the  logs  filled  with  clay.  His  father  was  a 
aard  working  fanner,  and  he  soon  had  his  fields 
cleared,  an  orchard  planted,  and  a  log  barn  built. 
The  household  comprised  the  father  and  mother  and 
:heir  four  children — Mehetabel,  Thomas,  Mary  and 
'arnes.  In  May,  182^ 'the  father,  from  a  cold  con- 
.racted  in  helping  to  put  out  a  forest  fire,  died.  At 
(his  time  James  was  about  eighteen  months  old,  and 
Thomas  about  ten  years  old.  No  one,  perhaps,  can 
tell  how  much  James  was  indebted  to  his  biother's 
toil  and  self-sacrifice  during  the  twenty  years  suc- 
ceeding his  father's  death,  but  undoubtedly  very 
much.  Heftow  lives  in  Michigan,  and  the  two  sis- 
lers  live  in  Solon,  O.,  near  their  birthplace. 

The  early  educational  advantages  young  Garfield 
enjoyed  were  very  limited,  yet  he  made  the  most  of 
them.  He  labored  at  farm  work  for  others,  did  car- 
penter work,  chopped  wood,  or  did  anything  that 
would  bring  in  a  few  dollars  to  aid  his  widowed 
mother  in  he'  struggles  to  keep  the  little  family  to- 


gether. Nor  was  Gen.  Garfield  ever  ashamed  of  his 
origin,  and  he  never  forgot  the  friends  of  his  strug- 
gling childhood,  youth  and  manhood,  neither  did  they 
ever  forget  him.  When  in  the  highest  seats  of  honor 
the  humblest  friend  of  his  boyhood  was  as  kindly 
greeted  as  ever.  The  poorest  laborer  was  sure  of  the 
sympathy  of  one  who  had  known  all  the  bitterness 
of  want  and  the  sweetness  of  bread  earned  by  the 
sweat  of  the  brow.  He  was  ever  the  simple,  plain, 
modest  gentleman. 

The  highest  ambition  of  young  Garfield  until  hi 
was  about  sixteen  years  old  was  to  be  a  captain  of 
a  vessel  on  Lake  Erie.  He  was  anxious  to  go  aboard 
a  vessel,  which  his  mother  strongly  opposed.  She 
finally  consented  to  his  going  to  Cleveland,  with  the 
understanding,  however,  that  he  should  try  to  obtain 
some  other  kind  of  employment.  He  walked  all  the 
way  to  Cleveland.  This  was  his  first  visit  to  the  city 
After  making  many  applications  for  work,  and  trying 
to  get  aboard  a  lake  vessel,  and  not  meeting  with 
success,  he  engaged  as  a  driver  for  his  cousin,  Amos 
Letcher,  on  the  Ohio  &  Pennsylvania  Canal.  He  re- 
mained at  this  work  but  a  short  time  when  he  wen': 
home,  and  attended  the  seminary  at  Chester  for 
about  three  years,  when  he  entered  Hiram  and  the 
Eclectic  Institute,  teaching  a  few  terms  of  school  in 
the  meantime,  and  doing  other  work.  This  school 
was  started  by  the  Disciples  of  Christ  in  1850,  of 
which  church  he  was  then  a  member.  He  became 
janitor  and  bell-ringer  in  order  to  help  pay  his  way 
He  then  became  both  teacher  and  pupil.  He  soon 
"  exhausted  Hiram  "  and  needed  more  ;  hence,  in  the 
fall  of  1854,  he  entered  Williams  College,  from  which 
he  graduated  in  1856,  taking  one  of  the  highest  rig- 
ors of  his  class.  He  afterwards  returned  to  Hiram 
College  as  its  President.  As  above  stated,  he  early 
united  with  the  Christian  or  Diciples  Church  at 
Hiram,  and  was  ever  after  a  devoted,  zealous  mem- 
ber, often  preaching  in  its  pulpit  and  places  where 
he  happened  to  be.  Dr.  Noah  Porter,  President  of 
Yale  College,  says  cf  him  in  reference  to  his  religion  ; 


JAMES  A.  GARFIELD. 


"President  Garfield  was  more  than  a  man  of 
strong  moral  and  religious  convictions.  His  whole 
history,  from  boyhood  to  the  last,  shows  that  duty  to 
man  and  to  God,  and  devotion  to  Christ  and  life  and 
faith  and  spiritual  commission  were  controlling  springs 
of  his  being,  and  to  a  more  than  usual  degree.  In 
.ny  judgment  there  is  no  more  interesting  feature  of 
nis  character  than  his  loyal  allegiance  to  the  body  of 
Christians  in  which  he  was  trained,  and  the  fervent 
sympathy  which  he  ever  showed  in  their  Christian 
communion.  Not  many  of  the  few  'wise  and  mighty 
and  noble  who  are  called*  show  A  similar  loyalty  to 
the  less  stately  and  cultured  Christian  communions 
in  which  they  have  been  reared.  Too  often  it  is  true 
that  as  they  step  upward  in  social  and  political  sig- 
nificance they  step  upward  from  one  degree  to 
another  in  some  of  the  many  types  of  fashionable 
Christianity.  President  Garfield  adhered  to  the 
:hurch  of  his  mother,  the  church  in  which  he  was 
trained,  and  in  which  he  served  as  a  pillar  and  an 
evangelist,  and  yet  with  the  largest  and  most  unsec- 
tarian  charity  for  all  'who  loveour  Lord  in  sincerity.'" 

Mr.  Garfield  was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss 
Lucretia  Rudolph,  Nov.  1 1,  1858,  who  proved  herself 
Worthy  as  the  wife  of  one  whom  all  the  world  loved  and 
mourned.  To  them  were  born  seven  children,  five  of 
whom  are  still  living,  four  boys  and  one  girl. 

Mr.  Garfield  made  his  first  political  speeches  in  1856, 
in  Hiram  and  the  neighboring  villages,  and  three 
years  later  he  began  to  speak  at  county  mass-meet- 
ings, and  became  the  favorite  speaker  wherever  he 
was.  During  this  year  he  was  elected  to  the  Ohio 
Senate.  He  also  began  to  study  law  at  Cleveland, 
and  in  r86i  was  admitted  to  the  bar.  The  great 
Rebellion  broke  out  in  the  early  part  of  this  year, 
and  Mr.  Garfield  at  once  resolved  to  fight  as  he  had 
talked,  and  enlisted  to  defend  the  old  flag.  He  re- 
ceived his  commission  as  Lieut. -Colonel  of  the  Forty- 
second  Regiment  of  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry,  Aug. 
14,  1861.  He  was  immediately  put  into  active  ser- 
vice, and  before  he  had  ever  seen  a  gun  fired  in  action, 
was  placed  in  command  of  four  regiments  of  infantry 
and  eight  companies  of  cavalry,  charged  with  the 
work  of  driving  out  of  his  native  State  the  officer 
'Humphrey  Marshall)  reputed  to  be  the  ablest  of 
those,  not  educated  to  war  whom  Kentucky  had  given 
to  the  Rebellion.  This  work  was  bravely  and  speed- 
ily accomplished,  although  against  great  odds.  Pres- 
ident Lincoln,  on  his  success  commissioned  him 
Brigadier-General,  Jan.  10,  1862;  and  as  "he  had 
been  the  youngest  man  in  the  Ohio  Senate  two  years 
before,  so  now  he  was  the  youngest  General  in  the 
army."  He  was  with  Gen.  Buell's  army  at  Shiloh, 
in  itsoperations  around  Corinth  and  its  march  through 
Alabama.  He  was  then  detailed  as  a  member  of  the 
General  Gourt-Martial  for  the  trial  of  Gen.  Fitz-John 
Porter.  He  was  then  ordered  to  report  to  Gen.  Rose- 
crans,  and  was  assigned  to  the  "Chief  of  Staff." 

The  military  fr'story  of  Gen.  Garfield  closed  with 


his  brilliant  services  at  Chickamauga,  where  he  won 
the  stars  of  the  Major-General. 

Without  an  effort  on  his  part  Ge?  Garfield  was 
elected  to  Congress  in  the  fall  of  1862  from  the 
Nineteenth  District  of  Ohio.  This  section  of  Ohio 
had  been  represented  in  Congiess  for  sixty  year* 
mainly  by  two  men — Elisha  VVhittlesey  and  Joshvu. 
R.  Giddings.  It  was  not  without  a  struggle  that  he 
resigned  his  place  in  the  army.  At  the  time  he  en- 
tered Congress  he  was  the  youngest  member  in  that 
body.  There  he  remained  by  successive  re- 
elections  until  he  was  elected  President  in  1880. 
Of  his  labors  in  Congress  Senator  Hoar  says  :  "  Since 
the  year  1864  you  cannot  think  of  a  question  which 
has  been  debated  in  Congress,  or  discussed  before  & 
tribunel  of  the  American  people,  in  regard  to  whict 
you  will  not  find,  if  you  wish  instruction,  the  argu- 
ment on  one  side  stated,  in  almost  every  instance 
better  than  by  anybody  else,  in  some  speech  made  in 
the  House  of  Representatives  or  on  the  hustings  by 
Mr.  Garfield." 

Upon  Jan.  14,  1880,  Gen.  Garfield  was  elected  to 
the  U.  S.  Senate,  and  on  the  eighth  of  June,  of  the 
same  year,  was  nominated  as  the  candidate  of  his 
party  for  President  at  the  great  Chicago  Convention. 
He  was  elected  in  the  following  November,  and  on 
March  4,  1881,  was  inaugurated.  Probably  no  ad- 
ministration ever  opened  its  existence  under  brighter 
auspices  than  that  of  President  Gaifield,  and  every 
day  it  grew  in  favor  with  the  people,  and  by  the  first 
of  July  he  had  completed  all  the  initiatory  and  pre- 
liminary work  of  his  administration  and  was  prepar- 
ing to  leave  the  city  to  meet  his  friends  at  Williams 
College.  While  on  his  way  and  at  the  depot,  in  com- 
pany with  Secretary  Elaine,  a  man  stepped  behind 
him,  drew  a  revolver,  and  fired  directly  at  his  back. 
The  President  tottered  and  fell,  and  as  he  did  so  the 
assassin  fired  a  second  shot,  the  bullet  cutting  the 
left  coat  sleeve  of  his  victim,  but  inflicting  no  further 
injury.  It  has  been  very  truthfully  said  that  this  was 
"  the  shot  that  was  heard  round  the  world  "  Never 
before  in  the  history  of  the  Nation  had  anything  oc- 
curred which  so  nearly  froze  the  blood  of  the  peop'e 
for  the  moment,  as  this  awful  deed.  He  was  smit- 
ten on  the  brightest,  gladdest  day  of  all  his  life,  and 
was  at  the  summit  of  his  power  and  hope.  For  eighty 
days,  all  during  the  hot  months  of  July  and  August, 
he  lingered  and  suffered.  He,  however,  remained 
master  of  himself  till  the  last,  and  by  his  magnificent 
bearing  was  teaching  the  country  and  the  world  the 
noblest  of  human  lessons — how  to  live  grandly  in  the 
very  clutch  of  death.  Great  in  life,  he  was  surpass- 
ingly great  in  death.  He  passed  serenely  away  Sept. 
19,  1883,  at  Elberon,  N.  J  ,  on  the  very  bank  "of  the 
ocean,  where  he  had  been  taken  shortly  previous.  The 
world  wept  at  his  death,  as  it  never  had  done  on  the 
death  of  any  other  man  who  hnd  ever  lived  upon  it. 
The  murderer  was  duly  tried,  found  guilty  and  exe- 
cuted, in  one  year  after  he  committed  the  foul  deed. 


TWENTY-FIRST  PRESIDENT. 


HESTER      A.      ARTHUR, 
twenty-first    Presi^-m  of  the 
United   States,   was    bom    in 
Franklin  Cour.ty,  Vermont,  on 
the  fifth  of  Odober,  1830,  and  is 
the  oldest   of  a   family    of  two 
*    sons  and   five   daughters.     His 
father  was  the  Rev.  Dr.  William 
Arthur,  a  Baptist  clergyman,  who 
emigrated  to  tb'.s  country  from 
the  county  Antrim,  Ireland,   in 
his  i8th  year,  and  died  in  1875,  in 
Newtonville,   neai    Albany,   after  a 
long  and  successful  ministry. 

Young  Arthur   was  educated  at 
Union  College,  S<  henectady,  where 
he  excelled  in  all  his  studies.     Af- 
ter his  graduation  he  taught  school 
in  Vermont  for  two  years,   and  at 
e   the  expiration  of  that  time  came  to 
New  York,  with  $500  in  his  pocket, 
PI?     and  entered  the  office  of  ex-Judge 
W     E.    D.    Culver   as    student.     After 
I        being  admitted  to  the  bar  he  formed 
i  partnership  with  his  intimate  friend  and  room-mate, 
Kenry  D.  Gardiner,  with  the  intention  of  practicing 
n  the  West,  and  for  three  months  they  roamed  about 
n  the  Western  States  in  search  of  an  eligible  site, 
jut  in  the  end  returned  to   New  York,  where  they 
nung  out  their  shingle,  and  entered  upon   a  success- 
ful career  almost  from   the   start.     General   Arthur 
soon  afterward  marred  the  daughter   of  Lieutenant 


Herndon,  of  the  United  States  Navy,  who  was  lost  at 
sea.  Congress  voted  a  gold  medal  to  his  widow  in 
recognition  of  the  bravery  he  displayed  on  that  occa- 
sion. Mrs.  Arthur  died  shortly  before  Mr.  Arthur's 
nomination  to  the  Vice  Presidency,  leaving  two 
children. 

Gen.  Arthur  obtained  considerable  legal  celebrity 
in  his  first  great  case,  the  famous  Lemmon  suit, 
brought  to  recover  possession  of  eight  slaves  who  had 
been  declared  free  by  Judge  Paine,  of  the  Superior 
Court  of  New  York  City.  It  was  in  1852  that  Jon, 
athan  Lemmon,  of  Virginia,  went  to  New  York  with 
his  slaves,  intending  to  ship  them  to  Texas,  when 
they  were  discovered  and  freed.  The  Judge  decided 
that  they  could  not  be  held  by  the  owner  under  the 
Fugitive  Slave  Law.  A  howl  of  rage  went  up  from 
the  South,  and  the  Virginia  Legislature  authorized  the 
Attorney  General  of  that  State  to  assist  in  an  appeal. 
Wm.  M.  Evarts  and  Chester  A.  Arthur  were  employed 
to  represent  the  People,  and  they  won  their  case, 
which  then  went  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States.  Charles  O'Conor  here  espoused  the  cause 
of  the  slave-holders,  but  he  too  w"as  beaten  by  Messrs 
Evarts  and  Arthur,  and  a  long  step  was  taken  toward 
the  emancipation  of  the  black  race. 

Another  great  service  was  rendered  by  General 
Arthur  in  the  same  cause  in  1856.  Lizzie  Jennings, 
a  respectable  colored  woman,  was  put  off  a  Fourth 
Avenue  car  with  violence  after  she  had  paid  her  fare. 
General  Arthur  sued  on  her  behalf,  and  secured  a 
verdict  of  $500  damages.  The  next  day  the  compa- 
ny issued  an  order  to  admit  colored  persons  to  ride 
on  their  cars,  and  the  other  car  companies  quickly 


CHESTER  A.  ARTHUR. 


followed  their  example.  Before  that  the  Sixth  A  ve- 
nue Company  ran  a  few  special  cars  for  colored  per- 
sons and  the  other  lines  refused  to  let  them  ride  at  all. 

General  Arthur  was  a  delegate  to  the  Convention 
at  Saratoga  that  founded  the  Republican  party. 
Previous  to  the  war  he  was  Judge- Advocate  of  the 
Second  Brigade  of  the  Statue  of  New  York,  and  Gov- 
ernor Morgan,  of  that  State,  appointed  him  Engineer- 
in-Chief  of  his  staff.  In  1861,  he  was  made  Inspec- 
tor General,  and  soon  afterward  became  Quartermas- 
ter-General. In  each  of  these  offices  he  rendered 
great  service  to  the  Government  during  the  war.  At 
the  end  of  Governor  Morgan's  term  he  resumed  the 
practice  of  the  law,  forming  a  partnership  with  Mr. 
Ransom,  and  then  Mr.  Phelps,  the  District  Attorney 
of  New  York,  was  added  to  the  firm.  The  legal  prac- 
tice of  this  well-known  firm  was  very  large  and  lucra- 
tive, each  of  the  gentlemen  composing  it  were  able 
lawyers,  and  possessed  a  splendid  local  reputation,  if 
not  indeed  one  of  national  extent. 

He  always  took  a  leading  part  in  State  and  city 
politics.  He  was  appointed  Collector  of  the  Port  of 
New  York  by  President  Grant,  Nov.  21  1872,  to  suc- 
ceed Thomas  Murphy,  and  held  the  office  until  July, 
to,  1878,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  Collector  Merritt. 

Mr.  Arthur  was  nominated  on  the  Presidential 
ticket,  with  Gen.  James  A.  Garfield,  at  the  famous 
National  Republican  Convention  held  at  Chicago  in 
June,  1880.  This  was  perhaps  the  greatest  political 
convention  that  ever  assembled  on  the  continent.  It 
was  composed  of  the  fading  politicians  of  the  Re- 
publican party,  all  able  men,  and  each  stood  firm  and 
fought  vigorously  and  with  signal  tenacity  for  their 
respective  candidates  that  were  before  the  conven- 
tion for  the  nomination.  Finally  Gen.  Garfield  re- 
ceived the  nomination  for  President  and  Gen.  Arthur 
for  Vice-President.  The  campaign  which  followed 
was  one  of  the  most  animated  known  in  the  history  of 
our  country.  Gen.  Hancock,  the  standard-bearer  of 
the  Democratic  party,  was  a  popular  man,  and  his 
party  made  a  valiant  fight  for  his  election. 

Finally  the  election  came  and  the  country's  choice 
.vas  Garfield  and  Arthur.  They  were  inaugurated 
.vlarch  4,  1881,  as  President  and  Vice-President. 
\  few  months  only  had  passed  ere  the  newly  chosen 
President  was  the  victim  of  the  assassin's  bullet.  Then 
;ame  terrible  weeks  of  suffering, — those  moment*  of 
inxious  suspense,  wher  the  hearts  of  all  civilized  na- 


tions were  throbbing  in  unison,  longing  for  the  re- 
covery of  the  noble,  the  good  President.  The  remark- 
able patience  that  he  manifested  during  those  hours 
and  weeks,  and  even  months,  of  the  most  terrible  suf- 
fering man  has  often  been  called  upon  to  endure,  was 
seemingly  more  than  human.  It  was  certainly  God- 
like. During  all  this  period  of  deepest  anxiety  Mr. 
Arthur's  every  move  was  watched,  and  be  it  said  to  his 
credit  that  his  every  action  displayed  only  an  earnest 
desire  that  the  suffering  Garfield  might  recover,  to 
serve  the  remainder  of  the  term  he  had  so  auspi- 
ciously begun.  Not  a  selfish  feeling  was  manifested 
in  deed  or  look  of  this  man,  even  though  the  most 
honored  position  in  the  world  was  at  any  moment 
likely  to  fall  to  him. 

At  last  God  in  his  mercy  relieved  President  Gar- 
field  from  further  suffering,  and  the  world,  as  never 
before  in  its  history  over  the  death  of  any  other 
man,  wept  at  his  bier.  Then  it  became  the  duty  of 
the  Vice  President  to  assume  the  responsibilities  of 
the  high  office,  and  he  took  the  oath  in  New  York. 
Sept.  20,  1 88 1.  The  position  was  an  embarrassing 
one  to  him,  made  doubly  so  from  the  facts  that  all 
eyes  were,  on  him,  anxious  to  know  what  he  would  do, 
what  policy  he  would  pursue,  and  who  he  would  se- 
lect as  advisers.  The  duties  of  the  office  had  been 
greatly  neglected  during  the  President's  long  illness, 
and  many  important  measures  were  to  be  immediately 
decided  by  him ;  and  still  farther  to  embarrass  him  he 
did  not  fail  to  realize  under  what  circumstances  he 
became  President,  and  knew  the  feelings  of  many  on 
this  point.  Under  these  trying  circumstances  President 
Arthur  took  the  reins  of  the  Government  in  Ms  own 
hands ;  and,  as  embarrassing  as  were  the  condition  of 
affairs,  he  happily  surprised  the  nation,  acting  so 
wisely  that  but  few  criticised  his  administration. 
He  served  the  nation  well  and  faithfully,  until  the 
close  of  his  administration,  March  4,  1885,  and  was 
a  popular  candidate  before  his  party  for  a  second 
term.  His  name  was  ably  presented  before  the  con- 
vention at  Chicago,  and  was  received  with  great 
favor,  and  doubtless  but  for  the  personal  popularity 
of  one  of  the  opposing  candidates,  he  would  have 
been  selected  as  the  standard-bearer  of  his  party 
for  another  campaign.  He  retired  to  private  life  car- 
rying with  him  the  best  wishes  of  the  American  peo- 
ple, whom  lie  had  served  in  a  manner  satisfactory 
to  them  and  with  credit  to  himself. 


(HE 


t/ 


TWENTY-SECOND  PRESIDENT. 


TEPHEN  GROVER  CLEVE- 
LAND, the  twenty- second  Pres- 
ident of  the  United  States,  was 
born  in  1837,  in  the  obscure 
town  of  Caldwell,  Essex  Co., 
N.  J.,  and  in  a  little  two-and-a- 
half-story  white  house  which  is  still 
standing,  characteristically  to  mark 
the  humble  birth-place  of  one  of 
America's  great  men  in  striking  con- 
trast with  the  Old  World,  where  all 
men  high  in  office  must  be  high  in 
origin  and  born  5n  the  cradle  of 
wealth.  When  the  subject  of  this 
sketch  was  three  years  of  age,  his 
father,  who  was  a  Presbyterian  min- 
ster, with  a  large  family  and  a  small  salary,  moved, 
>y  way  o:  the  Hudson  River  and  Erie  Canal,  to 
?ayetteville,  in  search  of  an  increased  income  and  a 
arger  field  of  work.  Fayetteville  was  then  the  most 
traggling  of  country  villages,  about  five  miles  from 
'ompey  Hill,  where  Governor  Seymour  was  bom. 

At  the  last  mentioned  place  young  Grover  com- 
nenced  going  to  school  in  the  "good,  old-fashioned 
iray,"  and  presumably  distinguished  himself  after  the 
nanner  of  all  village  boys,  in  doing  the  things  he 
lught  not  to  do.  Such  is  the  distinguishing  trait  of 
ill  geniuses  and  independent  thinkers.  When  he 
irrived  at  the  age  of  14  years,  he  had  outgrown  the 
•apacity  of  the  village  school  and  expressed  a  most 


emphatic  desire  to  be  sent  to  an  academy.  To  this 
his  father  decidedly  objected.  Academies  in  those 
days  cost  money;  besides,  his  father  wanted  him  to 
become  self-supporting  by  the  quickest  possible 
means,  and  this  at  that  time  in  FayetteTille  seemed 
to  be  a  position  in  a  country  store,  where  his  father 
and  the  large  family  on  his  hands  had  considerable 
influence.  Grover  was  to  be  paid  $50  for  his  services 
the  first  year,  and  if  he  proved  trustworthy  he  was  to 
receive  $100  the  second  year.  Here  the  lad  com- 
menced his  career  as  salesman,  and  in  two  years  he 
had  earned  so  good  a  reputation  for  trustworthiness 
that  his  employers  desired  to  retain  him  for  an  in- 
definite  length  of  time.  Otherwise  he  did  not  ex- 
hibit as  yet  any  particular  "  flashes  of  genius  "  or 
eccentricities  of  talent.  He  was  simply  a  good  boy. 
But  instead  of  remaining  with  this  firm  in  Fayette- 
ville, he  went  with  the  family  in  their  removal  to 
Clinton,  where  he  had  an  opportunity  of  attending  a 
high  school.  Here  he  industriously  pursued  his 
studies  until  the  family  removed  with  him  to  a  point 
on  Black  River  known  as  the  "  Holland  Patent,"  a 
village  of  500  or  600  people,  15  miles  north  of  Utica, 
iV.  Y.  At  this  place  his  father  died,  after  preaching 
but  three  Sundays.  This  event  broke  up  the  family, 
and  Grover  set  out  for  New  York  City  to  accept,  at  a 
small  salary,  the  position  of  "  under-teacher  "  in  an 
asylum  for  the  blind.  He  taught  faithfully  for  two 
years,  and  although  he  obtained  a  good  reputation  in 
this  capacity,  he  concluded  that  teaching  was  not  his 


5.    GROVE  K   CLEVELAND. 


calling  for  life,  and,  reversing  the  traditional  order, 
he  left  the  city  to  seek  his  fortune,  jnste^  of  ?oin2 
to  a  city.  He  first  tnougnt  ot  Cleveland,  Ohios  as 
th^re  was  some  charm  in  that  name  for  him;  but 
before  proceeding  to  that  place  he  went  to  Buffalo  to 
isk  the  advice  of  his  uncle,  Lewis  F.  Allan,  a  noted 
stock-breeder  of  that  place.  The  latter  did  not 
speak  enthusiastically.  "What  is  it  you  want  to  do, 
my  boy?"  he  asked.  "Well,  sir,  I  want  to  study 
lav,"  was  the  reply,  "Good  gracious!"  remarked 
ih*  old  gentleman ;  "  do  you,  indeed  ?  What  ever  put 
that  into  your  head?  How  much  money  have  you 
got?"  "Well,  sir,  to  tell  the  truth,  I  haven't  got 
any." 

After  a  long  consultation,  his  uncle  offered  him  a 
place  temporarily  as  assistant  herd-keeper,  at  $50  a 
year,  while  he  could  "look  around."  One  day  soon 
afterward  he  boldly  walked  into  the  office  of  Rogers, 
Bowen  &  Rogers,  of  Buffalo,  and  told  ihem  what  he 
wanted.  A  number  of  young  men  were  already  en- 
gaged in  the  office,  but  Grover's  persistency  won,  and 
he  was  finally  permitted  to  come  as  an  office  boy  and 
Have  the  use  of  the  law  library,  for  the  nominal  sum 
of  $3  or  $4  a  week.  Out  of  this  he  had  to  pay  for 
his  board  and  washing.  The  walk  to  and  from  his 
uncle's  was  a  long  and  rugged  one;  and,  although 
the  first  winter  was  a  memorably  severe  one,  his 
shoes  were  out  of  repair  and  his  overcoat — he  had 
none — yet  he  was  nevertheless  prompt  and  regular. 
On  the  first  day  of  his  service  here,  his  senior  em- 
ployer threw  down  a  copy  of  Blackstone  before  him 
with  a  bang  that  made  the  dust  fly,  saying  "That's 
where  they  all  begin."  A  titter  ran  around  the  little 
circle  of  clerks  and  students,  as  they  thought  that 
was  enough  to  scare  young  Grover  out  of  his  plans  ; 
out  in  due  time  he  mastered  that  cumbersome  volume. 
Then,  as  ever  afterward,  however,  Mr.  Cleveland 
exhibited  a  talent  for  executiveness  rather  than  for 
chasing  principles  through  all  their  metaphysical 
possibilities.  "  Let  us  quit  talking  and  go  and  do 
it,"  was  practically  his  motto. 

The  first  public  office  to  which  Mr.  Cleveland  was 
ejected  was  that  of  Sheriff  of  Erie  Co.,  N.  Y.,  in 
which  Buffalo  is  situated;  and  in  such  capacity  it  fell 
to  his  duty  to  inflict  capital  pi'-'.Ishment  upon  two 
cjitiiinals.  In  1881  he  was  elected  Mayor  of  the 
City  of  Buffalo,  on  the  Democratic  ticket,  with  es- 
pecial reference  to  the  bringing  about  certain  reforms 


in  the  administration  of  the  municipal  affairs  of  that 
c?tw  Tr.  *his  office,  a?  well,  as  that  of  Sheriff,  his 
penormarice  oi  duty  Has  generally  been  considered 
fair,  with  possibly  a  few  exceptions  which  were  fer- 
reted out  and  niagnified  during  the  last  Presidential 
campaign.  As  a  specimen  of  his  plain  language  in 
a  veto  message,  we  quote  from  one  vetoing  an  iniqui 
tous  street-cleaning  contract:  "This  is  a  time  foi 
plain  speech,  and  my  objection  to  your  action  shall 
be  plainly  stated.  I  regard  it  as  the  culmination  of 
a  mos  bare-faced,  impudent  and  shameless  scheme 
to  betray  the  interests  of  the  people  and  to  worse 
than  squander  the  people's  money."  The  New  York 
Sun  afterward  very  highly  commended  Mr.  Cleve- 
land's administration  as  Mayor  of  Buffalo,  and  there- 
upon recommended  him  for  Governor  of  the  Empire 
State.  To  the  latter  office  he  was  elected  in  1882, 
and  his  administration  of  the  affairs  of  State  was 
generally  satisfactory.  The  mistakes  he  made, -if 
any,  were  made  very  public  throughout  the  nation 
after  he  was  nominated  for  President  of  the  United 
States.  For  this  high  offir.e  he  was  nominated  July 
ii,  1884,  by  the  National  Democratic  Convention  at 
Chicago,  when  other  competitors  were  Thomas  F. 
Bayard,  Roswell  P.  Flower,  Thomas  A.  Hendricks, 
Benjamin  F.  Butler,  Allen  G.  Thurman,  etc.;  and  he 
was  elected  by  the  people,  by  a  majority  of  about  a 
thousand,  over  the  brilliant  and  long-tried  Repub- 
lican statesman,  James  G.  Blaine.  President  Cleve- 
land resigned  his  office  as  Governor  of  New  York  in 
January,  1885,  in  order  to  prepare  for  his  duties  as 
the  Chief  Executive  of  the  United  States,  in  which 
capacity  his  term  commenced  at  noon  on  the  4th  ot 
March,  1885.  For  his  Cabinet  officers  he  selected 
the  following  gentlemen:  For  Secretary  of  State, 
Thomas  F.  Bayard,  of  Delaware ;  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  Daniel  Manning,  of  New  York ;  Secretary 
of  War,  William  C.  Endicott,  of  Massachusetts ; 
Secretary  of  the  Navy,  William  C.  Whitney,  of  New 
York ;  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  L.  Q.  C.  Lamar,  of 
Mississippi;  Postmaster-General,  William  F.  Vilas, 
of  Wisconsin ;  Attorney-General,  A.  H.  Garland,  of 
Arkansas. 

The  silver  question  precipitated  a  controversy  be- 
tween those  who  were  in  favor  of  the  continuance  of 
silver  coinage  and  those  who  were  opposed,  Mr. 
Cleveland  answering  for  the  latter,  even  before  his 
inauguration. 


(HE  LI 

c  • 


TWENTY-THIRD  PRESIDENT. 


jQanjamixi 


ENJAMIN  HARRISON,  the 
twenty-third  President,  is 
the  descendant  of  one  of  the 
historical  families  of  this 
country.  The  head  of  the 
family  was  a  Major  General 
Harrison,  one  of  Oliver 
Cromwell's  trusted  follow- 
ers and  fighters.  In  the  zenith  of  Crom- 
well's power  it  became  the  duty  of  this 
Harrison  to  participate  .ft  tne  trial  of 
Charles  I,  and  afterward  tc  sign  the 
det-ih  warrant  of  the  king.  He  subse- 
quently paid  for  this  witli  his  life,  being 
hung  Oct.  13,  16GO.  His  descendants 
came  to  America,  and  the  next  of  the 
family  that  appears  in  history  is  Benja- 
rtin  TIarrison,  of  Virginia, great-grand- 
father of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  and 
ifter  whom  he  was  named.  Benjamin  Harrison 
iras  a  member  of  the  Continental  Congress  during 
the  years  i  774-5-6,  and  was  one  of  the  original 
signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  He 
wa  three  times  elected  Governor  of  Virginia 
Gen  William  Henry  Harrison,  the  son  of  the 


distinguished  patriot  of  the  Revolution,  after  a  suc- 
cessful career  as  a  soldier  during  the  War  of  1812, 
and  with  -a  clean  record  as  Governor  of  the  North- 
western Territory,  was  elected  President  of  the 
United  States  in  1840.  His  career  was  cut  short 
by  death  within  one  month  :»fter  iis  inauguration. 
President  Harrison  war  bcrn  at  Nor*.':  Bend, 
Hamilton  Co.,  Ohio,  Aug.  "0, 18a3,  His  life  up  to 
the  time  of  his  graduation  by  the  Miami  University 
at  Oxford,  Ohio,  was  the  uneventful  one  of  a  coun- 
try lad  of  a  family  of  small  means.  His  father  was 
able  to  give  him  a  good  education,  and  nothing 
more.  He  became  engaged  while  at  college  to  tlio 
daughter  of  Dr.  Scott,  Principal  of  a  female  schoo 
at  Oxford.  After  graduating  he  determined  to  en- 
ter upon  the  study  of  the  law.  He  went  to  Gin 
cinnati  and  then  read  law  for  two  years.  At  tht 
expiration  of  that  time  young  Harrison  received  tb'. 
only  inheritance  of  his  life;  his  ar.nt  dying  left  iiitx 
a  lot  valued  at  $800.  He  regarded  this  legacy  as  t 
fortune,  and  decided  to  get  married  at  once,  'aks 
this  money  and  go  to  some  Eastern  town  an '.  be- 
gin the  practice  of  law.  He  sold  his  lot,  and  with 
the  money  in  his  pocket,  he  started  out  wita  his 
young  wife  to  fight  for  a  place  in  the  world.  Me 


108 


BENJAMIN  IIARRISONfc 


decided  to  go  to  Indianapolis,  which  was  even  at 
that  time  a  town  of  promise.  He  met  with  slight 
encouragement  at  first,  making  scarcely  anything 
the  first  year.  He  worked  diligently,  applying  him- 
self closely  to  his  calling,  built  up  an  extensive 
practice  and  took  a  leading  rank  in  the  legal  pro- 
fession. He  is  the  father  of  two  children. 

In  1860  Mr.  Harrison  was  nominated  for  the 
position  of  Supreme  Court  Reporter,  and  then  be- 
gan his  experience  as  a  stump  speakei  He  can- 
vassed the  State  thoroughly,  and  was  elected  by  a 
handsome  majority.  In  1862  he  raised  the  17th 
Indiana  Infantry,  and  was  chosen  its  Colonel.  His 
regiment  was  composed  of  the  rawest  of  material, 
out  Col.  Harrison  employed  all  his  time  at  first 
mastering  military  tactics  and  drilling  his  men, 
when  he  therefore  came  to  move  toward  the  East 
with  Sherman  his  regiment  was  one  of  the  best 
drilled  and  organized  in  the  army.  At  Resaca  he 
especially  distinguished  himself,  and  for  his  bravery 
at  Peachtree  Creek  he  was  made  a  Brigadier  Gen- 
eral, Gen.  Hooker  speaking  of  him  in  the  most 
complimentary  terms. 

During  the  absence  of  Gen.  Harrison  in  the  field 
he  Supreme  Court  declared  the  office  of  the  Su- 
preme Court  Reporter  vacant,  and  another  person 
was  elected  to  the  position.  From  the  time  of  leav- 
ing Indiana  wilh  his  regiment  until  the  fall  of  1864 
he  had  taken  no  leave  of  absence,  but  having  been 
nominated  that  year  for  the  same  office,  he  got  a 
thirty-day  leave  of  absence,  and  during  that  time 
made  a  brilliant  canvass  of  the  State,  and  was  elected 
for  another  term.  He  then  started  to  rejoin  Sher- 
man, but  on  the  way  was  stricken  down  with  scarlet 
jever,  and  after  a  most  trying  siege  made  his  way 
to  the  front  in  time  to  participate  in  the  closing 
incidents  of  the  war. 

In  1868  Gen.  Harrison  declined  ,  re-election  as 
reporter,  and  resumed  the  practice  of  law.  In  1876 
lie  was  a  candidate  for  Governor.  Although  de- 
feated, the  brilliant  campaign  he  made  won  xor  him 
a  National  reputation,  and  he  was  much  sought,  es- 
pecia:.y  in  the  East,  to  make  speeches.  In  1880, 
da  usual,  he  took  an  active  part  in  the  campaign, 
and  wtit  elected  to  the  United  States  Senate.  Here 
uc  set-ved  six  years,  and  ^as  known  as  one  of  the 
»West  men,  best  lawyer';  ind  strongest  debaters  in 


that  body.  With  the  expiration  of  his  Senatorial 
term  he  returned  to  the  practice  of  his  profession, 
becoming  the  head  of  one  of  the  strongest  firms  :.: 
the  State. 

The  political  campaign  of  1888  was  one  of  the 
most  memorable  in  the  history  of  our  country.  The 
convention  which  assembled  in  Chicago  in  June  and 
named  Mr.  Harrison  as  the  chief  standard  bearer 
of  the  Republican  party,  was  great  in  every  partic- 
ular, and.  on  this  account,  and  the  attitude  it  as- 
sumed upon  the  vital  questions  of  the  day,  chief 
among  which  was  the  tariff,  awoke  a  deep  interest 
in  the  campaign  throughout  the  Nation.  Shortly 
after  the  nomination  delegations  began  to  visit  Mr. 
Harrison  at  Indianapolis,  his  home.  This  move- 
ment became  popular,  and  from  all  sections  of  the 
.  country  societies,  clubs  and  delegations  journeyed 
thither  to  pay  their  respects  to  the  distinguished 
statesman.  The  popularity  of  these  was  greatly 
increased  on  account  of  the  remarkable  speeches 
made  by  Mr.  Harrison.  He  spoke  daily  all  through 
the  summer  and  autumn  to  these  visiting  delega- 
tions, and  so  varied,  masterly  and  eloquent  were 
his  speeches  that  they  at  once  placed  him  in  the 
foremost  rank  of  American  orators  and  statesmen. 

On  account  of  his  eloquence  as  a  speaker  and  hir 
power  as  a  debater,  he  was  called  upon  at  an  un- 
commonly early  age  to  take  part  in  the  discussion 
of  the  great  questions  that  then  began  to  agitate 
the  country.  He  was  an  uncompromising  anti 
slavery  man,  and  was  matched  against  some  of  tlie 
most  eminent  Democratic  speakers  of  his  State. 
No  man  who  felt  the  touch  of  his  blade  desired  U 
be  pitted  with  him  again.  With  all  his  eloqvence 
as  an  orator  he  never  spoke  for  oratorical  effect, 
but  his  words  always  went  like  bullets  to  the  mark 
He  is  purely  American  in  his  ideas  and  is  a  spier 
did  type  of  the  American  statesman.  Gifted  wit'u 
quick  perception,  a  logical  mind  and  a  ready  tongue, 
he  is  one  of  the  most  distinguished  impromptu 
speakers  in  the  Nation.  Many  of  these  speeches 
sparkled  with  the  rarest  of  eloquence  and  contained 
arguments  of  greatest  weight.  Many  of  his  terse 
statements  hav«  already  become  aphorisms.  Origt- 
nal  in  thought,  precise  in  logic,  terse  In  statement, 
3-et  withal  faultless  in  eloquence,  he  is  recognized  as 
the  sound  statesman  and  bril'ian  orator  c  tuc  day 


THE  U3I5AGT 


GOVERNORS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


HADRACH  BOND,  the  first 
Governor  of  Illinois  after  its 
organization  us  a  State,  sers'ing 
from  1818  to  1822,  was  born  in 
Frederick  County,  Maryland, 
in  the  year  1773,  and  was 
raised  a  farmer  on  his  father's 
plantation,  receiving  only  a  plain 
English  education.  He  emigrated 
to  this  State  in  1794,  when  it  was  a 
part  of  the  "Northwest  Territory," 
continuing  in  the  vocation  in  which 
he  had  been  brought  up  in  his  native 
State,  in  the  "New  Design,"  near 
Eagle  Creek,  in  what  is  now  Monroe 
County.  He  served  several  terms  as 
a  member  of  the  General  Assembly 
if  Indiana  Territory,  after  it  was  organized  as  such, 
md  in  1812-14  he  was  a  Delegate  to  the  Twelfth 
md  Thirteenth  Congresses,  taking  his  seat  Dec.  3, 
: 812,  and  serving  until  Oct.  3,  1814.  These  were 
he  times,  the  reader  will  recollect,  when  this  Gov- 
irnment  had  its  last  struggle  with  Great  Britain. 
Pheyear  1812  is  also  noted  in  the  history  of  this 
itate  as  that  in  which  the  first  Territorial  Legislature 
vas  held.  It  convened  at  Kaskaskia,  Nov.  25,  and 
idjourned  Dec.  26,  following. 

While  serving  as  Delegate  to  Congress,  Mr.  Bond 
vas  instrumental  in  procuring  the  right  of  pre-emp- 
ion  on  the  public  domain.  On  the  expiration  of  his 
erm  at  Washington  he  was  appointed  Receiver  of 
3ublic  Moneys  at  Kaskaskia,  then  the  capital  of  the 
ferritory.  In  company  with  John  G.  Comyges, 


Thomas  H.  Harris,  Charles  Slade,  Michael  Jon«e, 
Warren  Brown.  Edward  Humphries  and  Charles  W 
Hunter,  he  became  a  proprietor  of  the  site  of  the 
initial  city  of  Cairo,  which  they  hoped,  from  its  favor- 
able location  at  the  junction  of  the  two  great 
rivers  near  the  center  of  the  Great  West,  would 
rapidly  develop  into  a  metropolis.  To  aid  the  enter- 
prise, they  obtained  a  special  charter  from  the  Legis- 
lature, incorporating  both  the  City  and  the  Bank  of 
Cairo. 

In  1818  Mr.  Bond  was  elected  the  first  Governor 
of  the  State  of  Illinois,  being  inaugurated  Oct.  6 
that  year,  which  was  several  weeks  before  Illinois 
was  actually  admitted.  The  facts  are  these:  In 
January,  1818,  the  Territorial  Legislature  sent  a  peti- 
tion to  Congress  for  the  admission  of  Illinois  as  a 
State,  Nathaniel  Pope  being  then  Delegate.  The 
petition  was  granted,  fixing  the  northern  line  of  the 
State  on  the  latitude  of  the  southern  extremity  of 
Lake  Michigan;  but  the  bill  was  afterward  so  amend- 
ed as  to  extend  this  line  to  its  present  latitude.  In 
July  a  convention  was  called  at  Kaskaskia  to  draft  a 
constitution,  which,  however,  was  not  submitted  to 
the  people.  By  its  provisions,  supreme  judges,  pros 
ecuting  attorneys,  county  and  circuit  judges,  record- 
ers and  justices  of  the  peace  were  all  to  be  appointed 
by  the  Governor  or  elected  by  the  Legislature.  This 
constitution  was  accepted  by  Congress  Dec.  30.  At 
that  time  Illinois  comprised  but  eleven  counties, 
namely,  Randolph,  Madison,  Gallatin,  Johnson, 
Pope,  Jackson,  Crawford,  Bond,  Union,  Washington 
and  Franklin,  the  northern  portion  of  the  State  be- 
ing mainly  in  Madison  County.  Thus  it  appears 
that  Mr.  Bond  was  honored  by  the  naming  of  a 


SHADRACH  BOND. 


county  before  he  was  elected  Governor.  The  present 
county  of  Bond  is  of  small  limitations,  about  60  to  80 
miles  south  of  Springfield.  For  Lieutenant  Governor 
the  people  chose  Pierre  Menard,  a  prominent  and 
worthy  Frenchman,  after  whom  a  county  in  this  State 
is  named.  In  this  election  there  were  no  opposition 
candidates,  as  the  popularity  of  these  men  had  made 
their  promotion  to  the  chief  offices  of  the  Slate,  even 
before  the  constitution  was  drafted,  a  foregone  con- 
clusion. 

The  principal  points  that  excited  the  people  in 
reference  to  political  issues  at  this  period  were  local 
or  "internal  improvements,"  as  they  were  called, 
State  banks,  location  of  the  capital,  slavery  and  the 
personal  characteristics  of  the  proposed  candidates. 
Mr.  Bond  represented  the  "  Convention  party,"  for 
introducing  slavery  into  the  State,  supported  by  Elias 
Kent  Kane,  his  Secretary  of  State,  and  John  Mc- 
Lean, while  Nathaniel  Pope  and  John  P.  Cook  led 
the  anti-slavery  element.  The  people,  however,  did 
not  become  very  much  excited  over  this  issue  until 
1820,  when  the  famous  Missouri  Compromise  was 
adopted  by  Congress,  limiting  slavery  to  the  south 
of  the  parallel  of  36°  30'  except  in  Missouri.  While 
this  measure  settled  the  great  slavery  controversy, 
so  far  as  the  average  public  sentiment  was  tempor- 
arily concerned,  until  1854,  when  it  was  repealed 
under  the  leadership  of  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  the  issue 
as  considered  locally  in  this  State  was  not  decided 
until  1824,  after  a  most  furious  campaign.  (See 
sketch  of  Gov.  Coles.)  The  ticket  of  1818  was  a 
compromise  one,  Bond  representing  (moderately)  the 
pro-slavery  sentiment  and  Menard  the  anti-slavery. 

An  awkward  element  in  the  State  government 
under  Gov.  Bond's  administration,  was  the  imperfec- 
tion of  the  State  constitution.  The  Convention 
wished  to  have  Elijah  C.  Berry  for  the  first  Auditor 
of  Public  Accounts,  but,  as  it  was  believed  that  the 
new  Governor  would  not  appoint  him  to  the  office, 
the  Convention  declared  in  a  schedule  that  "an 
auditor  of  public  accounts,  an  attorney  general  and 
such  other  officers  of  the  State  as  may  be  necessary, 
may  be  appointed  by  the  General  Assembly."  The 
Constitution,  as  it  stood,  vested  a  very  large  appoint- 
ing power  in  the  Governor ;  but  for  the  purpose  of 
getting  one  man  into  office,  a  total  change  was  made, 
and  the  power  vested  in  the  Legislature.  Of  this 
provision  the  Legislature  took  advantage,  and  de- 


clared that  State's  attorneys,  canal  commissioners, 
bank  directors,  etc.,  were  all  "  officers  of  the  State  " 
and  must  therefore  be  appointed  by  itself  independ- 
ently of  the  Governor. 

During  Gov.  Bond's  administration  a  general  law 
was  passed  for  the  incorporation  of  academies  and 
towns,  and  one  authorizing  lotteries.  The  session  of 
1822  authorized  the  Governor  to  appoint  commis- 
sioners, to  act  in  conjunction  with  like  commissioners 
appointed  by  the  State  of  Indiana,  to  report  on  the 
practicability  and  expediency  of  improving  the  navi- 
gation of  the  Wabash  River;  also  inland  navigation 
generally.  Many  improvements  were  recommended, 
some  of  which  have  been  feebly  worked  at  even  till 
the  present  day,  those  along  the  Wabash  being  of  no 
value.  Also,  during  Gov.  Bond's  term  of  office,  the 
capital  of  the  State  was  removed  from  Kaskaskia  to 
Vandalia.  In  1820- a  law  was  passed  by  Congress 
authorizing  this  State  to  open  a  canal  through  the 
public  lands.  The  State  appointed  commissioners 
lo  explore  the  route  and  prepare  the  necessary  sur- 
veys and  estimates,  preparatory  to  its  execution; 
but,  being  unable  out  of  its  own  resources  to  defray 
the  expenses  of  the  undertaking,  it  was  abandoned 
until  some  time  after  Congress  made  the  grant  of 
land  for  the  purpose  of  its  construction. 

On  the  whole,  Gov.  Bond's  administration  was 
fairly  good,  not  being  open  to  severe  criticism  from 
any  party.  In  1824,  two  years  after  the  expiration 
of  his  term  of  office,  he  was  brought  out  as  a  candi- 
date for  Congress  against  the  formidable  John  P. 
Cook,  but  received  only  4,374  votes  to  7,460  for  the 
latter.  Gov.  Bond  was  no  orator,  but  had  made 
many  fast  friends  by  a  judicious  -}~towment  of  his 
gubernatorial  patronage,  and  these  worked  zealously 
for  him  in  the  campaign. 

In  1827  ex-Gov.  Bond  was  appointed  by  the  Leg- 
islature, with  Wm.  P.  McKee  and  Dr.  Gershom 
Jayne,  as  Commissioners  to  locate  a  site  for  a  peni- 
tentiary on  the  Mississippi  at  or  near  Alton. 

Mr.  Bond  was  of  a  benevolent  and  convivial  dis- 
position, a  man  of  shrewd  observation  and  clear  ap- 
preciation of  events.  His  person  was  erect,  stand- 
ing six  feet  in  height,  and  after  middle  life  became 
portly,  weighing  200  pounds.  H>s  features  were 
strongly  masculine,  complexion  dark,  hair  jet  and 
eyes  hazel ;  was  a  favorite  with  the  ladies.  He  died 
April  it,  1830,  in  peace  and  contentment. 


I 


GOVERNORS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


]£&war6  Coles* 


DWARD  COLES,  second 
Governor  of  Illinois,  1823- 
6,  was  born  Dec.  15,  1786, 
in  Albemarle  Co.,  Va.,  on 
the  old  family  estate  called 
"Enniscorthy,"  on  the 
Green  Mountain.  His  fath- 
•,  John  Coles,  was  a  Colonel  in  the 
Revolutionary  War.  Having  been  fit- 
ted for  college  by  private  tutors,  he 
was  sent  to  Hampden  Sidney,  where 
he  remained  until  the  autumn  of  1805, 
when  he  was  removed  to  William  and 
Mary  College,  at  Williamsburg,  Va. 
This  college  he  left  in  the  summer  of 
807,  a  short  time  before  the  final  and  graduating 
camination.  Among  his  classmates  were  Lieut, 
en.  Scott,  President  John  Tyler,  Wm.  S.  Archer, 
rnited  States  Senator  from  Virginia,  and  Justice 
aldwin,  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court.  The 
resident  of  the  latter  college,  Bishop  Madison,  was 
cousin  of  President  James  Madison,  and  that  cir- 
imstance  was  the  occasion  of  Mr.  Coles  becoming 
srsonally  acquainted  with  the  President  and  re- 
:iving  a  position  as  his  private  secretary,  1809-15. 
The  family  of  Coles  was  a  prominent  one  in  Vir- 
nia,  and  their  mansion  was  the  seat  of  the  old- 
ishioned  Virginian  hospitality.  It  was  visited  by 
ich  notables  as  Patrick  Henry,  Jefferson,  Madison, 
[onroe,  the  Randolphs,  Tazewell,  Wirt,  etc.  At  the 
je  of  23,  young  Coles  founa  himself  heir  to  a  plant- 
:ion  and  a  considerable  number  of  slaves.  Ever 
nee  his  earlier  college  days  his  attention  had  been 
rawn  to  the  question  of  slavery.  He  read  every- 


thing  on  the  subject  that  came  in  his  way,  and 
listened  to  lectures  on  the  rights  of  man.  The  more 
he  reflected  upon  the  subject,  the  more  impossible 
was  it  for  him  to  reconcile  the  immortal  declaration 
"that  all  men  are  born  free  and  equal"  with  the 
practice  of  slave-holding.  He  resolved,  therefore,  to 
free  his  slaves  the  first  opportunity,  and  even  remove 
his  residence  to  a  free  State.  One  reason  which  de- 
termined him  to  accept  the  appointment  as  private 
secretary  to  Mr.  Madison  was  because  he  believed 
that  through  the  acquaintances  tie  could  make  at 
Washington  he  could  better  determine  in  what  part 
of  the  non-slaveholding  portion  of  the  Union  he  woulc 
prefer  to  settle. 

The  relations  between  Mr.  Coles  and  President 
Madison,  as  well  as  Jefferson  and  other  distinguished 
men,  were  of  a  very  friendly  character,  arising  from 
the  similarity  of  their  views  on  the  question  of  slavery 
and  their  sympathy  for  each  other  in  holding  doc- 
trines so  much  at  variance  with  the  prevailing  senti- 
ment in  their  own  State. 

In  1857,  he  resigned  his  secretaryship  and  spent  a 
portion  of  the  following  autumn  in  exploring  the 
Northwest  Territory,  for  the  purpose  of  finding  a  lo- 
cation and  purchasing  lands  on  which  to  settle  his 
negroes.  He  traveled  with  a  horse  and  buggy,  with 
an  extra  man  and  horse  for  emergencies,  through 
many  parts  of  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois  and  Missouri, 
determining  finally  to  settle  in  Illinois.  At  this  time, 
however,  a  misunderstanding  arose  between  our 
Government  and  Russia,  and  Mr.  Coles  was  selected 
to  repair  to  St.  Petersburg  on  a  special  mission,  bear- 
ing important  papers  concerning  the  matter  at  issue 
The  result  was  a  conviction  of  the  Emperor  (Alex- 


n6 


EDWARD  COLES. 


ander)  of  the  error  committed  by  his  minister  at 
Washington,  and  the  consequent  withdrawal  of  the 
the  latter  from  the  post.  On  his  return,  Mr.  Coles 
visited  other  parts  of  Europe,  especially  Paris,  where 
he  was  introduced  to  Gen.  Lafayette. 

In  the  spring  of  1819,  he  removed  with  all  his 
negroes  from  Virginia  to  Edwardsville,  111.,  with  the 
intention  of  giving  them  their  liberty.  He  did  not 
make  known  to  them  his  intention  until  one  beautiful 
morning  in  April,  as  they  were  descending  the  Ohio 
River.  He  lashed  all  the  boats  together  and  called 
all  the  negroes  on  deck  and  made  them  a  short  ad- 
dress, concluding  his  remarks  by  so  expressing  him- 
self that  by  a  turn  of  a  sentence  he  proclaimed  in 
the  shortest  and  fullest  manner  that  they  were  no 
longer  slaves,  but  free  as  he  was  and  were  at  liberty 
to  proceed  with  him  or  go  ashore  at  their  pleas- 
ure. A  description  of  the  effect  upon  the  negroes  is 
best  desciibed  in  his  own  language  : 

"  The  effect  upon  them  was  electrical.  They  stared 
at  me  and  then  at  each  other,  as  if  doubting  the  ac- 
curacy or  reality  of  what  they  heard.  In  breathless 
silence  they  stood  before  me,  unable  to  utter  a  word, 
but  with  countenances  beaming  with  expression  which 
no  words  could  convey,  and  which  no  language 
can  describe.  As  they  began  to  see  the  truth  of 
what  they  had  heard,  and  realize  their  situation,  there 
came  on  a  kind  of  hysterical,  giggling  laugh.  After 
a  pause  of  intense  and  unutterable  emotion,  bathed 
in  tears,  and  with  tremulous  voices,  they  gave  vent  to 
their  gratitude  and  implored  the  blessing  of  God 
on  me." 

Before  landing  he  gave  them  a  general  certificate 
of  freedom,  and  afterward  conformed  more  particu- 
larly with  the  law  of  this  State  requiring  that  each 
individual  should  have  a  certificate.  This  act  of 
Mr.  Coles,  all  the  more  noble  and  heroic  considering 
the  overwhelming  pro-slavery  influences  surrounding 
him,  has  challenged  the  admiration  of  every  philan- 
thropist of  modern  times. 

March  5,  1819,  President  Monroe  appointed  Mr. 
Coles  Registrar  of  the  Land  Office  at  Edwardsvihe, 
at  that  time  one  of  the  principal  land  offices  in  the 
State.  While  acting  in  this  capacity  and  gaining 
many  friends  by  his  politeness  and  general  intelli- 
gence, the  greatest  struggle  that  ever  occurred  in 
Illinois  on  the  slavery  question  culminated  in  the 
furious  contest  characterizing  the  campaigns  and 
elections  of  1822-4.  In  the  summer  of  1823,  when  a 
new  Governor  was  to  be  elected  to  succeed  Mr. 
Bond,  the  pro-slavery  element  divided  into  factions, 
putting  forward  for  the  executive  office  Joseph 
Phillips,  Chief  Justice  of  the  State,  Thomas  C. 
Browne  and  Gen.  James  B.  Moore,  of  the  State  Mil- 
itia. The  anti-slavery  element  united  upon  Mr. 
Coles,  and,  after  one  of  the  most  bitter  campaigns, 
succeeded  in  electing  him  as  Governor.  His  plural- 
ity over  Judge  Phillips  was  only  59  in  a  total  vote  of 


over  8,000.  The  Lieutenant  Governor  was  elected 
by  the  slavery  men.  Mr.  Coles' inauguration  speech 
was  marked  by  calmness,  deliberation  and  such  a 
wise  expression  of  appropriate  suggestions  as  to 
elicit  the  sanction  of  all  judicious  politicians.  But 
he  compromised  not  with  evil.  In  his  message  to 
the  Legislature,  the  seat  of  Government  being  then 
at  Vandalia,  he  strongly  urged  the  abrogation  of  the 
modified  form  of  slavery  which  then  existed  in  this 
State,  contrary  to  the  Ordinance  of  1787.  His  posi- 
tion on  this  subject  seems  the  more  remarkable,  when 
it  is  considered  that  he  was  a  minority  Governor,  the 
population  of  Illinois  being  at  that  time  almost  ex- 
clusively from  slave-holding  States  and  by  a  large 
majority  in  favor  of  the  perpetuation  of  that  old  relic 
of  barbarism.  The  Legislature  itself  was,  of  course, 
a  reflex  of  the  popular  sentiment,  and  a  majority  of 
them  were  led  on  by  fiery  men  in  denunciations  of 
the  conscientious  Governor,  and  in  curses  loud  and 
deep  upon  him  and  all  his  friends.  Some  of  the 
public  men,  indeed,  went  so  far  as  to  head  a  sort  of 
mob,  or  "  shiveree  "  party,  who  visited  the  residence 
of  the  Governor  and  others  at  Vandalia  and  yelled 
and  groaned  and  spat  fire. 

The  Constitution,  not  establishing  or  permitting 
slavery  in  this  State,  was  thought  therefore  to  be 
defective  by  the  slavery  politicians,  and  they  desired 
a  State  Convention  to  be  elected,  to  devise  and  sub- 
mit a  new  Constitution ;  and  the  dominant  politics 
of  the  day  was  "  Convention  "  and  "  anti-Conven- 
tion." Both  parties  issued  addresses  to  the  people, 
Gov.  Coles  himself  being  the  author  of  the  address 
published  by  the  latter  party.  This  address  revealed 
the  schemes  of  the  conspirators  in  a  masterly  man- 
ner. It  is  difficult  for  us  at  this  distant  day  to  esti- 
mate the  critical  and  extremely  delicate  situation  in 
which  the  Governor  was  placed  at  that  time. 

Our  hero  maintained  himself  honorably  and  with 
supreme  dignity  throughout  his  administration,  and 
in  his  honor  a  county  in  this  State  is  named.  He 
was  truly  a  great  man,  and  those  who  lived  in 
this  State  during  his  sojourn  here,  like  those  who 
live  at  the  base  of  the  mountain,  were  too  near  to  see 
and  recognize  the  greatness  that  overshadowed  them. 

Mr.  Coles  was  married  Nov.  28,  1833,  by  Bishop 
De  Lancey,  to  Miss  Sally  Logan  Roberts,  a  daughter 
of  Hugh  Roberts,  a  descendant  of  Welsh  ancestry, 
who  came  to  this  country  with  Wm.  Penn  in  1682. 

After  the  expiration  of  his  term  of  service,  Gov. 
Coles  continued  his  residence  in  Edwardsville,  sup- 
erintending his  farm  in  the  vicinity.  He  was  fond 
of  agriculture,  and  was  the  founder  of  the  first  agri- 
cultural society  in  the  State.  On  account  of  ill 
health,  however,  and  having  no  family  to  tie  him 
down,  he  spent  much  of  his  time  in  Eastern  cities. 
About  1832  he  changed  his  residence  to  Philadel- 
phia, where  he  died  July  7,  1868,  and  is  buried  at 
Woodland,  near  that  city. 


it  LlBRARt- 


GO  VERNORS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


INIAN  EDWARDS,  Governor 
from  1827  to  1830,  was  a  son 
of  Benjamin  Edwards,  and 
was  born  in  Montgomery 
County,  Maryland,  in  March, 
^  1775.  His  domestic  train- 
ing was  well  fitted  to  give 
his  mind  strength,  firmness  and 
honorable  principles,  and  a  good 
foundation  was  laid  for  the  elevated 
character  to  which  he  afterwards 
attained.  His  parents  were  Bap- 
tists, and  very  strict  in  their  moral 
principles.  His  education  in  early 
youth  was  in  company  with  and 
partly  under  the  tuition  of  Hon.  Wm. 
Wirt,  whom  his  father  patronized, 
and  who  was  more  than  two  years 
older.  An  intimacy  was  thus 
formed  between  them  which  was  lasting  for  life.  He 
was  further  educated  at  Dickinson  College,  at  Car- 
lisle, Pa.  He  next  commenced  the  study  of  law,  but 
before  completing  his  course  he  moved  to  Nelson 
County,  Ky.,  to  open  a  farm  for  his  father  and  to 
purchase  homes  and  locate  lands  for  his  brothers  and 
sisters.  Here  he  fell  in  the  company  of  dissolute 
companions,  and  for  several  years  led  the  life  of  a 
spendthrift.  He  was,  however,  elected  to  the  Legis- 
lature of  Kentucky  as  the  Representative  of  Nelson 
•Bounty  before  he  was  2 1  years  of  age,  and  was  re- 
tecteci  by  an  almost  unanimous  vote. 


In  1798  he  was  licensed  to  practice  law,  and  the 
following  year  was  admitted  to  the  Courts  of  Tennes- 
see. About  this  time  he  left  Nelson  County  for 
Russellville,  in  Logan  County,  broke  away  from  his 
dissolute  companions,  commenced  a  reformation  and 
devoted  himself  to  severe  and  laborious  study.  He 
then  began  to  rise  rapidly  in  his  profession,  and  soon 
became  an  eminent  lawyer,  and  inside  of  four  years 
he  filled  in  succession  the  offices  of  Presiding  Judge 
of  the  General  Court,  Circuit  Judge,  fourth  Judge  of 
the  Court  of  Appeals  and  Chief  Justice  of  the  State, 
— all  before  he  was  32  years  of  age!  In  addition,  in 
1802,  he  received  a  commission  as  Major  of  a  battal- 
ion of  Kentucky  militia,  and  in  1804  was  chosen  a 
Presidential  Elector,  on  the  Jefferson  and  Clinton 
ticket.  In  1806  he  was  a  candidate  for  Congress, 
but  withdrew  on  being  promoted  to  the  Court  of 
Appeals. 

Illinois  was  organized  as  a  separate  Territory  in 
the  spring  of  1809,  when  Mr.  Edwards,  then  Chief 
Justice  of  the  Court  of  Appeals  in  Kentucky,  received 
from  President  Madison  the  appointment  as  Gover- 
nor of  the  new  Territory,  his  commission  bearing  date 
April  24,  1809.  Edwards  arrived  at  Kaskaskia  in 
June,  and  on  the  i  ith  of  that  month  took  the  oath  of 
office.  At  the  same  time  he  was  appointed  Superin- 
tendent of  the  United  States  Saline,  this  Government 
interest  then  developing  into  considerable  proportions 
in  Southern  Illinois.  Although  during  the  first  three 
years  of  his  administration  he  had  the  power  to  make 
new  counties  and  appoint  all  the  officers,  yet  he  always 
allowed  the  people  of  each  county,  b.y  an  informal 


NINIAN  EDWARDS. 


vote,  to  select  their  own  officers,  both  civil  and  mili- 
tary. The  noted  John  J.  Crittenden,  afterward 
United  States  Senator  from  Kentucky,  was  appointed 
by  Gev.  Edwards  to  the  office  of  Attorney  General  of 
the  Territory,  which  office  was  accepted  for  a  short 
time  only. 

The  Indians  in  1810  committing  sundry  depreda- 
tions in  the  Territory,  crossing  the  Mississippi  from 
the  Territory  of  Louisiana,  a  long  correspondence  fol- 
lowed between  the  respective  Governors  concerning 
the  remedies,  which  ended  in  a  council  with  the  sav- 
ages at  Peoria  in  1812,  and  a  fresh  interpretation  of 
the  treaties.  Peoria  was  depopulated  by  these  de- 
predations, and  was  not  re-settled  for  many  .years 
afterward. 

As  Gov.  Edwards'  term  of  office  expired  by  law  in 
1812,  he  was  re-appointed  for  another  term  of  three 
years,  and  again  in  1815  for  a  third  term,  serving 
until  the  organization  of  the  State  in  the  fall  of  1818 
and  the  inauguration  of  Gov.  Bond.  At  this  time 
ex-Gov.  Edwards  was  sent  to  the  United  States 
Senate,  his  colleague  being  Jesse  B.  Thomas.  As 
Senator,  Mr.  Edwards  took  a  conspicuous  part,  and 
acquitted  himself  honorably  in  all  the  measures  that 
came  up  in  that  body,  being  well  posted,  an  able  de- 
oater  and  a  conscientious  statesman.  He  thought 
ieriously  of  resigning  this  situation  in  1821,  but  was 
persuaded  by  his  old  friend,  Wm.  Wirt,  and  others  to 
continue  in  office,  which  he  did  to  the  end  of  the 
term. 

He  was  then  appointed  Minister'  to  Mexico  by 
President  Monroe.  About  this  time,  it  appears  that 
Mr.  Edwards  saw  suspicious  signs  in  the  conduct  of 
Wm.  H.  Crawford,  Secretary  of  the  United  States 
Treasury,  and  an  ambitious  candidate  for  the  Presi- 
dency, and  being  implicated  by  the  latter  in  some  of 
his  statements,  he  resigned  his  Mexican  mission  in 
order  fully  to  investigate  the  charges.  The  result 
was  the  exculpation  of  Mr.  Edwards. 

Pro-slavery  regulations,  often  termed  "Black  Laws," 
disgraced  the  statute  books  of  both  the  Territory  and 
.he  State  of  Illinois  during  the  whole  of  his  career  in 
:his  commonwealth,  and  Mr.  Edwards  always  main- 
tained the  doctrines  of  freedom,  and  was  an  important 
r.ctor  in  the  great  struggle  which  ended  in  a  victory 
for  his  party  in  1824. 

In  18267  the  Winnebago  and  other  Indians  com- 
mitted some  depredations  in  the  northern  part  of  the 


State,  and  the  white  settlers,  who  desired  the  lands 
and  wished  to  exasperate  the  savages  into  an  evacu- 
ation of  the  country,  magnified  the  misdemeanors  of 
the  aborigines  and  thereby  produced  a  hostility  be- 
tween the  races  so  great  as  to  precipitate  a  little  war, 
known  in  history  as  the  "  Winnebago  War."  A  few 
chases  and  skirmishes  were  had,  when  Gen.  Atkinson 
succeeded  in  capturing  Red  Bird,  the  Indian  chief, 
and  putting  him  to  death,  thus  ending  the  contest,  at 
least  until  the  troubles  commenced  which  ended  in 
the  "  Black  Hawk  War  "  of  1832.  In  the  interpre- 
tation of  treaties  and  execution  of  their  provisions 
Gov.  Edwards  had  much  vexatious  work  to  do.  The 
Indians  kept  themselves  generally  within  the  juris- 
diction of  Michigan  Territory,  and  its  Governor, 
Lewis  Cass,  was  at  a  point  so  remote  that  ready  cor- 
respondence with  him  was  difficult  or  impossible. 
Gov.  Edwards'  administration,  however,  in  regard  to 
the  protection  of  the  Illinois  frontier,  seems  to  have 
been  very  efficient  and  satisfactory. 

For  a  considerable  portion  of  his  time  after  his  re- 
moval to  Illinois,  Gov.  Edwards  resided  upon  his 
farm  near  Kaskaskia,  which  he  had  well  stocked  with 
horses,  cattle  and  sheep  from  Kentucky,  also  with 
fruit-trees,  grape-vines  and  shrubbery.  He  estab- 
lished saw  and  grist-mills,  and  engaged  extensively 
in  mercantile  business,  having  no  less  than  eight  or  ten 
stores  in  this  State  and  Missouri.  Notwithstanding 
the  arduous  duties  of  his  office,  he  nearly  always  pur- 
chased the  goods 'himself  with  which  to  supply  the 
stores.  Although  not  a  regular  practitioner  of  medi- 
cine, he  studied  the  healing  art  to  a  considerable  ex- 
tent, and  took  great  pleasure  in  prescribing  for,  and 
taking  care  of,  the  sick,  generally  without  charge. 
He  was  also  liberal  to  the  poor,  several  widows  and 
ministers  of  the  gospel  becoming  indebted  to  him 
even  for  their  homes. 

He  married  Miss  Elvira  Lane,  of  Maryland,  in 
1803,  and  they  became  the  affectionate  parents  of 
several  children,  one  of  whom,  especially,  is  weh' 
known  to  the  people  of  the  "  Prairie  State,"  namely, 
Ninian  Wirt  Edwards,  once  the  Superintendent  c< 
Public  Instruction  and  still  a  resident  of  Springfield 
Gov.  Edwards  resided  at  and  in  the  vicinity  of  Kas- 
kaskia  from  180910  1818;  in  Edwardsville  (named 
after  him)  from  that  time  to  1824;  and  from  the  lat- 
ter date  at  Belleville,  St.  Clair  County,  until  his 
death,  July  20,  1833,  of  Asiatic  cholera.  Edwards 
County  is  also  named  in  his  honor. 


IKE  LILriAi 
OFJH? 


GOVERNORS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


:OHN  REYNOLDS, Governor  1831- 
4,  was  born  in  Montgomery  Coun- 
ty, Pennsylvania,  Feb.  26,  1788. 
His  father,  Robert  Reynolds  and 
mother,  rue  Margaret  Moore, 
were  both  natives  of  Ireland,  from 
which  country  they  emigrated  to 
the  United  States  in  1785,  land- 
ing at  Philadelphia.  The  senior 
Reynolds  entertained  an  undying 
hostility  to  the  British  Govern- 
ment. When  the  subject  of  this 
sketch  was  about  six  months  old, 
his  parents  emigrated  with  him  to 
Tennessee,  where  many  of  their 
relatives  had  already  located,  at  the  base  of  the 
Copper  Ridge  Mountain,  about  14  miles  northeast  of 
the  present  city  of  Knoxville.  There  they  were  ex- 
nosed  to  Indian  depredations,  and  were  much  molest- 
ed by  them.  In  1794  they  moved  into  the  interior 
of  the  State.  They  were  poor,  and  brought  up  their 
children  to  habits  of  manual  industry. 

In  1 800  the  family  removed  to  Kaskaskia,  111.,  with 
eight  horses  and  two  wagons,  encountering  many 
Hardships  on  the  way.  Here  young  Reynolds  passed 
the  most  of  his  childhood,  while  his  character  began 
to  develop,  the  most  prominent  traits  of  which  were 
ambition  and  energy.  He  also  adopted  the  principle 
and  practice  of  total  abstinence  from  intoxicating 
liquors.  In  1807  the  family  made  another  removal, 


this  time  to  the  "  Goshen  Settlement,"  at  the  foot  of 
the  Mississippi  bluffs  three  or  four  miles  southwest 
of  Edwardsville. 

On  arriving  at  his  zoth  year,  Mr.  Reynolds,  seeing 
that  he  must  look  about  for  his  own  livelihood  and 
not  yet  having  determined  what  calling  to  pursue, 
concluded  first  to  attend  college,  and  he  accordingly 
went  to  such  an  institution  of  learning,  near  Knox- 
ville, Tenn.,  where  he  had  relatives.  Imagine  his 
diffidence,  when,  after  passing  the  first  "20  years  of 
his  life  without  ever  having  seen  a  carpet,  a  papered 
wall  or  a  Windsor  chair,  and  never  having  lived  in  a 
shingle-roofed  house,  he  suddenly  ushered  himself 
into  the  society  of  the  wealthy  in  the  vicinity  of 
Knoxville!  He  attended  college  nearly  two  years, 
going  through  the  principal  Latin  authors ;  but  it 
seems  that  he,  like  the  rest  of  the  world  in  modern 
times,  had  but  very  little  use  for  his  Latin  in  after 
life.  He  always  failed,  indeed,  to  exhibit  any  good 
degree  of  literary  discipline.  He  commenced  the 
study  of  law  in  Knoxville,  but  a  pulmonary  trouble 
came  on  and  compelled  him  to  change  his  mode 
of  life.  Accordingly  he  returned  home  and  re- 
cuperated, and  in  1812  resumed  his  college  and 
law  studies  at  Knoxville.  In  the  fall  of  1812  he  was 
admitted  to  the  Bar  at  Kaskaskia.  About  this  time 
he  also  learned  the  French  language,  which  he 
practiced  with  pleasure  in  conversation  with  his 
family  for  many  years.  He  regarded  this  language 
as  being  superior  to  all  others  for  social  intercourse. 


12.1 


JOHN  REYNOLDS. 


From  his  services  in  the  West,  in  the  war  of  1812, 
he  obtained  the  sobriquet  of  the  "  Old  Ranger."  He 
was  Orderly  Sergeant,  then  Judge  Advocate. 

Mr.  Reynolds  opened  his  first  law  office  in  the 
winter  and  spring  of  1814,  in  the  French  village  of 
Cahokia,  then  the  capital  of  St.  Glair  County. 

In  the  fall  of  1818  he  was  elected  an  Associate 
Justice  upon  the  Supreme  Bench  by  the  General 
Assembly.  In  1825  he  entered  more  earnestly  than 
ever  into  the  practice  of  law,  and  the  very  next  year 
was  elected  a  member  of  the  Legislature,  where  he 
acted  independently  of  all  cliques  and  private  inter- 
ests. In  1828  the  Whigs  and  Democrats  were  for 
the  first  time  distinctively  organized  as  such  in  Illi- 
nois, and  the  usual  party  bitterness  grew  up  and 
raged  on  all  sides,  while  Mr.  Reynolds  preserved  a 
mdicial  calmness  and  moderation.  The  real  animus 
jf  the  campaign  was  "  Jackson  "  and  "  anti-Jackson," 
'he  former  party  carrying  the  State. 

In  August,  1830,  Mr.  Reynolds  was  elected  Gov- 
,rnor,  amid  great  excitement.  Installed  in  office,  he 
did  all  within  his  power  to  advance  the  cause  of  edu- 
cation, internal  improvements,  the  Illinois  &  Mich- 
igan Canal,  the  harbor  at  Chicago,  settling  the  coun- 
try, etc.;  also  recommended  the  winding  up  of  the 
State  Bank,  as  its  affairs  had  become  dangerously 
complicated.  In  his  national  politics,  he  was  a 
moderate  supporter  of  General  Jackson.  But  the 
most  celebrated  event  of  his  gubernatorial  admin- 
istration was  the  Black  Hawk  War,  which  occurred 
in  1832.  He  called  out  the  militia  and  prosecuted 
the  contest  with  commendable  diligence,  appearing 
in  person  on  the  battle-grounds  during  the  most 
critical  periods.  He  was  recognized  by  the  President 
as  Major-General,  and  authorized  by  him  to  make 
treaties  with  the  Indians.  By  the  assistance  of  the 
ger.f.ral  Government  the  war  was  terminated  without 
much  bloodshed,  but  after  many  serious  fights.  This 
war,  as  well  as  everything  else,  was  materially  re- 
tarded by  the  occurrence  of  Asiatic  cholera  in  the 
West.  This  was  its  first  appearance  here,  and  was 
the  next  event  in  prominence  daring  Gov.  Reynolds' 
ierm. 

South  Carolina  nullification  coming  up  at  this  time, 
t  was  heartily  condemned  by  both  President  Jackson 
<.nd  Gov.  Reynolds,  who  took  precisely  the  same 
grounds  as  the  Unionists  in  the  last  war. 

On  the  termination  of  his  gubernatorial  term  in 
.834,  Gov.  Reynolds  was  elected  a  Member  of  Con- 
gress, still  considering  himself  a  backwoodsman,  as 
fe  had  scarcely  been  outside  of  the  State  since  he 
became  of  age,  and  had  spent  nearly  all  his  youthful 
days  in  the  wildest  region  of  the  frontier.  His  first 
iiove  in  Congress  was  to  adopt  a  resolution  that  in 
all  elections  made  by  the  House  for  officers  the  votes 
should  be  given  viva  voee,  each  member  in  his  place 
naming  aloud  the  person  for  whom  he  votes.  This 
created  considerable  heated  discussion,  but  was  es- 


sentially adopted,  and  remained  the  controlling  prin- 
ciple for  many  years.  The  ex  Governor  was  scarcely 
absent  from  his  seat  a  single  day,  during  eight  ses- 
sions of  Congress,  covering  a  period  of  seven  years, 
and  he  never  vacillated  in  a  party  vote;  but  he  failed 
to  get  the  Democratic  party  to  foster  his  "  National 
Road"  scheme.  He  says,  in  "  My  Own  Times  "  (a 
large  autobiography  he  published),  that  it  was  only 
by  rigid  economy  that  he  avoided  insolvency  while  in 
Washington.  During  his  sojourn  in  that  city  he  was 
married,  to  a  lady  of  the  place. 

In  1837,  while  out  of  Congress,  and  in  company 
with  a  few  others,  he  built  the  first  railroad  in  the 
Mississippi  Valley,  namely,  one  about  six  miles  long, 
leading  from  his  coal  mine  in  the  Mississippi  bluff  to 
the  bank  of  the  river  opposite  St.  Louis.  Having  not 
the  means  to  purchase  a  locomotive,  they  operated  it 
by  horse-power.  The  next  spring,  however,  the  com- 
pany sold  out,  at  great  sacrifice. 

In  1839  the  ex-Governor  was  appointed  one  of  the 
Canal  Commissioner?,  and  authorized  to  borrow 
money  to  prosecute  the  enterprise.  Accord;ngly,  he 
repaired  to  Philadelphia  and  succeeding  in  obtaining 
a  million  dollars,  which,  however,  was  only  a  fourth 
of  what  was  wanted.  The  same  year  he  and  his 
wife  made  at  our  of  Europe.  This  year,  also,  Mr. 
Reynolds  had  the  rather  awkward  little  responsibility 
of  introducing  to  President  Van  Buren  the  noted 
Mormon  Prophet,  Joseph  Smith,  as  a  "  Latter-Day 
Saint!" 

In  1846  Gov.  Reynolds  was  elected  a  member  of 
the  Legislature  from  St.  Clair  County,  more  particu 
larly  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  a  feasible  charter 
for  a  macadamized  road  from  Belleville  to  St.  Louis, 
a  distance  of  nearly  14  miles.  This  was  immediately 
built,  and  was  the  first  road  of  the  kind  in  the  State. 
He  was  again  elected  tothe  Legislature  in  1852,  when 
he  was  chosen  Speaker  of  the  House.  In  1860,  aged 
and  infirm,  he  attended  the  National  Democratic 
Convention  at  Charleston,  S.  C  ,  as  an  anti-Douglas 
Delegate,  where  he  Deceived  more  attention  from  the 
Southern  Delegates  than  any  other  member.  He 
supported  Breckenridge  for  the  Presidency.  After 
the  October  elections  foreshadowed  the  success  of 
Lincoln,  he  published  an  address  urging  the  Demo- 
crats to  rally  to  the  support  of  Douglas.  Immedi- 
ately preceding  and  during  the  late  war,  his  corre- 
spondence evinced  a  clear  sympathy  for  the  Southern 
secession,  and  about  the  first  of  March,  i86r,  he 
urged  upon  the  Buchanan  officials  the  seizure  of  the 
treasure  and  arms  in  the  custom-house  and  arsenal 
at  St.  Louis.  Mr.  Reynolds  was  a  rather  talkative 
man,  and  apt  in  all  the  Western  phrases  and  catch- 
words that  ever  gained  currency,  besides  many  cun- 
ning and  odd  ones  of  his  own  manufacture. 

He  was  married  twice,  but  had  no  children.  He 
died  in  Belleville,  in  May,  1865,  just  after  the  close 
of  the  war. 


GOVERNORS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


ILLIAM  LEE  D.  EVVING, 
Governor  of  Illinois  Nov.  3 
to  17,  1834,  was  a  native 
of  Kentucky,  and  probably 
of  Scotch  ancestry.  He  had 
a  fine  education,  was  a  gentle- 
man of  polished  manners  and 
refined  sentiment.  In  1830  John  Rey- 
nolds was  elected  Governor  of  the  State, 
and  Zadok  Casey  Lieutenant  Governor, 
and  for  the  principal  events  that  followed, 
and  the  characteristics  of  the  times,  see 
sketch  of  Gov.  Reynolds.  The  first  we 
see  in  history  concerning  Mr.  Ewing,  in- 
forms us  that  he  was  a  Receiver  of  Public 
Mor.eys  at  Vandalia  soon  after  the  organization  of 
Uiis,  State,  and  that  the  public  moneys  in  his  hands 
were  deposited  in  various  banks,  as  they  are  usually 
flUrn.  present  day.  In  1823  the  State  Bank  was 
obbed,by  which  disaster  Mr.  Ewing  lost  a  thousand- 
dollar  deposit. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  had  a  commission  as 
'  olonel  in  the  Black  Hawk  War,  and  in  emergencies 
ne  acted  also  as  Major.  In  the  summer  of  1832, 
•'hen  c  was  rumored  among  the  whites  that  Black 
Hawk  and  'iis  men  had  encamped  somewhere  on 
Rock  River,  Gen.  Henry  was  sent  or.  a  tour  of 
reconnoisance,  and  with  orders  to  drive  the  Indians 
from  the  State.  After  some  opposition  from  his 
ubordinate  officers,  Henry  resolved  to  proceed  up 
Rock  River  in  search  of  the  enemy.  On  the  igth  of 
'uly,  early  in  the  morning,  five  baggage  wagons, 


camp  equipage  and  all  heavy  and  cumbersome  arti- 
cles were  piled  up  and  left,  so  that  the  army  might 
make  speedy  and  forced  marches.  For  some  miles 
the  travel  was  exceedingly  bad,  crossing  swamps 
and  the  worst  thickets;  but  the  large,  fresh  trail 
gave  life  and  animation  to  the  Americans.  Gen. 
Dodge  and  Col.  Ewing  were  both  acting  as  Majors, 
and  composed  the  "  spy  corps  "  or  vanguard  of  the 
army.  It  is  supposed  the  army  marched  nearly  50 
miles  this  day,  and  the  Indian  trail  they  followed 
became  fresher,  and  was  strewed  with  much  property 
and  trinkets  of  the  red-skim  that  they  had  lost  or 
thrown  awaj  to  hasten  their  march.  During  the 
following  night  there  was  a  terrific  thunder-storm,  and 
the  soldiery,  with  all  their  appurtenances,  were  thor- 
oughly drenched. 

On  approaching  nearer  the  Indians  the  next  day. 
Gen.  Dodge  and  Major  Ewing,  each  commanding  a 
battalion  of  men,  were  placed  in  front  to  bring  on  the 
battle,  but  the  savages  were  not  overtaken  this  day 
Forced  marches  were  continued  until  they  reached. 
Wisconsin  River,  where  a  veritable  battle  ensued, 
resulting  in  the  death  of  about  68  of  Black  Hawk's 
men.  The  next  day  they  continued  the  chase,  and 
as  soon  as  he  discovered  the  trail  of  the  Indians 
leading  toward  the  Mississippi,  Maj.  Ewing  formed 
his  battalion  in  order  of  battle  and  awaited  the  order 
of  Gen.  Henry.  The  latter  soon  appeared  on  the 
ground  and  ordered  a  charge,  which  directly  resulted 
in  chasing  the  red  warriors  across  the  great  river. 
Maj.  Ewing  and  his  command  proved  particularly- 
efficient  in  war,  as  it  seems  they  were  the  chief  actors 
in  driving  the  main  body  of  the  Sacs  and  Foxes,  in- 


1*8 


WILLIAM  L.  D.  EWING. 


eluding  Black  Hawk  himself,  across  the  Mississippi, 
while  Gen.  Atkinson,  commander-in-chief  of  the  ex- 
pedition, with  a  body  of  the  army,  was  hunting  for 
them  in  another  direction. 

In  the  above  affair  Maj.  Ewmg  is  often  referred  to 
as  a  "  General,"  which  title  he  had  derived  from  his 
connection  with  the  militia. 

It  was  in  the  latter  part  of  the  same  year  (1832) 
that  Lieutenant  Governor  Casey  was  elected  to  Con- 
gress and  Gen.  Ewing,  who  had  been  elected  to  the 
Senate,  was  chosen  to  preside  over  that  body.  At 
the  August  election  of  1834,  Gov.  Reynolds  was  also 
elected  to  Congress,  more  than  a  year  ahead  of  the 
time  at  which  he  could  actually  take  his  seat,  as  was 
then  the  law.  His  predecessor,  Charles  Slade,  had 
just  died  of  Asiatic  cholera,  soon  after  the  elec- 
tion, and  Gov.  Reynolds  was  chosen  to  serve  out  his 
unexpired  term.  Accordingly  he  set  out  for  Wash- 
ington in  November  of  that  year  to  take  his  seat  in 
Congress,  and  Gen.  Ewing,  by  virtue  of  his  office  as 
President  of  the  Senate,  became  Governor  of  the 
State  of  Illinois,  his  term  covering  only  a  period  of 
15  days,  namely,  from  the  3d  to  the  tyth  days,  in- 
clusive, of  November.  On  the  lyth  the  Legislature 
met,  and  Gov.  Ewing  transmitted  to  that  body  his 
message,  giving  a  statement  of  the  condition  of  the 
affairs  of  the  State  at  that  time,  and  urging  a  contin- 
uance of  the  policy  adopted  by  his  predecessor ;  and 
on  the  same  day  Governor  elect  Joseph  Duncan 
was  sworn  into  office,  thus  relieving  Mr.  Ewing  from 


the  responsible  situation.  This  is  the  only  time  that 
such  a  juncture  has  happened  in  the  history  of  Illi- 
nois. 

On  the  apth  of  December,  1835,  Gen.  Ewing  was 
elected  a  United  States  Senator  to  serve  out  the 
unexpired  term  of  Elias  Kent  Kane,  deceased.  The 
latter  gentleman  was  -a  very  prominent  figure  in  the 
early  politics  of  Illinois,  and  a  county  in  this  State  is 
named  in  his  honor.  The  election  of  Gen.  Ewing  to 
the  Senate  was  a  protracted  struggle.  His  competi- 
tors were  James  Semple,  who  afterwards  held  several 
important  offices  in  this  State,  and  Richard  M. 
Young,  afterward  a  United  States  Senator  and  a 
Supreme  Judge  and  a  man  of  vast  influence.  On 
the  first  ballot  Mr.  Semple  had  25  votes,  Young  19 
and  Ewing  18.  On  the  eighth  ballot  Young  was 
dropped ;  the  ninth  and  tenth  stood  a  tie ;  but  on 
the  i  zth  Ewing  received  40,  to  Semple  37,  and  was 
accordingly  declared  elected.  In  1837  Mr.  Ewing 
received  some  votes  for  a  continuance  of  his  term  in 
Congress,  when  Mr.  Young,  just  referred  to,  was 
elected.  In  1842  Mr.  Ewing  was  elected  State 
Auditor  on  the  ticket  with  Gov.  Ford. 

Gen.  Ewing  was  a  gentleman  of  culture,  a  lawyer 
by  profession,  and  was  much  in  public  life.  In  person 
he  was  above  medium  height  and  of  heavy  build, 
with  auburn  hair,  blue  eyes,  large-sized  head  and 
short  face.  He  was  genial,  social,  friendly  and 
affable,  with  fair  talent,  though  of  no  high  degree  of 
originality.  He  died  March  25,  1846. 


LI3XY; 
OF  THE,, 


GO  VERNORS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


OSEPH  DUNCAN,  Governor 
1834-8,  was  born  at  Paris, 
Ky.,  Feb.  23,  1794.  At  the 
tender  age  of  19  years  he  en- 
listed in  the  war  against  Great 
Britain,  and  as  a  soldier  he 
acquitted  himself  with  credit.  He 
was  an  Ensign  under  the  daunt- 
less Croghan  at  Lower  Sandusky, 
or  Fort  Stephenson.  In  Illinois 
lie  first  appeared  in  a  public  capa- 
city as  Major-General  of  the  Militia, 
a  position  which  his  military  fame 
had  procured  him.  Subsequently 
he  became  a  State  Senator  from 
Jackson  County,  and  is  honorably 
mentioned  for  introducing  the  first  bill  providing  for 
a  free-school  system.  In  1826,  when  the  redoubt- 
able John  P.  Cook,  who  had  previously  beaten  such 
men  as  John  McLean,  Elias  Kent  Kane  and  ex- 
Gov.  Bond,  came  up  for  the  fourth  time  for  Congress, 
Mr.  Duncan  was  brought  forward  against  him  by  his 
friends,  greatly  to  the  surprise  of  all  the  politicians. 
\s  yet  he  was  but  little  known  in  the  State.  He  was 
an  original  Jackson  man  at  that  time,  being  attached 
to  his  political  fortune  in  admiration  of  the  glory  of 
his  military  achievements.  His  chances  of  success 
against  Cook  were  generally  regarded  as  hopeless, 
but  he  entered  upon  the  campaign  undaunted.  His 
speeches,  though  short  and  devoid  of  ornament,  were 
full  of  good  sense.  He  made  a  diligent  canvass  of 
the  State,  Mr.  Cook  being  hindered  by  the  condition  of 
his  health.  The  most  that  was  expected  of  Mr. 
Duncan,  under  the  circumstances,  was  that  he  would 


obtain  a  respectable  vote,  but  without  defeating  Mr 
Cook.  The  result  of  the  campaign,  however,  was  a 
source  of  surprise  and  amazement  to  both  friends 
and  foes,  as  Mr.  Duncan  came  out  64 r  votes  ahead! 
He  received  6,321  votes,  and  Mr.  Cook  5,680.  Un- 
til this  denouement,  the  violence  of  party  feeling 
smoldering  in  the  breasts  of  the  people  on  account 
of  the  defeat  of  Jackson,  was  not  duly  appreciated. 
Aside  from  the  great  convention  struggle  of  1824,  no 
other  than  mere  local  and  personal  considerations 
had  ever  before  controlled  an  election  in  Illinois. 

From  the  above  date  Mr.  Duncan  retained  his 
seat  in  Congress  until  his  election  as  Governor  in 
August,  1834.  The  first  and  bloodless  year  of  the 
Black  Hawk  War  he  was  appointed  by  Gov.  Rey- 
nolds to  the  position  of  Brigadier-General  of  the 
volunteers,  and  he  conducted  his  brigade  to  Rock 
Island.  But  he  was  absent  from  the  State,  in  Wash- 
ington, during  the  gubernatorial  campaign,  and  did 
not  personally  participate  in  it,  but  addressed  circu- 
lars to  his  constituents.  His  election  was,  indeed, 
attributed  to  the  circumstance  of  his"  absence,  be- 
cause his  estrangement  from  Jackson,  formerly  his 
political  idol,  and  also  from  the  Democracy,  largely 
in  ascendency  in  the  State,  was  complete;  but  while 
his  defection  was  well  known  to  his  Whig  friends, 
and  even  to  the  leading  Jackson  men  of  this  State, 
the  latter  were  unable  to  carry  conviction  of  that  fact 
to  the  masses,  as  mail  and  newspaper  facilities  at 
that  day  were  far  inferior  to  those  of  the  present 
time.  Of  course  the  Governor  was  much  abused 
afterward  by  the  fossilized  Jackson  men  who  re- 
garded party  ties  and  affiliations  as  above  all 
other  issues  that  could  arise;  but  he  was  doubtless 


JOSEPH  DUNCAN. 


sincere  in  his  opposition  to  the  old  hero,  as  the  latter 
had  vetoed  several  important  western  measures 
which  were  dear  to  Mr.  Duncan.  In  his  inaugural 
message  he  threw  off  the  mask  and  took  a  bold  stand 
against  the  course  of  the  President.  The  measures 
r.e  recommended  in  his  message,  however,  were  so 
desirable  that  the  Legislature,  although  by  a  large 
majority  consisting  of  Jackson  men,  could  not  refrain 
from  endorsing  them.  These  measures  related 
mainly  to  banks  and  internal  improvements. 

It  was  while  Mr.  Duncan  was  Governor  that  the 
people  of  Illinois  went  whirling  on  with  bank  and  in- 
ternal improvement  schemes  that  well  nigh  bank- 
•mpted  the  State.  The  hard  times  of  1837  came  on, 
and  the  disasters  that  attended  the  inauguration  of 
Jiese  plans  and  the  operation  of  the  banks  were  mu- 
tually charged  upon  the  two  political  parties.  Had 
any  one  man  autocratic  power  to  introduce  and 
carry  on  any  one  of  these  measures,  he  would  proba- 
bly have  succeeded  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  public ; 
nut  as  many  jealous  men  had  hold  of  the  same  plow 
nandle,  no  success  followed  and  each  blamed  the  other 
for  the  failure.  In  this  great  vortex  Gov.  Duncan 
was  carried  along,  suffering  the  like  derogation  of 
character  with  his  fellow  citizens. 

At  the  height  of  the  excitement  the  Legislature 
"  provided  for  "  railroads  from  Galena  to  Cairo,  Alton 
to  Shawneetown,  Alton  to  Mount  Carmel,  Alton  to  the 
eastern  boundary  of  the  State  in  the  direction  of 
Terre  Haute,  Quincy  via  Springfield  to  the  Wabasli, 
Bloomington  to  Pekin,  and  Peoria  to  Warsaw, — in  all 
about  1,300  miles  of  road.  It  also  provided  for  the 
improvement  of  the  navigation  of  the  Kaskaskia, 
Illinois,  Great  and  Little  Wabash  and  Rock  Rivers  ; 
also  as  a  placebo,  $200,000  in  money  were  to  be  dis- 
.ributed  to  the  various  counties  wherein  no  improve- 
ments were  ordered  to  be  made  as  above.  The 
estimate  for  the  expenses  for  all  these  projects  was 
ilaced  at  a  little  over  $10,000,000,  which  was  not 
:nore  tnan  half  enough !  That  would  now  be  equal  to 
saddling  upon  the  State  a  debt  of  $225,000,000  !  It 
was  sufficient  to  bankrupt  the  State  several  times- 
over,  even  counting  all  the  possible  benefits. 

One  of  the  most  exciting  events  that  ever  occurred 
:n  this  fair  State  was  the  murder  of  Elijah  P.  Love- 
ioy  in  the  fall  of  1837,  at  Alton,  during  Mr.  Duncan's 
term  as  Governor.  Lovejoy  was  an  "  Abolitionist," 
editing  the  Observer  at  that  place,  and  the  pro- 
slavery  slums  there  formed  themselves  into  a  mob, 


and  after  destroying  successively  three  presses  be- 
longing to  Mr.  Lovejoy,  surrounded  the  warehouse 
where  the  fourth  press  was  stored  away,  endeavoring 
to  destroy  it,  and  where  Lovejoy  and  his  friends 
were  entrenching  themselves,  and  shot  and  killed  the 
brave  reformer! 

About  this  time,  also,  the  question  of  removing  the 
State  capital  again  came  up,  as  the  20  years'  limit  for 
its  existence  at  Vandalia  was  drawing  to  a  close. 
There  was,  of  course,  considerable  excitement  over 
the  matter,  the  two  main  points  competing  for  it  be- 
ing Springfield  and  Peoria.  The  jealousy  of  the  lat- 
ter place  is  not  even  yet,  45  years  afterward,  fully 
allayed. 

Gov.  Duncan's  term  expired  in  1838.  In  1842 
he  was  again  proposed  as  a  candidate  for  the  Execu- 
tive chair,  this  time  by  the  Whig  party,  against  Adam 
W.  Snyder,  of  St.  Clair  County,  the  nominee  of  the 
Democrats.  Charles  W.  Hunter  was  a  third  candi- 
date for  the  same  position.  Mr.  Snyder,  however,  died 
before  the  campaign  had  advanced  very  far,  and  his 
party  substituted  Thomas  Ford,  who  was  elected 
receiving  46,901  votes,  to  38,584  for  Duncan,  and 
909  for  Hunter.  The  cause  of  Democratic  success 
at  this  time  is  mainly  attributed  to  the  temporary 
support  of  the  Mormons  which  they  enjoyed,  and  the 
want  of  any  knowledge,  on  the  part  of  the  masses, 
that  Mr.  Ford  was  opposed  to  any  given  policy  en- 
tertained in  the  respective  localities. 

Gov.  Duncan  was  a  man  of  rather  limited  educa- 
tion, but  with  naturally  fine  abilities  he  profited 
greatly  by  his  various  public  services,  and  gathered 
a  store  of  knowledge  regarding  public  affairs  which 
served  him  a  ready  purpose.  He  possessed  a  clear 
judgment,  decision,  confidence  in  himself  and  moral 
courage  to  carry  out  his  convictions  of  right.  In  his 
deportment  he  was  well  adapted  to  gain  the  admira- 
tion of  the  people.  His  intercourse  with  them  was 
both  affable  and  dignified.  His  portrait  at  the  Gov- 
ernor's mansion,  from  which  the  accompanying  was 
made,  represents  him  as  having  a  swarthy  complex- 
ion, high  cheek  bones,  broad  forehead,  piercing  black 
eyes  and  straight  black  hair. 

He  was  a  liberal  patron  of  the  Illinois  College  at 
Jacksonville,  a  member  of  its  Board  of  Trustees,  and 
died,  after  a  short  illness,  Jan.  15,  1844,  a  devoted 
member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  leaving  a  wife 
but  no  children.  Two  children,  born  to  them,  had 
died  in  infancy. 


:  3RARY 

OF  THE 


GO  VERNORS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


IHOMAS  CARLIN,  the  sixth 

Governor  of  the  State  of 
Illinois,  serving  from  1838 
to  1842,  was  also  a  Ken- 
tuckian,  being  born  near 
Frankfort,  that  State,  July 
r8,  1789,  of  Irish  paternity. 
The  opportunities  for  an  education 
being  very  meager  in  his  native 
place,  he,  on  approaching  years  of 
judgment  and  maturity,  applied 
himself  to  those  branches  of  learn- 
ing that  seemed  most  important, 
and  thus  became  a  self-made  man  ; 
and  his  taste  for  reading  and 
study  remained  with  him  through 
life.  In  1803  his  father  removed 
10  Missouri,  then  a  part  of  "  New  Spain,"  where  he 
died  in  1810. 

In  r8i2  young  Carlin  came  to  Illinois  and  partici- 
pated in  all  the  "ranging"  service  incident  to  the 
war  of  that  period,  proving  himself  a  soldier  of  un- 
daunted bravery.  In  1814  he  married  Rebecca 
Huitt,  and  lived  for  four  years  on  the  bank  of  the 
Mississippi  River,  opposite  the  mouth  of  the  Mis- 
souri, where  he  followed  farming,  and  then  removed 
to  Greene  County.  He  located  the  town  site  of  Car- 
re*'ton,  in  that  county,  and  in  1825  made  a  liberal 
donation  of  land  for  county  building  purposes.  He 
was  the  first  Sheriff  of  that  county  after  its  separate 
organization,  and  afterward  was  twice  elected,  as  a 
Jackson  Democrat,  to  the  Illinois  Senate.  In  the 
Black  Hawk  War  he  commanded  a  spy  battalion,  a 
post  of  considerable  danger.  In  r834  he  was  ap- 
pointed by  President  Jackson  to  the  position  of 
Receiver  of  Public  Moneys,  and  to  fulfill  the  office 


more  conveniently  he  removed  to  the  city  of  Quincy. 

While,  in  r838,  the  unwieldy  internal  improvement 
system  of  the  State  was  in  full  operation,  with  all  its 
expensive  machinery,  amidst  bank  suspensions 
throughout  the  United  States,  a  great  stringency  in 
the  money  market  everywhere,  and  Illinois  bonds 
forced  to  sale  at  a  heavy  discount,  and  the  "  hardest 
times  "  existing  that  the  people  of  the  Prairie  State 
ever  saw,  the  general  election  of  State  officers  was 
approaching.  Discreet  men  who  had  cherished  the 
hope  of  a  speedy  subsidence  of  the  public  infatua- 
tion, met  with  disappointment.  A  Governor  and 
Legislature  were  to  be  elected,  and  these  were  now 
looked  forward  to  for  a  repeal  of  the  ruinous  State 
policy.  But  the  grand  scheme  had  not  yet  lost  its 
dazzling  influence  upon  the  minds  of  the  people. 
Time  and  experience  had  not  yet  fully  demonstrated 
its  utter  absurdity.  Hence  the  question  of  arresting 
its  career  of  profligate  expenditures  did  not  become 
a  leading  one  with  the  dominant  party  during  the 
campaign,  and  most  of  the  old  members  of  the  Leg 
islature  were  returned  at  this  election. 

Under  these  circumstances  the  Democrats,  in  State 
Convention  assembled,  nominated  Mr.  Carlin  for  the 
office  of  Governor,  and  S.  H.  Anderson  for  Lieuten- 
ant Governor,  while  the  Whigs  nominated  Cyrus  Ed- 
wards, brother  of  Ninian  Edwards,  formerly  Governor, 
and  W.  H.  Davidson.  Edwards  came  out  strongly 
for  a  continuance  of  the  State  policy,  while  Cariic 
remained  non-committal.  This  was  the  first  time 
that  the  two  main  political  parties  in  this  State  were 
unembarrassed  by  any  third  party  in  the  field.  The 
result  of  the  election  was:  Carlin,  35,573 ;  Ander- 
son, 30,335  ;  Edwards,  29,629 ;  and  Davidson,  28,- 

7'.S- 

Upon  the  meeting  of  the  subsequent  Legislature 
(1839),  the  retiring  Governor  CDuncan)  in  his  mes- 


THOMAS  CARLTN. 


sage  spoke  in  emphatic  terms  of  the  impolicy  of  the 
internal  improvement  system,  presaging  the  evils 
threatened,  and  uiged  that  body  to  do  their  utmost 
to  correct  the  great  error;  yet,  on  the  contrary,  the 
Legislature  not  only  decided  to  continue  the  policy 
but  also  added  to  its  burden  by  voting  more  appro- 
priations and  ordering  more  improvements.  Although 
the  money  market  was  still  stringent,  a  further  loan 
of  $4,000,000  was  ordered  for  the  Illinois  &  Mich- 
igan Canal  alone.  Clvcago  at  that  time  began  to 
loom  up  and  promise  to  be  an  important  city,  even 
the  great  emporium  of  the  West,  as  it  has  since  in- 
deed came  to  be.  Ex-Gov.  Reynolds,  an  incompe- 
tent financier,  was  commissioned  to  effect  the  loan, 
and  accordingly  hastened  to  the  East  on  this  respons- 
ible errand,  and  negotiated  the  loans,  at  considera- 
ble sacrifice  to  the  State.  Besides  this  embarrassment 
*c  Carlin's  administration,  the  Legislature  also  de- 
clared that  he  had  no  authority  to  appoint  a  Secretary 
of  State  until  a  vacancy  existed,  and  A.  P.  Field,  a 
Whig,  who  had  already  held  the  post  by  appointment 
-hrough  three  administrations,  was  determined  to 
keep  the  place  a  while  longer,  in  spite  of  Gov.  Car- 
lin's preferences.  The  course  of  the  Legislature  in 
:his  regard,  however,  was  finally  sustained  by  the 
Supreme  Court,  in  a  quo  warranto  case  brought  up 
before  it  by  Jchn  A.  McClernand,  whom  the  Gov- 
ernor had  nominated  for  the  office.  Thereupon  that 
dignified  body  was  denounced  as  a  "Whig  Court!" 
endeavoring  to  establish  the  principle  of  life-tenure 
of  office. 

A  new  law  was  adopted  re-organizing  the  Judici- 
ary, and  under  it  five  additional  Supreme  Judges 
were  elected  by  the  Legislature,  namely,  Thomas 
Ford  (afterward  Governor),  Sidney  Breese,  Walter  B. 
Scates,  Samuel  H.  Treat  and  Stephen  A.  Douglas — 
all  Democrats. 

It  was  during  Cov.  Carlin's  administration  that  the 
noisy  campaign  of  "Tippecanoe  and  Tyler  too  "  oc- 
curred, resulting  in  a  Whig  victory.  This,  however, 
did  net  affect  Illinois  politics  very  seriously. 

Another  prominent  event  in  the  West  during  Gov. 
Carlin's  term  of  office  was  the  excitement  caused  by 
the  Mormons  and  their  removal  from  Independence, 
Mo.,  to  Nauvoo,  111.,  in  1840.  At  the  same  time 
they  began  to  figure  somewhat  in  State  politics.  On 
account  of  their  believing — as  they  thought,  accord- 
ing to  the  New  Testament — that  they  should  have 


"  all  things  common,"  and  that  consequently  "  all 
the  earth  "  and  all  that  is  upon  it  were  the"  Lord's  " 
and  therefore  the  property  of  his  "  saints,"  they 
were  suspected,  and  correctly,  too,  of  committing 
many  of  the  deeds  of  larceny,  robbery,  etc.,  that 
were  so  rife  throughout  this  country  in  those  days. 
Hence  a  feeling  of  violence  grew  up  between  the 
Mormons  and  "anti-Mormons."  In  the  State  of 
Missouri  the  Mormons  always  supported  the  Dem- 
ocracy until  they  were  driven  out  by  the  Democratic 
government,  when  they  turned  their  support  to  the 
Whigs.  They  were  becoming  numerous,  and  in  the 
Legislature  of  1840-1,  therefore,  it  became  a  matter 
of  great  interest  with  both  parties  to  conciliate  these 
people.  Through  the  agency  of  one  John  C.  Ben- 
nett, a  scamp,  the  Mormons  succeeded  in  rushing 
through  the  Legislature  (both  parties  not  daring  to 
oppose)  a  charter  for  the  city  of  Nauvoo  which  /ir- 
tually  erected  a  hierarchy  co-ordinate  with  the  Fed- 
eral Government  itself.  In  the  fall  of  1841  the 
Governor  of  Missouri  made  a  demand  upon  Gov. 
Carlin  for  the  body  of  Joe  Smith,  the  Mormon  leader, 
as  a  fugitive  from  justice.  Gov.  Carlin  issued  th 5 
writ,  but  for  some  reason  it  was  returned  unserved. 
It  was  again  issued  in  1842,  and  Smith  was  arrested, 
but  was  either  rescued  by  his  followers  or  discharged 
by  the  municipal  court  on  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus. 

In  December,  1841,  the  Democratic  Convention 
nominated  Adam  W.  Snyder,  of  Belleville,  for  Gov- 
ernor. As  he  had  been,  as  a  member  of  the  Legisla- 
ture, rather  friendly  to  the  Mormons,  the  latter 
naturally  turned  their  support  to  the  Democratic 
party.  The  next  spring  the  Whigs  nominated  Ex- 
Gov.  Duncan  for  the  same  office.  In  the  meantime 
the  Mormons  began  to  grow  more  odious  to  the 
masses  of  the  people,  and  the  comparative  prospects 
of  the  respective  parties  for  success  became  very 
problematical.  Mr.  Snyder  died  in  May,  and 
Thomas  Ford,  a  Supreme  Judge,  was  substituted  as 
a  candidate,  and  was  elected. 

At  the  close  of  his  gubernatorial  term,  Mr.  Carlin 
removed  back  to  his  old  home  at  Carrollton,  where 
he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  life,  as  before  his  s.ls- 
vation  to  office,  in  agricultural  pursuits.  In  iS/.g 
he  served  out  the  unexpired  term  of  J.  D.  Fry  in  the 
Illinois  House  of  Representatives,  and  died  Feb.  4. 
1852,  at  his  residence  at  Carrollton,  leaving  a  wife 
and  seven  children. 


THE  LIBRAE! 

,o- 


GOVERNORS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


HOMAS  FORD,  Governor 
from  1842  to  1846,  and  au- 
thor of  a  very  interesting 
history  of  Illinois,  was  born 
at  Uniontown,  Pa.,  in  the 
year  1 800.  His  mother,  after 
the  death  of  her  first  hus- 
band (Mr.  Forquer),  married  Rob- 
ert Ford,  who  was  killed  in  1802, 
by  the  Indians  in  the  mountains 
of  Pennsylvania.  She  was  conse- 
quently left  in  indigent  circum- 
stances, with  a  large  family,  mostly 
girls.  With  a  view  to  better  her 
condition,  she,  in  1804,  removed  to 
Missouri,  where  it  had  been  cus- 
tomary by  the  Spanish  Govern- 
ment to  give  land  to  actual  settlers ;  but  upon  her 
arrival  at  St.  Louis  she  found  the  country  ceded  to 
the  United  States,  and  the  liberal  policy  toward  set- 
tlers changed  by  the  new  ownership.  After  some 
sickness  to  herself  and  family,  she  finally  removed  to 
Illinois,  and  settled  some  three  miles  south  of  Water- 
loo, but  the  following  year  moved  nearer  the  Missis- 
sippi bluffs.  Here  young  Ford  received  his  first 


schooling,  under  the  instructions  of  a  Mr.  Humphrey, 
for  which  he  had  to  walk  three  miles.  His  mother, 
though  lacking  a  thorough  education,  was  a  woman 
of  superior  mental  endowments,  joined  to  energy 
and  determination  of  character.  She  inculcated  in 
her  children  those  high-toned  principles  which  dis- 
tinguished her  sons  in  public  life.  She  exercised  a 
rigid  economy  to  provide  her  children  an  education ; 
but  George  Forquer,  her  oldest  son  (six  years  older 
than  Thomas  Ford),  at  an  early  age  had  to  quit 
school  to  aid  by  his  labor  in  the  support  of  the  family. 
He  afterward  became  an  eminent  man  in  Illinois 
affairs,  and  but  for  his  early  death  would  probably 
have  been  elected  to  the  United  States  Senate. 

Young  Ford,  with  somewhat  better  opportunities:, 
received  a  better  education,  though  limited  to  the 
curriculum  of  the  common  school  of  those  pioneer 
times.  His  mind  gave  early  promise  of  superior  en- 
dowments, with  an  inclination  for  mathematics.  His 
proficiency  attracted  the  attention  of  Hon.  Daniel  P. 
Cook,  who  became  his  efficient  patron  and  friend. 
The  latter  gentleman  was  an  eminent  Illinois  states- 
man who,  as  a  Member  of  Congress,  obtained  a  grant 
of  300,000  acres  of  land  to  aid  in  completing  the 
Illinois  &  Michigan  Canal,  and  after  whom  the 
county  of  Cook  was  named.  Through  the  advice  of 


THOMAS  FORD. 


this  gentleman,  Mr.  Ford  turned  his  attention  to  the 
study  of  law;  but  Forquer,  then  merchandising,  re- 
garding his  education  defective,  sent  him  to  Transyl- 
vania University,  where,  however,  he  remained  but 
one  term,  owing  to  Forquer's  failure  in  business.  On 
his  return  he  alternated  his  law  reading  with  teach- 
ir.g  school  for  support. 

In  1829  Gov.  Edwards  appointed  him  Prosecuting 
Attorney,  and  in  1831  he  was  re-appointed  by  Gov. 
Reynolds,  and  after  that  he  was  four  times  elected  a 
Judge  by  the  Legislature,  without  opposition,  twice  a 
Circuit  Judge,  once  a  Judge  of  Chicago,  and  as  As- 
sociate Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court,  when,  in  1841, 
the  latter  tribunal  was  re-organized  by  the  addition 
of  five  Judges,  all  Democrats.  Ford  was  assigned  to 
the  Ninth  Judicial  Circuit,  and  while  in  this  capacity 
ne  was  holding  Court  in  Ogle  County  he  received  a 
notice  of  his  nomination  by  the  Democratic  Conven- 
tion for  the  office  of  Governor.  He  immediately  re- 
signed his  place  and  entered  upon  the  canvass.  In 
August,  1842,  he  was  elected,  and  on  the  8th  of  De- 
cember following  he  was  inaugurated. 

All  the  offices  which  he  had  held  were  unsolicited 
by  him.  He  received  them  upon  the  true  Jefferson- 
jan  principle, — Never  to  ask  and  never  to  refuse 
office.  Both  as  a  lawyer  and  as  a  Judge  he  stood 
deservedly  high,  but  his  cast  of  intellect  fitted  him 
rather  for  a  writer  upon  law  than  a  practicing  advo- 
cate in  the  courts.  In  the  latter  capacity  he  was  void 
of  the  moving  power  of  eloquence,  so  necessary  to 
success  with  juries.  As  a  Judge  his  opinions  were 
^ound,  lucid  and  able  expositions  of  the  law.  In 
practice,  he  was  a  stranger  to  the  tact,  skill  and  in- 
sinuating address  of  the  politician,  but  he  saw  through 
:he  arts  of  demagogues  as  well  as  any  man.  Fie  was 
plain  in  his  demeanor,  so  much  so,  indeed,  that  at 
one  time  after  the  expiration  of  his  term  of  office, 
during  a  session  of  the  Legislature,  he  was  taken  by 
a  stranger  to  be  a  seeker  for  the  position  of  door- 
Keeper,  and  was  waited  upon  at  his  hotel  near  mid- 
night by  a  knot  of  small  office-seekers  with  the  view 
of  effecting  a  "  combination  !  " 

Mr.  Ford  had  not  the  "brass  "  of  the  ordinary 
politician,  nor  that  impetuosity  which  characterizes  a 
political  leader.  He  cared  little  for  money,  and 
hardly  enough  for  a  decent  support.  In  person  he 
was  of  small  stature,  slender,  of  dark  complexion, 
with  black  hair,  sharp  features,  deep-set  eyes,  a 
pointed,  aquiline  nose  having  a  decided  twist  to  one 
side,  and  a  small  mouth. 

The  three  most  important  events  in  Gov.  Ford's 
administration  were  the  establishment  of  the  high 
financial  credit  of  the  State,  the  "  Mormon  War  "and 
:he  Mexican  War. 

In  the  first  of  these  the  Governor  proved  himself 
to  be  eminently  wise.  On  coming  into  office  he  found 
the  State  badly  paralyzed  by  the  ruinous  effects  of 
the  notorious  "internal  improvement"  schemes  of 


the  preceding  decade,  with  scarcely  anything  to 
show  by  way  of  "improvement."  The  enterprise 
that  seemed  to  be  getting  ahead  more  than  all  the 
rest  was  the  Illinois  &  Michigan  Canal.  As  this 
promised  to  be  the  most  important  thoroughfare, 
feasible  to  the  people,  it  was  well  under  headway  in 
its  construction.  Therefore  the  State  policy  was 
almost  concentrated  upon  it,  in  order  to  rush  it  on  tc 
completion.  The  bonded  indebtedness  of  the  State 
was  growing  so  large  as  to  frighten  the  people,  and 
they  were  about  ready  to  entertain  a  proposition  for 
repudiation.  But  the  Governor  had  the  foresight  to 
recommend  such  measures  as  would  maintain  the 
public  credit,  for  which  every  citizen  to-day  feels 
thankful. 

But  perhaps  the  Governor  is  remembered  more  for 
his  connection  with  the  Mormon  troubles  than  for 
anything  else;  for  it  was  during  his  term  of  office 
that  the  "  Latter-Day  Saints "  became  so  strong  at 
Nauvoo,  built  their  temple  there,  increased  their  num- 
bers throughout  the  country,  committed  misdemean- 
ors, taught  dangerous  doctrines,  suffered  the  loss  of 
theirleader,  Jo  Smith, by  a  violent  death,  were  driven 
out  of  Nauvoo  to  the  far  West,  etc.  Having  been  a 
Judge  for  so  many  years  previously,  Mr.  Ford  of 
course  was  no  i-committal  concerning  Mormon  affairs, 
and  was  therefore  claimed  by  both  parties  and  also 
accused  by  each  of  sympathizing  too  greatly  with  the 
other  side.  Mormonism  claiming  to  be  a  system  of 
religion,  the  Governor  no  doubt  was  "  between  two 
fires,"  and  felt  compelled  to  touch  the  matter  rather 
"  gingerly,"  and  doubtless  felt  greatly  relieved  when 
that  pestilential  people  left  the  State.  Such  compli- 
cated matters,  especially  when  religion  is  mixed  up 
with  them,  expose  every  person  participating  in 
them  to  criticism  from  all  parties. 

The  Mexican  War  was  begun  in  the  spring  of 
1845,  and  was  continued  into  the  gubernatorial  term 
of  Mr.  Ford's  successor.  The  Governor's  connection 
with  this  war,  however,  was  not  conspicuous,  as  it 
was  only  administrative,  commissioning  officers,  etc. 

Ford's  "  History  of  Illinois  "  is  a  very  readable  and 
entertaining  work,  of  450  small  octavo  pages,  and  is 
destined  to  increase  in  value  with  the  lapse  of  time. 
It  exhibits  a  natural  flow  of  compact  and  forcible 
thought,  never  failing  to  convey  the  nicest  sense.  In 
tracing  with  his  trenchant  pen  the  devious  operations 
of  the  professional  politician,  in  which  he  is  inimit- 
able, his  account  is  open,  perhaps,  to  the  objection 
that  all  his  contemporaries  are  treated  as  mere  place- 
seekers,  while  many  of  them  have  since  been  judged 
by  the  people  to  be  worthy  statesmen.  His  writings 
seem  slightly  open  to  the  criticism  that  they  exhibit 
a  little  splenetic  partiality  against  those  of  his  con- 
temporaries who  were  prominent  during  his  term  of 
office  as  Governor. 

The  death  of  Gov.  Ford  took  place  at  Peoria,  111., 
Nov.  2,  1850. 


THE  LIBRARY 
t. 


GO  VERNORS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


'43 


Augustus  C.  French. 

%m+m+m*m 


^m 


UGUSTUS  C.  FRENCH, 
Governor  of  Illinois  from 
1846  to  1852,  was  born  in 
the  town  of  Hill,  in  the 
State  of  New  Hampshire, 
Aug.  2,  1808.  He  was  a 
descendant  in  the  fourth 
generation  of  Nathaniel 
French,  who  emigrated  from  England 
in  1687  and  settled  in  Saybury,  Mass. 
In  early  life  young  French  lost  his 
father,  but  continued  to  receive  in- 
struction from  an  exemplary  and 
Christian  mother  until  he  was  1 9  years 
old,  when  she  also  died,  confiding  to 
his  care  and  trust  four  younger  broth- 
's and  one  sister.  He  discharged  his  trust  with 
irental  devotion.  His  education  in  early  life  was 
ich  mainly  as  a  common  school  afforded.  For  a 
rief  period  he  attended  Dartmouth  College,  but 
om  pecuniary  causes  and  the  care  of  his  brothers 
nd  sister,  he  did  not  graduate.  He  subsequently 
:ad  law,  and  was  admitted  to  the  Bar  in  1831,  and 
nortly  afterward  removed  to  Illinois,  settling  first  at 
.Ibion,  Edwards  County,  where  he  established  him- 
;lf  in  the  practice  of  law.  The  following  year  he 
jmoved  to  Paris,  Edgar  County.  Here  he  attained 
minence  in  his  profession,  and  entered  public  life 
y  representing  that  county  in  the  Legislature.  A 
trong  attachment  sprang  up  between  him  and  Ste- 
hen  A.  Douglas. 

In  1839,  Mr.  French  was  appointed  Receiver  of 
he  United  States  Land  Office  at  Palestine,  Craw- 
ard  County,  at  which  place  he  was  a  resident  when 


elevated  to  the  gubernatorial  chair.  In  1844  he  was 
a  Presidential  Elector,  and  as  such  he  voted  for 
James  K.  Polk. 

The  Democratic  State  Convention  of  1 846,  meet- 
ing at  Springfield  Feb.  10,  nominated  Mr.  French 
for  Governor.  Other  Democratic  candidates  were 
Lyman  Trumbull,  John  Calhoun  (subsequently  of 
Lecompton  Constitution  notoriety),  Walter  B.  Scales, 
Richard  M.  Young  and  A.  W.  Cavarly, — an  array  of 
very  able  and  prominent  names.  Trumbull  was  per- 
haps defeated  in  the  Convention  by  the  rumor  that 
he  was  opposed  to  the  Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal, 
as  he  had  been  a  year  previously.  For  Lieutenant 
Governor  J.  B.  Wells  was  chosen,  while  other  candi- 
dates were  Lewis  Ross,  Wm.  McMurtry,  Newton 
Cloud,  J.  B.  Hamilton  and  W.  W.  Thompson.  The 
resolutions  declared  strongly  against  the  resuscita- 
tion of  the  old  State  Banks. 

The  Whigs,  who  were  in  a  hopeless  minority,  held 
their  convention  June  8,  at  Peoria,  and  selected 
Thomas  M.  Kilpatrick,  of  Scott  County,  for  Governor, 
and  Gen.  Nathaniel  G.  Wilcox,  of  Schuyler,  for 
Lieutenant  Governor. 

In  the  campaign  the  latter  exposed  Mr.  French's 
record  and  connection  with  the  passage  of  the  in- 
ternal improvement  system,  urging  it  against  his 
election ;  but  in  the  meantime  the  war  with  Mexico 
broke  out,  regarding  which  the  Whig  record  was  un- 
popular in  this  State.  The  war  was  the  absorbing 
and  dominating  question  of  the  period,  sweeping 
every  other  political  issue  in  its  course.  The  elec- 
tion in  August  gave  Mr.  French  58,700.  votes,  and 
Kilpatrick  only  36,775.  Richard  Eells,  Abolitionist 
candidate  for  the  same  office,  received  5,152  vot»e. 


AUGUSTUS  c.  FRENCH. 


By  the  new  Constitution  of  1848,  a  new  election  for 
State  officers  was  ordered  in  November  of  that  year, 
before  Gov.  French's  term  was  half  out,  and  he  was 
re-elected  for  the  term  of  four  years.  He  was  there- 
fore the  incumbent  for  six  consecutive  years,  the 
only  Governor  of  this  State  who  has  ever  served  in 
that  capacity  so  long  at  one  time.  As  there  was  no 
organized  opposition  to  his  election,  he  received  67,- 
453  votes,  to  5,639  for  Pierre  Menard  (son  of  the 
first  Lieutenant  Governor),  4,748  for  Charles  V. 
Dyer,  3,834  for  W.  L.  D.  Morrison,  and  1,361  for 
James  L.  D.  Morrison.  But  Wm.  McMurtry,  of 
Knox  County,  was  elected  Lieutenant  Governor,  in 
place  of  Joseph  B.  Wells,  who  was  before  elected 
and  did  not  run  again. 

Governor  French  was  inaugurated  into  office  dur- 
ing the  progress  of  the  Mexican  War,  which  closed 
during  the  summer  of  1847,  although  the  treaty  of 
Guadalupe  Hidalgo  was  not  made  until  Feb.  2, 
1848.  The  policy  of  Gov.  French's  party  was  com- 
mitted to  that  war,  but  in  connection  with  that  affair 
he  was,  of  course,  only  an  administrative  officer. 
During  his  term  of  office,  Feb.  19,  1847,  the  Legisla- 
ture, by  special  permission  of  Congress,  declared  that 
all  Government  lands  sold  to  settlers  should  be  im- 
mediately subject  to  State  taxation ;  before  this  they 
were  exempt  for  five  years  after  sale.  By  this  ar- 
rangement the  revenue  was  materially  increased. 
About  the  same  time,  the  distribution  of  Government 
land  warrants  among  the  Mexican  soldiers  as  bounty 
threw  upon  the  market  a  great  quantity  of  good 
lands,  and  this  enhanced  the  settlement  of  the  State. 
The  same  Legislature  authorized,  with  the  recom- 
mendation of  the  Governor,  the  sale  of  the  Northern 
Cross  Railroad  (from  Springfield  to  Meredosia,  the 
first  in  the  State  and  now  a  section  of  the  Wabash, 
St.  Louis  &  Pacific).  It  sold  for  $100,000  in  bonds, 
although  it  had  cost  the  State  not  less  than  a  million. 
The  salt  wells  and  canal  lands  in  the  Saline  reserve 
in  Gallatin  County,  granted  by  the  general  Govern- 
ment to  the  State,  were  also  authorized  by  the 
Governor  to  be  sold,  to  apply  on  the  State  debt.  In 
1850,  for  the  first  time  since  1839,  the  accruing  State 
revenue,  exclusive  of  specific  appropriations,  was 
sufficient  to  meet  the  current  demands  upon  the 
treasury.  The  aggregate  taxable  property  of  the 
State  at  this  time  was  over  $100,000,000,  and  the 
population  851,470. 


In  1849  the  Legislature  adopted  the  township  or- 
ganization  law,  which,  however,  proved  defective, 
and  was  properly  amended  in  1851.  At  its  session 
in  the  latter  year,  the  General  Assembly  also  passed 
a  law  to  exempt  homesteads  from  sale  on  executions 
This  beneficent  measure  had  been  repeatedly  urged 
upon  that  body  by  Gov.  French. 

In  1850  some  business  men  in  St.  Louis  com- 
menced to  build  a  dike  opposite  the  lower  part  of 
their  city  on  the  Illinois  side,  to  keep  the  Mississippi 
in  its  channel  near  St.  Louis,  instead  of  breaking 
away  from  them  as  it  sometimes  threatened  to  do. 
This  they  undertook  without  permission  from  the 
Legislature  or  Executive  authority  of  this  State ;  and 
as  many  of  the  inhabitants  there  complained  that 
the  scheme  would  inundate  and  ruin  much  valuable 
land,  there  was  a  slight  conflict  of  jurisdictions,  re- 
sulting in  favor  of  the  St.  Louis  project;  and  since 
then  a  good  site  has  existed  there  for  a  city  (East  St. 
Louis),  and  now  a  score  of  railroads  center  there. 

It  was  in  September,  1850,  that  Congress  granted 
to  this  State  nearly  3,000,000  acres  of  land  in  aid  of 
the  completion  of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad, 
which  constituted  the  most  important  epoch  in  the 
railroad — we  might  say  internal  improvement — his- 
tory of  the  State.  The  road  was  rushed  on  to  com- 
pletion, which  accelerated  the  settlement  of  the  in- 
terior of  the  State  by  a  good  class  of  industrious  citi- 
zens, and  by  the  charter  a  good  income  to  the  State 
Treasury  is  paid  in  from  the  earnings  of  the  road. 

In  1851  the  Legislature  passed  a  law  authorizing 
free  stock  banks,  which  was  the  source  of  much  leg- 
islative discussion  for  a  number  of  years. 

But  we  have  not  space  further  to  particularize 
concerning  legislation.  Gov.  French's  administra- 
tion was  not  marked  by  any  feature  to  be  criticised, 
while  the  country  was  settling  up  as  never  before. 

In  stature,  Gov.  French  was  of  medium  height, 
squarely  built,  light  complexioned,  with  ruddy  face 
and  pleasant  countenance.  In  manners  he  was 
plain  and  agreeable.  By  nature  he  was  somewhat 
diffident,  but  he  was  often  very  outspoken  in  his  con- 
victions of  duty.  In  public  speech  he  was  not  an 
orator,  but  was  chaste,  earnest  and  persuasive.  In 
business  he  was  accurate  and  methodical,  and  in  his 
administration  he  kept  up  the  credit  of  the  State. 

He  died  in  1865,  at  his  home  in  Lebanon,  St 
CUir  Co.,  HI. 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF  Fc     - 


GO  VERNORS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


DEL  A.  MATTESON,  Governor 
1853-6,  was  born  Aug.  8,  1808, 
in  Jefferson  County,  New  York, 
to  which  place  his  father  had  re- 
moved from  Vermont  three  years 
before.  His  father  was  a  farmer 
in  fair  circumstances,  but  a  com- 
mon English  education  was  all 
that  his  only  son  received.  Young 
Joel  first  tempted  fortune  as  a 
small  tradesman  in  Prescott, 
Canada,  before  he  was  of  age. 
He  returned  from  that  place  to 
his  home,  entered  an  academy, 
taught  school,  visited  the  prin- 
ipal  Eastern  cities,  improved  a  farm  his  father  had 
iven  him,  made  a  tour  in  the  South,  worked  there 
i  building  railroads,  experienced  a  storm  on  the 
iulf  of  Mexico,  visited  the  gold  diggings  of  Northern 
reorgia,  and  returned  via  Nashville  to  St.  Louis  and 
tuough  Illinois  to  his  father's  home,  when  he  rnar- 
ied.  In  1833,  having  sold  his  farm,  he  removed, 
rith  his  wife  and  one  child,  to  Illinois,  and  entered 
claim  on  Government  land  near  the  head  of  Au 
iable  River,  in  what  is  now  Kendall  County.  At 
hat  time  there  were  not  more  tha.n  two  neighbors 
rithin  a  range  of  ten  miles  of  his  place,  and  only 
hree  or  four  houses  between  him  and  Chicago.  He 
•pened  a  large  farm.  His  family  was  boarded  12 


miles  away  while  he  erected  a  house  on  his  claim, 
sleeping,  during  this  time,  under  a  rude  pole  shed. 
Here  his  life  was  once  placed  in  imminent  peril  by 
a  huge  prairie  rattlesnake  sharing  his  bed. 

In  1835  he  bought  largely  at  the  Government  land 
sales.  During  the  speculative  real-estate  mania  which 
broke  out  in  Chicago  in  1836  and  spread  over  the  State, 
he  sold  his  lands  under  the  inflation  of  that  period 
and  removed  to  Joliet.  In  1838  he  became  a  heavy 
contractor  on  the  Illinois  &  Michigan  Canal.  Upon 
the  completion  of  his  job  in  1841,  when  hard  times 
prevailed,  business  at  a  stand,  contracts  paid  in  State 
scrip;  when  all  the  public  works  except  the  canal 
were  abandoned,  the  State  offered  for  sale  700  tons 
of  railroad  iron,  which  was  purchased  by  Mr.  Mat- 
teson  at  a  bargain.  This  he  accepted,  shipped  and 
sold  at  Detroit,  realizing  a  very  handsome  profit, 
enough  to  pay  off  all  his  canal  debts  and  leave  him  a 
surplus  of  several  thousand  dollars.  His  enterprise 
next  prompted  him  to  start  a  woolen  mill  at  Joliet, 
in  which  he  prospered,  and  which,  after  successive 
enlargements,  became  an  enormous  establishment. 

In  r842  he  was  first  elected  a  State  Senator,  but, 
by  a  bungling  apportionment,  jfc.in  Pearson,  a  Senator 
holding  over,  was  found  to  be  in  the  same  district, 
and  decided  to  be  entitled  to  represent  it.  Mat- 
teson's  seat  was  declared  vacant.  Pearson,  however 
with  a  nobleness  difficult  to  appreciate  in  this  day  of 


JOEL  A.  MATTESON. 


greed  for  office,  unwilling  to  represent  his  district 
under  the  circumstances,  immediately  resigned  his 
unexpired  term  of  two  years.  A  bill  was  passed  in  a 
few  hours  ordering  a  new  election,  and  in  ten  days' 
time  Mr.  Matteson  was  returned  re-elected  and  took 
his  seat  as  Senator.  From  his  well-known  capacity 
as  a  business  man,  he  was  made  Chairman  of  the 
Committee  on  Finance,  a  position  he  held  during 
this  half  and  two  full  succeeding  Senatorial  terms, 
discharging  its  important  duties  with  ability  and  faith- 
fulness. Besides  his  extensive  woolen-mill  interest, 
when  work  was  resumed  on  the  canal  under  the  new 
loan  of  $r, 600,000  he  again  became  a  heavy  con- 
tractor, and  also  subsequently  operated  largely  in 
building  railroads.  Thus  he  showed  himself  a  most 
energetic  and  thorough  business  man. 

He  was  nominated  for  Governor  by  the  Demo- 
cratic State  Convention  which  met  at  Springfield 
April  20,  1852.  Other  candidates  before  the  Con- 
vention were  D.  L.  Gregg  and  F.  C.  Sherman,  of 
Cook ;  John  Dement,  of  Lee  ;  Thomas  L.  Harris,  of 
Menard;  Lewis  W.  Ross,  of  Fulton ;  and  D.  P.  Bush, 
of  Pike.  Gustavus  Koerner,  of  St.  Clair,  was  nom- 
inated for  Lieutenant  Governor.  For  the  same  offices 
the  Whigs  nominated  Edwin  B.  Webb  and  Dexter  A. 
Knowlton.  Mr.  Matteson  received  80,645  votes  at 
the  election,  while  Mr.  Webb  received  64,408.  Mat- 
teson's  forle  was  not  on  the  stump;  he  had  not  cul- 
tivated the  art  of  oily  flattery,  or  the  faculty  of  being 
all  things  to  all  men.  His  intellectual  qualities  took 
rather  the  direction  of  efficient  executive  ability.  His 
turn  consisted  not  so  much  in  the  adroit  manage- 
ment of  party,  or  the  powerful  advocacy  of  great  gov- 
ernmental principles,  as  in  those  more  solid  and 
enduring  operations  which  cause  the  physical  devel- 
opment and  advancement  of  a  State, — of  commerce 
and  business  enterprise,  into  which  he  labored  with 
success  to  lead  the  people.  As  a  politician  he  was 
just  and  liberal  in  his  views,  and  both  in  official  and 
private  life  he  then  stood  untainted  and  free  from 
blemish.  As  a  man,  in  active  benevolence,  social 
rirtues  and  all  the  amiable  qualities  of  neighbor  or 
citizen,  he  had  few  superiors.  His  messages  present 
a  perspicuous  array  of  facts  as  to  the  condition  of  the 
State,  and  are  often  couched  in  forcible  and  elegant 
diction. 

The  greatest  excitement  during  his  term  of  office 
was  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise,  by  Con- 


gress, under  the  leadership  of  Stephen  A.  Douglas  in 
1854,  when  the  bill  was  passed  organizing  the  Terri- 
tory  of  Kansas  and  Nebraska.  A  large  portion  of 
the  Whig  party  of  the  North,  through  their  bitter  op- 
position to  the  Democratic  party,  naturally  drifted 
into  the  doctrine  of  anti-slavery,  and  thus  led  to  what 
was  temporarily  called  the  "  Anti-Nebraska  "  party, 
while  the  followers  of  Douglas  were  known  as  "  Ne- 
braska or  Douglas  Democrats."  It  was  during  this 
embryo  stage  of  the  Republican  party  that  Abraham 
.Lincoln  was  brought  forward  as  the  "Anti-Nebraska" 
candidate  for  the  United  States  Senatorship,  while 
Gen.  James  Shields,  the  incumbent,  was  re-nom- 
inated by  the  Democrats.  But  after  a  few  ballotings 
in  the  Legislature  (1855),  these  men  were  dropped, 
and  Lyman  Trumbull,  an  Anti-Nebraska  Democrat, 
was  brought  up  by  the  former,  and  Mr.  Matteson, 
then  Governor,  by  the  latter.  On  the  nth  ballot 
Mr.  Trumbull  obtained  one  majority,  and  was  ac- 
cordingly declared  elected.  Before  Gov.  Matteson 's 
term  expired,  the  Republicans  were  fully  organized 
as  a  national  party,  and  in  1856  put  into  the  field  a 
full  national  and  State  ticket,  carrying  the  State,  but 
not  the  nation. 

The  Legislature  of  1855  passed  two  very  import- 
ant measures, — the  present  free-school  system  and  a 
submission  of  the  Maine  liquor  law  to  a  vote  of  the 
people.  The  latter  was  defeated  by  a  small  majority 
of  the  popular  vote. 

During  the  four  years  of  Gov.  Matteson  s  admin- 
istration the  taxable  wealth  of  the  State  was  about 
trebled,  from  $137,818,079  to  $349,951,272;  the  pub- 
lic debt  was  reduced  from  $17,398,985  to  $12,843,- 
144;  taxation  was  at  the  same  time  reduced,  and  the 
State  resumed  paying  interest  on  its  debt  in  New 
York  as  fast  as  it  fell  due ;  railroads  were  increased 
in  their  mileage  from  something  less  than  400  to 
about  3.000 ;  and  the  population  of  Chicago  was 
nearly  doubled,  and  its  commerce  more  than  quad- 
rupled. 

Before  closing  this  account,  we  regret  that  we  have 
to  say  that  Mr.  Matteson,  in  all  other  respects  an 
upright  man  and  a  good  Governor,  was  implicated 
in  a  false  re-issue  of  redeemed  canal  scrip,  amount- 
ing to  $224,182.66.  By  a  suit  in  the  Sangamon  Cir- 
cuit Court  the  State  recovered  the  principal  and  all 
the  interest  excepting  $27,500. 

He  died  in   the  winter  of  1872-3,  at  Chicago. 


THE  u'SnA 


GOVERNORS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


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i1 :  j1  ,• ,' :  '  y  V ;  >' .'  i1  "i1 .' v  .'•>:  ".< '.  '> '.  v. '.  '.^  '..'i '.  >i ••. 


ILLIAM  H.  BISSELL,  Gov- 
ernor 1857-60,  was  born 
April  25,  1811,  in  the 
State  of  New  York,  near 
Painted  Post,  Yates  County. 
His  parents  were  obscure, 
honest,  God-fearing  people, 
who  reared  their  children  under  the  daily 
example  of  industry  and  frugality,  accord- 
ing to  the  custom  of  that  class  of  Eastern 
society.  Mr.  Bissell  received  a  respecta- 
ble but  not  thorough  academical  education. 
By  assiduous  application  he  acquired  a 
knowledge  of  medicine,  and  in  his  early 
manhood  came  West  and  located  in  Mon- 
roe County,  this  State,  where  he  engaged  in  the 
practice  of  that  profession.  But  he  was  not  enam- 
ored of  his  calling:  he  was  swayed  by  a  broader 
ambition,  to  such  an  extent  that  the  mysteries  of  the 
healing  art  and  its  arduous  duties  failed  to  yield  him 
further  any  charms.  In  a  few  years  he  discovered 
his  choice  of  a  profession  to  be  a  mistake,  and  when 
he  approached  the  age  of  30  he  sought  to  begin 
anew.  Dr.  Bissell,  no  doubt  unexpectedly  to  him- 
self, discovered  a  singular  facility  and  charm  of 
speech,  the  exercise  of  which  acquired  for  him  a 
ready  local  notoriety.  It  soon  came  to  be  under- 


stood that  he  desired  to  abandon  his  profession  and 
take  up  that  of  the  law.  During  terms  of  Court  he 
would  spend  his  time  at  the  county  seat  among  the 
members  of  the  Bar,  who  extended  to  him  a  ready 
welcome. 

It  was  not  strange,  therefore,  that  he  should  drift 
into  public  life.  In  1840  he  was  elected  as  a  Dem- 
ocrat to  the  Legislature  from  Monroe  County,  and 
was  an  efficient  member  of  that  body.  On  his  re- 
turn home  he  qualified  himself  for  admission  to  the 
Bar  and  speedily  rose  to  the  front  rank  as  an  advo- 
cate. His  powers  of  oratory  were  captivating.  With  a 
pure  diction,  charming  and  inimitable  gestures, 
clearness  of  statement,  and  a  remarkable  vein  of  sly 
humor,  his  efforts  before  a  jury  told  with  irresistible 
effect.  He  was  chosen  by  the  Legislature  Prosecut- 
ing Attorney  for  the  Circuit  in  which  he  lived,  and 
in  that  position  he  fully  discharged  his  duty  to  the 
State,  gained  the  esteem  of  the  Bar,  and  seldom 
failed  to  convict  the  offender  of  the  law. 

In  stature  he  was  somewhat  tall  and  slender,  and 
with  a  straight,  military  bearing,  he  presented  a  dis- 
tinguished appearance.  His  complexion  was  dark, 
his  head  well  poised,  though  not  large,  his  address 
pleasant  and  manner  winning.  He  was  exemplary 
in  his  habits,  a  devoted  husband  and  kind  parent. 
He  was  twice  married,  the  first  time  to  Miss  James, 


WILLIAM  H.  BISSELL. 


of  Monroe  County,  by  whom  he  had  two  children, 
both  daughters.  She  died  soon  after  the  year  1840, 
and  Mr.  B.  married  for  his  second  wife  a  daughter 
of  Elias  K.  Kane,  previously  a  United  States  Senator 
from  this  State.  She  survived  him  but  a  short  time, 
and  died  without  issue. 

When  the  war  with  Mexico  was  declared  in  1846, 
Mr.  Bissell  enlisted  and  was  elected  Colonel  of  his 
regiment,  over  Hon.  Don  Morrison,  by  an  almost 
unanimous  vote, — 807  to  6.  Considering  the  limited 
opportunities  he  had  had,  he  evinced  a  high  order  of 
military  talent.  On  the  bloody  field  of  Buena  Vista 
he  acquitted  himself  with  intrepid  and  distinguished 
ability,  contributing  with  his  regiment,  the  Second 
Illinois,  in  no  small  degree  toward  saving  the  waver- 
ing fortunes  of  our  arms  during  that  long  and  fiercely 
contested  battle. 

After  his  return  home,  at  the  close  of  the  war,  he 
was  elected  to  Congress,  his  opponents  being  the 
Hons.  P.  B.  Fouke  and  Joseph  Gillespie.  He  served 
two  terms  in  Congress.  He  was  an  ardent  politician. 
During  the  great  contest  of  1850  he  voted  in  favor 
of  the  adjustment  measures;  but  in  1854  he  opposed 
the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  act  and 
therefore  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill  of  Douglas,  and 
thus  became  identified  with  the  nascent  Republican 
party. 

During  his  first  Congressional  term,  while  the 
Southern  members  were  following  their  old  practice 
of  intimidating  the  North  by  bullying  language, 
and  claiming  most  of  the  credit  for  victories  in  the 
Mexican  War,  and  Jefferson  Davis  claiming  for  the 
Mississippi  troops  all  the  credit  for  success  at  Buena 
Vista,  Mr.  Bissell  bravely  defended  the  Northern 
troops ;  whereupon  Davis  challenged  Bissell  to  a  duel, 
which  was  accepted.  This  matter  was  brought  up 
against  Bissell  when  he  was  candidate  for  Governor 
and  during  his  term  of  office,  as  the  Constitution  of 
this  State  forbade  any  duelist  from  holding  a  State 
office. 

In  1856,  when  the  Republican  party  first  put  forth 
a  candidate,  John  C.  Fremont,  for  President  of  the 
United  States,  the  same  party  nominated  Mr.  Bissell 
for  Governor  of  Illinois,  and  John  Wood,  of  Quincy, 
for  Lieutenant  Governor,  while  the  Democrats  nomi- 
nated Hon.  W.  A.  Richardson,  of  Adams  County, 
for  Governor,  and  Col.  R.  J.  Hamilton,  of  Cook 
County,  for  Lieutenant  Governor.  The  result  of  the 


election  was  a  plurality  of  4,729  votes  over  Richard- 
son. The  American,  or  Know-Nothing,  party  had  a 
ticket  in  the  field.  The  Legislature  was  nearly  bal- 
anced, but  was  politically  opposed  to  the  Governor. 
His  message  to  the  Legislature  was  short  and  rather 
ordinary,  and  was  criticised  for  expressing  the  sup- 
posed obligations  of  the  people  to  the  incorporators 
of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  Company  and  for  re- 
opening the  slavery  question  by  allusions  to  the 
Kansas  troubles.  Late  in  the  session  an  apportion- 
ment bill,  based  upon  the  State  census  of  1855,  was 
passed,  amid  much  partisan  strife.  The  Governor 
at  first  signed  the  bill  and  then  vetoed  it.  A  furious 
debate  followed,  and  the  question  whether  the  Gov- 
ernor had  the  authority  to  recall  a  signature  was 
referred  to  the  Courts,  that  of  last  resort  deciding  in 
favor  of  the  Governor.  Two  years  afterward  another 
outrageous  attempt  was  made  for  a  re-apportionment 
and  to  gerrymander  the  State,  but  the  Legislature 
failed  to  pass  the  bill  over  the  veto  of  the  Governor. 

It  was  during  Gov.  Bissell's  administration  that 
the  notorious  canal  scrip  fraud  was  brought  to  light 
implicating  ex-Gov.  Matteson  and  other  prominent 
State  officials.  The  principal  and  interest,  aggregat- 
ing $255,500,  was  all  recovered  by  the  State  except- 
ing $27,500.  (See  sketch  of  Gov.  Matteson.) 

In  1859  an  attempt  was  discovered  to  fraudu- 
lently refund  the  Macalister  and  Stebbins  bonds  and 
thus  rob  the  State  Treasury  of  nearly  a  quarter  of  a 
million  dollars.  The  State  Government  was  impli- 
cated in  this  affair,  and  to  this  day  remains  unex- 
plained or  unatoned  for.  For  the  above,  and  other 
matters  previously  mentioned,  Gov.  Bissell  has  been 
severely  criticised,  and  he  has  also  been  most  shame- 
fully libelled  and  slandered. 

On  account  of  exposure  in  the  army,  the  remote 
cause  of  a  nervous  form  of  disease  gained  entrance 
into  his  system  and  eventually  developed  paraplegia, 
affecting  his  lower  extremities,  which,  while  it  left 
his  body  in  comparative  health,  deprived  him  of  loco- 
motion except  by  the  aid  of  crutches.  While  he  was 
generally  hopeful  of  ultimate  recovery,  this  myste- 
rious disease  pursued  him,  without  once  relaxing  its 
stealthy  hold,  to  the  close  of  his  life,  March  18, 
1860,  over  nine  months  before  the  expiration  of  his 
gubernatorial  term,  at  the  early  age  of  48  years.  He 
died  in  the  faith  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  of 
which  "he  hart  been  a  member  since  1854. 


,.:.      ... 


GOVERNORS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


iOHN  WOOD,  Governor  1860-1,  and 
the  first  settler  of  Quincy,  111., 
was  born  in  the  town  of  Sempro- 
nius  (now  Moravia),  Cayuga  Co., 
N.  Y.,  Dec.  20,  1798.  He  was 
the  second  child  and  only  son  of 
Dr.  Daniel  Wood.  His  mother, 
nee  Catherine  Crause,  was  of 
German  parentage,  and  died 
while  he  was  an  infant.  Dr. 
Wood  was  a  learned  and  skillful 
physician,  of  classical  attain- 
ments and  proficient  in  several 
modern  lai.guages,  who,  after 
serving  throughout  the  Revolu- 
tionary War  as  a  Surgeon,  settled  on  the  land  granted 
him  by  the  Government,  and  resided  there  a  re- 
spected and  leading  influence  in  his  section  until  his 
death,  at  the  ripe  age  of  92  years. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch,  impelled  by  the  spirit 
of  Western  adventure  then  pervading  everywhere, 
left  his  home,  Nov.  2,  1818,  and  passed  the  succeed- 
ing winter  in  Cincinnati,  Ohio.  The  following  sum- 
mer he  pushed  on  to  Illinois,  landing  at  Shawneetown, 
and  spent  the  fall  and  following  winter  in  Calhoun 
County.  In  1820,  in  company  with  Willard  Keyes, 
he  settled  in  Pike  County,  about  30  miles  southeast 
of  Quincy,  where  for  the  next  two  years  he  pursued 
farming.  In  1821  he  visited  "the  Bluffs"  (as  the 
present  site  of  Quincy  was  called,  then  uninhabited) 
and,  pleased  with  its  prospects,  soon  after  purchased 
a  quarter-section  of  land  near  by,  and  in  the  follow- 
ing fall  (1822)  erected  near  the  river  a  small  cabin, 


18  x  20  feet,  the  first  building  in  Quincy,  of  which 
he  then  became  the  first  and  for  some  months  the 
only  occupant. 

About  this  time  he  visited  his  old  friends  in  Pike 
County,  chief  of  whom  was  William  Ross,  the  lead- 
ing man  in  building  up  the  village  of  Atlas,  of  that 
county,  which  was  thought  then  to  be  the  possible 
commencement  of  a  city.  One  day  they  and  others 
were  traveling  together  over  the  country  between  the 
two  points  named,  making  observations  on  the  com- 
parative merits  of  the  respective  localities.  On  ap- 
proaching the  Mississippi  near  Mr.  Wood's  place, 
the  latter  told  his  companions  to  follow  him  and  he 
would  show  them  where  he  was  going  to  build  a  city. 
They  went  about  a  mile  off  the  main  trail,  to  a  high 
point,  from  which  the  view  in  every  direction  was 
most  magnificent,  as  it  had  been  for  ages  and  as  yet 
untouched  by  the  hand  of  man.  Before  them  swept 
by  the  majestic  Father  of  Waters,  yet  unburdened  by 
navigation.  After  Mr.  Wood  had  expatiated  at 
length  on  the  advantages  of  the  situation,  Mr.  Ross 
replied,  "  But  it's  too  near  Atlas  ever  to  amount  to 
anything!" 

Atlas  is  still  a  cultivated  farm,  and  Quincy  is  » 
city  of  over  30,000  population. 

In  1824  Mr.  Wood  gave  a  newspaper  notice, 
as  the  law  then  prescribed,  of  his  intention  to  apply 
to  the  General  Assembly  for  the  formation  of  a  new 
county.  This  was  done  the  following  winter,  result- 
ing in  the  establishment  of  the  present  Adams 
County.  During  the  next  summer  Quincy  was  se- 
lected as  the  county  seat,  it  and  the  vicinity  then 
containing  but  four  adult  male  residents  and  half 


JOHN  WOOD. 


that  number  of  females.  Sinoe  that  period  Mr. 
Wood  resided  at  the  place  of  his  early  adoption  un- 
til his  death,  and  far  more  than  any  other  man  was 
he  identified  with  every  measure  of  its  progress  and 
history,  and  almost  continuously  kept  in  public  posi- 
tions. 

He  was  one  of  the  early  town  Trustees,  and  after 
the  place  became  a  city  he  was  often  a  member  of 
the  City  Council,  many  times  elected  Mayor,  in  the 
face  of  a  constant  large  opposition  political  majority. 
In  1850  he  was  elected  to  the  State  Senate.  In  1856, 
on  the  organization  of  the  Republican  party,  he  was 
chosen  Lieutenant  Governor  of  the  State,  on  the 
ticket  with  Wm.  H.  Bissell  for  Governor,  and  on  the 
death  of  the  latter,  March  18,  1860,  he  succeeded  to 
the  Chief  Executive  chair,  which  he  occupied  until 
Gov.  Yates  was  inaugurated  nearly  ten  months  after- 
ward. 

Nothing  very  marked  characterized  the  adminis- 
tration of  Gov.  Wood.  The  great  anti-slavery  cam- 
paign of  1860,  resulting  in  the  election  of  the  honest 
Illinoisan,  Abraham  Lincoln,  to  the  Presidency  of  the 
United  States,  occurred  during  the  short  period 
while  Mr.  Wood  was  Governor,  and  the  excitement 
and  issues  of  that  struggle  dominated  over  every 
other  consideration, — indeed,  supplanted  them  in  a 
great  measure.  The  people  of  Illinois,  during  all 
that  time,  were  passing  the  comparatively  petty  strifes 
under  Bissell's  administration  to  the  overwhelming 
issue  of  preserving  the  whole  nation  from  destruction. 

In  186  r  ex-Gov.  Wood  was  one  of  the  five  Dele- 
gates from  Illinois  to  the  "  Peace  Convention  "  at 
Washington,  and  in  April  of  the  same  year,  on  the 
breaking  out  of  the  Rebellion,  he  was  appointed 


Quartermaster-General  of  the  State,  which  position 
he  held  throughout  the  war.  In  1864  he  took  com- 
mand as  Colonel  of  the  I37th  111.  Vol.  Inf.,  with 
whom  he  served  until  the  period  of  enlistment  ex- 
pired. 

Politically,  Gov.  Wood  was  always  actively  identi- 
fied with  the  Whig  and  Republican  parties.  Few 
men  have  in  personal  experience  comprehended  so 
many  surprising  and  advancing  local  changes  as 
vested  in  the  more  than  half  century  recollections  of 
Gov.  Wood.  Sixty-four  years  ago  a  solitary  settler 
on  the  "Bluffs,"  with  no  family,  and  no  neighbor 
within  a  score  of  miles,  the  world  of  civilization  away 
behind  him,  and  the  strolling  red-man  almost  his 
only  visitant,  he  lived  to  see  growing  around  him, 
and  under  his  auspices  and  aid,  overspreading  the 
wild  hills  and  scraggy  forest  a  teaming  city,  second 
only  in  size  in  the  State,  and  surpassed  nowhere  in 
beauty,  prosperity  and  promise;  whose  people  recog- 
nize as  with  a  single  voice  the  proverbial  honor  and 
liberality  that  attach  to  the  name  and  lengthened 
life  of  their  pioneer  settler,  "the  old  Governor." 

Gov.  Wood  was  twice  married, — first  in  January, 
1826,  to  Ann  M.  Streeter,  daughter  of  Joshua  Streeter, 
formerly  of  Salem,  Washington  Co.,  N.  Y.  They  had 
eight  children.  Mrs.  W.  died  Oct.  8,  1863,  and  in 
June,  1865,  Gov.  Wood  married  Mrs.  Mary  A.,  widow 
of  Rev.  Joseph  T.  Holmes.  Gov.  Wood  died  June  4, 
1880,  at  his  residence  in  Quincy.  Four  of  his  eight 
children  are  now  living,  namely:  Ann  E.,  wife  of 
Gen.  John  Tillson;  Daniel  C.,  who  married  Mary  J. 
Abernethy;  John,  Jr.,  who  married  Josephine  Skinner, 
and  Joshua  S.,  who  married  Annie  Bradley.  The 
last  mentioned  now  resides  at  Atchison,  Kansas,  and 
all  the  rest  are  still  at  Quincy. 


. 

OF  HE        ;\ 


'59 


YATES,  the  "War 
Governor,"  1861-4,  was  born 
Jan.  18,  1818,  on  the  banks  of 
the  Ohio  River,  at  Warsaw, 
Gallatin  Co.,  Ky.  His  lather 
moved  in  1831  to  Illinois,  and( 
after  stopping  for  a  time  in 
Springfield,  settled  at  Island 
Grove,  Sangamon  County.  Here, 
after  attending  school,  Richard  joined 
the  family.  Subsequently  he  entered 
Illinois  College  at  Jacksonville, 
where,  in  1837,  he  graduated  with 
first  honors.  He  chose  for  his  pro- 
fession the  law,  the  Hon.  J.  J.  Har- 
din  being  his  instructor.  After  ad- 
mission to  the  Bar  he  soon  rose  to  distinction  as  an 
advocate. 

Gifted  with  a  fluent  and  ready  oratory,  he  soon 
appeared  in  the  political  hustings,  and,  being  a 
passionate  admirer  of  the  great  Whig  leader  of  the 
West.  Henry  Clay,  he  joined  his  political  fortunes  to 
he  party  of  his  idol.  In  1840  he  engaged  with  great 
s.Tdor  in  the  exciting  "  hard  cider "  campaign  for 
rfarrison.  Two  years  later  he  was  elected  to  the 
Legislature  from  Morgan  County,  a  Democratic 
stronghold.  He  served  three  or  four  terms  in  the 
Legislature,  and  such  was  the  fascination  of  his  ora- 
">ry  that  by  1850  his  large  Congressional  District, 
extending  from  Morgan  and  Sangamon  Counties 
i.'.orth  to  include  LaSalle,  unanimously  tendered  him 
Hie  Whig  nomination  for  Congress.  His  Democratic 
opponent  was  Maj.  Thomas  L.  Harris,  a  very  pop- 
i  'ar  man  who  had  won  distinction  at  the  battle  of 
Cerro  Gordo,  in  the  Mexican  War,  and  who  had 
Deaten  Hon.  Stephen  T.  Logan  for  the  same  position, 


two  years  before,  by  a  large  majority.  Yates  way 
elected.  Two  years  later  he  was  re-elected,  over 
John  Calhoun. 

It  was  during  Yates  second  term  in  Congress  that 
the  great  question  of  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Com- 
promise was  agitated,  and  the  bars  laid  down  for  re- 
opening the  dreaded  anti-slavery  question.  He  took 
strong  grounds  against  the  repeal,  and  thus  became 
identified  with  the  rising  Republican  party.  Conse- 
quently he  fell  into  the  minority  in  his  district,  which 
was  pro-slavery.  Even  then,  in  a  third  contest,  he 
fell  behind  Major  Harris  only  200  votes,  after  the 
district  had  two  years  before  given  Pierce  2,000 
majority  for  President. 

The  Republican  State  Convention  of  1860  met  at 
Decatur  May  9,  and  nominated  for  the  office  of  Gov- 
ernor Mr.  Yates,  in  preference  to  Hon.  Norman  B. 
Judd,  of  Chicago,  and  Leonard  Swett,  of  Blooming- 
ton,  two  of  the  ablest  men  of  the  State,  who  were 
also  candidates  before  the  Convention.  Francis  A. 
Hoffman,  of  DuPage  County,  was  nominated  for 
Lieutenant  Governor.  This  was  the  year  when  Mr. 
Lincoln  was  a  candidate  for  President,  a  period  re- 
membered as  characterized  by  the  great  whirlpool 
which  precipitated  the  bloody  War  of  the  Rebellion. 
The  Douglas  Democrats  nominated  J.  C.  Allen  cf 
Crawford  County,  for  Governor,  and  Lewis  W.  Ross, 
of  Fulton  County,  for  Lieutenant  Governor.  The 
Breckenridge  Democrats  and  the  Bell-Everett  party 
had  also  full  tickets  in  the  field.  After  a  most  fear- 
ful campaign,  the  result  of  the  election  gave  Mr. 
Yates  172,196  votes,  and  Mr.  Allen  159,253.  Mr. 
Yates  received  over  a  thousand  more  votes  than  did 
Mr.  Lincoln  himself. 

Gov.  Yates  occupied  the  chair  of  State  during  the 


i6o 


RICHARD    YATES. 


most  critical  period  of  our  country's  history.  In  the 
fate  of  the  nation  was  involved  that  of  each  State. 
The  life  struggle  of  the  former  derived  its  sustenance 
from  the  loyalty  of  the  latter;  and  Gov.  Yates 
seemed  to  realize  the  situation,  and  proved  himself 
both  loyal  and  wise  in  upholding  the  Government. 
He  had  a  deep  hold  upon  the  affections  of  the 
people,  won  by  his  moving  eloquence  and  genial 
manners.  Erect  and  symmetrical  in  person,  of  pre- 
possessing appearance,  with  a  winning  address  and  a 
magnetic  power,  few  men  possessed  more  of  the  ele- 
ments of  popularity.  His  oratory  was  scholarly  and 
captivating,  his  hearers  hardly  knowing  why  they 
were  transported.  He  was  social  and  convivial.  In 
the  latter  respect  he  was  ultimately  carried  too  far. 

The  very  creditable  military  efforts  of  this  State 
during  the  War  of  the  Rebellion,  in  putting  into  the 
field  the  enormous  number  of  about  200,000  soldiers, 
were  ever  promptly  and  ably  seconded  by  his  excel- 
lency ;  and  the  was  ambitious  to  deserve  the  title  of 
"the  soldier's  friend."  Immediately  after  the  battle  of 
Shiloh  he  repaired  to  the  field  of  carnage  to  look 
after  the  wounded,  and  his  appeals  for  aid  were 
promptly  responded  to  by  the  people.  His  procla- 
mations calling  for  volunteers  were  impassionate 
appeals,  urging  upon  the  people  the  duties  and  re- 
quirements of  patriotism ;  and  his  special  message 
in  1863  to  the  Democratic  Legislature  of  this  State 
pleading  for  material  aid  for  the  sick  and  wounded 
soldiers  of  Illinois  regiments,  breathes  a  deep  fervor 
of  noble  sentiment  and  feeling  rarely  equaled  in 
beauty  or  felicity  of  expression.  Generally  his  mes- 
sages on  political  and  civil  affairs  were  able  and  com- 
prehensive. During  his  administration,  however, 
there  were  no  civil  events  of  an  engrossing  character, 
although  two  years  of  his  time  were  replete  with 
partisan  quarrels  of  great  bitterness.  Military  ar- 
rests, Knights  of  the  Golden  Circle,  riot  in  Fulton 
County,  attempted  suppression  of  the  Chicago  Times 
and  the  usurping  State  Constitutional  Convention  of 
1862,  were  the  chief  local  topics  that  were  exciting 
during  the  Governor's  term.  This  Convention  assem- 
bled Jan.  7,  and  at  once  took  the  high  position  that 
'he  law  calling  it  was  no  longer  binding,  and  that  it 
,ad  supreme  power;  that  it  represented  a  virtual 
assemblage  of  the  whole  people  of  the  State,  and  was 
sovereign  in  the  exercise  of  all  power  necessary  to 
effect  a.  peaceable  revolution  of  the  State  Government 


and  to  the  re-establishment  of  one  for  the  "happiness, 
prosperity  and  freedom  of  the  citizens,"  limited  only 
by  the  Federal  Constitution.  Notwithstanding  the 
law  calling  the  Convention  required  its  members  to 
take  an  oath  to  support  the  Constitution  of  the  State 
as  well  as  that  of  the  general  Government,  they 
utterly  refused  to  take  such  oath.  They  also  as- 
sumed legislative  powers  and  passed  several  import- 
ant "laws!"  Interfering  with  the  (then)  present 
executive  duties,  Gov.  Yates  was  provoked  to  tell 
them  plainly  that  "  he  did  not  acknowledge  the  right 
of  the  Convention  to  instruct  him  in  the  performance 
of  his  duty." 

In  1863  the  Governor  astonished  the  Democrats 
by  "  proroguing  "  their  Legislature.  This  body,  after 
a  recess,  met  June  2,  that  year,  and  soon  began  to 
waste  time  upon  various  partisan  resolutions ;  and, 
while  the  two  houses  were  disagreeing  upon  the 
question  of  adjourning  sine  die,  the  Governor,  having 
the  authority  in  such  cases,  surprised  them  all  by 
adjourning  them  "  to  the  Saturday  next  preceding  the 
first  Monday  in  January,  1865  !  "  This  led  to  great 
excitement  and  confusion,  and  to  a  reference  of  the 
Governor's  act  to  the  Supreme  Court,  who  decided  in 
his  favor.  Then  it  was  the  Court's  turn  to  receive 
abuse  for  weeks  and  months  afterward. 

During  the  autumn  of  1864  a  conspiracy  was  de- 
tected at  Chicago  which  had  for  its  object  the  liber- 
ation of  the  prisoners  of  war  at  Camp  Douglas,  the 
burning  of  the  city  and  the  inauguration  of  rebellion 
in  the  North.  Gen.  Sweet,  who  had  charge  of  the 
camp  at  the  time,  first  had  his  suspicions  of  danger 
aroused  by  a  number  of  enigmatically  worded  letters 
which  passed  through  the  Camp  postoffice.  A  de- 
tective afterward  discovered  that  the  rebel  Gen. 
Marmaduke  was  in  the  city,  under  an  assumed 
name,  and  he,  with  other  rebel  officers — Grenfell, 
Morgan,  Cantrell,  Buckner  Morris,  and  Charles 
Walsh — was  arrested,  most  of  whom  were  convicted 
by  a  court-martial  at  Cincinnati  and  sentenced  to 
imprisonment, — Grenfell  to  be  hung.  The  sentence 
of  the  latter  was  afterward  commuted  to  imprison- ' 
ment  for  life,  and  all  the  others,  after  nine  months' 
imprisonment,  were  pardoned. 

In  March,  1873,  Gov.  Yates  was  appointed  a  Gov- 
ernment Director  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad,  in 
which  office  he  continued  until  his  decease,  at  St. 
Louis,  Mo.,  on  the  27th  of  November  following. 


GOVERNORS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


•63 


ICHARD  J.  OGLESBY,  Gov- 
ernor 1865-8,  and  re-elected 
in  1872  and  1884,  was  born 
July  25,  1824,  in  Oldham  Co., 
Ky., — the  State  which  might 
be  considered  the  "  mother  of 
Illinois  Governors."  Bereft  of 
his  parents  at  the  tender  age 
of  eight  years,  his  early  education 
was  neglected.  When  12  years  of 
age,  and  after  he  had  worked  a  year 
and  a  half  at  the  carpenter's  trade, 
he  removed  with  an  uncle,  Willis 
Oglesby,  into  whose  care  he  had 
been  committed,  to  Decatur,  this 
State,  where  he  continued  his  ap- 
prenticeship as  a  mechanic,  working  six  months  for 
Hon.  E.  O.  Smith. 

In  1844  he  commenced  studying  law  at  Spring- 
field, with  Judge  Silas  Robbins,  and  read  with  him 
one  year.  He  was  admitted  to  the  Bar  in  1845,  ar)d 
commenced  the  practice  of  his  chosen  profession  at 
Sullivan,  the  county  seat  of  Moultrie  County. 

The  next  year  the  war  with  Mexico  was  com- 
menced, and  in  June,  1846,  Mr.  Oglesby  volunteered, 
was  elected  First  Lieutenant  of  Co.  C,  Fourth  Illinois 
Regiment  of  Volunteers,  and  participated  in  the  bat- 
tles of  Vera  Cru*.  and  Cerro  Gordo. 

On  his  return  he  sought  to  perfect  his  law  studies 
by  attending  a  course  of  lectures  at  Louisville,  but 
on  the  breaking  out  of  the  California  "gold  fever  "  in 
1849,  he  crossed  the  plains  and  mountains  to  the 
new  Eldorado,  driving  a  six-mule  team,  with  a  com- 


pany  of  eight  men,  Henry  Prather  being  the  leader. 

In  1852  he  returned  home  to  Macon  County,  and 
was  placed  that  year  by  the  Whig  party  on  the  ticket 
of  Presidential  Electors.  In  1856  he  visited  Europe, 
Asia  and  Africa,  being  absent  20  months.  On  his 
return  home  he  resumed  the  practice  of  law,  as  a 
member  of  the  firm  of  Gallagher,  Wait  &  Oglesby. 
In  1858  he  was  the  Republican  no.ainee  for  the 
Lower  House  of  Congress,  but  was  defeated  by  the 
Hon.  James  C.  Robinson,  Democrat.  In  1860  he 
was  elected  to  the  Illinois  State  Senate ;  and  on  the 
evening  the  returns  of  this  election  were  coming  in. 
Mr.  Oglesby  had  a  fisticuff  encounter  with  "  Cerro 
Gordo  Williams,"  in  which  he  came  out  victorious, 
and  which  was  regarded  as  "  the  first  fight  of  the 
Rebellion."  The  following  spring,  when  the  war 
had  commenced  in  earnest,  his  ardent  nature 
quickly  responded  to  the  demands  of  patriotism  and 
he  enlisted.  The  extra  session  of  the  Legislature 
elected  him  Colonel  of  the  Eighth  Illinois  Infantry, 
the  second  one  in  the  State  raised  to  suppress  the 
great  Rebellion. 

He  was  shortly  entrusted  with  important  com- 
mands. For  a  time  he  was  stationed  at  Bird's  Point 
and  Cairo ;  in  April  he  was  promoted  Brigadier  Gen- 
eral; at  Fort  Donelson  his  brigade  was  in  the  van, 
being  stationed  on  the  right  of  General  Grant's  army 
and  the  first  brigade  to  be  attacked.  He  lost  500 
men  before  re-inforcements  arrived.  Many  of  these 
men  were  from  Macon  County.  He  was  engaged  in 
the  battle  of  Corinth,  and,  in  a  brave  charge  at  this 
place,  was  shot  in  the  left  lung  with  an  ounce  ball, 
and  was  carried  from  the  field  in  expectation  of  im- 


164 


RICHARD  J.    OGLESBY. 


mediate  death.  That  rebel  ball  he  carries  to  this 
day.  On  his  partial  recovery  he  was  promoted  as 
Major  General,  for  gillantry,  his  commission  to  rank 
from  November,  1862.  In  the  spring  of  1863  he 
was  assigned  to  the  command  of  the  i6th  Army 
Corps,  but,  owing  to  inability  from  the  effects  of  his 
wound,  he  relinquished  this  command  in  July,  that 
year.  Gen.  Grant,  however,  refused  to  accept  his 
resignation,  and  he  was  detailed,  in  December  follow- 
ing, to  court-martial  and  try  the  Surgeon  General  of 
the  Army  at  Washington,  where  he  remained  until 
May,  1864,  when  he  returned  home. 

The  Republican,  or  Union,  State  Convention  of 

1864  was  held  at  Springfield,   May   25,   when   Mr. 
Oglesby  was  nominated  for  the  office  of  Governor, 
while  other  candidates  before  the  Convention  were 
Allen  C.  Fuller,  of  Boone,  Jesse  K.  Dubois,  of  Sanga- 
mon,   and    John   M.    Palmer,  of  Macoupin.     Wm. 
Bross,  of  Chicago,   was   nominated  for  Lieutenant 
Governor.      On  the  Democratic   State  ticket  were 
James  C.   Robinson,  of  ("lark,  for  Governor,  and  S. 
Corning  Judd,  of  Fulton,  for  Lieutenant  Governor. 
The  general  election  gave  Gen.  Oglesby  a  majority 
of  about  31,000  votes.    The  Republicans  had  also  a 
majority  in  both  the  Legislature  and  in  the  repre- 
sentation in  Congress. 

Gov.  Oglesby  was  duly  inaugurated  Jan.  17,  1865. 
The  day  before  the  first  time  set  for  his  installation 
death  visited  his  home  at  Decatur,  and  took  from  it 
his  only  son,  an  intelligent  and  sprightly  lad  of  six 
years,  a  great  favorite  of  the  bereaved  parents.  This 
caused  the  inauguration  to  be  postponed  a  week. 

The  political  events  of  the  Legislative  session  of 

1865  were  the   election  of  ex-Gov.    Yates  .to  the 
United  States  Senate,  and  the  ratification  of  the  i3th 
amendment  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 
abolishing  slavery.      This   session    also    signalized 
itself  by  repealing  t'i?  notorious  "  black  laws,"  part 
of  which,  although  a  dead  letter,  had  held  their  place 
upon  the  statute  books  since  1819.     Also,  laws  re- 
quiring the  registration  of  voters,  and  establishing  a 
State  Board  of  Equalization,  were  passed  by  this  Leg- 
islature.    But  the  same  body  evinced  that  it  was  cor- 
ruptly influenced  by  a  mercenary  lobby,  as  it  adopted 
some  bad  legislation,  over  the  Governor's  veto,  nota- 
bly an  amendment  to  a  charter  for  a  Chicago  horse 
railway,   granted    in     1859  for  25   years,   and  now 
sought  to  be  extended  99  years.     As   this  measure 
was  promptly  passed  over  his  veto  by  both  branches 
of  the  Legislature,  he  deemed  it  useless  further  to 
attempt   to  check  their  headlong  career.     At   this 
session  no  law  of  a  general  useful  character  or  public 
interest  was  perfected,  unless  we  count  such  the 
turning  over  of  the  canal  to  Chicago  to  be  deepened. 
The  session  of  1867  was  still  more   productive  of 
private  and  special  acts.     Many  omnibus  bills  were 
proposed,  and  some  passed.    The  contests  over  the 
.ocation  of  the   Industrial  College,  the  Capital,  the 


Southern  Penitentiary,  and  the  canal  enlargement 
and  Illinois  River  improvement,  dominated  every- 
thing else. 

During  the  year  1872,  it  became  evident  that  if 
the  Republicans  could  re-elect  Mr.  Oglesby  to  the 
office  of  Governor,  they  could  also  elect  him  to  the 
United  States  Senate,  which  they  desired  to  do. 
Accordingly  they  re-nominated  him  for  the  Execu- 
tive chair,  and  placed  upon  the  ticket  with  him  for 
Lieutenant  Governor,  John  L.  Beveridge,  of  Cook 
County.  On  the  other  side  the  Democrats  put  into 
the  field  Gustavus  Koerner  for  Governor  and  John 
C.  Black  for  Lieutenant  Governor.  The  election 
gave  the  Republican  ticket  majorities  ranging  from 
3S>334  to  56,174, — the  Democratic  defection  being 
caused  mainly  by  their  having  an  old-time  Whig  and 
Abolitionist,  Horace  Greeley,  on  the  national  ticket 
for  President.  According  to  the  general  understand- 
ing had  beforehand,  as  soon  as  the  Legislature  met 
it  elected  Gov.  Oglesby  to  the  United  States  Senate, 
whereupon  Mr.  Beveridge  became  Governor.  Sena- 
tor Oglesby 's  term  expired  March  4,  1879,  having 
served  his  party  faithfully  and  exhibited  an  order  of 
statesmanship  beyond  criticism. 

During  the  campaign  of  1884  Mr.  Oglesby  was 
nominated  for  a  "third  term"  as  Executive  of  the 
State  of  Illinois,  against  Carter  H.  Harrison,  Mayor 
of  Chicago,  nominated  by  the  Democrats.  Both 
gentlemen  "stumped  "  the  State,  and  while  the  peo- 
ple elected  a  Legislature  which  was  a  tie  on  a  join'; 
ballot,  as  between  the  two  parties,  they  gave  the 
jovial  "  Dick"  Oglesby  a  majority  of  I5,or8  for  Gov- 
ernor, and  he  was  inaugurated  Jan.  30,  1885.  The 
Legislature  did  not  fully  organize  until  this  date,  on 
account  of  its  equal  division  between  the  two  main 
parties  and  the  consequent  desperate  tactics  of  each 
party  to  checkmate  the  latter  in  the  organization  of 
the  House. 

Gov.  Oglesby  is  a  fine-appearing,  affable  man,  with 
regular,  well  defined  features  and  rotund  face.  In 
stature  he  is  a  little  above  medium  height,  of  a  large 
frame  and  somewhat  fleshy.  His  physical  appear- 
ance is  striking  and  prepossessing,  while  his  straight- 
out,  not  to  say  bluff,  manner  and  speech  are  well 
calculated  favorably  to  impress  the  average  masses. 
Ardent  in  feeling  and  strongly  committed  to  the  pol- 
icies of  his  party,  he  intensifies  Republicanism 
among  Republicans,  while  at  the  same  time  his  jovial 
and  liberal  manner  prevents  those  of  the  opposite 
party  from  hating  him. 

He  is  quite  an  effective  stump  orator.  With  vehe- 
ment, passionate  and  scornful  tone  and  gestures, 
tremendous  physical  power,  which  in  speaking  he 
exercises  to  the  utmost ;  with  frequent  descents  to 
the  grotesque;  and  with  abundant  homely  compari- 
sons or  frontier  figures,  expressed  in  the  broadest 
vernacular  and  enforced  with  stentorian  emphasis, 
he  delights  a  promiscuous  audience  beyond  measure. 


(HE 


GO  VERNORS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


HN  Me  AULEY  PALMER,  Gov- 
ernor 1869-72,  was  bom  on 
Eagle  Creek,  Scott  Co.,  Ky., 
Sept.  13,  1817.  During  his  in- 
fancy, his  father,  who  had  been 
a  soldier  in  the  war  of  1812,  re- 
moved to  Christian  Co:,  Ky., 
where  lands  were  cheap.  Here 
the  future  Governor  of  the  great 
Prairie  State  spent  his  childhood 
and  received  such  meager  school- 
ing as  the  new  and  sparsely  set- 
tled country  afforded.  To  this 
he  added  materially  by  diligent 
reading,  for  which  he  evinced  an 
eaily  aptitude.  His  father,  an  ardent  Jackson  man, 
was  also  noted  for  his  anti-slavery  sentiments,  which 
he  thoroughly  impressed  upon  his  children.  In  1831 
he  emigrated  to  Illinois,  settling  in  Madison  County. 
Here  the  labor  of  improving  a  farm  was  pursued  for 
about  two  years,  when  the  death  of  Mr.  Palmer's 
mother  broke  up  the  family.  About  this  time  Alton 
College  was  opened,  on  the  "manual  labor  "  system, 
and  in  the  spring  of  1834  young  Palmer,  with  his 
elder  brother,  Elihu,  entered  this  school  and  remained 
1 8  months.  Next,  for  over  three  years,  he  tried 
variously  coopering,  peddling  and  school-teaching. 

During    the   summer  of   1838  he  formed  the  ac- 
quaintance of  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  then  making  his 


first  canvass  for  Congress.  Young,  eloquent  and  in 
political  accord  with  Mr.  Palmer,  he  won  his  confi- 
dence, fired  his  ambition  and  fixed  his  purpose.  The 
following  winter,  while  teaching  near  Canton,  he  be- 
gan to  devote  his  spare  time  to  a  desultory  reading 
of  law,  and  in  the  spring  entered  a  law  office  at  Car- 
linville,  making  his  home  with  his  elder  brother, 
Elihu.  (The  latter  was  a  learned  clergyman,  of  con- 
siderable orginality  of  thought  and  doctrine.)  On 
the  next  meeting  of  the  Supreme  Court  he  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  Bar,  Douglas  being  one  of  his  examiners. 
He  was  not  immediately  successful  in  his  profession, 
and  would  have  located  elsewhere  than  Carlinville 
had  he  the  requisite  means.  Thus  his  early  poverty 
was  a  blessing  in  disguise,  for  to  it  he  now  attributes 
the  success  of  his  life. 

From  1839  on,  while  he  diligently  pursued  his 
profession,  he  participated  more  or  less  in  local 
politics.  In  1843  he  became  Probate  Judge.  In 
1847  he  was  elected  to  the  State  Constitutional  Con 
vention,  where  he  took  a  leading  part.  In  1852  h«« 
was  elected  to  the  State  Senate,  and  at  the  special 
session  of  February,  1854,  true  to  the  anti-slaver} 
sentiments  bred  in  him,  he  took  a  firm  stand  in  op- 
position to  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise, 
and  when  the  Nebraska  question  became  a  partj 
issue  he  refused  to  receive  a  re-nomination  for  th< 
Senatorship  at  the  hands  of  the  Democracy,  issuinj 
a  circular  to  that  effect.  A  few  weeks  afterward 


j68 


JOHN  MC  AULEY  PALMER. 


however,  hesitating  to  break  with  his  party,  he  par- 
ticipated in  a  Congressional  Convention  which  nomi- 
T.  L.  Harris  against  Richard  Yates,  and  which 
unqualifiedly  approved  the  principles  of  the  Kansas- 
Nebraska  act.  But  later  in  the  campaign  he  made 
the  plunge,  ran  for  the  Senate  as  an  Anti-Nebraska 
Democrat,  and  was  elected.  The  following  winter 
ne  put  in  nomination  for  the  .United  States  Senate 
Mr.  Trumbull,  and  was  one  of  the  five  steadfast  men 
who  voted  for  him  until  all  the  Whigs  came  to  their 
support  and  elected  their  man. 

In  1856  he  was  Chairman  of  the  Republican  State 
Convention  at  Bloomington.  He  ran  for  Congress  in 
1859,  but  was  defeated.  In  1860  he  was  Republican 
Presidential  Elector  for  the  State  at  large.  In  1861 
he  was  appointed  one  of  the  five  Delegates  (all  Re- 
publicans) sent  by  Illinois  to  the  peace  congress  at 
Washington. 

When  the  civil  conflict  broke  out,  he  offered  his 
services  to  his  country,  and  was  elected  Colonel  of  the 
:4th  111.  Vol.  Inf.,  and  participated  in  the  engagements 
at  Island  No.  to;  at  Fannington,  where  he  skillfully 
extricated  his  command  from  a  dangerous  position  ; 
at  Stone  River,  where  his  division  for  several  hours, 
,  Dec.  31,  1862,  held  the  advance  and  stood  like  a 
rock,  and  for  his  gallantry  there  he  was  made  Major 
General;  at  Chickamauga,  where  his  and  Van  Cleve's 
divisions  for  two  hours  maintained  their  position 
when  they  were  cut  off  by  overpowering  numbers. 
Under  Gen.  Sherman,  he  was  assigned  to  the  I4th 
Army  Corps  and  participated  in  the  Atlanta  campaign. 
At  Peach-Tree  Creek  his  prudence  did  much  to  avert 
disaster.  In  February,  1865,  Gen.  Palmer  was  as- 
signed to  the  military  administration  of  Kentucky, 
which  was  a  delicate  post.  That  State  was  about 
half  rebel  and  half  Union,  and  those  of  the  latter 
element  were  daily  fretted  by  the  loss  of  their  slaves. 
He,  who  had  been  bred  to  the  rules  of  common  law, 
trembled  at  the  contemplation  of  his  extraordinary 
power  over  the  persons  and  property  of  his  fellow 
men,  with  which  he  was  vested  in  his  capacity  as 
military  Governor ;  and  he  exhibited  great  caution  in 
the  execution  of  the  duties  of  his  post. 

Gen.  Palmer  was  nominated  for  Governor  of  Illi- 
nois by  the  Republican  State  Convention  which  met 
at  Peoria  May  6,  1868,  and  his  nomination  would 
probably  have  been  made  by  acclamation  had  he  not 
oersistently  declared  that  he  could  not  accept  a  can- 


didature for  the  office.  The  result  of  the  ensuing 
election  gave  Mr.  Palmer  a  majority  of  44,707  over 
John  R.  Eden,  the  Democratic  nominee. 

On  the  meeting  of  the  Legislature  in  January, 
1869,  the  first  thing  to  arrest  public  attention  was 
that  portion  of  the  Governor's  message  which  took 
broad  Slate's  rights  ground.  This  and  some  minor 
points,  which  were  more  in  keeping  with  the  Demo- 
cratic sentiment,  constituted  the  entering  wedge  f  >r 
the  criticisms  and  reproofs  he  afterward  received 
from  the  Republican  party,  and  ultimately  resulted 
in  his  entire  aleniation  from  the  latter  element.  The 
Legislature  just  referred  to  was  noted  for  the  intro- 
duction of  numerous  bills  in  the  interest  of  private 
parties,  which  were  embarrassing  to  the  Governor. 
Among  the  public  acts  passed  was  that  which  limited 
railroad  charges  for  passenger  travel  to  a  maximum 
of  three  cents  per  mile ;  and  it  was  passed  over  the 
Governor's  veto.  Also,  they  passed,  over  his  veto, 
the  "  tax-grabbing  law  "  to  pay  rulrocd  subscriptions, 
the  Chicago  Lake  Front  bill,  etc.  The  new  State 
Constitution  of  1870,  far  superior  to  the  old,  was  a 
peaceful  "  revolution  "  which  took  place  during  Gov. 
Palmer's  term  of  office.  The  suffering  caused  by  the 
great  Chicago  Fire  of  October,  1871,  was  greatly 
alleviated  by  the  prompt  responses  of  his  excellency. 

Since  the  expiration  of  Gov.  Palmers 's  term,  he  has 
been  somewhat  prominent  in  Illinois  politics,  and 
has  been  talked  of  by  many,  especially  in  the  Dem- 
ocratic party,  as  the  best  man  in  the  State  for  a 
United  States  Senator.  His  business  during  life  has 
been  that  of  the  law.  Few  excel  him  in  an  accurate 
appreciation  of  the  depth  and  scope  of  its  principles. 
The  great  number  of  his  able  veto  messages  abun- 
dantly testify  not  only  this  but  also  a  rare  capacity  to 
point  them  out.  He  is  a  logical  and  cogent  reasoner 
and  an  interesting,  forcible  and  convincing  speaker, 
though  not  fluent  or  ornate.  Without  brilliancy,  his 
dealings  are  rather  with  facts  and  ideas  than  with 
appeals  to  passions  and  prejudices.  He  is  a  patriot 
and  a  statesman  of  very  high  order.  Physically  he  is 
above  the  medium  height,  of  robust  frame,  ruddy 
complexion  and  sanguine-nervous  temperament.  He 
has  a  large  cranial  development,  is  vivacious,  social 
in  disposition,  easy  of  approach,  unostentatious  in  his 
habits  of  life,  democratic  in  his  habits  and  manners 
and  is  a  true  American  in  his  fundamental  principle' 
of  statesmanship. 


GOVERNORS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


OHN  LOWRiE  BEVER- 
IDGE,  Governor  187  3-6,  was 
born  in  the  town  of  Green- 
wich, Washington  Co.,  N.  Y., 
July  6,  1824.  His  parents 
were  George  and  Ann  Bever- 
idge.  His  father's  parents,  An- 
drew and  Isabel  Beveridge,  be- 
fore their  marriage  emigrated 
from  Scotland  just  before  the 
Revolutionary  War,  settling  in 
Washington  County.  His  father 
was  the  eldest  of  eight  brothers,  the 
youngest  of  whom  was  60  years  of 
age  when  the  first  one  of  the  num- 
ber died.  His  mother's  parents, 
James  and  Agnes  Hoy,  emigrated 
from  Scotland  at  the  close  of  the 
Revolutionary  War,  settling  also  in 
Washington  Co.,  N.  Y.,  with  their 
first-born,  whose  "  native  land  "was 
the  wild  ocean.  His  parents  and 
grandparents  lived  beyond  the  time 
allotted  to  man,  their  average  age 
>eing  over  80  years.  They  belonged  to  the  "  Asso- 
:iate  Church,"  a  seceding  Presbyterian  body  of 


America  from  the  old  Scotch  school ;  and  so  rigid 
was  the  training  of  young  Beveridge  that  he  never 
heard  a  sermon  from  any  other  minister  except  that 
of  his  own  denomination  until  he  was  in  his  igth 
year.  Later  in  life  he  became  a  member  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  which  relation  he  still 
holds. 

Mr.  Beveridge  received  a  good  common-school  ed- 
ucation, but  his  parents,  who  could  obtain  a  livelihood 
only  by  rigid  economy  and  industry,  could  not  send 
him  away  to  college.  He  was  raised  upon  a  farm, 
and  was  in  his  i8th  year  when  the  family  removed 
to  De  Kalb  County,  this  State,  when  that  section  was 
very  sparsely  settled.  Chicago  had  less  than  7,000 
inhabitants.  In  this  wild  West  he  continued  as  a 
farm  laborer,  teaching  school  during  the  winter 
months  to  supply  the  means  of  an  education.  In  the 
fall  of  1842  he  attended  one  term  at  the  academy  at 
Granville,  Putnam  Co.,  111.,  and  subsequently  several 
terms  at  the  Rock  River  Seminary  at  Mount  Morris, 
Ogle  Co.,  111.,  completing  the  academic  course.  At 
this  time,  the  fall  of  1845,  his  parents  and  brothers 
were  anxious  to  have  him  go  to  college,  even  though 
he  had  not  money  sufficient;  but,  njt  willing  to  bur- 
den the  family,  he  packed  his  trunk  and  with  only 
$40  in  money  started  South  to  seek  his  fortune 


17* 


JOHtf  L.  BE  VE  RIDGE. 


Poor,  alone,  without  friends  and  influence,  he  thus 
entered  upon  the  battle  of  life. 

First,  he  taught  school  in  Wilson,  Overton  and 
Jackson  Cos.,  Tenn.,  in  which  experience  he  under- 
went considerable  mental  drill,  both  in  book  studies 
and  in  the  ways  of  the  world.  He  read  law  and  was 
admitted  to  the  Bar,  in  the  South,  but  did  not  learn 
to  love  the  institution  of  slavery,  although  he  ad- 
mired many  features  of  Southern  character.  In  De- 
cember, 1847,  he  returned  North,  and  Jan.  20,  1848, 
he  married  Miss  Helen  M.  Judson,  in  the  old  Clark- 
Street  M.  E.  church  in  Chicago,  her  father  at  that 
time  being  Pastor  of  the  society  there.  In  the  spring 
of  r848  he  returned  with  his  wife  to  Tennessee, 
where  his  two  children,  Alia  May  and  Philo  Judson, 
were  born. 

In  the  fall  of  1849,  through  the  mismanagement 
of  an  associate,  he  lost  what  little  he  had  accumu- 
lated and  was  left  in  debt.  He  soon  managed  to 
earn  means  to  pay  his  debts,  returned  to  De  Kalb 
Co.,  111.,  and  entered  upon  the  practice  of  his  pro- 
fession at  Sycamore,  the  county  seat.  On  arrival 
from  the  South  he  had  but  one-quarter  of  a  dollar  in 
money,  and  scanty  clothing  and  bedding  for  himself 
and  family.  He  borrowed  a  little  money,  practiced 
-aw,  worked  in  public  offices,  kept  books  for  some  of 
the  business  men  of  the  town,  and  some  railroad  en- 
gineering, till  the  spring  of  1854,  when  he  removed 
to  Evanston,  1 2  miles  north  of  Chicago,  a  place  then 
but  recently  laid  out,  under  the  supervision  of  the 
Northwestern  University,  a  Methodist  institution. 
Of  the  latter  his  father-in-law  was  then  financial 
agent  and  business  manager.  Here  Mr.  Beveridge 
prospered,  and  the  next  year  (1855)  opened  a  law 
office  in  Chicago,  where  he  found  the  battle  some- 
what hard;  but  he  persevered  with  encouragement 
and  increasing  success. 

Aug.  12,  1861,  his  law  partner,  Gen.  John  F. 
Farnsworth,  secured  authority  to  raise  a  regiment  of 
cavalry,  and  authorized  Mr.  Beveridge  to  raise  a 
company  for  it.  He  succeeded  in  a  few  days  in  rais- 
ing the  company,  of  course  enlisting  himself  along 
with  it.  The  regiment  rendezvoused  at  St.  Charles, 
111.,  was  mustered  in  Sept.  18,  and  on  its  organiza- 
tion Mr.  B.  was  elected  Second  Major.  It  was  at- 
tached, Oct.  u,  to  the  Eighth  Cavalry  and  to  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac.  He  served  with  the  regiment 
until  November,  1863,  participating  in  some  40  bat- 


tles and  skirmishes  :  was  at  Fair  Oaks,  the  seven  days' 
fight  around  Richmond,  Fredericksburg,  Chancellors- 
ville  and  Gettysburg.  He  commanded  the  regiment 
the  greater  part  of  the  summer  of  1863,  and  it  was  while 
lying  in  camp  this  year  that  he  originated  the  policy 
of  encouraging  recruits  as  well  as  the  fighting  capac- 
ity of  the  soldiery,  by  the  wholesale  furlough  system 
It  worked  so  well  that  many  other  officers  adopted 
it.  In  the  fall  of  this  year  he  recruited  another  com- 
pany, against  heavy  odds,  in  January,  1864,  was 
commissioned  Colonel  of  the  tyth  111.  Cav.,  and 
skirmished  around  in  Missouri,  concluding  with  the 
reception  of  the  surrender  of  Gen.  Kirby  Smith's 
army  in  Arkansas.  In  1865  he  commanded  various 
sub-districts  in  the  Southwest.  He  was  mustered 
out  Feb.  6,  1866,  safe  from  the  casualties  of  war  and 
a  stouter  man  than  when  he  first  enlisted.  His  men 
idolized  him. 

He  then  returned  to  Chicago,  to  practice  law,  with 
no  library  and  no  clientage,  and  no  political  experi- 
ence except  to  help  others  into  office.  In  the  fall  ol 
1866  he  was  elected  Sheriff  of  Cook  County,  serving 
one  term;  next,  until  November,  1870,  he  practiced 
law  and  closed  up  the  unfinished  business  of  hif 
office.  He  was  then  elected  State  Senator;  in  No- 
vember, 1871,  he  was  elected  Congressman  at  large; 
in  November,  1872,  he  was  elected  Lieutenant  Gov- 
ernor on  the  ticket  with  Gov.  Oglesby;  the  latter  be- 
ing elected  to  the  U.  S.  Senate,  Mr.  Beveridge  became 
Governor,  Jan.  21,  1873.  Thus,  inside  of  a  few 
weeks,  he  was  Congressman  at  large,  Lieutenant 
Governor  and  Governor.  The  principal  events  oc- 
curring during  Gov.  Beveridge's  administration  were: 
The  completion  of  the  revision  of  the  statutes,  begun 
in  1869;  the  partial  success  of  the  "farmers'  move- 
ment;" "  Haines'  Legislature  "  and  Illinois'  exhibit  at 
the  Centennial. 

Since  the  close  of  his  gubernatorial  term  ex-Gov. 
Beveridge  has  been  a  member  of  the  firm  of  Bever- 
idge &  Dewey,  bankers  and  dealers  in  commercial 
paper  at  7 1  Dearborn  Street  (McCormick  Block), 
Chicago,  and  since  November,  1 88 1,  he  has  also  been 
Assistant  United  States  Treasurer  •  office  in  the 
Government  Building.  His  residence  is  still  at  Ev- 
anston. 

He  has  a  brother  and  two  sisters  yet  residing  in 
De  Kalb  County — James  H.  Beveridge,  Mrs.  Jennet 
Henry  and  Mrs.  Isabel  French. 


GOVERNORS  OF  ILLINOIS, 


179 


OHN  MARSHALL  HAMIL- 
TON, Governor  1883-5,  was 
born  May  28,  1847,  in  a  log 
house  upon  a  farm  about  two 
miles  from  Richvvood,  Union 
County,  Ohio.  His  father  was 
Samuel  Hamilton,  the  eldest  son 


of  Rev.  Wm.  Hamilton,  who,  to- 
gether with  his  brother,  the  Rev. 
Samuel  Hamilton,  was  among  the 
early  pioneer  Methodist  preachers  in 
Ohio.  The  mother  of  the  subject  of 
this  sketch  was,  before  her  marriage, 
Mrs.  Nancy  McMoiris,  who  was 
born  and  raised  in  Fauquier  or  Lou- 
doun  County,  Va.,  and  related  to  the 
two  large  families  of  Youngs  and  Marshalls,  well 
known  in  that  commonwealth ;  and  from  the  latter 
family  name  was  derived  the  middle  name  of  Gov. 
Hamilton. 

In  March,  1854,  Mr.  Hamilton's  father  sold  out 
his  little  pioneer  forest  home  in  Union  County,  O., 
and,  loading  his  few  household  effects  and  family 
(of  six  children)  into  two  emigrant  covered  wagons, 
moved  to  Roberts  Township,  Marshall  Co.,  111.,  being 
2 1  day  son  the  route.  Swamps,  unbridged  streams 
and  innumerable  hardships  and  privations  met  them  •. 
>ii  their  way.  Their  new  home  had  been  previously 
elected  by  the  father.  Here,  after  many  long  years 
of  toil,  they  succeeded  in  paying  for  the  land  and  ! 
jiakii.g  a  comfor'»w»i  home.  John  was,  of  course,  I 


brought  up  to  hard  manual  labor,  with  no  schooling 
except  three  or  four  months  in  the  year  at  a  common 
country  school.  However,  he  evinced  a  capacity 
and  taste  for  a  high  order  of  self-education,  by 
studying  or  reading  what  books  be  could  borrow,  as 
the  family  had  but  very  few  in  the  house.  Much  of 
his  study  he  prosecuted  by  the  light  of  a  log  fire  in 
the  old-fashioned  chimney  place.  The  financial 
panic  of  1857  caused  the  family  to  come  near  losing 
their  home,  to  pay  debts ;  but  the  father  and  two 
sons,  William  and  John,  "buckled  to"  and  perse 
vered  in  hard  labor  and  economy  until  they  redeemed 
their  place  from  the  mortgage. 

When  the  tremendous  excitement  of  the  political 
campaign  of  1860  reached  the  neighborhood  of  Rob- 
erts Township,  young  Hamilton,  who  had  been 
brought  up  in  the  doctrine  of  anti-slavery,  took  a  zeal- 
ous part  in  favor  of  Lincoln's  election.  Making  special 
efforts  to  procure  a  little  money  to  buy  a  uniform,  he 
joined  a  company  of  Lincoln  Wide-Awakes  at  Mag- 
nolia, a  village  not  far  away.  Directly  after  the 
ensuing  election  it  became  evident  that  trouble 
would  ensue  with  the  South,  and  this  Wide-Awake 
company,  like  many  others  throughout  the  country, 
kept  up  its  organization  and  transformed  itself  into  a 
military  company.  During  the  ensuing  summer  they 
met  often  for  drill  and  became  proficient ;  but  when 
they  offered  themselves  for  the  war,  young  Hamilton 
was  rejected  on  account  of  his  youth,  he  being  then 
but  14  years  of  age.  During  the  winter  of  1863-4  he 
attended  an  academy  at  Henry,  Marshall  County, 


t8o 


JOHN  MARSHALL  HAMILTON. 


and  in  the  following  May  he  again  enlisted,  for  the 
fourth  time,  when  he  was  placed  in  the  i4ist  111. 
Vol  Inf.,  a  regiment  then  being  raised  at  Elgin,  111., 
for  the  too-day  service.  He  took  with  him  13  other 
lads  from  his  neighborhood,  for  enlistment  in  the 
service.  This  regiment  operated  in  Southwestern 
Kentucky,  for  about  five  months,  under  Gen.  Paine. 

The  following  winter,  1864-5,  Mr.  Hamilton  taught 
school,  and  during  the  two  college  years  1865-7,  ne 
went  through  three  years  of  the  curriculum  of  the 
Ohio  Wesleyan  University  at  Delaware,  Ohio.  The 
third  year  he  graduated,  the  fourth  in  a  class  of  46, 
in  the  classical  department.  In  due  time  he  received 
the  degree  of  M.  A.  For  a  few  months  he  was  the 
Principal  of  Marshall  "  College  "  at  Henry,  an  acad- 
emy under  the  auspices  of  the  M.  E.  Church.  By 
this  time  he  had  commenced  the  study  of  law,  and 
after  earning  some  money  as  a  temporary  Professor 
of  Latin  at  the  Illinois  Wesleyan  University  at 
B'.oomington,  he  entered  the  law  office  of  Weldon, 
Tipton  &  Benjamin,  of  that  city.  Each  member  of 
this  firm  has  since  been  distinguished  as  a  Judge. 
Admitted  to  the  Bar  in  May,  1870,  Mr.  Hamilton 
was  given  an  interest  in  the  same  firm,  Tipton  hav- 
ing been  elected  Judge.  In  October  following  he 
formed  a  partnership  with  J.  H.  Rowell,  at  that  time 
Prosecuting  Attorney.  Their  business  was  then 
small,  but  they  increased  it  to  very  large  proportions, 
practicing  in  all  grades  of  courts,  including  even  the 
U.  S.  Supreme  Court,  and  this  partnership  continued 
xibroken  until  Feb.  6,  1883,  when  Mr.  Hamilton 
was  sworn  in  as  Exec.itive  of  Illinois.  On  the  4th 
of  March  following  Mr.  Rowell  took  his  seat  in  Con- 
gress. 

In  July,  1871,  Mr.  Hamilton  married  Miss  Helen 
M.  Williams,  the  daughter  of  Prof.  Win.  G.  Williams, 
Professor  of  Greek  in  the  Ohio  Wesleyan  University. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  H.  have  two  daughters  and  one  son. 

In  1876  Mr.  Hamilton  was  nominated  by  the  Re- 
publicans for  the  State  Senate,  over  other  and  older 
competitors.  He  took  an  active  pait  '•  on  the  stump  " 
in  the  campaign,  for  the  success  of  his  party,  and  was 
elected  by  a  majority  of  r,64o  over  his  Democratic- 
Greenback  opponent.  In  the  Senate  he  served  on 
the  Committees  on  Judiciary,  Revenue,  State  Insti- 
tutions, Appropriations,  Education,  and  on  Miscel- 
lany ;  and  during  the  contest  for  the  election  of  a 
U.  S.  Senator,  the  Republicans  endeavoring  to  re- 


elect  John  A.  Logan,  he  voted  for  the  war  chief  on 
every  ballot,  even  alone  when  all  the  other  Republi- 
cans had  gone  over  to  the  Hon.  E.  B.  Lawrence  and 
the  Democrats  and  Independents  elected  Judg? 
David  Davis.  At  this  session,  also,  was  passed  the 
first  Board  of  Health  and  Medical  Practice  act,  of 
which  Mr.  Hamilton  was  a  champion,  against  zz 
much  opposition  that  the  bill  was  several  times 
"laid  on  the  table."  Also,  this  session  authorized 
the  location  and  establishment  of  a  southern  peni- 
tentiary, which  was  fixed  at  Chester.  In  the  session 
of  1879  Mr.  Hamilton  was  elected  President  pro  tern. 
of  the  Senate,  and  was  a  zealous  supporter  of  John 
A.  Logan  for  the  U.  S.  Senate,  who  was  this  time 
elected  without  any  trouble. 

In  May,  1880,  Mr.  Hamilton  was  nominated  on 
the  Republican  ticket  for  Lieutenant  Governor,  his 
principal  competitors  before  the  Convention  being 
Hon.  Wm.  A.  James,  ex-Speaker  of  the  House  of 
Representatives,  Judge  Robert  Bell,  of  Wabash 
County,  Hon.  T.  T.  Fountain,  of  Perry  County,  and 
Hon.  M.  M.  Saddler,  of  Marion  County.  He  engaged 
actively  in  the  campaign,  and  his  ticket  was  elected 
by  a  majority  of  41,200.  As  Lieutenant  Governor, 
he  presided  almost  continuously  over  the  Senate  in 
the  3«d  General  Assembly  and  during  the  early  days 
of  the  33d,  until  he  succeeded  to  the  Governorship. 
When  the  Legislature  of  1883  elected  Gov.  Cullom 
to  the  United  States  Senate,  Lieut.  Gov.  Hamilton 
succeeded  him,  under  the  Constitution,  taking  the 
oath  of  office  Feb.  6,  1883.  He  bravely  met  all  the 
annoyances  and  embarrassments  incidental  upon 
taking  up  another's  administration.  The  principal 
events  with  which  Gov.  Hamilton  was  connected  as 
the  Chief  Executive  of  the  State  were,  the  mine  dis- 
aster at  Braidwood,  the  riots  in  St.  Clairand  Madison 
Co.mties  in  May,  1883,  the  appropriations  for  the 
State  militia,  the  adoption  of  the  Harper  high-license 
liquor  law,  the  veto  of  a  dangerous  railroad  bill,  etc. 

The  Governor  was  a  Delegate  at  large  to  the 
National  Republican  Convention  at  Chicago  in  June, 

1884,  where  his  first  choice  for  President  was  John 
A.  Logan,  and  second  choice  Chester  A.  Arthur;  but 
he  afterward  zealously  worked  for  the  election  of  Mr. 
Elaine,  true  to  his  party. 

Mr.  Hamilton's  term  as  Governor  expired  Jan.  30, 

1885,  when  the  great  favorite  "  Dick  "  Oglesby  was 
inaugurated. 


GOVERNORS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


183 


JOSEPH  WILSON  FJFER.    This 

distinguished  gentleman  was 
elected  Governor  of  Illinois 
November  6,  1888.  He  was 
popularly  known  during  the 
campaign  as  "Private  Joe."  He 
had  served  with  great  devotion 
to  his  country  during  the  Re- 
bellion, in  the  Thirty-third 
Illinois  Infantry.  A  native  of 
Virginia,  he  was  born  in  1840. 
His  parents,  John  and  Mary 
(Daniels)  Fifer,  were  American 
born,  though  of  German  de- 
scent. His  father  was  a  brick 
and  stone  mason,  and  an  old 
Henry  Clay  Whig  in  politics.  John  and  Mary 
Fifer  had  nine  children,  of  whom  Joseph  was  the 
sixth,  and  naturally,  with  so  large  a  family,  it  was 
all  the  father  could  do  to  keep  the  wolf  from  the 
door,  to  say  nothing  of  giving  his  children  any- 
thing like  good  educational  advantages. 

Joseph  attended  school  for  a  while  in  Virgina, 
but  it  was  not  a  good  school,  and  when  his  father 
removed  to  the  West,  in  1857,  Joseph  had  not  ad- 
vanced much  further  than  the  "First  Reader." 
Our  subject  was  sixteen  then  and  suffered  a  great 
misfortune  in  the  loss  of  his  mother.  After  the 


death  of  Mrs.  Fifer,  which  occurred  in  Missouri, 
the  family  returned  to  Virgina,  but  remained  only 
a  short  time,  as  during  the  same  year  Mr.  Fifer 
came  to  Illinois.  He  settled  in  McLean  County 
and  started  a  brickyard.  Here  Joseph  and  his 
brothers  were  put  to  work.  The  elder  Mr.  Fifer  soon 
bought  a  farm  near  Bloomington  and  began  life 
as  an  agriculturist.  Here  Joe  worked  and  attended 
the  neighboring  school.  He  alternated  farm-work, 
and  brick-laying,  going  to  the  district  school  for 
the  succeeding  few  years.  It  was  all  work  and  no 
play  for  Joe,  yet  it  by  no  means  made  a  dull  boy 
of  him.  All  the  time  he  was  thinking  of  the  great 
world  outside,  of  which  he  had  caught  a  glimpse 
when  coming  from  Virginia,  yet  he  did  not  know 
just  how  lie  was  going  to  get  out  into  it.  He 
could  not  feel  that  the  woods  around  the  new  farm 
and  the  log  cabin,  in  which  the  family  lived,  were 
to  hold  him. 

The  opportunity  to  get  out  into  the  world  was 
soon  offered  to  young  Joe.  He  traveled  a  dozen 
miles  barefoot,  in  company  with  his  brother  George, 
and  enlisted  in  Company  C,  Thirty-third  Illinois 
Infantry,  he  being  then  twenty  years  old.  In  a 
few  days,  the  regiment  was  sent  to  Camp  Butler, 
and  then  over  into  Missouri,  and  saw  some  vigor- 
ous service  there.  After  a  second  time  helping  to 
chase  Price  out  of  Missouri,  the  Thirty-third  Regi- 


184 


JOSEPH  W.  FIFER. 


ment  went  down  to  Milliken  's  Bend,  and  for  several 
weeks  "Private  Joe"  worked  on  Grant's  famous 
ditch.  The  regiment  then  joined  the  forces  oper- 
ating against  Port  Gibson  and  Vickshurg.  Joe 
was  on  guard  duty  in  the  front  ditches  when  the 
flag  of  surrender  was  run  up  on  the  4th  of  July, 
and  stuck  the  bayonet  of  his  gun  into  the  embank- 
ment and  went  into  the  city  with  the  vanguard  of 
Union  soldiers. 

The  next  day,  July  5,  the  Thirty-third  joined 
the  force  after  Johnston,  who  had  been  threatening 
Grant's  rear;  and  finally  an  assault  was  made  on  him 
at  Jackson,  Miss.  In  this  charge  "Private  Joe"  fell, 
terribly  wounded.  He  was  loading  his  gun,  when 
a  minie-ball  struck  him  and  passed  entirely 
through  his  body.  He  was  regarded  as  mortally 
wounded.  His  brother,  George,  who  had  been 
made  a  Lieutenant,  proved  to  be  the  means  of  sav- 
ing his  life.  The  Surgeon  told  him  that  unless  he 
had  ice  his  brother  could  not  live.  It  was  fifty  miles 
to  the  nearest  point  where  ice  could  be  obtained, 
and  the  roads  were  rough.  A  comrade,  a  McLean 
County  man,  who  had  been  wounded,  offered  to 
make  the  trip.  An  ambulance  was  secured  and 
the  brother  soldier  started  on  the  journey.  He  re- 
turned with  the  ice,  but  the  trip,  owing  to  the 
roughness  of  the  road,  was  very  hard  on  him.  Af- 
ter a  few  months'  careful  nursing,  Mr.  Fifer  was  able 
to  come  home.  The  Thirty-third  came  home  on  a 
furlough,  and  when  the  boys  were  ready  to  return 
to  the  tented  field,  young  Fifer  was  ready  to  go 
with  them,  for  he  was  determined  to  finish  his 
term  of  three  years.  He  was  mustered  out  in  Oct- 
ober, 1864,  having  been  in  the  service  three  years 
and  two  months. 

"Private  Joe"  came  out  of  the  army  a  tall,  tan- 
ned, and  awkward  young  man  of  twenty- four. 
About  all  he  possessed  was  ambition  to  be  some- 
body— and  pluck.  Though  at  an  age  when  most 
men  have  finished  their  college  course,  the  young 
soldier  saw  that  if  he  was  to  be  anybody  he  must 
have  an  education.  Yet  he  had  no  means  to  ena- 
ble him  to  enter  school  as  most  young  men  do. 
He  was  determined  to  have  an  education,  however, 
and  that  to  him  meant  success.  For  the  following 
four  years  he  struggled  with  his  books.  He  en- 


tered Wesleyan  University  January  1,  1865.  He 
was  not  a  brilliant  student,  being  neither  at  the 
head  nor  at  the  foot  of  his  class.  He  was  in  great 
earnest,  however,  studied  hard  and  came  forth  with 
a  well-stored  and  disciplined  mind. 

Immediately  after  being  graduated,  he  entered 
an  office  at  Bloomington  as  a  law  student.  He 
had  previously  read  law  a  little,  and  as  he  continued 
to  work  hard,  with  the  spur  of  poverty  and  prompt- 
ings of  ambition  ever  with  him,  he  was  ready  U 
hang  out  his  professional  shingle  in  1869.  Bein« 
trustworthy,  he  soon  gathered  about  him  some  in- 
fluential friends.  In  1871  he  was  elected  Corpora- 
tion Counsel  of  Bloomington.  In  1872  he  wa.> 
elected  State's  Attorney  of  McLean  County.  This 
office  he  held  eight  years,  when  he  took  his  seat  in 
the  State  Senate.  He  served  for  four  years.  His 
ability  to  perform  abundance  of  hard  work  made 
him  a  most  valued  member  of  the  Legislature. 

Mr.  Fifer  was  married  in  1870  to  Gertie,  daugh- 
terof  William  J.  Lewis,  of  Bloomington.  Mr.  Fifer 
is  six  feet  in  height  and  is  spare,  weighing  only  one 
hundred  and  fifty  pounds.  He  has  a  swarthy  com- 
plexion, keen  black  eyes,  quick  movement,  and  pos- 
sesses a  frank  and  sympathetic  nature,  and  natur- 
lly  makes  friends  wherever  he  goes.  During  the 
late  gubernatorial  campaign  his  visits  throughout 
the  State  proved  a  great  power  in  his  behalf.  His 
faculty  of  winning  the  confidence  and  good  wishes 
of  those  with  whom  he  comes  in  personal  contact 
is  a  source  of  great  popularity,  especially  during  a 
political  battle.  As  a  speaker  he  is  fluent,  his  lan- 
guage is  good,  voice  clear  and  agreeable,  and  man- 
ner forcible.  His  manifest  earnestness  in  what  he 
says,  as  well  as  his  tact  as  a  public  speaker,  and  his 
eloquent  and  forceful  language,  make  him  a  most 
valuable  campaign  orator  and  a  powerful  pleader 
at  the  bar.  At  the  Republican  State  Convention, 
held  in  May,  1888,  Mr.  Fifer  was  chosen  as  its 
candidate  for  Governor.  He  proved  a  popular 
nominee,  and  the  name  of  "Private  Joe"  became 
familiar  to  everyone  throughout  the  State.  lit 
waged  a  vigorous  campaign,  was  elected  by  a  good 
majority,  and  in  due  time  assumed  the  duties  of 
the  Chief  Executive  of  Illinois. 


• 


GOVERNORS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


'7! 


HELBY  M.  CULLOM,  Gover- 
nor 1877-83,  is  the  sixth  child 
of  the  late  Richard  N.  Cullom, 
and  was  born  Nov.  22,  1829,111 
Wayne  Co.,  Ky.,  where  his  fa- 
ther then  resided,  and  whence 
both  the  Illinois  and  Tennessee 
branches  of  the  family  originated.  In 
the  following  year  the  family  emi- 
grated to  the  vicinity  of  Washington, 
Tazewell  Co.,  111.,  when  that  section 
was  very  sparsely  settled.  They  lo- 
cated on  Deer  Creek,  in  a  grove  at 
the  time  occupied  by  a  party  of  In- 
dians, attracted  there  by  the  superior 
hunting  and  fishing  afforded  in  that 
vicinity.  The  following  winter  was 
:nown  as  the  "  hard  winter,"  the  snow  'being  very 
leep  and  lasting  and  the  weather  severely  cold;  and 
he  family  had  to  subsist  mainly  on  boiled  corn  or 
lominy,  and  some  wild  game,  for  several  weeks.  In 
he  course  of  time  Mr.  R.  N.  Cullom  became  a  prom- 
nent  citizen  and  was  several  times  elected  to  the 
^egislature,  both  before  and  after  the  removal  of  the 
:apital  from  Vandalia  to  Springfield.  He  died  about 
'873- 

Until  about  19  years  of  age  young  Cullom  grew  up 
o  agricultural  pursuits,  attending  school  as  he  had 
opportunity  during  the  winter.  Within  this  time, 
»wever,  he  spent  several  months  teaching  school. 


and  in  the  following  summer  he  "broke  prairie  "with 
an  ox  team  for  the  neighbors.  With  the  money  ob- 
tained by  these  various  ventures,  he  undertook  a 
course  of  study  at  the  Rock  River  Seminary,  a 
Methodist  institution  at  Mt.  Morris,  Ogle  County; 
but  the  sudden  change  to  the  in-door  life  of  a  stu- 
dent told  severely  upon  his  health,  and  he  was  taken 
home,  being  considered  in  a  hopeless  condition.  While 
at  Mt.  Morris  he  heard  Hon.  E.  B.  Washburne  make 
his  first  speech. 

On  recovering  health,  Mr.  Cullorn  concluded  to 
study  law,  under  the  instruction  of  Abraham  Lincoln, 
at  Springfield,  who  had  by  this  time  attained  some 
notoriety  as  an  able  lawyer;  but  the  latter,  being  ab- 
sent from  his  office  most  of  the  time,  advised  Mr. 
Cullom  to  enter  the  office  of  Stuart  &  Edwards. 
After  about  a  year  of  study  there,  however,  his  health 
failed  again,  and  he  was  obliged  to  return  once  more 
to  out-door  life.  Accordingly  he  bought  hogs  for 
packing,  for  A.  G.  Tyng,  in  Peoria,  and  while  he  re- 
gained his  health  he  gained  in  purse,  netting  $400  in 
a  few  weeks.  Having  been  admitted  to  the  Bar,  he 
went  to  Springfield,  where  he  was  soon  elected  City 
Attorney,  on  the  Anti-Nebraska  ticket. 

In  1856  he  ran  on  the  Fillmore  ticket  as  a  Presi- 
dential Elector,  and,  although  failing  to  be  elected  as 
such,  he  was  at  the  same  time  elected  a  Representa- 
tive in  the  Legislature  from  Sangamon  County,  by  a 
local  coalition  of  the  American  and  Republican  par- 
ties. On  the  organization  of  the  House,  he  received 
the  vote  of  the  Fillmore  men  for  Speaker.  Practicing 


i76 


SHELB  Y  M.    CULLOM. 


law  until  1860,  he  was  again  elected  to  the  Legisla- 
ture, as  a  Republican,  while  the  county  went  Demo- 
cratic on  the  Presidential  ticket.  In  January  follow- 
ing he  was  elected  Speaker,  probably  the  youngest 
man  who  had  ever  presided  over  an  Illinois  Legis- 
lature. After  the  session  of  1 86 1,  he  was  a  candidate 
for  the  State  Constitutional  Convention  called  for 
that  year,  but  was  defeated,  and  thus  escaped  the 
disgrace  of  being  connected  with  that  abortive  party 
scheme  to  revolutionize  the  State  Government.  In 
1862  he  was  a  candidate  for  the  State  Senate,  but 
was  defeated.  The  same  year,  however,  he  was  ap- 
pointed by  President  Lincoln  on  a  Government 
Commission,  in  company  with  Gov.  Boutwell  of 
Massachusetts  and  Cnarles  A.  Dana,  since  of  the 
New  York  Sun,  to  investigate  the  affairs  of  the 
Quartermaster's  and  Commissary  Departments  at 
Cairo.  He  devoted  several  months  to  this  duty. 

In  1864  he  entered  upon  a  larger  political  field, 
being  nominated  as  the  Republican  candidate  for 
Congress  from  the  Eighth  (Springfield)  District,  in 
opposition  to  the  incumbent,  JohnT.  Stuart,  who  had 
been  elected  in  1862  by  about  1,500  majority  over 
Leonard  Swett,  then  of  Bloomington,  now  of  Chicago. 
The  result  was  the  election  of  Mr.  Cullom  in  Novem- 
ber following  by  a  majority  of  1,785.  In  1866  he 
was  re-elected  to  Congress,  over  Dr.  E.  S.  Fowler,  by 
the  magnificent  majority  of  4,103  !  In  1868  he  was 
again  a  candidate,  defeating  the  Hon.  B.  S.  Edwards, 
another  of  his  old  preceptors,  by  2,884  votes. 

During  his  first  term  in  Congress  he  served  on  the 
Committee  on  Foreign  Affairs  and  Expenditures  in 
the  Treasury  Department ;  in  his  second  term,  on 
the  Committees  on  Foreign  Affairs  and  on  Territories ; 
and  in  his  third  term  he  succeeded  Mr.  Ashley,  of 
Ohio,  to  the  Chairmanship  of  the  latter.  He  intro- 
duced a  bill  in  the  House,  to  aid  in  the  execution  of 
law  in  Utah,  which  caused  more  consternation  among 
the  Mormons  than  any  measure  had  previously,  but 
which,  though  it  passed  the  House,  failed  to  pass  the 
Senate. 

The  Republican  Convention  which  met  May  25, 
1876,  nominated  Mr.  Cullom  for  Governor,  while  the 
other  contestant  was  Gov.  Beveridge.  For  Lieuten- 
ant-Governor  they  nominated  Andrew  Shuman,  editor 
of  the  Chicago  Journal.  For  the  same  offices  the 
Democrats,  combining  with  the  Anti-Monopolists, 
placed  in  nomination  Lewis  Steward,  a  wealthy 


farmer  and  manufacturer,  and  A.  A.  Glenn.  The 
result  of  the  election  was  rather  close,  Mr.  Cullom 
obtaining  only  6,800  majority.  He  was  inaugurated 
Jan.  8,  1877. 

Great  depression  prevailed  in  financial  circles  at 
this  time,  as  a  consequence  of  the  heavy  failures  of 
1873  and  afterward,  the  effect  of  which  had  seemed 
to  gather  force  from  that  time  to  the  end  of  Gov. 
Cullom's  first  administration.  This  unspeculative 
period  was  not  calculated  to  call  forth  any  new 
issues,  but  the  Governor's  energies  were  at  one  time 
put  to  task  to  quell  a  spirit  of  insubordination  that 
had  been  begun  in  Pittsburg,  Pa.,  among  the  laboring 
classes,  and  transferred  to  Illinois  at  Chicago,  East 
St.  Louis  and  Braidwood,  at  which  places  laboring 
men  for  a  short  time  refused  to  work  or  allow  others 
to  work.  These  disturbances  were  soon  quelled  and 
the  wheels  of  industry  again  set  in  motion. 

In  May,  1880,  Gov.  Cullom  was  re-nominated  by 
the  Republicans,  against  Lyman  Trumbull,  by  the 
Democrats;  and  although  the  former  party  was  some- 
what handicapped  in  the  campaign  by  a  zealous 
faction  opposed  to  Grant  for  President  and  to  Grant 
men  for  office  generally,  Mr.  Cullom  was  re-elected 
by  about  314,565,  to  277,532  for  the  Democratic  State 
ticket.  The  Greenback  vote  at  the  same  time  was 
about  27,000.  Both  Houses  of  the  Legislature  again 
became  Republican,  and  no  representative  of  the 
Greenback  or  Socialist  parties  were  elected.  Gov. 
Cullom  was  inaugurated  Jan.  10,  iS8i.  In  his  mes- 
sage he  announced  that  the  last  dollar  of  the  State 
debt  had  been  provided  for. 

March  4,  1883,  the  term  of  David  Davis  as  United 
States  Senator  from  Illinois  expired,  and  Gov.  Cul- 
lon  was  chosen  to  succeed  him.  This  promoted 
Li2Utenant-Governor  John  M.  Hamilton  to  the  Gov- 
ernorship. Senator  Cullom's  term  in  the  United 
St.-ites  Senate  will  expire  March  4,  1889. 

A.S  a  practitioner  of  law  Mr.  C.  has  been  a  member 
of  the  firm  of  Cullom,  Scholes  &  Mather,  at  Spring- 
field; and  he  has  also  been  President  of  the  State 
National  Bank. 

He  has  been  married  twice, — the  first  time  Dec. 
tit,  1855,  to  Miss  Hannah  Fisher,  by  whom  he  had 
t^o  daughters;  and  the  second  time  May  5,  1863, 
to  Julia  Fisher.  Mrs.  C  is  a  member  of  the  Method- 
ist Episcopal  Church,  with  which  religious  body  Mr. 
C.  is  also  in  sympathy. 


Bounty 


UlTLQW 


INTRODUCTORY 


E  time  has  arrived  when  it 
becomes  the  duty  of  the 
people  of  this  county  to  per- 
petuate the  names  of  their 
pioneers,  to  furnish  a  record 
of  their  early  settlement, 
and  relate  the  story  of  their 
progress.  The  civilization  of  our 
day,  the  enlightenment  of  the  age 
and  the  duty  that  men  of  the  pres- 
ent time  owe  to  their  ancestors,  to 
themselves  and  to  their  posterity, 
demand  that- a  record  of  their  lives 
and  deeds  should  be  made.  In  bio- 
graphical history  is  found  a  power 
to  instruct  man  by  precedent,  to 
enliven  the  mental  faculties,  and 
to  waft  down  the  river  of  time  a 
safe  vessel  in  which  the  names  and  actions  of  the 
people  who  contributed  to  raise  this  country  from  its 
primitive  state  may  be  preserved.  Surely  and  rapidly 
the  great  and  aged  men,  who  in  their  prime  entered 
the  wilderness  and  claimed  the  virgin  soil  as  their 
heritage,  are  passing  to  their  graves.  The  number  re- 
maining who  can  relate  the  incidents  of  the  first  days 
jf  settlement  is  becoming  small  indeed,  so  that  an 
actual  necessity  exists  for  the  collection  and  preser- 
vation of  events  without  delay,  before  all  the  early 
settlers  are  cut  down  by  the  scythe  of  Time. 

To  be  forgotten  has  been  the  great  dread  of  mankind 
from  remotest  ages.  -All  will  be  forgotten  soon  enough, 
in  spite  of  their  best  works  and  the  most  earnest 
efforts  of  their  friends  to  perserve  the  memory  of 
their  lives.  The  means  employed  to  prevent  oblivion 
and  to  perpetuate  their  memory  has  been  in  propor- 
tion to  the  amount  of  intelligence  they  possessed. 
Tin  pyramids  of  Egypt  were  built  to  perpetuate  the 
names  and  deeds  of  their  great  rulers.-  The  exhu- 
mations made  by  the  archeologists  of  Egypt  from 
buried  Memphis  indicate  a  desire  of  those  people 


to  perpetuate  the  memory  of  their  achievements 
The  erection  of  the  great  obelisks  were  for  the  same 
purpose.  Coming  down  to  a  later  period,  we  find  the 
Greeks  and  Romans  erecting  mausoleums  and  monu- 
ments, and  carving  out  statues  to  chronicle  their 
great  achievements  and  carry  them  down  the  ages. 
It  is  afso  evident  that  the  Mound-builders,  in  piling 
up  their  great  mounds  of  earth,  had  but  this  idea — 
to  leave  something  to  show  that  they  had  lived.  All 
these  works,  though  many  of  them  costly  in  the  ex- 
treme, give  but  a  faint  idea  of  the  lives  and  charac- 
ters of  those  whose  memory  they  were  intended  to 
perpetuate,  and  scarcely  anything  of  the  masses  of 
the  people  that  then  lived.  The  great  pyramids  and 
some  of  the  obelisks  remain  objects  only  of  curiosity; 
the  mausoleums,  monuments  and  statues  are  crum- 
bling into  dust. 

It  was  left  to  modern  ages  to  establish  an  intelli- 
gent, undecaying,  immutable  method  of  perpetuating 
a  full  history — immutable  in  that  it  is  almost  un- 
limited in  extent  and  perpetual  in  its  action ;  and 
this  is  through  the  art  of  printing. 

To  the  present  generation,  however,  we  are  in- 
debted for  the  introduction  of  the  admirable  system 
of  local  biography.  By  this  system  every  man,  thougl 
he  has  not  achieved  what  the  world  calls  greatness, 
has  the  means  to  perpetuate  his  life,  his  history, 
through  the  coming  ages. 

The  scythe  of  Time  cuts  down  all ;  nothing  of  the 
physical  man  is  left.  The  monument  which  his  chil- 
dren or  friends  may  erect  to  his  memory  in  the  ceme- 
tery will  crumble  into  dust  and  pass  away;  but  his 
life,  his  achievements,  the  work  he  has  accomplished, 
which  otherwise  would  be  forgotten,  is  perpetuated 
by  a  record  of  this  kind. 

To  preserve  the  lineaments  of  our  companions  we 
engrave  their  portraits,  for  the  same  reason  we  col- 
lect the  attainable  facts  of  their  history.  Nor  do  we 
think  it  necessary,  as  we  speak  only  truth  of  them,  to 
wait  until  they  are  dead,  or  until  those  who  know 
them  are  gone :  to  do  this  we  are  ashamed  only  to 
publish  to  the  world  the  history  of  those  whose  live* 
are  unworthy  of  public  record. 


THE  I IL  ;.:„.; 


BIOGRAPHICAL. 


SAMUEL  DYSART, 
World's  Fair  Commission- 
er, representing  the  Sev- 
enth Congressional  Dis- 
,  trict  of  Illinois,  and  Vice- 
'  President  of  the  Illinois 
State  Board  of  Agricul- 
ture, is  one  of  Lee  County's  most 
eminent  citizens,  whom  she  delights 
to  honor.  For  many  years  he  has 
done  conspicuous  service  in  promot- 
ing her  progress,  and  is  a  well-known 
figure  in  her  public,  political  and 
social  life,  as  well  as  one  of  her  fore- 
most agriculturists  and  stockmen. 
He  was  one  of  the  first  to  introduce 
thoroughbred  stock  in  Lee  County,  and  is  con- 
ducting an  extensive  business  as  a  breeder  of 
horses,  cattle  and  swine  of  the  highest  standards 
on  his  finely  appointed  stock  farm  on  section  14, 
China  Township. 

A  native  of  Huntingdon  County,  Pa.,  our  sub- 
ject was  born  September  14,  1834.  His  father, 
James  Dysart,  was  also  a  Pennsylvanian  by  birth, 
and  was  born  in  Lancaster  County,  in  1788.  He 
was  married  to  Elizabeth  Roller  in  Huntingdon 
County,  of  which  she  was  a  native,  and  they  passed 
many  years  of  their  wedded  life  there.  In  1855 
they  came  to  Illinois  and  settled  among  the  pio- 
neers of  Lee  County  in  the  vicinity  of  Franklin 
Grove,  where  they  lived  greatly  respected  until 
they  passed  from  life.  They  were  the  parents  of 


ten  children,  eight  sons  and  two  daught 
our  subject  was  their  seventh  child  in  c 
'.  birth.  The  father  was  a  man  of  forceful 
ter,  who  had  decided  opinions  of  his  own, 
strongly  imbued  with  the  principles  ol 
truthfulness  and  honesty.  His  face  was  set 
oppression  of  any  kind;  he  championed  i 
causes,  and  was  one  of  the  pioneer  abolitic 
his  day.  With  other  leaders  in  the  anti- 
movement  he  organized  the  Free  Soil  con 
at  Buffalo,  X.  Y.,  in  1848,  and  nominate* 
Van  Buren  for  the  Presidency. 

Our  subject  is  of  mingled  German  and  Ii 
cestry,  and  comes  of  a  long-lived,  vigoroi 
from  whom  he  inherits  a  strong  constitutioi 
fine  physique.  He  passed  the  first  twenty  y 
his  life  in  his  native  State,  whence  he  came 
County  in  the  spring  of  1855,  and  has  ev< 
been  closely  identified  with  its  highest  in 
He  has  made  farming  and  stock-raising  hi 
occupation.  Always  a  great  admirer  of  fine 
he  early  learned  to  distinguish  the  good  po 
a  horse  and  to  judge  of  the  merits  of  cati 
swine,  and  even  in  boyhood  had  a  keen  dt 
raise  thoroughbred  stock.  In  1855  he  sett 
section  14,  China  Township,  where  he  has 
oped  a  farm  of  four  hundred  acres,  widely  1 
as  the  "Pines  Stock  Farm."  The  improvt 
that  he  has  made  are  of  a  high  order  and  i; 
a  well-arranged  set  of  buildings,  of  an  appix 
and  handsome  style  of  architecture. 

Mr.  Dysart  lias  had  a  wide  experience  in 


19-2 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


ing  stock  of  all  kinds,  has  made  a  careful  study  of 
the  subject,  and  perhaps  no  man  in  this  section  is 
more  thoroughly  posted  in  regard  to  stock  matters 
than  he.  To  him  and  other  leading  stockmen  Lee 
County  is  indebted  for  raising  the  standard  of 
horses,  cattle  and  hogs  now  grown  within  its  limits, 
as  he  was  among  the  first  to  introduce  thorough- 
breds here.  He  has  given  much  attention  to  the 
breeding  of  Berkshire  and  Poland  China  swine 
and  Short-horn  cattle,  and  has  a  fine  herd  of  Short- 
horns, from  which  he  derives  a  neat  income.  From 
one  cow  and  her  descendants  of  that  breed,  which 
cost  him  $250.  he  sold  $11.000  worth  of  stock  in 
fifteen  years.  Mr.  Dysart  has  always  been  very 
much  interested  in  forestry,  and  is  an  enthusiastic 
advocate  of  preserving  the  forests  now  standing 
as  far  as  possible,  and  of  extending  the  area  of 
growing  timber  by  constantly  planting  trees.  He 
has  carried  out  that  idea  in  his  own  domains,  and 
beautiful  ornamental,  shade  and  fruit  trees,  singly, 
in  groups,  or  in  groves,  adorn  his  farm,  and  furnish 
more  wood  and  timber  than  he  can  use. 

The  first  two  or  three  years  after  Mr.  Dysart 
came  to  this  county  he  lived  in  single  blessedness, 
but  at  the  end  of  that  time  he  returned  to  liis  na- 
tive State  to  claim  his  promised  bride,  Miss  Mar- 
garet J.  Henderson,  and  on  the  24th  of  February, 
1858,  they  were  wedded.  They  were  friends  of 
long  standing,  their  parents  being  neighbors.  In 
babyhood  they  had  often  been  rocked  in  the  Same 
cradle,  had  played  together  as  boy  and  girl,  and  as 
they  grew  up  side  by  side  had  learned  the  old,  Old 
story  which  resulted  for  them  in  a  trtte  marriage. 
Among  its  blessings  are  the  nine  children  born  to 
them  as  follows:  Harry  W.,  who  married  Miss 
Etta  Girton;  Lilly  V.,  who  died  when  twelve  years 
old;  Lola  W.,  who  died  at  the  age  of  three  years; 
U.  Grant,  who  married  Miss  Eliza  Nclles;  Drusilla 
D.;  Horace  H.;  Jesse  R.;  Birdie  B.;  and  Mary 
Jeanette.  Mrs.  Dysart  was  born  in  Huntingdon 
County,  Pa.,  September  11,  1834,  the  seventh  of 
the  nine  children,  five  sons  and  four  daughters  of 
David  and  Margaret  (Conrad)  Henderson.  Her 
father  was  born  in  Center  County,  Pa,  June  .'50, 
1797,  and  died  October  7.  18K2.  Her  mother  was 
born  in  Huntingdon  County,  Pa.,  in  180<>.  and 
died  in  April,  1878. 


His  frank  and  genial  manner  and  courteous 
treatment  of  all  with  whom  he  comes  in  contact 
render  Mr.  Dysart  very  popular,  and  he  numbers 
among  his  friends  men  in  all  walks  in  life.  He  is 
a  man  of  progressive  spirit,  practical  mind,  keen 
and  critical  knowledge  of  men  and  affairs,  and  his 
business  tact,  administrative  and  executive  ability 
have  gained  him  prominence  l>oth  as  a  civic  oflicial 
and  as  a  private  citizen.  Although  from  time  to 
time  he  has  accepted  important  public  positions,  he 
is  not  an  office  seeker,  and  has  refused  legislative 
honors,  as  well  as  nominations  to  various  other  offi- 
ces. From  the  first  he  identified  himself  with  the 
educational  interests  of  China  Township,  and  dur- 
ing thirty-five  of  the  thirty -seven  years  that  he  has 
lived  here  has  held  some  school  office,  as  that  of 
director  or  trustee. 

We  have  referred  to  Mr.  Dysart 's  activity  in 
advancing  the  farming  interests  of  Lee  County, 
and  we  find  that  he  was  one  of  the  first  members 
of  the  Lee  County  Agricultural  Association,  which 
he  has  also  served  as  President.  In  1874  he  was 
elected  Vice-President  of  the  State  Board  of  Agri- 
culture, and  has  been  a  continuous  member  of  the 
Board  since  that  date.  In  the  fall  of  1886  he  was 
elected  President  of  the  Board,  acted  in  that  ca- 
pacity two  years,  1889  and  1890  served  as  ex-Pres- 
ident, and  in  the  fall  of  1890  he  was  again  made 
its  Vice-President,  which  position  he  still  holds.  His 
influence  and  zeal  have  been  potent  in  making  this 
organization  useful  in  advancing  the  interests  of  the 
fanners  of  Illinois  by  diffusing  a  more  scientific 
knowledge  of  agriculture  among  the  people  and  en 
couraging  the  adoption  of  the  most  approved  mod 
ern  methods  of  tilling  the  soil  and  raising  stock.  In 
the  summer  of  1888,  as  President  of  the  Board  of 
Agriculture,  he  visited  Europe  in  its  interesst,  and 
was  absent  about  four  months,  his  time  being  spoilt 
mostly  in  France  investigating  the  breeding  of 
French  draft  horses.  He  had  previously  gone 
thither  as  Live-stock  Commissioner  to  the  Paris 
Exposition  of  1878,  having  been  appointed  by 
President  Hayes  in  February  of  that  year,  and 
sailing  in  the  month  of  May,  spent  six  months 
very  profitably  in  various  Kurnpcnn  countries. 

Besides  attending  to  his  numerous  interests,  pub- 
lic and  private,  Mr.  Dysart  has  been  Secretary  of 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


193 


the  Bradford  Mutual  Fire  Insurance  Company,  for 
tweut3'  years,  and  lias  enhanced  the  prosperity  of 
the  company  by  his  connection  with  it.  He  has  a 
thorough  knowledge  of  the  political  issues  of  the 
day  and  has  followed  the  fortunes  of  the  Republi- 
can party  since  its  organization,  steadfastly  sup- 
porting its  principles  by  voice  and  vote.  He  is  a 
leading  member  of  the  Masonic  fraternity,  having 
joined  that  order  July  2,  1858.  He  has  served  as 
Master  Mason,  has  been  a  Chapter  Mason  for  twenty 
years,  and  High  Priest  of  Franklin  Grove  Chapter 
and  has  belonged  to  the  Scottish  Rite  Consistory 
since  February  22,  1867.  He  has  been  a  member 
of  the  Dixon  Commandery,  Knight  Templars,  since 
1878. 

July  1,  1891,  Governor  Fifer  appointed  Mr.  Dy- 
sart  one  of  the  Illinois  World's  Fair  Commissioners 
for  the  Seventh  Congressional  District,  His  friends 
and  constituents  are  highly  gratified  at  his  selec- 
tion for  this  important  office,  for  which  they  deem 
him  eminently  fitted,  and  they  know  that  he  will 
devote  his  whole  energies  to  the  work  before  him, 
sparing  neither  time  or  labor  to  insure  a  successful 
representation  of  the  varied  interests  of  this  sec- 
tion at  the  Columbian  Exposition  of  1893.  Since 
receiving  his  commission  he  has  been  made  Chair- 
man of  the  Committee  on  Architecture,  Drawings, 
Topograpical  Surveys,  Maps,  etc.  He  is  also  one 
of  the  Committee  on  Grounds  and  Exterior  Orna- 
mentation, the  Printing  Committee,  and  the  Com- 
mittee for  Collecting  Exhibits  for  the  Seventh 
Congressional  District. 

The  lithographic  portrait  of  Mr.  Dysart  accom- 
panies this  sketch. 


§HOMAS   J.    BUCKALOO,    who    owns   and 
operates   one  hundred  and  forty-one  acres 
of  land  on  section  15,  Dixon  Township,  is  a 
worthy  representative  of  one  of   the  honored  pio- 
neer families  of  the  county.     His  parents  here  lo- 
cated  in  an  early  day,  more  than   half  a  century 
having  passed  since  they  became  residents  of  Dixon 
Township.     His  father,  Joseph  Buckaloo,  was  born 
in    the  Keystone    State,  Pennsylvania,    of   Dutch 


parentage,  and  after  attaining  to  mature  years, 
wedded  Miss  Eliza  Kerr,  who  was  born  in  the  same 
locality  as  her  husband,  but  was  of  Irish  descent. 
In  1889,  with  their  two  children,  they  emigrated 
Westward  by  way  of  the  water  route  to  Savanna, 
111.,  and  from  thence  came  to  Lee  County.  A  few 
years  after  their  arrival  Mr.  Buckaloo  purchased 
the  farm  on  which  our  subject  now  resides,  and  it 
continued  to  be  his  home  until  his  death  in  1852, 
at  the  age  of  forty  years.  His  widow  died  Janu- 
ary 11,  1892,  being  seventy -six  years  of  age.  She 
was  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  The 
surviving  members  of  the  family  are  T.  J.,  of  this 
sketch:  and  Amanda  H.  and  George  W.,  who  are 
living  in  Dixon. 

Mr.  Buckaloo,  whose  name  heads  this  sketch,  has 
spent  his  entire  life  in  this  locality.  He  was  born 
near  his  present  farm  on  the  17th  of  March,  1842, 
and  has  ever  followed  agricultural  pursuits  with 
the  exception  of  two  years,  when  he  worked  at  the 
trade  of  a  carpenter.  He  was  only  ten  years  old 
when  his  father  died,  but  with  his  mother  he  re- 
mained until  his  marriage.  In  Ogle  County  he 
formed  a  matrimonial  alliance  with  Miss  Maggie 
A.  Craddock,  a  native  of  Hagerstown,  Washing- 
ton County,  Md.,  and  a  daughter  of  John  and 
Amelia  Craddock,  the  former  born  in  England,  and 
the  latter  in  Maryland.  About  the  time  he  at- 
tained his  majority,  her  father  crossed  the  briny 
deep  to  this  country,  and  as  a  farmer  began  life  in 
America.  After  his  marriage  he  determined  to  try 
his  fortune  in  the  West,  and  with  his  famity  located 
in  Ogle  County,  111.,  settling  in  Pine  Creek  Town- 
ship, where  he  established  one  of  the  first  mills  in 
that  section.  He  was  doing  a  good  business  when 
he  went  to  Peru,  where  he  contracted  the  cholera, 
which  was  then  epidemic.  He  had  barely  time  to 
reach  home  before  his  death  occurred.  Mr.  Crad- 
dock was  an  industrious  and  energetic  man,  and 
had  the  respect  of  all  who  knew  him.  His  wife 
survived  him  some  time,  and  died  about  the  close 
of  the  war  in  July,  1865,  in  Buffalo  Grove  Town- 
ship. Her  only  son  that  lived  to  be  grown  was  a 
soldier  of  the  late  war,  and  died  in  Chicago,  in 
July,  1890.  Three  daughters  are  yet  living,  one 
of  the  number  being  the  wife  of  our  subject. 

Five  children  have  been  born  unto  Mr.  and  Mrs. 


194 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


Buckaloo,  Clinton  C.,  who  was  educated  in  the 
Dixon  schools  and  the  Normal  College,  and  is  now 
teaching;  Mabel  E.,  who  if  successfully  engaged  in 
teaching;  Grace  A.,  Libby  and  Allen  T.,  are  at 
home.  Mr.  Buekaloo  and  his  wife  have  many 
friends  throughout  the  community,  who  esteem 
them  highly  for  their  sterling  worth,  knowing 
them  to  be  upright  people,  possessing  many  excel- 
lencies of  character.  In  politics  he  is  a  Repub- 
lican, but  takes  no  active  part  in  public  affairs, 
preferring  to  give  his  entire  attention  to  his  busi- 
ness. He  has  made  of  his  life-work  a  signal  suc- 
cess, and  is  now  the  owner  of  a  line  farm  of  one 
hundred  and  forty-one  acres,  improved  with  all  the 
necessary  buildings,  and  stocked  with  good  horses 
and  cattle,  while  its  fields  are  well  tilled  and  yield 
to  him  a  golden  tribute. 


SCHUYLER   RANSOM  located  in  the  town- 
ship of  Nelson   more  than  a  quarter  of  a 
century   ago,   and    since    that    time    has 
worked  his  way  up  to  a  leading  position 
among  its  farmers  and  stock -raisers.     Coining  here 
in  poverty,  and  by  his  untiring  labors,  conducted 
systematically,   with  business  tact  and   foresight, 
gathering  together  a  valuable  property,  the  pos- 
session of  which  makes  him  one  of  the  solid  mon- 
eyed men  of  this  vicinity.     He  owns  a  quarter  of 
section  of  land  that  he  has  transformed  into  one 
of  the   finest  and   test   appointed    farms    in    the 
State. 

Mr.  Ransom  was  born  June  25,  1N22,  in  Vienna 
Township,  Oneida  County,  N.  Y.,  a  son  of  Elijah 
Ransom,  who  was  a  native  of  Washington  County, 
that  State.  His  father  was  reared  to  the  life  of  a 
farmer,  and  when  a  young  man  went  to  Oneida 
County,  where  he  was  married  to  Miss  .Mary 
Dunton.  a  native  of  Massachussetts.  She  was  of 
Massachusetts  parentage,  while  he  was  of  Welsh 
descent.  After  marriage  they  began  life  on  a 
small  farm  in  that  county,  living  for  many  years 
in  Camden  Township,  and  when  elderly  people 
came  to  Illinois,  settling  in  Ogle  County,  where 
the  wife  died  a  few  years  later  when  a  little  past 


I  fifty  years  old.  Her  husband  afterwards  went  to 
Kansas,  and  died  there  when  upwards  of  eighty 
years  of  age  in  the  home  of  his  son,  Bradley  V., 
who  had  resided  in  the  Sunflower  State  since  tin- 
days  of  the  excitement  over  the  discovery  of  gold 
on  Pike's  Peak.  The  parents  of  our  subject  were 
strong  Presbyterians  in  their  religious  faith  and 
members  of  the  church. 

Schuyler  Ransom  early  became  acquainted   with 

!  the  pioneer  life  of  Northern  Illinois,  as  he  left 
home  when  twenty  years  old  to  seek  fortune's 
favors  in  what  was  then  regarded  as  the  "  Wild 
West."  He  was  by  no  means  a  capitalist  at  that 
time,  as  he  did  not  have  money  enough  to  leave  the 
State.  But  his  cousin  kindly  made  up  the  defic- 
iency by  lending  him  some  cash.  He  arrived  in 
Chicago  September  26,  1842,  and  from  there  went 
to  Rockford  with  a  teamster.  Fifty  cents  was  all 

j  the  money  that  he  had  left  when  he  got  there. 
He,  however,  made  his  way  to  Byron,  in  Ogle 

:  County,  nothing  discouraged  by  his  lack  of  funds, 
and  there  worked  for  a  year  at  $10.00  a  month. 
He  managed  to  get  together  a  team  of  oxen,  with 
which  he  began  to  break  raw  prairie,  and  he  turned 
many  hundred  acres  of  sod,  working  hard  to 
obtain  the  means  to  get  a  good  start  as  a  farmer. 

i  He  also  drove  a  team  all  over  the  northern  part 
of  the  State,  his  principal  route  being  from  Chicago 

j  to  Galena  and  to  Dubuque,  Iowa.  He  thus  had  a 
good  opportunity  to  see  the  country  while  much 

;  of  it  was  still  in  its  primitive  wildness,  with  but 
few  signs  of  the  coming  civilization,  and  he  can 
compare  its  past  with  its  present  condition  as  a 
witness  of  the  wonderful  change  that  has  been 
effected  by  the  hand  of  man  since  he  first  trod 
these  prairies.  The  land  over  which  he  rode  when 
engaged  as  a  teamster  was  then  wild  and  often 
swampy,  where  are  now  smiling  farms  and  thriving 
cities.  Frequently  on  his  journeys  the  roads  would 
be  so  bad  that  he  would  get  stuck  in  some  mud 
hole,  and  at  times  would  have  to  work  two  hours 
to  extricate  his  team. 

Our  subject  experienced  all  the  hardships  and 
trials  of  pioneer  life  in  a  newly  settled  country, 
hut  his  struggles  with  the  adverse  forces  of  nature 
were  at  length  crowned  with  success.  In  1863  he 
rented  a  farm  in  Nelson  Township,  and  by  careful 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


195 


economy  was  able,  in  a  few  years,  to  purchase  the 
farm  that  he  hart  rented,  but  did  not  have  cash 
enough  to  [>ay  the  whole  price  at  once.  lie  now 
has  nearly  the  whole  of  it  tinder  a  high  state  of 
cultivation,  has  cleared  off  the  encumbrance,  free- 
ing himself  entirely  from  debt,  and  has  made  many 
line  improvements,  including  a  very  large  barn, 
built  in  1885.  and  a  handsome  residence,  erected 
in  1883.  His  farm  is  one  of  the  most  attractive 
places  in  this  vicinity,  everything  about  it  being 
kept  up  to  a  high  standard,  showing  the  presence 
of  a  master  mind  and  hand. 


»I  I.LI  AM  II.  ACKER,  one  of  the  farmers 
whose  place,  by  virtue  of  its  well-tilled 
acres,  its  neat  buildings  and  general 
appearance  of  prosperity,  proclaims  him  to  be  a 
man  who  is  not  satisfied  with  mere  existence,  is  the 
gentleman  whose  name  heads  this  sketch,  and  who 
is  at  the  present  time  making  his  home  on  section 
11,  Amboy  Township.  He  was  born  in  Rens- 
selaer  County,  N.  Y.,  January  2,  1832,  where  he 
remained  until  reaching  his  fifth  year,  when  his 
parents  removed  to  Orleans  County.  In  the  latter 
named  place  our  subject  received  his  education 
and  grew  to  man's  estate,  being  of  great  help  to 
his  father  while  remaining  under  the  parental 
roof. 

When  reaching  his  majority  William  II.  Acker 
determined  to  see  what  fortune  would  do  for  him 
in  the  West,  and  accordingly  came  to  Fayette 
County,  Intl.,  where  he  made  his  home  for  the 
succeeding  three  years,  and  thinking  that  he  could 
still  l>etter  his  prospects,  made  his  advent  into  the 
Prairie  State  and  located  in  this  county,  choosing 
May  Township  as  his  abiding  place.  This  was  in 
1857,  and  he  remained  in  that  township  for  four- 
teen years  when  he  made  another  removal,  this 
time  moving  into  Amboy  Township,  where  he  has 
been  a  resident  since  the  spring  of  1871. 

The  gentleman  whose  name  heads  this  sketch 
was  united  in  marriage  March  27.  IM71.  soon  after 
his  lemoval  into  this  township,  the  lady  of  his 


choice  bearing  the  muiden  name  of  Miss  Mary 
Calkins,  a  native  of  Palmer,  Mass.,  her  birth  occur- 
ring there  February  23,  184!).  Her  union  with 
Mr.  Acker  has  been  productive  of  four  children, 
only  two  of  whom  are  living,  namely: — George  II. 
and  Mary  Eunice.  Those  deceased  are  Bertha  and 
Emma,  both  of  whom  died  in  childhood.  Mrs. 
Acker  is  a  very  worthy  lad}1  and  is  much  esteemed 
in  her  neighborhood. 

William  H.  Acker  has  always  been  interested  in 
educational  affairs,  which  fact  is  manifested  by  his 
having  been  elected  to  serve  his  township  on  the 
School  Board  for  several  years.  In  politics  the 
Republican  party  considers  him  as  one  of  its 
most  active  members.  Mrs.  Acker  worships  with 
the  members  of  the  Baptist  Church  where  she  is  a 
regular  attendant. 

Our  subject's  father  was  Frederick  Acker  and  a 
native  of  the  Empire  State,  while  the  mother,  who 
bore  the  maiden  name  of  Miss  Hannah  Green,  was 
born  in  Rhode  Island.  The  former  passed  from 
this  life  in  Fayette  County,  Ind.,  and  the  mother 
died  in  May  Township,  this  county.  They  were 
aged  respectively  seventy-five  and  sixty  years. 
The  father  of  Mrs.  Mary  Calkins,  bore  the  name 
of  Dudley  Calkins  and  claimed  Massachusetts  as 
his  native  State.  Her  mother  was  Mary  E.  (Shaw) 
Calkins,  also  a  native  of  Massachusetts.  On  com- 
ing West  her  parents  first  located  in  Will  County, 
this  State,  but  later  came  to  this  county,  settling 
in  1865  in  May  Township,  which  they  made  their 
home  until  1871.  when  they  came  to  Amboy 
Township.  In  the  spring  of  1882  they  went  to 
Holt  County,  Neb.,  and  there  spent  their  last  days, 
dying  greatly  esteemed  by  all  who  were  honored 
with  their  acquaintance. 


I|7OX.  (iEOROE  HYOX,  M.  1).,  of  Amboy, 
:jvj)  was  born  at  Elkland,  Tioga  County,  Pa., 
'^T  June  5,  1827.  He  traces  his  ancestry  to 
\{§)j  Ireland,  whence  his  great-grandfather,  John 
Ryon.  emigrated  to  the  United  States  and  settled 
in  New  England.  Ilis  grandfather,  also  named 
John,  was  born  in  Connecticut  and  was  a  soldier  in 


196 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


the  Revolutionary  War,  serving  during  the  entire 
eight  years  of  the  conflict  and  being  mustered  out 
with  the  rank  of  Orderly  Sergeant  of  his  company. 
James  R,yon,  father  of  our  subject,  was  born  in 
Luzerne  County,  Pa.,  and  was  a  farmer  by  occupa- 
tion. In  his  native  State  he  was  married  to  Miss 
Sarah  Place,  and  in  1837  with  his  young  wife  re- 
moved to  Illinois,  settling  in  that  part  of  La  Salle 
County  which  now  forms  Kendall  County,  and 
there  improved  a  farm.  In  the  home  he  there 
made  his  wife  died  in  1848. 

In  1861  James  Ryon  removed  to  Woodland,  in 
the  Sacramento  Valley,  Cal.,and  there  resided  with 
a  son  until  1866  when  he  returned  to  this  State 
and  passed  his  remaining  years  with  his  children 
at  Streator.  His  death  occurred  August  8,  1872, 
when  he  was  seventy  years  of  age.  In  early  life 
he  was  a  Democrat  in  his  political  principles,  but 
when  the  Republican  party  was  formed  he  became 
its  stanch  supporter.  He  and  his  wife  had  a  fam- 
ily comprising  ten  children,  all  of  whom  attained 
to  years  of  maturity.  Our  subject,  who  was  the 
fifth  in  order  of  birth,  was  a  mere  lad  when  he  ac- 
companied his  parents  to  Illinois;  he  assisted  on 
the  farm  during  the  summer  season,  while  in  the 
winter  he  was  a  pupil  at  an  academy  in  Kendall 
County.  Later  he  utilized  his  excellent  education  as 
a  teacher  in  the  district  schools  during  one  winter. 

The  profession  of  medicine  early  engaged  the 
attention  of  Mr.  Ryon,  who,  having  made  it  his 
choice  for  a  life  work,  studied  with  Dr.  Isaac  Ives, 
of  Pavilion,  111.,  as  preceptor,  and  later  read  with 
Drs.  Wheeler  and  Holden,  also  of  Kendall  County. 
He  took  two  courses  of  lectures  at  Rush  Medical 
College,  Chicago,  after  which,  his  funds  being  ex- 
hausted, he  engaged  in  teaching  school  one  win- 
ter to  replenish  his  depleted  account  and  then  com- 
menced the  practice  of  his  profession  in  Paw  Paw, 
this  county.  Subsequently  he  was  graduated  from 
the  Rush  Medical  College  and  thus  thoroughly 
equipped  for  his  profession,  engaged  in  the  prac- 
tice of  the  same  with  considerable  success. 

Six  or  seven  years  after  commencing  the  prac- 
tice of  medicine,  the  Doctor  was  seized  with  a  de- 
sire to  become  a  lawyer  and,  in  pursuance  of  that 
wish,  he  took  up  the  study  of  Coke  and  Black- 
stone.  In  1858  he  was  admitted  to  (lie  bar  at 


Dixon  and  while  engaged  in  legal  practice  was 
drawn  into  politics.  In  1860  he  was  chosen  to 
represent  Lee  and  Whiteside  Counties  in  the  Leg- 
islature, and  in  that  responsible  position  did  all  in 
his  power  to  advance  the  interest  of  his  constitu- 
ents. After  the  breaking  outfif  the  C'ivil  War,  he 
raised  a  company  of  volunteers,  in  August,  1862. 
I  for  the  Seventy-fifth  Illinois  Infantry  and  at  its 
organization  was  elected  Colonel.  However,  he 
had  served  but  a  short  time  when  on  account  of 
ill  health  he  was  obliged  to  resign  his  commission 
after  the  battle  of  Perryville. 

On  his  return  to  Paw  Paw,  the  Doctor  resumed 
the  practice  of  medicine  which  he  continued  until 
1866.  At  that  time  he  was  again  elected  to  the 
State  Legislature,  his  district  embracing  Lee  County 
alone,  and  he  served  with  credit  to  himself  and 
constituents.  The  year  1869  marked  his  arrival  in 
Amboy  and  the  organization  of  a  private  bank 
which  he  continued  to  manage  until  1873.  Remov- 
ing then  to  Streator,  he  formed  a  partnership  with 
his  two  brothers,  Hiram  N.  and  Francis  M.,  and  or- 
ganized the  Streator  Coal  Company,  with  a  capital 
stock  of  $200,000.  The  company  developed  the 
coal  business  of  that  city  and  maintained  a  credit- 
able reputation  as  reliable  and  successful  financiers. 
The  Doctor  removed  from  Streator  to  Chicago  in 
1876  and,  associated  with  Dr.  F.  B.  Ives,  resumed 
the  practice  of  medicine.  Three  years  later  he  re- 
turned to  Amboy  where  he  has  since  continued  to 
reside,  engaged  in  the  -practice  of  his  first  chosen 
profession — medicine. 

The  Doctor  was  married  in  1852  to  Ruth  A.,  the 
daughter  of  Isaac  and  Mehetable  Ives,  of  whom 
further  mention  will  be  found  in  the  sketch  of  W. 
E.  Ives,  on  another  page.  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Ryon  were 
blessed  in  their  union  by  the  birth  of  one  daughter, 
named  Carrie  S.,  who  early  gave  promise  of  an  un- 
usually brilliant  womanhood.  Her  parents  spared 
no  pains  in  giving  her  good  advantages  and  at  the 
age  of  nineteen,  in  the  Class  of  '80,  she  was  grad- 
uated from  the  Chicago  University.  She  died 
August  31,  1886,  greatly  mourned  by  the  host  of 
warm  friends  to  whom  she  had  been  deeply  at- 
tached, but  especially  is  her  loss  mourned  by  the 
loving  and  devoted  parents  who  idoli/ed  their 
only  child. 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


197 


In  his  political  belief  the  Doctor  is  a  thorough 
Republican,  using  his  influence  in  behalf  of  that 
party.  Besides  the  offices  above  mentioned,  he  has 
served  on  the  Board  of  Supervisors  several  years 
Mini  lias  been  Mayor  of  Amboy  several  terms.  His 
wife  is  a  member  of  the  Baptist  Church,  and  he 
gives  liberally  of  his  means  to  the  support  of  wor- 
thy measures.  He  has  written  occasional  articles 
for  medical  periodicals,  reporting  such  cases  as 
come  under  his  notice  which  he  deems  of  interest 
to  the  fraternity.  Besides  his  pleasant  home  in 
Amboy  he  own  two  fine  farms,  comprising  three 
hundred  acres,  all  of  which  represent  his  unaided 
efforts  since  he  came  to  this  State. 


eQRNELIUS  VROOM  is  contributing  to  the 
continued  prosperity  of   Nelson    Township 
as  an  industrious  farmer,    who  is  profitably 
carrying  on  his  calling  on  his    well-tilled    farm    of 
eighty  acres  of  land,  which  is  provided  with  good 
improvements,  and  is  in  a   pleasant   locality,   ad- 
vantageously situated  just  east  of  Nelson  Station, 
on  sections  16,  17  and  20,  his   residence  being  on 
the  first  mentioned  section. 

Mr.  Vroom  was  born  on  Staten  Island,  April  28, 
1840,  coming  of  the  old  Dutch  stock  that  peopled 
New  York  in  Colonial  times.  His  father,  Henry 
Vroom,  was  a  native  of  New  York,  and  spent  the 
most  of  his  long  life  on  Staten  Island,  dying  there 
in  1889,  at  the  age  of  eighty-five  years.  He  was 
a  shoemaker  and  a  fanner,  devoting  his  latter 
years  to  agricultural  pursuits.  His  wife,  whose 
maiden  name  was  Elizabeth  Christopher,  survives 
him,  and  is  still  living  on  the  old  homestead. 
She  is  now  eighty-three  years  of  age,  and  her  life 
has  been  wholly  spent  on  the  island  where  she  was 
born.  She  is  a  devoted  member  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  as  was  her  husband.  He  was 
an  old-line  Whig  in  his  politics  until  the  formation 
of  the  Republican  party,  when  he  transferred 
his  allegiance  to  that  great  political  organiza- 
tion. 

The  paternal  grandfather  of  our  subject,  Ilenrv 
Vroom,  Sr..  was  a  native  of  the  Empire  State,  and 


the  blood  of  Holland  ancestry  ran  in  his  veins. 
He  always  lived  in  the  State  of  his  nativity,  the 
most  of  his  life  being  passed  as  a  small  farmer  on 
Staten  Island,  where  he  died  at  the  home  of  his 
son  Henry,  at  the  age  of  eighty -three  years.  His 
wife  was  also  a  native  of  New  York,  and  she  died 
on  Stateu  Island  when  very  old.  Both  were 
strong  Methodists  in  religion,  and  he  was  a  Whig 
in  politics. 

Our  subject  is  the  third  child  of  a  family  of 
four  sons  and  a  like  number  of  daughters,  of  whom 
seven  are  yet  living,  and  are  all  married.  He  is 
the  only  one  residing  in  Illinois.  He  was  reared 
under  wholesome  home  influences,  principles  of 
right  doing  being  early  instilled  into  his  mind, 
and  when  he  went  forth  into  the  world,  a  3'outh 
of  nineteen  years,  he  was  well-equipped  for  life's 
battles.  It  was  then,  in  1859,  that  he  came  to  this 
county,  and  has  since  lived  in  Nelson  Township. 
He  was  poor  in  purse,  but  his  sturdy  spirit, 
ability  to  work,  and  thrifty  habits  have  placed 
him  in  an  independent  position.  In  1869  he  had 
sufficient  means  to  purchase  his  present  farm,  and 
then  began  farming  and  stock-raising  on  his  own 
account.  He  has  placed  every  foot  of  his  land 
under  a  high  state  of  cultivation,  and  has  his 
place  fitted  up  with  every  convenience  for  carry- 
ing on  his  operations  successfully.  He  is  a  roan  of 
steady  habits  and  stable  character,  always  strictly 
honest  in  money  matters,  and  his  neighbors  and 
associates  have  a  high  opinion  of  him.  He  and 
his  wife  are  attendants  at  the  Methodist  Church, 
giving  liberally  of  their  means  to  its  support,  and 
heartily  co-operating  with  its  pastor  and  other 
members  of  the  congregation  in  promoting  all 
plans  for  social  or  moral  improvement  of  the  com- 
munity. In  politics,  he  is  a  Republican. 

By  his  marriage  in  Union  City,  Branch  County, 
Mich.,  with  Miss  Libby,  daughter  of  Henry  and 
Harriet  (Swift)  Trear,  our  subject  secured  a  wife 
who  is  devoted  to  his  .interests,  and  is  a  cheerful 
and  capable  helpmate.  She  was  born  in  Erie 
County,  Ohio,  April  27,  1840,  but  she  was  mostly 
reared  and  educated  in  Branch  County,  Mich., 
whither  her  parents  removed  when  she  was  a  child 
of  six  years.  Her  father  was  born  in  Germany, and 
e:inie  to  the  1'nited  States  when  twenty-seven 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGIU1 HICAL   RECORD. 


years  of  age.  lie  was  married  after  coining  to 
this  country,  his  wife  being  a  native  of  New  York. 
After  the  birth  of  all  their  children,  they  left  the 
home  that  they  had  established  in  Ohio,  and  set- 
tled on  a  farm  in  Kranch  County,  Mich.,  where 
they  lived  until  death  removed  them  from  the 
scene  of  their  labors  at  a  ripe  age,  lie  being  seventy- 
one  and  she  seventy-four  when  they  passed  away. 
They  were  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  and  were  truly  good  people.  He  was  a 
Republican  in  his  politics.  Mrs.  Vroom  is  the 
fifth  of  the  family  of  four  sous  and  three  daugh- 
ters bom  to  her  parents,  of  whom  but  one,  the 
youngest  son  is  dead,  all  the  others,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  Mrs.  Vroom,  still  living  in  Michigan. 


K.  STAIN15ROOK,  the  efficient 
Snei'iff  of  Lee  County,  is  one  of 
the  wide-awake  and  ambitious  young  men 
of  Dixon  who  will  undoubtedly  make  of  life  a 
success,  as  lie  is  possessed  of  energy,  industry  and 
a  perseverance  that  overcomes  all  obstacles.  He 
claims  the  honor  of  being  a  native  of  the  county, 
his  birth  having  occurred  in  Viola  Township,  Sep- 
terol>er  11,  1858.  His  father,  Isaiah  Stainbrook,  a 
native  of  Meadville,  Crawford  County,  Pa.,  comes 
of  an  old  Pennsylvania!!  family  of  German  origin. 
His  grandfather,  Fred  Stainbrook,  was  born  and 
reared  in  the  Keystone  State,  and  is  yet  living  in 
PawPaw,  111.,  at  the  advanced  age  of  ninety  years. 
The  infirmities  of  age,  however,  rest  lightly  upon 
him,  he  still  retaining  much  of  the  physical  and 
mental  vigor  of  middle  life.  His  father,  the  great- 
grandfather of  our  subject,  a  Revolutionary  hero, 
lived  and  died  in  Pennsylvania,  and  was  a  son  of 
the  founder  of  the  family  in  America,  a  German 
emigrant  who  on  leaving  the  Fatherland  crossed 
the  Atlantic  and  settled  in  Crawford  County,  Pa., 
where  his  descendants  have  now  lived  for  several 
generations.  The  family  have  been  a  farming 
people. 

In    the    usual    manner    of    farmer    lads.     Isaiah 
Stainbrook    \v:i>    reared    \»    manhood,    and    in   an 


early  day  accompanied  his  parents  to  Illinois,  the 
family  locating  in  Willow  Creek  Township,  Lee 
County  where  he  attained  his  majority.  In  Viola 
Township,  he  formed  a  matrimonial  alliance  with 
Isabel  Davidson,  who  was  born  in  Canada.  On 
her  father's  side  she  was  of  Scotch  descent,  and  on 
her  mother's  side  was  of  Scotch-Irish  lineage. 
During  her  girlhood  she  accompanied  her  parents 
to  New  York,  and  from  thence  the  family  came 
to  Illinois,  locating  on  a  farm  in  Viola  Township, 
where  both  her  father  and  mother  spent  their 
remaining  days.  They  were  members  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church.  After  his  marriage  Isaiah  Stain- 
brook  enlisted  for  the  late  war  in  August,  186J. 
as  a  member  of  the  Seventy-fifth  Illinois  Infantry, 
and  was  assigned  to  Company  F.  The  regiment 
served  with  the  armies  of  the  Cumberland  and 
Tennessee,  and  Mr.  Stainbrook  was  with  his  com- 
mand in  all  the  engagements  in  which  it  partici- 
pated. He  was  never  wounded  or  taken  prisoner, 
but  still  suffers  from  rheumatism  caused  by 
exposure.  When  the  war  was  over  he  was  hon- 
orably discharged,  and  at  once  returned  to  his 
home  in  Viola  Township,  where  he  has  since 
engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits.  He  is  one  of  the 
successful  farmers  and  well-known  citizens  of  that 
community,  and  exercises  his  right  of  franchise  in 
support  of  the  Republican  party.  His  parents 
were  members  of  the  Methodist  Church,  and  he 
and  his  wife  attend  its  services.  Our  subject  is 
the  eldest  of  their  four  children,  two  sons  and 
two  daughters.  The  second  son,  William,  wedded 
Rosa  Johnson  and  is  a  resident  farmer  of  Viola 
Township;  Mary  is  the  wife  of  Charles  Stout, 
also  a  farmer  of  that  township;  and  Jennie  mar- 
ried William  Phillips,  an  agriculturist  of  Viola 
Township. 

George  F.  Stainbrook  acquired  a  good  practical 
education  in  the  public  schools,  and  early  became 
acquainted  with  the  labors  of  the  farm  from  whence 
his  experiences  of  life  in  early  years  were  all 
obtained.  He  possesses  a  nature  extremely  practi- 
cal yet  progressive,  and  is  ambitious.  To  farm 
work  he  devoted  his  energies  until  a  little  more 
than  eight  years  ago  when  he  was  made  Deputy 
Sheriff  of  Lee  County,  and  removed  to  Dixon. 
He  proved  <me  of  the  most  faithful  and  efficient 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   HECORD. 


public  servants,  and  for  eight  years  filled  that 
office.  In  1890  he  was  elected  Sheriff,  and  is  now 
discharging  the  duties  of  that  position  with  prompt- 
ness and  fidelity.  lie  is  the  youngest  Sheriff  that 
Lee  County  ever  had,  a  fact  which  speaks  well  for 
the  confidence  reposed  in  him  by  his  fellow  citizens 
and  also  for  his  personal  popularity. 

A  marriage  ceremony,  performed  in  Dixon  on 
the  16th  of  October,  1890,  united  the  destinies  of 
Mr.  Stainbrook  and  Miss  Anna  B.  Mulkins.  Her 
parents,  Lemuel  and  Helen  Mulkins,  are  residents 
of  this  city,  where  their  daughter  was  born  on  the 
6th  of  September,  1863.  She  is  an  intelligent  and 
cultured  lady  and  possesses  no  small  artistic  skill, 
her  landscape  and  portrait  paintings  both  being 
worthy  of  high  commendation.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Stainbrook  attend  the  Methodist  Church.  He  is 
connected  with  several  civic  societies,  being  a 
member  of  the  United  Workmen,  the  Modern 
Woodmen,  and  the  Illini  Tribe  of  Red  Men.  In 
politics  he  is  a  stalwart  Republican,  and  takes 
considerable  interest  in  political  affairs,  keeping 
himself  well  informed  on  the  issues  of  the  day. 


DENNIS  C.  HARDEN  farms,  raises  stock 
and  carries  on  a  profitable  dairy  business 
in  Nelson  Township,  of  which  he  is  a 
leading  citizen.  His  farm  comprises  a 
quarter  of  a  section  of  land,  which  is  well  im- 
proved, is  supplied  with  a  good  set  of  buildings, 
convenient  in  their  arrangements  and  roomy  in 
dimensions,  and  it  is  fully  stocked  with  cattle, 
horses  and  swine  of  excellent  breeds. 

Born  October  4,  1849,  our  subject  first  took  up 
the  burden  of  life  in  the  State  of  Pennsylvania. 
His  father,  Jacob  Harden,  a  well-known  pioneer 
and  honored  citizen  of  Nelson  Township,  is  like- 
wise a  Pennsylvanian  by  birth,  born  and  reared  in 
Somerset  County,  his  parents  being  also  natives  of 
Pennsylvania.  After  attaining  manhood  Jacob 
Harden  selected  a  wife  in  the  person  of  Miss  Cath- 
erine Cook,  who  has  since  shared  his  fortunes  and 
has  been  of  real  help  to  him  in  securing  the  com- 
fortable competency  which  they  are  now  enjoying 


together,  in  the  declining  years  of  lives  well  spent. 
Catherine  Cook  was  a  daughter  of  one  of  the  re- 
spected old  families  of  the  Keystone  State,  where 
she  had  her  birth  and  up-bringing.  After  four 
children  had  been  born  unto  them,  of  whom  our 
subject  is  the  eldest,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Harden  emi- 
grated to  this  State  to  begin  life  anew  on  its  wild 
prairies.  They  located  on  a  tract  of  Government 
land  on  section  23,  Nelson  Township,  and  Mr. 
Harden  labored  long  and  hard  to  transform  it  into 
the  fine  farm  that  it  is  to-day.  He  and  his  good 
wife  still  make  it  their  home  and  are  surrounded 
by  every  comfort  that  heart  can  desire.  They  are 
Christians  of  the  stanch  Lutheran  type  and  are 
members  of  that  church. 

Dennis  C.  Harden  was  a  child  of  four  years  when 
his  parents  brought  him  to  this  county  in  1853, 
and  he  has  ever  since  lived  in  Lee  County.  His 
boyhood  days  were  passed  on  his  father's  farm, 
where  he  learned  many  a  useful  lesson  that  after- 
ward helped  him  to  success  when  he  began  the  life 
of  a  farmer  on  his  own  account.  In  1873  he  pur- 
chased the  farm  which  is  still  his  home,  and  has 

!  greatly  increased  its  value  by  the  fine  improve- 
ments he  is  constantly  making.  He  is  systematic 
in  carrying  on  his  work,  employs  the  methods  of 
cultivation  best  adapted  to  the  soil,  wherein  lies 
the  secret  of  his  success  in  a  great  measure,  and  lie 
understands  how  to  handle  his  stock  to  the  best 
advantage.  He  is  well  fitted  out  for  the  dairy  bus- 
iness, which  is  a  source  of  profit  as  he  conducts  it. 
Mr.  Harden  was  married  in  this  township  to 
Miss  Kate  McCleary,  a  native  of  Pennsylvania 
and  a  daughter  of  William  and  Salinda  (More- 

j  head)  McCleary,who  were  pioneers  of  Lee  County. 
Her  parents  were  born  in  Pennsylvania  but  were 

|  of  Scotch  lineage.  They  came  hither  when  she  was 
young,  and  at  first  lived  on  a  farm  in  Nachusa 

!  Township.  Later  the  father  purchased  a  farm  in 
Nelson  Township,  to  which  he  removed  his  family 

i    and  here  he  died  in  1884  at  the  age  of  three-score 

I  years  and  ten.  Religiously,  lie  was  a  Presbyterian 
and,  politically,  he  was  a  Democrat.  Mrs.  Harden 
was  fourteen  years  old  when  the  family  came  to 
this  State,  and  she  remained  one  of  the  parental 
household  until  her  marriage.  She  died  here  in 
the  home  in  whose  upbuilding  she  had  assisted  her 


200 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


husband,  December  3,  188!),  at  the  age  of  thirty- 
eight,  and  was  mourned  far  beyond  the  home  cir- 
cle, as  she  was  a  woman  of  rare  merit,  of  a  sweet 
and  wholesome  nature,  and  all  who  came  under  her 
influence  found  her  to  be  kind  and  true.  By  her 
death  the  Lutheran  Church  lost  one  of  its  most 
esteemed  members.  She  was  a  devoted  wife  and 
fond  mother,  and  her  happy  marriage  with  our  sub- 
ject that  was  saddened  only  by  herdeath,was  blessed 
to  them  by  three  children:  Eva  J.,  at  home  with 
her  father;  William  J.,  and  Lawrence  D.,  who  is 
being  reared  by  an  aunt. 

Mr.  Harden  is  a  whole-souled,  warm-hearted, 
genial  man,  of  generous  impulses  and  frank,  even 
temper,  who  is  a  general  favorite  throughout  the 
township  where  lie  is  well  known;  and  not  only 
this  but  he  is  honorable  and  manly,  and  irreproach- 
able in  his  personal  habits.  He  has  held  the  vari- 
ous local  offices,  and  always  manifested  proper 
public  spirit  in  regard  to  all  feasible  plans  for  the 
improvement  of  township  or  county.  In  religion 
he  is  a  Lutheran.  His  political  sympathies  are 
with  the  Republican  party. 

iff5^  TEWART  WILSON,  who  is  engaged  in 
^^L  general  farming  and  stock-raising  on  sec- 
1|/J|  tions  29  and  30,  Palmyra  Township,  is  a 
"^  native  of  the  Keystone  State.  Blair 
County  was  the  place  of  his  birth  and  the  date 
January  14,  1849.  His  paternal  grandfather,  James 
Wilson,  was  also  born  in  Pennsylvania,  and  was 
of  Scotch  lineage.  He  became  a  well-to-do  farmer 
and  spent  his  entire  life  in  Blair  County,  reaching 
the  allotted  years  of  three-score  and  ten.  His  wife 
died  when  Eranklin  Wilson,  father  of  our  subject, 
was  born.  There  were  only  two  sons  in  the  family, 
and  the  brother  died  in  Pennsylvania.  In  the 
county  of  his  nativity  Franklin  Wilson  was  reared 
to  manhood  and  married  Miss  Susan,  daughter  of 
Philip  and  Mary  Bridenbaugh.  Her  parents  were 
of  German  descent  and  were  members  of  the  Ger- 
man Reformed  Church.  The  Wilsons  were  Presby- 
terians in  religious  faith. 

Five  children,  three  sons  and  two  daughters,  were 


bom  unto  Franklin  Wilson  and  his  wife  during 
their  residence  in  Altona  Township,  Blair  County, 
Pa.  They  left  the  East  in  1856,  and  with  their 
family  came  to  Lee  County,  111.,  spending  the  first 
two  years  after  their  arrival  in  Dixon  Township 
The  father  then  purchased  a  farm  in  Palmyra 
Township,  which  is  now  the  property  of  our  sub- 
ject, and  began  its  development.  By  his  labors, 
the  ouce  barren  tract  was  transformed  into  rich  and 
fertile  fields,  which  yielded  to  him  a  golden  tribute. 
In  polities,  he  was  a  supporter  of  Democratic  prin- 
ciples, and  was  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church.  He  passed  from  this  life  November  4, 
1870,  at  the  age  of  forty-six  years.  His  widow 
still  survives  him  and  is  now  living  with  her 
daughter,  Mrs.  C.  C.  Fisk.  of  Sterling,  at  the 
age  of  sixty-three  years.  She,  too,  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Presbyterian  Church  and  is  a  lady 
whose  upright  and  consistent  life  has  won  her  the 
warm  regard  of  all  with  whom  she  has  come  in  con- 
tact. 

The  first  eleven  years  of  his  life,  Stewart  Wilson 
spent  in  the  county  of  his  nativity.  It  was  in 
1860  that  he  came  with  his  parents  to  Illinois, 
since  which  time  he  has  made  his  home  in  Lee 
County.  In  1870,  on  attaining  his  majority,  he 
purchased  his  present  farm,  which  comprises  one 
hundred  and  eighty-eight  acres  of  productive  land. 
The  entire  amount  is  under  a  high  state  of  cultiva- 
tion, with  the  exception  of  about'  twenty-eight 
acres,  and  bounteous  harvests  reward  the  care  and 
labor  he  bestows  n[>on  it.  In  many  respects  this  is 
a  model  farm.  The  home  is  a  comfortable  brick 
residence,  and  good  barns  and  outbuildings  afford 
shelter  for  his  stock  which  is  all  of  superior  grade.-. 
He  is  now  engaged  quite  extensively  in  the  breed- 
ing of  Shetland  ponies  and  many  fine  specimens 
ma3-  be  seen  in  his  stables. 

In  Palmyra  Township,  Mr.  Wilson  formed  a 
matrimonial  alliance  with  Miss  Emma  A.  Fisk,  one 
of  Lee  County's  fair  daughters,  born  in  that  town- 
ship in  1855.  Her  parents  were  E.  II.  and  Amelia 
(Sprout)  Fisk,  natives  of  Massachusetts,  where  the 
days  of  their  childhood  were  passed  and  their  mar- 
riage was  celebrated.  On  coming  to  Illinois,  they 
took  up  their  residence  on  a  farm  in  Palmyra 
Township,  where  Mr.  Fisk  passed  away  in  1888,  at 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


201 


the  age  of  sixty-six  years.  His  widow,  now  sixty- 
three  years,  is  living  with  her  (laughters.  Both 
were  well  known  people  in  this  community,  being 
highly  respected  by  their  many  friends  and  ac- 
quaintances. 

The  home  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wilson  has  been 
brightened  by  the  presence  of  a  daughter,  Lorena 
A.,  who  is  now  fourteen  years  of  age.  The  parents 
are  both  members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
Sterling.  In  politics,  our  subject  is  a  Democrat 
and  is  now  filling  the  office  of  Road  Commissioner. 
Fair  and  honest  in  all  his  dealings,  he  has  not  only 
won  the  confidence  of  those  with  whom  business 
relations  have  brought  him  in  contact,  but  has  also 
made  a  handsome  property  and  is  ranked  among 
the  well-to-do  citizens  of  the  community. 


JACOB  ASCHENBRENNER,  who  is  a  dealer 
in  coal  in  Amboy,  dates  his  residence  in 
this  county  from  July,  1855.  He  was  born 
in  Hesse-Cassel,  Germany,  August  6,  1825. 
His  parents,  Jacob  and  Caroline  Aschenbrenner,  ! 
were  natives  of  Germany,  and  spent  their  entire  j 
lives  in  their  native  country.  They  had  a  family 
of  four  children  as  follows:  Conrad,  who  died  in 
Bradford  Township,  this  county,  leaving  a  family; 
Carl  died  in  Germany;  Mena,  who  became  the  wife 
of  George  Schaffer,  died  in  this  county;  and  our 
subject,  Jacob,  who  is  the  only  survivor.  The 
father  was  married  a  second  time  by  which  union 
six  children  were  born,  namely:  John,  George, 
Elizabeth,  Eliza,  Frederick  and  William,  all  of 
whom  came  to  the  United  States  and  settled  in 
Iowa,  where  the  eldest,  John,  is  a  clergyman  in  the 
Evangelical  Church.  Our  subject  learned  the  trade 
of  a  plasterer  in  his  native  land,  and  served  in  the 
German  army  for  ten  years,  four  years  in  active 
service,  and  six  on  the  reserve  force.  During  this 
time  he  participated  in  engagements  in  the  Revo- 
lution of  1848,  and  in  the  year  1849  in  Hoi- 
stein.  He  came  to  the  United  States  in  the  year 
1855,  settling  in  Lee  County,  in  July  of  that  | 
year,  in  which  place  he  rented  land  and  carried  on  , 


fanning  until  1862,  then  removing  to  Amboy, 
where  he  worked  two  years  for  the  Illinois  Central 
Railroad.  After  this  he  followed  draying  for  two 
years,  since  which  time  he  has  been  engaged  in  his 
present  business. 

Our  subject  has  been  twice  married,  his  first  wife 
being  Miss  Elizabeth  Dehnhalt,  to  whom  he  was 
united  in  1853.  She  died  in  1860,  leaving  three 
children:  Christina  was  married  to  Jacob  Thiel,  of 
Amboy;  Conrad  married  Miss  Bertlia  Fickensher, 
and  resides  in  Amboy;  Elizabeth  was  married  to 
Frank  Estie,  and  died  at  Amboy. 

Mr.  Aschenbrenner  was  a  second  time  married 
in  1861,  the  maiden  name  of  his  wife  being  Frede- 
ricka  Hess.  She  was  born  in  Baden,  Germany. 
She  emigrated  to  the  United  States  in  1856,  and 
resided  in  Chicago  until  her  marriage.  No  chil- 
dren have  been  born  to  this  union.  Mr.  Aschen- 
brenner is  a  Democrat,  and  has  held  a  prominent 
place  in  local  politics.  His  fellow-citizens  have 
shown  their  confidence  in  him  by  the  gift  of  vari- 
ous offices,  he  having  served  as  Alderman  two 
terms,  and  for  nine  years  as  a  member  of  the  Board 
of  Education.  The  family  attend  the  Lutheran 
Church,  of  which  he  was  one  of  the  organizers,  and 
arc  highly  respected  members  of  society. 


ACOB  HEPPERLIN  left  the  German  Father- 
land in  the  prime  of  early  manhood  to  seek 
a  new  home  in  America,  and  after  journey- 
ing thousands  of  miles  over  sea  and  land, 
found  himself  in  the  heart  of  a  strange  country, 
among  an  unknown  people,  with  but  little  in  this 
world  that  he  could  call  his  own.  He,  however, 
had  that  within  him  that  would  overcome  all  diffi- 
culties in  his  pathway,  as  was  proved  by  his  subse- 
quent career,  and  to-day  he  is  living  retired  from 
farming  or  other  active  business  in  his  comfortable 
home  in  Paw  Paw. 

Mr.  Hepperlin  was  born  in  the  village  of  Neid- 
lingen,  near  Wurtemberg,  Germany,  July  26, 
1827.  His  father,  John  Hepperlin,  was  also 
born  in  that  '  place  [and  was  the  son  of  an- 
other John  Hepperlin,  who  was  a  farmer 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


and  a  life-long  resident  of  Hint  locality.  The 
father  of  our  subject  was  bred  to  the  life  of  a 
farmer  and  always  followed  that  occupation,  with 
the  exception  of  the  time  when  he  was  serving  in 
the  German  army,  in  accordance  with  the  laws  of 
the  land.  He  accompanied  Napoleon  in  the  cam- 
paign against  Moscow,  and  suffered  some  of  the 
terrible  horrors  of  the  retreat  from  that  Russian 
city.  He  died  in  the  land  of  his  nativity  in  1856. 
He  was  the  father  of  seven  children,  of  whom  only 
two  came  to  America,  his  daughter  Katherhie  Gsel- 
ler  and  our  subject,  and  three  of  his  grandsons  and 
two  of  his  granddaughters. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  passed  his  early  life 
in  his  native  land  and  received  a  very  good  edu- 
cation in  its  schools.  He  at  last  decided  to  emi- 
grate to  America,  whither  so  many  of  his  country- 
men had  gone  to  seek  the  competence  denied  them 
at  home,  and  in  May,  18f>4,  he  set  sail  from  Havre, 
and  thirty -seven  days  later  disembarked  in  New 
York  City.  He  came  directly  to  Illinois,  and  at 
Princeton  found  work  on  a  farm,  being  employed 
by  the  month.  He  had  but  little  spare  cash  when 
he  went  there,  but  he  worked  hard,  and  in  time 
saved  money  enough  to  buy  a  farm  seven  miles 
northwest  of  that  town.  In  1874  he  sold  that 
place,  and  coming  to  Paw  Paw,  bought  village 
property  and  established  himself  in  the  furniture 
business.  lie  was  thus  engaged  until  1877,  when 
he  resumed  farming.  Six  years  later  he  abandoned 
agricultural  pursuits,  and  has  since  lived  retired, 
in  the  enjoyment  of  an  income  amply  sufficing  for 
all  his  wants.  He  has  a  comfortable  property,  in- 
cluding a  double  brick  block  in  Paw  Paw,  which 
came  into  his  possession  in  1882,  through  his  ex- 
changing land  that  he  owned  in  Iowa  for  it,  and 
he  has  a  farm  of  two  hundred  and  thirty-four  acres 
in  Willow  Creek  Township,  that  is  well  improved. 

Mr.  Heppeiiin  was  first  married  in  Bureau  County 
in  1859,  to  Miss  Rebecca  Duestin,  a  native  of 
Ohio.  She  departed  this  life  in  186").  His  second 
marriage  was  in  1867  to  Miss  Maggie  Mercer,  a  na- 
tive of  Bureau  County.  She  died  in  1868.  In 
1869  our  subject  was  wedded  to  Mrs.  Cynthia 
(Mercer)  Baker,  widow  of  the  Rev.  1).  S.  Baker, 
and  unto  them  has  been  born  one  son,  Jesse  Ellis. 
Mrs.  Hepperlin  by  hor  former  marriage  had  one 


daughter.  Leonora.  She  married  ,1.  A.  McCulloch, 
and  they  have  one  child.  Ada  ('.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Hepperlin  are  among  the  most  worthy  members  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  are  held  in 
high  consideration  in  the  community. 

Mrs.  Hepperlin  comes  of  the  pioneer  stock  of 
this  State.  She  is  a  native  of  Belmont  County, 
Ohio,  and  a  daughter  of  Ellis  Mercer,  who  was 
born  in  Virginia,  and  was  a  son  of  the  Rev.  Ed- 
ward Mercer,  who  was  also  a  Virginian.  The  father 
of  the  latter,  who  was  of  Scottish  birth  and  ances- 
try, came  to  America  at  the  time  of  the  Revolution 
and  secured  quite  a  large  tract  of  land  near  AVill- 
iamsport,  Va.,  and  ended  his  days  there.  He  was 
a  Quaker  in  religion.  Mrs.  Hepperlin 's  grand- 
father was  reared  and  married  in  the  Old  Domin- 
ion, and  subsequently  went  from  there  to  Greene 
County,  Pa.,  and  a  few  years  later  went  to  Bel- 
mont County,  Ohio,  making  the  removal  with  a 
team.  lie  was  a  millwright  and  carpenter  by  trade, 
but  after  marriage  he  studied  medicine,  and  became 
a  practicing  physician.  He  was  also  somewhat 
noted  as  a  preacher  of  the  Methodist  Protestant 
Church,  and  did  good  service  as  a  missionary  in 
Belmont  County.  After  his  arrival  in  that  section 
he  had  bought  land  ten  miles  from  Claresville,  and 
lived  there  until  1836,  when  he  again  became  a 
pioneer,  journeying  to  Illinois  through  the  inter- 
vening wilderness,  and  locating  at  Princeton,  where 
death  found  him  at  a  ripe  age. 

Mrs.  Hepperlin 's  father  was  very-young  when 
his  parents  went  to  Pennsylvania,  and  he  was  four- 
teen years  of  age  when  he  accompanied  them  on 
their  migration  to  Ohio.  He  worked  at  the  trades 
of  millwright  and  carpenter  in  that  State  until  he 
came  to  this  one  in  1836.  He  was  accompanied 
by  his  wife  and  four  children,  and  they  traveled  to 
their  destination  on  the  waters  of  the  Ohio,  Missis- 
sippi and  Illinois  Rivers  to  Ilennepin,  and  thence 
by  team  to  Bureau  County.  At  that  time  North- 
ern Illinois  was  sparsely  settled,  and  the  greater 
part  of  the  land  was  owned  by  the  Government, 
and  has  since  been  sold  at  *1.2f>  an  acre.  Mr. 
.Mercer  entered  two  hundred  and  forty  acres  of 
land  three  miles  southwest  of  Princeton,  and  he 
bought  a  squatter's  claim  to  a  part  of  a  grove,  in 
which  there  was  a  set  of  log  buildings  and  wig- 


,. 

Hf  JUMIMS 


AMANDA  M.POWERS. 


ABIJAH    POWERS. 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


207 


wains  still  standing  there,  showed  the  recent  pres- 
ence of  the  Indians,  while  deer  and  other  kinds  of 
game  denoted  that  the  country  was  but  little  ad- 
vanced in  civilization.  Mr.  Mercer  improved  his 
land,  and  after  living  on  it  a  quarter  of  a  century 
he  sold  it,  and  passed  his  remaining  years  in  Web- 
ster County,  Iowa.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife 
was  Nancy  Hush,  and  she  was  a  native  of  Penn- 
sylvania. Her  father,  William  Hush,  was  a  native 
of  England;  and  her  mother,  Mary  (Larwood) 
Hush,  was  horn  of  English  parents  in  the  State  of 
Delaware.  Mr.  Mercer  died  in  Bureau  County. 

Mrs.  Ilepperlin  was  nine  years  old  when  she 
came  to  Illinois 'with  her  parents,  and  she  made 
her  home  with  them  until  her  first  marriage  in  her 
twenty-first  year  to  the  Rev.  Dennis  Stephen 
linker.  Mr.  Haker  was  a  native  of  New  York,  and 
was  educated  for  the  ministry  of  the  Methodist 
Protestant  Church.  On  account  of  ill  health  he 
had  to  abandon  his  profession,  and  he  turned  his 
attention  to  farming  in  Bureau  County,  where  he 
died  in  186f>. 


JIL^  ON.  ABIJAII  POWERS,  was  for  many 
'li)V  years  one  of  the  most  prominentcitizensof 
&M?  Palmyra  Township.  He  died  at  his  home 
(||)  on  the  24th  of  July,  1891,  aged  seventy-six 
years,  and  no  death  in  the  community  has  been 
more  deeply  regretted  on  the  part  of  many  friends, 
for  he  was  widely  and  favorably  known  throughout 
the  entire  county.  He  has  here  resided  since  the 
spring  of  1838,  and  in  the  long  years  had  formed 
an  extensive  acquaintance  and  secured  the  regard 
of  all  with  whom  he  came  in  contact. 

Horn  in  Greenwich,  Hampshire  County,  Mass., 
December  16,  1814.  Mr.  Powers  belonged  to  that 
family  of  which  Ilirnin  Powers,  the  sculptor,  is  a 
member.  His  grandfather,  Col.  Thomas  Powers, 
was  also  born  in  the  Hay  State  and  was  quite 
prominent  in  public  affairs  in  Hampshire  County. 
He  lived  and  died  in  Massachusetts,  passing  away 
at  the  advanced  age  of  four  score  years.  His  busi- 
ness through  much  of  his  life  was  that  of  the  con- 
struction of  turnpikes,  lie  married  a  Massaehu- 
9 


setts  lady,  Miss  Ilines,  who  was  of  Irish  descent, 
although  her  parents  were  born  in  America.  She 
died  in  Massachusetts  at  an  advanced  age. 

The  father  of  our  subject.  Joseph  Powers,  was 
one  of  the  younger  members  of  a  large  family,  and 
in  the  usual  manner  of  farmer  lads  was  reared  to 
manhood.  While  residing  in  Hampshire  County. 
Mass.,  he  had  the  misfortune  to  lose  his  property 
by  signing  notes  for  supposed  friends  and  this  led 
him  to  seek  a  home  in  the  West.  In  the  county 
of  his  nativity  he  married  Sallie  Powers,  who  was 
descended  from  the  same  family  as  her  husband,  al- 
though the  relationship  was  not  very  near.  In  the 
spring  of  1838,  Joseph  Powers,  and  his  son,  Abijah, 
our  subject,  started  to  the  West  together,  and  the 
expenses  of  the  journey  were  paid  with  the  money 
which  the  latter  had  earned  as  a  day  laborer.  His 
father  having  lost  his  property,  it  was  in  the  hope 
of  retrieving  in  a  measure  his  lost  possessions  that 
they  left  their  old  home. 

Together  they  traveled  to  Milwaukee,  Wis.,  and 
then  separated,  the  father  going  to  Chicago  with 
their  baggage,  while  the  son  traveled  through 
Southern  Wisconsin  and  down  the  Rock  River. 
They  later  met  in  Rock  Island,  and  thence  came 
up  the  river  to  Dixon's  Ferry,  now  the  city  of 
Dixon,  where  they  decided  to  locate.  In  the  wilds 
of  Palmyra  Township  they  took  up  their  residence 
and  with  their  son,  Joseph  Powers  and  his  wife  re- 
sided until  called  to  their  final  rest.  His  death 
occurred  April  28,  1853,  at  the  age  of  sixty  seven 
years.  His  wife  survived  him  some  time  and  died 
at  the  age  of  seventy-six.  They  were  industri- 
ous people,  upright  and  honorable  in  all  things, 
but  in  later  life  misfortune  overtook  them.  With 
the  Congregational  Church  they  held  membership, 
and  in  the  early  days,  Mr.  Powers  was  a  Whig. 
Ever  a  strong  opponent  of  slavery,  on  its  organiza- 
tion he  joined  the  Republican  party,  which  was 
formed  to  prevent  the  further  extension  of  that 
institution.  Generous  and  kind-hearted,  he  was 
a  friend  to  the  poor  and  needy  and  wherever 
known  was  held  in  warm  regard.  lie  made  friends 
wherever  lie  went,  and  few  indeed  were  his 
enemies.  The  last  of  the  family,  a  son,  who  re- 
sided in  Worcester,  Mass.,  died  in  February,  18!)2. 

Abijah  Powers  had  only   $f>  in   his  pocket    when 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


he  reached  Lw  County.  He  thus  began  life  in  the 
West  a  veiy  poor  man,  and  for  some  time  worked 
by  the  month  as  a  farm  hand.  He  entered  land  in 
the  fall  of  1838,  and  when  it  came  into  market 
was  enabled  to  purchase  it,  having  by  his  industry 
and  economy  acquired  a  sufficient  sum,  but  it  was 
some  time  afterward  ere  he  located  upon  it.  All 
unbroken  was  the  tract,  not  a  furrow  having  been 
turned  or  an  improvement  made,  but  with  charac- 
teristic energy  he  began  its  development  and  in 
course  of  time  had  one  of  the  finest  farms  in  the 
county.  It  is  situated  on  section  31,  Palmyra 
Township,  and  comprises  three  hundred  acres  of 
valuable  land,  whereon  might  be  found  the  im- 
provements of  a  model  farm.  At  the  time  of  his 
death  he  also  owned  five  hundred  and  sixty  acres 
in  Jordan  Township,  Whiteside  County,  which 
yielded  to  him  a  golden  tribute. 

After  making  some  preparations  for  securing  a 
home,  Mr.  Powers  returned  to  his  native  county  in 
the  fall  of  1839,  and  in  September  wedded  Miss 
Amanda  M.  Sprout,  who  was  born  in  Greenwich, 
Mass.,  in  1819,  and  is  a  daughter  of  Ezra  and 
Dency  (Newland)  Sprout,  who  were  farming  peo- 
ple of  the  Bay  State.  Her  father  died  in  Green- 
wich, Mass.,  after  which  Mrs.  Sprout  came  to  Illi- 
nois and  died  at  the  home  of  her  daughter  in 
Sterling  at  the  age  of  nearly  ninety  years.  She 
was  a  member  of  the  Baptist  Church  and  her  hus-  ! 
band  held  membership  with  the  Congregational 
Church.  In  politics,  he  was  a  Whig,  and  after- 
ward a  Republican  with  strong  anti-slavery  views. 
Two  of  his  sons  served  in  the  War  of  the  Rebellion 
and  Elmer  WAS  killed  at  the  battle  of  the  Wilder- 
ness. Three  others  are  still  living  in  Massachusetts. 

Mrs.  Powers  spent  the  days  of  her  maidenhood 
in  her  parent's  home,  and  has  become  one  of  the 
faithful  and  noble  wives  and  mothers  whom  all  de- 
light to  honor.  In  the  family  were  six  children, 
but  two  are  now  deceased — Alfred  A.,  who  died  at 
the  age  of  six  years;  Helen  became  the  wife  of 
Anson  Thummel,  of  Palmyra  Township,  and  died 
in  1889,  leaving  five  children.  Of  the  surviving 
members  of  the  family,  Elvira  is  the  wife  of  Capt. 
Charles  Eckles,  who  wore  the  blue  in  the  late  war 
and  is  now  a  prominent  farmer  near  Marshalltown, 
Iowa;  Mary  is  the  wife  of  J.  C.  Nickerson,  a  com- 


mission merchant  at  No.  9  1  South  Water  Street, 
Chicago;  Warren  F.,  who  wedded  Mary  Miller,  of 
Whiteside  County,  now  operates  the  farm  in  that 
county  which  was  owned  by  his  father;  Austin. 
who  married  Adella  Tallman,  operates  the  home 
farm  and  completes  the  family. 

In  politics,  Mr.  Powers  was  a  Republican  and 
held  a  number  of  local  offices,  including  that  of 
Town  Supervisor,  which  he  filled  for  five  years.  In 
1876,  he  was  elected  to  represent  his  district  in  the 
Thirtieth  General  Assembly  of  Illinois,  where  he 
proved  an  able  officer,  discharging  his  duties  with 
promptness  and  fidelity.  His  public  and  private 
life  were  alike  above  reproach.  Genial  by  nature 
and  kindly  in  disposition  he  easily  won  friends 
and  their  high  regard  was  never  forfeited  by  an 
unworthy  act.  He  was  a  faithful  member  of  the 
Congregational  Church,  of  Prairieville,  and  was  its 
Deacon  at  the  time  of  his  death,  having  filled  the 
office  for  some  years  previous.  Mrs.  Powers  is  also 
a  member  of  that  church.  She  still  resides  upon 
the  farm  where  she  has  made  her  home  for  more 
than  half  a  century  since  she  was  brought  there  a 
bride  by  her  honored  husband. 

Our  readers  will  be  pleased  to  notice  in  connec- 
tion with  this  sketch  the  lithographic  portraits  of 
the  late  Mr.  Powers  and  his  estimable  wife,  as  well 
as  a  view  of  the  pleasant  homestead  where  Mrs. 
Powers  is  quietly  passing  the  twilight  of  her  life. 


1LLIAM  H.  HILLES,  deceased,  was  born 
in  Western  Pennsylvania,  and  died  at  his 
home  in  Dixon,  on  the  7th  of  November, 
1882,  at  the  age  of  seventy-three  years.  His 
father,  Hugh  Hilles,  came  of  a  very  intelligent 
(Quaker  family  of  the  Keystone  State.  He  followed 
the  trade  of  milling  throughout  the  greater  part 
of  his  life.  From  Pennsylvania  he  removed  to 
Ohio,  and  in  later  3'ears  was  a  resident  of  Jay 
County,  Ind.,  where  he  owned  large  tracts  of  land. 
His  death  occurred  in  that  county  when  past  the 
age  of  sixty  years.  His  life  had  been  a  busy  and 
useful  one  and  his  efforts  met  with  a  just  reward  in 
the  shape  of  a  handsome  competence.  His  wife, 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


209 


who  was  a!0o  descended  from  a  highly  respected 
family  belonging  to  the  Friends  Society,  also  died 
in  Indiana. 

Oursnliject  was  an  infant  when,  with  his  parents, 
lie  removed  from  the  Keystone  State  to  Colum- 
hiana,  Ohio,  where  he  was  reared  to  manhood  and 
acquired  his  education.  Most  of  his  life  was  spent 
in  his  father's  mill,  and  in  the  early  '40s  he  emi- 
grated westward,  locating  in  LaSalle  County,  111., 
where  he  improved  a  good  farm,  making  it  his 
home  for  about  ten  years.  lie  was  there  residing 
at  the  time  of  the  great  storm,  never  to  he  for- 
gotten, which  visited  that  section.  The  storm  con- 
tinued for  about  two  months  and  was  a  blizzard  the 
greater  part  of  the  time.  As  many  people  in  the 
community  had  built  only  temporary  houses,  ex- 
pecting to  erect  better  ones  later  on,  they  were  ill 
protected  from  the  cold  and  there  was  considerable 
loss  of  life.  Much  stock  was  also  frozen,  and  that 
long  period  of  stormy  weather  was  one  which  will 
never  be  effaced  from  memory  by  those  who  exper- 
ienced it. 

Returning  to  the  State  of  Ohio,  Mr.  Hilles  ' 
wedded  Miss  Mary  A.  French,  who  was  born  among  | 
the  beautiful  hills  surrounding  Gillhampton,  N. 
II.  She  came  of  one  of  the  old  and  highly 
respected  New  England  families.  Her  parents 
were  Joseph  and  Mary  (Stewart)  French,  also  na- 
tives of  New  Hampshire.  The  grandmother  of 
Mrs.  French  was  a  sister  of  President  John  Adams, 
but  her  father  was  of  Scotch  descent.  Amidst  the  i 
bills  of  their  native  State,  Joseph  French  and  his 
wife  were  reared  to  manhood  and  womanhood,  and  ' 
in  the  vicinity  of  Newbnryport  their  marriage  was 
celebrated.  There,  and  at  Concord.  N.  II. 
they  spent  the  greater  part  of  their  lives  but  in 
their  declining  years  followed  their  children  to  the 
West  and  passed  their  last  days  in  the  town  of 
Painesville,  Ohio.  Throughout  his  life,  Mr.  French 
was  a  member  and  an  active  worker  in  the  Con- 
gregational Church,  and  for  many  years  filled  its 
offices.  The  upright,  honorable  lives  of  himself 
and  wife  won  them  the  highest  regard  of  all  with 
whom  they  came  in  contact  and,  when  called  to 
their  final  home,  their  loss  was  sincerely  mourned 
by  many  friends. 

Mrs.  Hilles.  wife  of   our    subject,  received  good 


practical  educational  advantages  and  is  a  lady  of 
marked  individuality.  She  inherits  some  of  the  best 
characteristics  of  her  New  England  ancestors  and  is 
a  refined  and  accomplished  lady.  In  early  years  she 
was  zealous  in  church  work  and  her  labors  in  its 
behalf  have  teen  productive  of  much  good.  But 
on  account  of  con  dieting  views  she  "withdrew  from 
the  church  in  1835,  and  since  that  time  has  been 
connected  with  no  religious  organization.  In  her 
early  life,  she  was  much  interested  in  the  cause  of 
abolition  and  bent  her  whole  energies  to  aid  in  the 
work.  When  only  eighteen  years  of  age,  she  be- 
came identified  with  the  movement,  although  it  was 
in  opposition  to  the  stand  which  her  church  had 
taken,  and  from  that  time  forward  worked  untir- 
ingly in  the  interest  of  the  slaves  until  their  free- 
dom was  declared.  She  possesses  a  remarkable 
memory  and  can  recall  many  incidents  of  early 
history  in  this  community  which  are  very  enter- 
taining. Out  of  the  kindness  of  her  heart  she  has 
reared  and  educated  several  children  and  aided 
others  in  starting  in  life.  Kindness,  generosity 
and  warm-heartedness  have  won'  her  many  friends 
whose  high  regard  she  will  retain  to  the  last. 

In  1853,  Mr.  Hilles  sold  his  farm  in  LaSalle 
County  and  came  to  Lee  County,  where  he  pur- 
chased the  farm  he  owned  at  his  death.  In  every 
instance  he  set  out  good  orchards  as  he  was  a  lover 
of  horticultural  work.  At  the  time  of  his  death, 
he  owned  four  hundred  acres,  highly  cultivated 
land,  and  was  quite  well-to-do.  Although  he  be- 
gan life  empty-handed,  he  worked  his  way  upward, 
overcoming  all  obstacles  until  he  had  gained  a 
competency.  Mr.  Hilles  was  a  man  of  superior 
intelligence  and  was  always  well  informed  on  the 
questions  of  the  day.  lie  was  reared  under  the 
auspices  of  the  Society  of  Friends  and  in  accord- 
ance with  its  teachings  lived  an  honest,  upright 
life.  His  influence  was  great  and  he  exerted  it 
ever  in  the  cause  of  right.  During  slave  days,  he 
spent  many  hundred  dollars  in  the  cause  of  free- 
dom, and  when  the  war  broke  out,  in  every  pos- 
sible way  supported  the  cause  of  the  Union  and  the 
administration.  He  lived  to  see  much  improve- 
ment in  Lee  County  and  not  a  little  of  the 
growth  and  development  was  due  to  his  efforts. 
His  life  was  well  and  worthily  spent  and  he  left 


210 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


behind  him  many  friends  to  mourn  his  death. 
At  the  age  of  seventy-three,  wishing  to  live  re- 
tired, he  removed  to  Dixon  and  on  the  following 
day  died  from  a  stroke  of  paralysis. 


RA  S.  SMITH.  Were  mention  to  be  made  of 
the  farmers  of  Amboy  Township  without  giv- 
ing a  prominent  place  to  this  gentleman,  cer- 
tainly an  injustice  would  be  done  both  to  himself 
and  the  community.  His  fine  farm,  comprising 
one  hundred  and  sixty-three  acres,  is  located  on 
section  26,  and  contains  a  fine  set  of  farm  buildings, 
well  adapted  to  their  varied  uses.  Although  he 
has  resided  on  the  place  but  a  short  time,  he  has 
already  introduced  many  improvements,  and  evi- 
dences of  his  thrifty  management  may  be  seen  on 
every  hand. 

A  native  of  New  Hampshire,  Mr.  Smith  was  born 
in  Enfield,  Grafton  County,  March  11,  1829.  His 
parents,  Clement  and  Lucy  (Farnham)  Smith,  were 
natives  of  the  Granite  State,  where  both  died  in 
Enfield.  Their  family  consisted  of  eleven  children, 
of  whom  Ira  S.  was  the  eighth  in  order  of  birth. 
He  was  reared  to  manhood  upon  a  farm  in  Grafton 
County,  where  he  resided  until  1848.  At  that 
date  he  removed  to  Boston,  Mass.,  and  secured 
employment  as  a  clerk  in  a  grocery  store,  where  he 
remained  several  years.  When  the  gold  fever  was 
raging  at  its  height,  he  went  to  the  Pacific  Slope,  in 
the  fall  of  1851,  and  engaged  in  mining  in  Cali- 
fornia. After  an  absence  of  about  one  year,  he 
returned  to  Boston,  having  met  with  fair  success 
in  his  mining  operations. 

Soon  after  his  return  to  the  East,  Mr.  Smith 
once  more  started  on  a  prospecting  tour,  this  time 
coming  to  Illinois,  where  in  Springfield  he  found 
employment  as  a  fireman  on  what  is  now  the 
Wabash  Railroad,  eighteen  miles  east  of  the  city. 
While  thus  engaged,  on  December  21,  1854,  the 
boiler  exploded  and  he  was  blown  into  the  air, 
alighting  two  hundred  feet  in  the  rear  of  the  place 
where  the  explosion  occurred.  He  was  badly 
scalded  and  injured,  his  left  shoulder  and  the  ribs 


on  his  right  side  being  broken.  It  was  some  time 
before  he  recovered  from  the  effects  of  that  terri- 
ble accident,  and  when  he  did  so  he  removed  to 
Iowa  and  purchased  a  farm  in  Madison  Count}', 
there  engaging  in  agricultural  pursuits  for  six 
years. 

Then  selling  the  place,  which  he  had  greatly  im- 
proved, Mr.  Smith  returned  to  Illinois  and  for 
nearly  a  year  lived  in  Bureau  County,  whence,  in 
the  spring  of  1863,  he  removed  to  Amboy,  and 
procured  employment  in  the  machine  shop  of  the 
Illinois  Central  Railroad.  After  following  that 
business  ten  years,  he  next  opened  a  meat  market 
in  Amboy  and  continued  thus  engaged  for  six 
years.  His  fellow-citizens  about  that  time  elected 
him  City  Marshal  and  retained  him  in  that  place 
three  years,  after  which  he  sold  his  interests  in  the 
city  and  removed  to  Morton  County,  Kan.,  there 
engaging  in  farming.  For  a  time  he  was  also  em- 
ployed as  a  machinist  in  the  St.  Louis  &  San  Fran- 
cisco shops  in  Anthony,  Harper  County,  Kan., 
where  he  resided  two  years. 

In  June,  189C,  Mr.  Smith  returned  to  Lee  County, 
purchased  his  present  estate  and  has  since  engaged 
exclusively  in  farming  pursuits.  During  his  resi- 
dence in  Springfield,  111.,  he  was  married,  April  19, 
1853,  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Pearl.  This  lady  was  born 
in  Oxford  County,  Me.,  July  8,  1831,  and  is  the 
daughter  of  Benjamin  and  Susan  (Otis)  Pearl,  na- 
tives respectively  of  Maine  and  New  Hampshire, 
both  of  whom  died  in  Porter,  Me.  They  had  a 
family  of  seven  children,  Mrs.  Smith  being  the 
youngest.  Of  the  union  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Smith, 
two  children  have  been  born:  Winslow  C.  and 
p]dgar  Otis.  The  former  married  Ella  Spencer 
and  they  have  five  children:  Pearl  E.,  Henry  W., 
Carrie  D.,  Hollis  S.  and  Edna  B.  The  latter  mar- 
ried Julia  Duffey,  and  three  children  have  been 
born  of  their  union:  Ada  I.,  Minnie  E.  and  Hazel 
P. 

In  the  public  life  of  the  community  Mr.  Smith 
has  always  been  greatly  interested  and  has  con- 
tributed as  much  as  possible  toward  its  success. 
I'm  .-rveral  terms  he  served  as  Collector,  and  while 
a  member  of  the  School  Board  for  nine  years,  pro- 
moted the  educational  interests  of  the  district. 
As  :i  member  of  the  Amboy  City  Council,  he  aided 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


211 


in  its  deliberations  and  assisted  in  the  plans  for 
promoting  the  progress  of  the  place.  He  has 
taken  considerable  interest  in  political  affairs 
and  is  a  decided  Republican.  His  wife  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Advent  Church,  while  he  contributes  in 
that  direction  liberal  ly  of  his  means.  Socially  he 
holds  membership  in  the  Masonic  fraternity. 


S.  AND  ELLIOTT  S.  MoCLEARY 
engaged  in  business  as  dairy- 
and  farmers,  and  each  has  a  well- 
stocked  and  finely  equipped  dairy  farm  in  Nelson 
Township.  These  gentlemen  are  natives  of  Law- 
rence County,  Pa.,  the  first-mentioned  born  Feb- 
ruary 15,  1848.  George  McCleary's  farming  inter- 
ests are  centered  on  section  13,  where  he  owns  one 
hundred  and  thirty-eight  acres  of  excellent  farm- 
ing land,  that  is  finely  adapted  to  stock-raising 
purposes,  and  is  one  of  the  best  dairy  farms  of  the 
neighborhood.  1 1  is  stocked  to  its  fullest  capacity 
with  cattle  of  good  breeds,  and  for  the  past  two 
years  Mr.  McCleary  has  kept  a  herd  of  thirty  dairy 
cows  and  by  his  able  management  has  made  this 
branch  of  agriculture  a  paying  business.  He  and 
his  brother  came  to  this  county  with  their  parents 
and  other  members  of  the  family  in  the  spring  of 
1865  and  have  since  been  numbered  among  its 
most  desirable  citizens.  He  spent  the  first  eigh- 
teen months  after  his  arrival  in  Dixon  Township, 
and  since  then  has  l>een  a  resident  of  Nelson  Town- 
ship, becoming  the  owner  of  his  present  farm  in 
1876. 

The  marriage  of  George  McCleary  with  Miss 
Mary  A.  Alcorn  was  solemnized  in  his  native 
county.  She  was  also  a  Pennsylvanian  by  birth, 
burn  in  Beaver  County,  in  1855,  and  was  ten 
years  old  when  her  parents,  Henry  and  Catherine 
(Baker)  Alcorn,  removed  to  Lawrence  County, 
where  they  now  live  retired,  having  formerly  been 
engaged  in  farming.  May  29,  1889,  death  crossed 
the  threshold  of  the  home  of  our  subject  and  took 
from  him  his  beloved  wife,  who  had  filled  in  a  per- 
fect measure  her  position  as  daughter,  wife  and 
mother,  and  was  truly  a  home-maker.  She  \V.M>  a 


member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  her 
Christian  spirit  was  evinced  in  her  daily  life.  Four 
children  were  born  of  her  marriage  with  our  sub- 
ject, all  of  whom  are  with  him  and  are  named  as 
follows:  Edna,  Iva  P.,  Charles  N.  and  Frances  C. 

Elliott  S.  McCleary  has  won  a  fine  reputation  as 
a  farmer  of  much  ability,  who  employs  modern 
methods  in  conducting  his  operations,  keeps  his 
farm  up  to  a  high  standard  in  point  of  cultiva- 
tion and  improvement,  and  is  raising  first-class 
stock.  His  homestead  lies  on  sections  12  and  13, 
Nelson  Township,  and  here  he  and  his  family  live 
very  pleasantly.  He  gives  much  attention  to  the 
dairy  business  and  has  thirty-five  cows  of  the 
finest  breed  for  that  purpose,  which  net  him  a  good 
yearly  income. 

He  has  found,  in  his  wife,  formerly  Miss  Melinda 
Gruver,  a  capable  coadjutor  in  the  making  of  a 
home.  Their  marriage  was  celebrated  in  Nelson 
Township,  where  Mrs.  McCleary  was  reared  and 
educated,  coming  here  with  her  parents  when  a 
child.  She,  like  her  husband,  is  a  native  of  Penn- 
sylvania, born  in  Columbia  County  in  1853,  and 
is  a  daughter  of  Uriah  Gruver,  a  wealthy  farmer, 
living  in  Dixon. 

Our  subjects  are  sons  of  William  McCleary,  who 
was  a  native  of  the  same  Pennsylvania  county  in 
which  they  were  born.  He  in  turn  was  a  son  of 
Samuel  McCleary,  who  was  a  native  of  the  North 
of  Ireland,  and  came  to  this  country  when  he  was 
twelve  years  old,  with  his  parents,  who  were  of 
Scoteh-Irish  stock.  The  family  first  settled  in 
Westmoreland  County,  Pa.,  and  when  Samuel  was 
a  young  man  removed  from  there  to  what  is  now 
New  Castle,  the  county  seat  of  Lawrence  County, 
that  city  now  being  built  upon  the  farm  that  the 
grandfather  of  our  subjects  developed  from  the 
dense  growth  of  primeval  forest  that  then  pre- 
vailed in  that  section  of  the  country.  Samuel  Mc- 
Cleary spent  his  remaining  days  in  the  home  that 
he  made  there,  dying  at  the  age  of  fifty-six.  He 
was  prominent  in  promoting  the  growth  of  New 
Castle  and  lived  to  see  it  a  flourishing  town.  He 
was  one  of  its  pioneer  merchants  and  one  of  its 
principal  business  men  in  his  day.  Besides  run- 
ning n  mercantile  establishment  he  did  an  exten- 
sive business  as  a  drover,  taking  stock  to  Philadel- 


212 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


phia,  and  with   the  proceeds  of  the  sales   buying   | 
goods  to  sell  at  home.    He  and  his  wife  were  great 
workers  in  church  matters,  and  they  helped  to  or- 
ganize the  Presbyterian  Church  in  their  town. 

Samuel  McCleary  was  married  in  New  Castle  to 
Nancy  Gorden,  who  was  born  on  the  Atlantic 
Ocean  when  her  parents  were  emigrating  to  this 
country  from  their  ancestral  home  in  Scotland. 
They  were  a  branch  of  the  celebrated  Gordon  fam-  | 
ily  so  well  known  in  the  history  of  Scotland. 
They  settled  first  in  Westmoreland  County,  Pa., 
after  their  arrival  in  America,  and  thence  removed 
to  Mercer  County  in  the  early  days  of  its  settle-  | 
ment,  and  were  pioneers  of  the  country  around 
New  Castle,  where  they  hewed  out  a  farm  from  the 
wilderness.  Some  of  them  served  as  privates  in 
the  War  of  1812.  They  were  stanch  Presbyterians 
in  religion  and  were  Whigs  in  politics,  while  the 
old  stock  of  McClearys  were  Democrats.  Mrs. 
Samuel  McCleary  survived  her  husband  many 
years  and  died  during  the  Rebellion  when  nearly 
eighty  years  of  age.  She  was  a  large  woman,  of 
fine  physique,  and  retained  her  bodily  and  mental 
faculties  to  the  last. 

William  McCleary,  as  the  eldest  of  ten  children, 
looked  after  the  large  farm,  owned  by  his  father, 
after  he  attained  manhood.  He  was  married  in 
New  Castle  to  Miss  Selinda  Moorehead,  who  was 
bom  and  reared  at  that  place,  her  parents,  who 
were  of  Pennsylvania  birth  and  of  Scotch-Irish 
blood,  having  been  early  settlers  of  Lawrence 
County,  moving  there  from  Westmoreland  County. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  McCleary  lived  in  New  Castle  many 
years  after  their  marriage,  and  there  all  their  chil- 
dren were  bom.  In  1865  they  came  to  Illinois 
and  established  a  new  home  in  Lee  County,  in 
which  the  father  passed  the  rest  of  his  days.  He 
Hied  in  the  fall  of  1880,  at  the  age  of  sixty-seven, 
leaving  behind  him  the  record  of  a  well-filled  life 
and  the  legacy  of  a  good  name,  which  his  children 
and  children's  children  hold  in  reverence.  He 
was  an  active  member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
and  was  deeply  interested  in  every  movement  for 
the  moral  uplifting  of  the  community.  In  politics 
he  was  thoroughly  in  sympathy  with  the  Demo- 
cratic party.  His  wife,  who  survives  him  and 
makes  her  home  with  her  children,  was  born  June 


30, 1816,  yet  old  age  has  not  dimmed  her  faculties. 
She  is  a  noble  Christian  woman  and  is  a  member  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church. 

Of-  the  seven  daughters  and  two  sons  born  to  the 
McClearys,  one  daughter  and  two  sons  are  now 
dead.  James  enlisted  in  October,  1861,  in  Com- 
pany B,  of  the  famous  Cooper's  Battery,  in  the 
First  Pennsylvania  Artillery,  and  fell  while  bravely 
fighting  for  his  country  at  the  battle  of  Gettys- 
burg; John  C.,  the  eldest  son, a  farmer  in  Palmyra 
Township,  married  Mary  Gruver,of  Nelson;  Mary 
is  the  wife  of  Jerry  Iletler,  a  farmer  of  Dixon 
Township;  George  S.  is  the  third  son  of  the  fam- 
ily; Kate,  now  deceased,  was  the  former  wife  of 
D.  C.  Harden,  of  whom  a  biography  appears  in  this 
work;  William,  a  farmer  in  Carroll  County,  mar- 
ried Amanda  Mason;  Elliott  S.  is  the  next  in  order 
of  birth;  Joseph,  who  married  Ida  Long,  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  firm  of  McCleary  &  Long,  boot  and  shoe 
merchants  of  Dixou.  All  the  brothers  are  very 
successful  in  business.  All  but  two  of  them  are 
Presbyterians,  and  all  of  them  are  stalwart  Demo- 
crats in  politics. 


«  IjfclLLIAM  BURD,  though  not  one  of  the 
\/\///  eai'l'es*  settlers  of  Lee  County,  may  well 
V\s  t)e  classed  among  its  pioneers,  as  he  has 
done  valuable  work  in  helping  his  fellow-farmers 
to  redeem  the  rich,  .virgin  soil  of  this  part  of  Illi- 
nois from  its  former  wild  condition,  since  he  set- 
tled within  its  precincts  not  far  from  forty  years 
ago,  and  he  has  a  farm  that  compares  with  the 
best  in  its  equipments  and  improvements,  its  fer- 
tile fields  neatly  fenced,  its  buildings  well-kept 
and  conveniently  arranged,  and  its  surroundings 
made  attractive  by  the  beautiful  shade  and  choice 
fruit  trees  carefully  planted  by  his  own  hands. 

Our  subject  was  born  May  17,  1827,  in  Hamp- 
shire County,  W.  Ya.  His  father,  whose  name  is 
Peter  Burd.  was  born  in  Hunterdon  County,  N.  J., 
and  when  a  young  man  went  from  his  native 
State  to  that  part  of  Virginia  now  included  in 
Hampshire  County,  W.  Vn.  He  bought  a  tract  of 
wild  land  seven  or  eight  miles  from  Komney, 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


213 


built  a  log  cabin  on  his  place  and  entered  heartily 
into  the  hard  pioneer  task  of  improving  his  land, 
on  which  he  made  his  home  until  his  untimely 
death,  in  1839,  when  his  community  lost  a 
good  citizen,  the  people  among  whom  he  had  lived 
a  kind  neighbor,  and  his  family  a  good  husband 
and  father.  His  widow,  whose  maiden  name  was 
Julia  Ann  Willard,  and  who  was  born  in  Bucks 
County,  Pa.,  a  daughter  of  Jacob  AVillard,  was  left 
with  seven  children  to  care  for.  Nobly  did  she 
perform  her  duty,  and  kept  her  offspring  together 
on  the  old  l^)mestead  until  they  were  grown  to 
manhood  and  womanhood,  and  then  came  to  Illi- 
nois and  spent  her  last  years  a  welcome  inmate  of 
their  homes.  Four  of  her  children  arc  still  liv- 
ing. 

Our  subject  was  a  strong,  self-reliant  lad  of 
twelve  years  when  his  father  died,  and  was  al- 
ready  of  much  use  on  the  farm.  At  the  age  of 
fourteen  he  was  bound  out  to  learn  the  trade  of  a 
tanner,  and  received  his  board  and  clothes  in  rec- 
ompense for  his  services.  At  the  end  of  seven 
years  he  was  given  $50,  and  with  that,  and  a  good 
knowledge  of  his  trade,  he  began  life  on  his  own 
account.  He  went  to  Bucks  County,  Pa.,  and  car- 
ried on  the  tannery  business  there  the  ensuing 
three  years.  He  then  went  back  to  his  native 
State,  and  was  a  resident  of  West  Virginia  until 
the  fall  of  1852,  when  he  came  to  Illinois,  travel- 
ing b3'  the  most  convenient  route  at  that  time, 
and  journeying  by  rail,  by  stage,  or  on  foot.  After 
seven  days  he  arrived  at  Twin  Grove,  in  what  is 
now  Willow  Creek  Township.  At  that  time  Nature 
had  it  pretty  nearly  her  own  way  in  this  part  of  the 
country,  us  but  few  settlers  had  ventured  here. 
There  was  no  railway  in  this  part  of  the  State  for 
two  years  after  he  came  here,  and  deer  and  other 
kinds  of  wild  game  were  plentiful,  and  furnished 
an  agreeable  addition  to  the  fare  of  the  pioneers. 

Mr.  Burd  began  life  here  on  a  farm  in  some  one's  : 
else  employ  for  a  year,  and  then  bought  a  land 
warrant  for  a  quarter  of  a  section  of  land,  which 
comprises  his  present  farm  in  Willow  Creek  Town- 
ship. The  warrant  cost  him  $150,  and  there  was 
an  additional  expense  of  84,  making  the  total  cost 
of  tho  homestead  $154.  Buying  the  land  ex- 
hausted his  finances,  so  he  was  obliged  to  resort  to  , 


renting  improved  land  for  the  next  two  years  in 
order  to  earn  his  livelihood.  At  the  expiration  of 
that  time  he  entered  vigorously  upon  the  work 
before  him  of  reclaiming  a  farm  from  the  wilder- 
ness, and  the  success  that  has  met  his  efforts  has 
been  recorded  in  the  first  part  of  this  biography. 

Our  subject  is  eminently  a  self-made  man,  and 
through  the  sheer  force  of  industrious  habits,  close 
attention  to  his  work,  and  by  exercising  close  cal- 
culation in  the  management  of  his  affairs,  no  less 
than  by  fair  and  honest  dealings  in  all  his  transac- 
tions, he  has  risen  to  be  one  of  the  substantial 
farmers  of  the  township  with  whose  interests  his 
own  have  so  long  been  identified. 

Since  1867,  when  he  was  united  in  marriage 
with  Miss  Mary  Frances  Thompson,  he  has  had  the 
active  co-operation  of  a  wife  who  is  a  true  help- 
mate. Mrs.  Burd  is  also  a  native  of  Hampshire 
County,  W.  Va.,  and  is  a  daughter  of  Robert  and 
/ulimma  Thompson,  of  whom  an  account  appears 
in  the  biography  of  R,  J.  Thompson.  Three  chil- 
dren have  blessed  the  union  of  our  subject  and  his 
wife:  Mary  F.,  James  W.  and  Nettie  May. 


ETER  KREITER.  The  life  of  Mr.  Kreiter 
affords  a  splendid  illustration  of  the  power 
of  patience  and  perseverance  in  promoting 
the  prosperity  of  the  individual  and  crown- 
ing his  labors  with  complete  success.  He  is  one  of 
the  most  influential  citizens  of  Amboy  Township 
and  the  owner  of  one  hundred  and  seventy-five 
acres  in  this  county.  His  farm,  with  its  neat  build- 
ings, well-kept  fences  and  cultivated  fields,  pre- 
sents an  air  of  thrift  and  prosperity.  The  super- 
vision and  cultivation  of  the  place  devolves 
largely  upon  Mr.  Kreiter 's  sons,  for  his  attention 
has  been  principally  occupied  as  a  machinist  and 
miller. 

The  native  home  of  Mr.  Kreiter  was  on  the 
Rhine  in  Germany,  and  the  date  of  his  birth  Nov- 
ember 4,  1824.  He  was  reared  to  mature  years  in 
the  Fatherland  and  after  the  good  old  custom  of 
that  country,  which  renders  it  necessary  for  every 


214 


lad  to  learn  a  trade,  he  served  an  apprenticeship 
at  the  trade  of  a  machinist,  following  it  until  he 
came  to  America  in  1847.  When  about  twenty- 
three  years  old,  having  decided  to  seek  a  home  in 
the  United  States,  he  left  his  native  land,  and 
crossing  the  ocean,  landed  in  New  Orleans. 

Thence  Mr.  Kreiter  proceeded  up  the  Mississippi 
to  Memphis,  Tenn.,  where  for  one  year  he  was  em- 
ployed in  a  machine  shop.  From  that  place  he  re- 
moved to  St.  Louis  and  carried  on  business  in  a 
machine  shop  and  brass  foundry  between  five  and 
six  years.  Then  coming  to  Illinois,  he  followed  his 
trade  in  Peoria  about  a  year  and  for  perhaps  the 
same  length  of  time  was  employed  in  a  small  place 
in  Tazewell  County  on  the  Mackinaw  River.  Next 
he  was  employed  in  Bloomington,  this  State,  and 
there  worked  at  his  trade.  After  being  unable  for 
two  years  to  engage  in  business  on  account  of  ill 
health,  he  entered  the  employ  of  the  Chicago  & 
Alton  Railway  Company  and  was  for  nineteen  years 
in  their  employ  as  a  machinist. 

Upon  leaving  Bloomington,  Mr.  Kreiter  came  to 
Lee  County  and  purchased  a  farm  in  Amboy  Town- 
ship, on  section  25,  where  he  has  since  resided. 
However,  he  has  not  engaged  in  farming  pursuits, 
but  has  always  followed  his  trade  of  a  machinist, 
and  the  farm  has  been  operated  by  his  sons.  Mr. 
Kreiter  was  married  in  St.  Louis  to  Miss  Augusta 
Wenzel,  who  was  born  in  Germany,  October  22, 
1830.  They  have  become  the  parents  of  eight 
children,  namely:  Amila,  who  was  the  wife  of 
Frank  Moellex  and  died  in  Chicago;  Louis,  who 
married  Louisa  Bach  and  resides  in  Chicago;  Anna, 
wife  of  James  Guard;  Gussie,  who  is  the  wife  of 
John  Stilz;  Theodore,  a  member  of  the  firm  of 
Kreiter  Bros.,  millers  in  Binghampton;  William, 
who  married  Carrie  Naglesmith  and  belongs  to  the 
firm  of  Kreiter  Bros.;  Minnie,  the  wife  of  A. 
Tuttle;  and  Edwin,  who  is  one  of  the  firm. 

In  politics,  Mr.  Kreiter  and  his  sons  maintain  an 
independence  of  belief  and  cast  their  ballots  for  the 
candidates  whom  they  believe  best  fitted  for  the 
office  in  question,  irrespective  of  party  ties.  Mr. 
Kreiter  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  Evangelical 
Church,  but  their  children  are  identified  with  the 
Methodist  Church.  AVhen  the  mills  were  Marled 
at  Bingharnpton,  they  were  operated  by  Kreiter  A- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 

' 


Sons  for  one  year,  after  which  they  were  given  in 
charge  of  Kreiter  Bros.,  who  have  operated  them 
since  March,  1889.  Mr.  Kreiter  has  filled  the  office 
of  School  Director,  as  well  as  other  positions  of  lo- 
cal importance,  and  has  contributed  his  quota  to- 
ward the  progress  of  the  community. 


ELIJAH  WALKER  enjoys  a  good  reputation 
as  an  honorable,  hard-working^armer,  who 
is  profitably  engaged  in  agriculture,  and 
the  fine  condition  of  his  farm  on  sections  24  and 
25,  Nelson  Township,  with  its  substantial  build- 
ings and  well-tilled  acres,  gives  ample  proof  of 
his  thorough  acquaintance  with  the  best  methods 
of  carrying  on  his  calling.  He  is  a  Pennsylvania!! 
by  birth,  and  in  the  township  of  Summit,  Somer- 
set County,  he  was  born  March  19,  1832,  a  scion 
of  the  old  stock  of  that  vicinity,  the  old  farm 
upon  which  he  first  opened  his  eyes  to  the  light 
of  the  world  having  been  the  native  place  of  his 
father,  Peter  P.  II.  Walker,  and  of  his  grand- 
father, Philip' Walker,  his  great-grandfather,  Henry 
Walker,  a  native  of  the  Keystone  State,  having 
purchased  it  from  the  Government  in  Colonial 
times,  when  it  was  a  part  of  the  primeval  forest. 
He  died  thereon  when  an  old  man,  having  spent 
his  life  as  a  frugal,  thrift}-  farmer.  His  father 
was  a  German  who  had  come  to  this  country  and 
had  located  in  Pennsylvania  in  the  earl}-  days  of 
its  settlement.  The  old  homestead  is  still  in  pos- 
session of  the  family,  a  brother  of  our  subject 
being  its  present  owner.  Philip  Walker  spent  his 
entire  life  on  the  old  home  farm,  dying  at  the  age 
of  sixty-six,  his  wife,  who  was  a  Somerset  County 
lady,  also  dying  there  when  past  seventy  years  of 
age.  Both  were  Lutherans  in  religion,  and  he  was  a 
Democrat  in  politics.  They  were  the  parents  of 
six  children,  four  sons  and  two  daughters,  all  of 
whom  are  now  deceased.  Their  son  Peter  inher- 
ited the  old  homestead,  and  lived  on  it  until  he 
closed  his  eyes  in  death  eighty-one  years  after 
his  birth  thereon.  He  was  a  very  successful  farmer, 
:i  prominent  man  in  his  community,  to  whom  his 
fellow-citizens  often  looked  for  guidance  :m<l 


Vil 
V* 


' :  <;  qr 
*:*£ 

Ift 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


217 


counsel.  He  was  a  sturdy  Democrat  in  his  poli- 
tics, and  a  sound  Lutheran  in  his  religion.  His 
wife,  whose  maiden  name  was  Sarah  Will,  and  who 
\v;is  I  Mini  in  Somerset  Township  in  October,  1800, 
died  on  the  did  farm  May  11,  1889,  their  wedded 
life  having  been  of  more  than  half  a  century's 
duration.  She,  too,  was  a  faithful  Lutheran. 

Our   subject   is   one  of  a  family  of   eight  sons 
and  three   daughters,  of    whom   six  sons   and  one 
daughter    are    still    living,  and    all    married   and 
prospering.      He    was    educated    in    the   common 
schools,  grew  to  a  stalwart   manhood  in  the  place   j 
of  his  birth,  and  in  due  time  selected  a  wife  to  help 
him  in   the    making  of  a   home,  marrying  in   his 
native   township  Miss  Joanna   Frickey.     She  was 
born  in  the  Kingdom  of  Hanover,  Germany,  July 
29,  1832,  and  was  ten  years  old  when  she  came  to 
this  country  with  her  mother  and  stepfather,  Fred 
Haupt.     They   settled    first  in   Somerset   County,  j 
I'a.,  living  on   a  farm  there  for  some  years,  and 
then   came   to  Lee   County,   locating   in    Nelson 
Township,  where   Mr.  Haupt   died  December    29, 
1863,  aged  sixty-seven  years.     He  was  a  Lutheran 
in  religion.     His    wife,  whose    maiden    name    was   i 
Doretta  Just,  died   in  this  township  November  5, 
1875,  when  past  sixty-eight  years  old.     She  was  a   : 
truly  good  woman,  a  kind  wife  and  loving  mother, 
a  sincere  Christian,  and  a  member  of  the  Lutheran 
Church.      Her   father   was   Frederick   Just,    who 
died   in  the  Kingdom  of  Hanover   while   yet  in    : 
life's  prime.     Mr.  and  Mrs.  Walker  are  blessed  in 
their    happy    marriage    by    these    three    children: 
Hiram   P.,  a    farmer  in   York  County,  Neb.,  who   j 
married    Miss   Ella  Troutman;  Sadie   E.,  wife  of 
J.  G.  Winter,  an  expressman  in   Davenport,  Neb.;   i 
and  Minerva,  who  is  the  comfort  and  stay  of  her 
parents  at  home. 

Mr.  Walker  made  his  first  purchase  of  land  in 
this  county  in  1860,  buying  at  that  time  eighty 
acres  of  his  present  farm,  to  which  he  has  since 
added  more  land,  and  now  has  two  hundred  and 
forty  acres,  or  which  nearly  the  whole  is  highly 
improved.  It  is  supplied  witli  a  good  class  of 
buildings  and  fine  farming  machinery,  and  lias  all 
the  facilities  for  carrying  on  farming  advanta- 
geously, and  besides  is  well  staked  with  cattle, 
horses  and  hogs,  which  are  the  source  of  a  com- 


fortable income.  Our  subject  has  not  only  con- 
tributed to  the  material  well-being  of  his  adopted 
township  by  his  good  work  as  a  farmer  during  the 
last  thirty  and  more  years,  but  he  has  taken  a 
keen  interest  in  its  welfare  in  other  directions. 
He  has  been  Assessor  for  over  twelve  years,  and 
has  held  other  local  offices.  In  politics  he  is  an 
intelligent  follower  of  the  Democratic  party.  In 
religion  he  has  not  departed  from  the  faith  of 
his  ancestors,  and  both  he  and  his  wife  are  valued 
members  of  the  Lutheran  Church. 


JOHN  L.  GEIGER  has  played  an  important 
part  in  the.  development  of  the  agricultural 
resources  of  this  county,  and  while  thus  add- 
ing to  its  wealth  has  acquired  a  handsome 
property,  whereby  he  is  enabled  to  live  retired, 
although  he  still  retains  his  beautiful  and  well- 
ordered  farm,  on  section  14,  Nelson  Township,  and 
makes  it  his  home.  Mr.  Geiger  was  born  in 
Somerset  County,  Pa.,  January  21,  1826,  coming  of 
the  old  Dutch  stock  of  that  State.  His  father, 
Richard  Geiger,  spent  his  whole  life  in  Pennsyl- 
vania, dying  there  on  the  farm  on  which  he  had 
settled  after  attaining  manhood,  and  which  he 
had  improved,  his  age  at  the  time  of  his  death  be- 
ing sixty -six  years.  He  was  sound  in  his  religion 
and  in  his  politics,  a  true  Lutheran  as  regards  the 
former,  and  a  Republican  in  respect  to  the  latter. 
He  married  a  Somerset  County  lady,  Mary  Hess  by 
name,  who  was  descended  from  some  of  the  early 
settlers  of  that  part  of  Pennsylvania.  She  survived 
her  husband  some  years,  rounding  out  a  useful  life 
at  the  age  of  three-score  years  and  ten.  She  too 
was  a  member  of  the  Lutheran  Church. 

Our  subject  is  one  of  eleven  children,  all  but 
one  of  whom  grew  to  maturity,  and  six  of  whom 
are  still  living.  He  lived  on  his  father's  farm 
until  he  became  of  age,  and  the  experience  that  he 
gained  in  all  kinds  of  farm  work  was  of  value 
to  him  in  his  after  career.  He  was  ambitious  and 
energetic  by  nature,  _with  a  faculty  for  hard  and 
unremitting  work,  and  wisely  thinking  that  the 
broad  prairies  of  Illinois,  with  their  rich  virgin 


218 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


soil,  would  afford  an  excellent  field  for  his  labors, 
he  came  hither  in  the  fall  of  1853  and  identified 
himself  with  the  pioneers  who  had  previously 
settled  in  Lee  County.  He  entered  eighty  acres  of 
wild,  uncultivated  land,  improved  it  and  sold  it 
advantageously,  and  then  purchased  his  present 
farm,  or  a  portion  of  it,  afterward  increasing  it  to 
its  present  size  hy  buying  additional  land.  In 
the  busy  years  that  followed,  he  made  it  into  one  of 
the  best  landed  estates  in  Nelson  County.  It  has 
an  area  of  two  hundred  and  eighty  acres,  but  very 
little  of  which  is  not  under  the  plow,  and  two 
good  sets  of  comfortable  and  roomy  farm  buildings 
adorn  the  place. 

Mr.  Geiger  has  gained  his  wealth  since  he  came 
to  this  county,  and  has  earned  for  himself  a  place 
among  our  moneyed  men".  Besides  his  farm  he 
has  a  valuable  property  on  the  corner  of  Ilenne- 
pin  and  Ninth  Streets,  in  Dixon,and  recently  spent 
four  years  in  his  residence  in  that  pleasant  locality. 
He  is  looked  up  to  with  great  respect  by  his 
neighbors  and  all  who  know  him,  as  his  whole  life 
bespeaks  him  to  be  a  man  of  steadfast  purpose,  of 
good  principles,  and  one  who  has  kept  his  reputa- 
tion unspotted  in  all  his  financial  transactions. 
The  Republicans  of  this  section  claim  him  as 
one  of  their  number,  while  his  religious  affili- 
ations are  with  the  Lutheran  Church,  which  he 
and  his  wife  attend  regularly. 

Mr.  Geiger  was  married  after  coming  to  this 
State  in  the  town  of  Sterling  to  Miss  Anna  Greg- 
ory, and  in  her  he  has  a  wife  who  fills  in  a  perfect 
measure  the  office  of  helpmate,  companion  and 
friend.  Three  children  have  added  to  their 
wedded  happiness  and  make  their  home  attractive 
by  their  presence,  namely:  Nellie  E., a  bright  and 
well  educated  young  lady;  and  two  sons,  Thomas 
L.,  and  Walter  W. 

Mrs.  Geiger  was  born  in  Sullivan  County,  N.  V., 
March  9,  1852,  a  daughter  of  Ives  and  Mary 
(Davidge)  Gregory,  natives  respectively  of  Hart- 
ford, Conn.,  and  of  England.  Her  mother  had 
come  to  the  United  States  when  five  years  of  age 
with  her  parents,  who  settled  in  Sullivan  County, 
where  she  grew  to  womanhood  and  married. 
After  marriage  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gregory  lived  in 
that  county  on  a  farm  near  Libert}'  for  thirtv- 


five  years.  At  the  end  of  that  time,  in  1869, 
they  migrated  to  Illinois,  and  lived  in  Whitesidc 
County,  near  Rock  Falls,  and  there  the  father 
died  February  21,  1881,  when  nearly  seventy-five 
years  of  age.  lie  was  a  Democrat  in  politics,  and 
a  Baptist  in  religion,  as  was  his  wife  who  survived 
him,  dying  in  November,  1891,  and  notwithstanding 
her  advanced  age,  still  took  a  deep^  interest  in  the 
affairs  of  the  church.  She  was  eighty  years  old 
March  31,  1891,  and  was  at  the  time  of  her  death 
quite  sound  physically  and  mentally.  She  made 
her  home  with  her  daughter,  Mrs.  Winfield  Cone, 
at  Thompson,  Whites! de  County.  Mrs.  Geiger  is 
the  youngest  of  nine  children,  of  whom  six  are 
living,  and  all  are  married.  She  has  four  sisters, 
all  of  whom  have  been  teachers,  and  one  sister, 
who  is  a  graduate  of  the  Illinois  State  Normal 
School,  was  prominent  in  her  profession  in  this 
State  some  years  prior  to  her  marriage.  Mrs. 
Geiger  was  finely  educated  in  the  New  York  Nor- 
mal School  at  Liberty,  near  her  birthplace,  and  is  a 
woman  of  superior  culture.  She,too,was  successfully 
engaged  in  teaching  before  her  marriage,  entering 
upon  her  professional  career  at  the  age  of  seven- 
teen years. 


ERRITT  MILLER,  of  the  firm  of  Miller 
&  Emmett,  dealers  in  grain  and  agricul- 
tural implements  in  the  village  of  Steward, 
is  not  only  prominent  as  a  business  man, 
but  he  has  a  high  record  as  one  of  the  successful 
farmers  of  Lee  County,  and  the  proprietor  of  one 
of  its  finely  improved  farms.  He  is  also  honored  as 
one  of  the  brave  citizen-soldiers  of  the  late  war, 
who  devoted  the  opening  years  of  his  manhood  to 
his  country's  service. 

Our  subject  was  born  in  Lackawanna  Township, 
Luzerne  County,  Pa.,  October  4,  1842,  and  is  the 
oldest  son  of  Adam  and  Mary  (Neyhart)  Miller, 
of  whom  a  sketch  appeal's  elsewhere  in  this  volume. 
His  early  education  was  conducted  in  the  public 
i  schools  of  Wyoming  County,  in  his  native  State, 
lie  was  reared  to  habits  of  industry,  commencing 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


219 


when  very  young  to  be  self-supporting,  working 
out  by  the  month  on  a  farm,  and  later  assisting 
his  father  in  the  mill.  He  came  to  Lee  County 
with  his  parents  in  1857,  and  resided  with  them 
until  1862.  He  watched  with  eager  interest  the 
course  of  the  Rebellion,  and  August  14,  of  that 
year,  though  he  had  not  then  attained  his  major- 
ity, he  was  allowed  to  enlist,  and  he  became  a 
member  of  Company  K,  Seventy-fifth  Illinois  In- 
fantry. He  served  faithfully  until  after  the  close 
of  the  war,  and  in  the  engagements  in  which  he 
fought  he  showed  that  he  had  in  him  the  stuff  of 
which  true  soldiers  are  made.  He  took  an  active 
part  in  the  battles  of  Perry  ville  and  Stone  River,  and 
soon  after  the  latter  was  placed  in  detached  service 
as  head  clerk  to  the  Assistant  Adjutant-General,  a 
position  for  which  he  was  peculiarly  fitted  by  rea- 
son of  his  quick  insight  into  business,  despatch  in 
the  discharge  of  his  duties,  and  promptness  in 
obeying  orders.  He  went  with  the  command  in 
Sherman's  Atlanta  campaign,  and  after  the  fall  of 
Atlanta  returned  to  Nashville,  where  he  became 
clerk  at  headquarters  in  the  Quartermaster's  depart- 
ment. He  was  honorably  discharged  with  his  reg- 
iment at  Chicago,  in  June,  1865. 

After  he  left  the  army,  Mr.  Miller  returned  to 
tliis  county  and  purchased  two  hundred  and  forty 
acres  of  prairie  land  on  sections  16  and  2 1,  of  Alto 
Township.  The  place  was  but  very  little  improved, 
but  he  wrought  a  great  change  in  a  few  years, 
placing  the  land  in  a  high  state  of  cultivation, 
planting  choice  fruit  and  shade  trees,  and  erecting 
a  fine  set  of  frame  buildings;  he  has  added  to  his 
landed  estate,  and  his  farm  now  contains  three 
hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  land,  constituting 
one  of  the  best  places  in  this  part  of  the  county. 
Our  subject  continued  to  carry  on  general  farming 
and  stock-raising  until  1886,  when  he  formed  a 
partnership  with  W.  H.  Emmett,  and  they  have 
since  engaged  in  the  grain  business  together,  and 
also  in  the  sale  of  agricultural  implements,  and  are 
conducting  a  large  and  profitable  trade  in  both 
lines. 

In  1866  Mr.  Miller  married  Miss  Carrie  Norton, 
a  native  of  Conneaut.  Ohio,  and  a  daughter  of 
Sprowell  Norton.  Mrs.  Miller  is  a  member  of  the 
Congregational  Church,  and  i>  <>m:  of  its  most  ear- 


nest Christian  workers.  She  is  a  true  homemaker, 
and  coziness  and  comfort  reign  in  the  home  over 
which  she  presides. 

Mr.  Miller  is  well  known  and  popular,  as  he 
is  frank,  generous  and  manly  in  his  intercourse 
with  others,  and  always  ready  to  do  any  one  a 
kindness  or  to  help  any  one  in  trouble.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  following  organizations:  Iloricon 
Lodge,  No.  244,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.;  Rochelle  Chapter, 
No.  158,  R.  A.  M.;  Crusader  Commandery,  No.  17, 
K.  T.;  Steward  Camp,  No.  294,  M.  W.  A.;  Garrison 
Lodge,  No.  16,  Knights  of  the  Globe;  and  of  Ro- 
chelle Post  No.  546,  G.  A.  R.  He  joined  the  Inde- 
pendent Order  of  Odd  Fellows  at  Rochelle,  and 
was  demitted  to  Steward  Lodge,  of  which  he  re- 
mained a  member  until  it  was  dissolved.  In  poli- 
tics, he  is  a  Republican  and  is  unswerving  in  his 
allegiance  to  his  party. 


AMUEL  A.  BENDER,  who  is  engaged  in 
general  farming  on  section  25,  Nachusa 
Township,  where  he  has  made  his  home 

since  1874,  although  he  has  been  a  resident 
of  the  county  since  1861,  claims  Pennsylvania  as 
the  State  of  his  nativity.  Franklin  County  is  the 
place  of  his  birth  and  the  date  is  June  5,  1843. 
His  paternal  grandfather,  Henry  Bender,  was  a  na- 
tive of  Germany,  and  when  a  young  man  bade 
good-by  to  the  Fatherland.  He  sailed  for  America 
and  settled  in  Franklin  County,  Pa.,  where  he  im- 
proved a  large  farm  of  two  hundred  and  forty 
acres.  In  the  Keystone  State  he  was  married,  and 
himself  and  wife  spent  the  remainder  of  their 
lives  upon  the  farm  which  he  purchased.  Mr. 
Bender  died  at  the  age  of  seventy-four  years,  and 
his  wife  was  also  well  advanced  in  life.  They 
were  both  members  of  the  Lutheran  Church  and 
had  a  family  of  eleven  children,  all  of  whom  are 
yet  living,  with  the  exception  of  John  Bender,  the 
father  of  our  subject. 

John  Bender  was  the  second  child  and  Penn- 
sylvania was  the  State  of  his  nativity.  He  be- 
came a  carpenter  by  trade  and  followed  that  occu- 
pation throughout  his  life.  His  death  occurred  in 


2SO 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


Gilford  Township,  Franklin  County,  August  15, 
1876,  at  the  age  of  sixty-four  years.  His  widow, 
whose  maiden  name  was  Margaret  Miller,  was  born, 
•eared,  and  is  yet  living  in  Franklin  Comity,  and 
ilso  came  of  German  lineage.  She  makes  her 
lome  with  her  daughter,  Mrs.  Lotta  Mull,  and  is 
eighty  years  of  age.  She  is  a  member  of  the  Ger- 
nan  Baptist  Church,  to  which  Mr.  Bender  also  be- 
onged.  Five  children  graced  the  union  of  this 
worthy  couple  and  all  are  yet  living,  have  married 
ind  are  at  the  head  of  families. 

Samuel  Bender,  whose  name  heads  this  sketch, 
gained  his  experience  of  life,  prior  to  1861,  in 
M-anklin  County,  Pa.,  where  he  was  reared  and  ed- 
icated.  In  the  year  above  mentioned  he  came  to 
llinois,  locating  in  Lee  County.  The  Civil 
iVar  was  then  in  progress  and  in  August,  1862,  he 
lecame  one  of  the  boys  in  blue  of  Company  G, 
Seventy-fifth  Illinois  Infantry.  The  regiment  was 
issigned  to  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland  and  at 
mce  marched  to  (he  front.  The  first  battle  in 
vhich  it  participated  was  at  Prairieville,  where  it 
ustained  heavy  losses.  This  was  followed  by  the 
tattle  of  Murfreesboro  and  from  this  time  on  the 
egiment  saw  much  hard  fighting.  Among  the 
lattles  in  which  Mr.  Bender  participated  were 
hose  of  Chattanooga,  Mission  Ridge,  Lookout 
fountain,  Franklin,  Tenn.,  and  those  of  the  siege 
if  Atlanta.  He  was  very  fortunate  in  that  he  es- 
aped  all  injury.  A  faithful  soldier,  he  was  ever 
ound  at  his  post  and  was  never  absent  from  his 
egiment  except  on  special  duty.  He  enlisted  as 
private  and  was  honorably  discharged  from  the 
ervice  as  Sergeant  of  his  company  at  the  close  of 
he  war. 

Mr.  Bender  at  once  returned  to  Lee  County, 
nd  was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Millie  Hart, 
native  of  Luzerne  County,  Pa.,  and  a  sister  of 
,evi  Hart,  in  whose  sketch,  on  another  page  of 
his  work,  is  given  her  family  history.  She  died 
t  her  home  in  Nachusa  Township,  in  1886,  in  the 
dith  of  the  United  Brethren  Church,  of  which  she 
f&s  a  consistent  member.  She  left  four  children : 
'rank,  Bessie,  Mabel  and  Ettie,  all  of  whom  are 
et  at  home,  and  three  children  preceded  her  to 
lie  land  beyond — Ruth.  Pearl  and  William,  all  of 
•1mm  died  in  carlv  childhood.  Mr.  Mender  was 


again  married  in  Dixon,  his  second  union  being 
with  Miss  Mary  Blackmau,  a  native  of  England, 
who,  in  her  early  girlhood,  came  to  the  United 
States  with  her  father,  J.  F.  Blackmail,  who  was 
also  born  in  England.  Her  father  died  in  this 
county  some  years  ago,  but  his  widow  still  sur- 
vives him  and  is  yet  living  on  the  old  home- 
stead. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bender  are  members  of  the  Metho- 
dist Church.  They  are  held  in  high  regard  by  all 
who  know  them,  and  their  home  is  a  hospitable  one, 
where  their  many  friends  delight  to  congregate. 
It  is  situated  on  section  25,  Nachusa  Township,  in 
the  midst  of  a  highly  improved  farm  of  eighty 
acres,  whose  neat  appearance  indicates  the  thrift 
and  enterprise  of  the  owner.  In  political  senti- 
ment, Mr.  Bender  is  a  stanch  Republican,  and  so- 
cially is  a  member  of  the  Grand  Army  Post  of 
Dixon. 


\TP^K'IIARD  F.  MILLER  has  already  won  a 
j^tf  good  record  as  an  enterprising  farmer  and 
^i  w,  stock-raiser,  although  he  is  yet  a  young 
man,  and  his  farm  in  China  Township  com- 
pares favorably  in  point  of  importance  and  tillage 
with  others  of  its  size  in  Lee  County.  Our  sub- 
ject is  the  eleventh  of  the  twelve  children  of  Moses 
W.  and  Catherine  (Livengood)  Miller,  and  he  was 
born  in  Somerset  County,  Pa.,  June  22,  1860.  lie 
was  eight  years  old  when  he  came  to  Lee  County 
in  1868  with  his  father,  and  the  most  of  his  lift- 
lias  been  passed  here. 

He  was  reared  to  agricultural  pursuits  on  the 
old  homestead  in  China  Township,  and  when  lu> 
arrived  at  years  of  discretion  selected  farming  as 
his  life-work.  When  he  entered  upon  his  career, 
he  was  well  grounded  in  the  principles  of  agricul- 
ture, and  has  shown  by  what  he  has  accomplished 
that  he  selected  his  occupation  wisely,  as  none  of 
the  young  farmers  of  this  vicinity  has  been  more 
successful  than  he  in  tilling  the  soil.  His  farm 
comprises  two  hundred  acres  of  very  productive 
land,  neatly  divided  into  convenient  fields  by  good 
fences,  amply  supplied  with  roomy  and  substantial 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


221 


buildings  for  all  necessary  purposes,  and  the  best 
modern  machinery  is  used  in  cultivating  and 
harvesting  the  crops. 

Mr.  Miller  was  happily  married  in  China  Town- 
ship December  5,  1879,  to  Miss  Anna  R.  Hartzell,  a 
daughter  of  J.  C.  W.  and  Catherine  ,1.  (Trostle) 
Hartzell,  natives  of  Pennsylvania,  and  now  well- 
known  residents  of  Nachusa  Township.  Mrs. 
Miller  is  the  eldest  of  five  children,  and  was  born 
in  Nachusa  Township  April  3,  1857.  She  is  the 
mother  of  five  children:  Rosa  F.,  Alfred  T.,  Clif- 
ford B.,  Kate  B.  and  Cora  Ety.  She  understands 
well  how  to  make  home  cozy  and  attractive,  and 
cordially  seconds  her  husband's  genial  hospitality, 
so  that  all  who  cross  their  threshold  are  sure  of  a 
pleasant  welcome. 

Our  subject  is  a  wide-awake,  active  young  man, 
prompt  in  carrying  out  whatever  he  undertakes, 
and  quick  to  take  advantage  of  all  honorable 
means  of  increasing  his  possessions.  His  habits 
are  good,  and  his  standing  is  of  the  best.  He  is 
somewhat  prominent  in  local  political  affairs,  and 
gives  his  allegiance  to  the  Republican  party.  •  He 
has  been  School  Director,  and  while  an  incumbent 
of  that  office  acted  for  the  best  interests  of  his 
township  in  educational  matters. 


E  STENGER  is  one  of  the  substantial 
and  highly  respected  citizens  of  Sublette 
Township,  where  he  is  engaged  in  farming. 
He  is  a  native  of  Bavaria,  Germany,  and  was  born 
near  Frankfort  April  23,1 825,his  parents  being  John 
A.  and  Agnes  Stenger.  The  latter  died  in  Ger- 
many in  1834.  She  was  the  mother  of  eight  chil- 
dren, of  whom  only  two  grew  to  maturity,  our 
subject  and  his  sister  Agnes.  Agnes  came  to  the 
United  States,  married  Michael  Shilling,  and  died 
in  Peoria,  111.  The  father  of  our  subject  had  one 
son  by  a  former  marriage.  Frank,  who  died  in 
Peoria.  By  a  third  marriage  he  had  a  son  named 
John,  who  now  resides  in  Utah. 

The  father  of  our  subject  came  to  this  country 
in  1836,  landed  at  Baltimore,  and  from  there  made 


his  way  to  Zanesville,  Ohio,  where  he  at  once  took 
legal  steps  to  become  a  citizen  of  the  United  States 
so  as  to  share  in  the  defense  as  well  as  in  the  pro- 
tection of  his  chosen  country.  In  1838  he  returned 
to  Germany  to  receive  some  money  which  he  had 
inherited,  and  after  he  came  back  to  America  he 
continued  to  live  in  Ohio  until  1841,  when  he 
came  to  Illinois  and  settled  in  Woodford  County, 
where  he  died  the  following  year,  thus  depriving 
that  section  of  the  services  of  a  loyal  citizen  in  its 
upbuilding. 

He  of  whom  this  biography  is  written  was  a 
stalwart  lad  of  eleven  years  when  he  crossed  the 
ocean  with  his  father  in  1836  to  become  a  citizen 
of  the  United  States  of  America  in  due  time.  His 
father's  death  a  few  years  later  left  him  almost 
alone  in  the  world,  and  thus  early  thrown  on  his 
own  resources  he  sought  and  found  work  as  a  farm 
hand.  lie  was  thus  engaged  in  Woodford,  Peoria 
and  McLean  Counties  until  1845,  when  he  went  to 
Princeton  and  for  five  years  was  engaged  in  a 
brickyard.  He  saved  his  earnings,  and  in  1851  was 
enabled  to  purchase  eighty  acres  of  land  and  estab- 
lish himself  in  the  manufacture  of  brick,  which 
business  he  carried  on  successfully  the  ensuing 
seven  years.  In  1858  he  purchased  his  present 
farm  on  section  28,  Sublette  Township.  It  was 
then  merely  a  tract  of  wild  prairie,  and  though  he 
made  some  improvements  on  it,  he  did  not  then 
locate  there,  not  moving  his  family  to  their  new 
home  until  1860.  He  has  erected  neat  buildings, 
has  had  his  land  under  the  best  of  tillage  and 
amply  supplied  with  good  farming  machinery  and 
every  convenience  for  carrying  on  agriculture. 

Mr.  Stenger  and  Miss  Elizabeth  Gosse  were 
united  in  marriage  in  1851,  and  five  children  have 
blessed  their  wedded  life,  named  as  follows:  An- 
drew, Elizabeth  J.,  Mary,  Joseph  and  Frank.  Mrs. 
Stenger  was  born  April  19,  1825,  in  Alsace,  Ger- 
many, when  it  was  under  French  dominion.  In 
1831  she  came  to  this  country  with  her  parents, 
Frank  nnd  Mary  Gosse,  who  first  settled  near  De- 
troit, Mich.,  and  later  removed  to  Princeton,  111., 
where  Mrs.  Stenger  first  met  her  future  husband. 

In  our  subject  the  Democratic  party  has  a  faith- 
ful follower.  In  religion  he  is  a  firm  adherent  of 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church.  Ho  lias  Ix-en  School 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


Director  and  has  done  what  he  can  for  the  educa- 
tional interests  of  his  adopted  township,  as  well 
as  in  other  matters,  and  is  one  of  the  public-spirited 
men  of  his  community. 


<jm  DOLPHUS  FISHER,  who  is  a  farmer  of 
((§yLJj|  much  enterprise  and  ability,  is  prosper- 
III  li  ously  pursuing  his  calling  in  Wyoming 
^jl  Township,  where  he  owns  a  well-ordered 
and  well-managed  farm.  He  was  born  October  2, 
1847,  six  miles  west  of  the  State  House  at  Colum- 
bus, Ohio,  coming  of  one  of  the  early  pioneer 
families  of  that  part  of  the  country.  His  father, 
Jacob  Fisher,  was  born  in  Pennsylvania,  and  it  is 
supposed  that  his  father.  Thomas  Fisher,  who  was 
of  German  ancestry,  was  also  born  in  that  -State. 
He  removed  from  there  to  Ohio  in  the  early  days 
of  its  settlement,  and  was  one  of  the  first  settlers 
in  Franklin  County.  He  bought  one  hundred  acres 
of  forest-covered  land  and  erected  a  log  cabin  as 
a  dwelling-place  for  his  family,  splitting  boards  to 
cover  the  roof  and  for  the  floor,  and  using 
wooden  pins  instead  of  nails  in  the  construction 
of  the  building.  For  a  time  there  was  no  door, 
but  a  blanket  was  hung  over  the  entrance  to  keep 
out  the  wolves,  for  they  were  plentiful,  as  well  as 
deer  and  other  wild  animals.  In  one  instance  the 
grandfather  of  our  subject  was  caught  out  after 
dark,  and  being  pursued  by  timber  wolves,  he 
took  refuge  in  a  vacant  cabin,  and  clambering 
onto  the  sleepers  overhead,  had  to  stay  there 
until  morning  dawned,  as  the  wolves  howled  at 
him  beneath  all  night.  Indians  still  inhabited 
that  section  of  the  country  and  were  frequent 
callers  at  his  house,  and  he  had  but  few  white 
neighbors.  He  struggled  with  the  hardships  of 
pioneer  life,  worked  at  his  trade  a  part  of  the 
time,  and  cleared  his  land  when  not  otherwise 
engaged,  so  that  by  years  of  hard  toil  he  evolved 
a  farm  from  the  wilderness,  upon  which  he  re- 
sided until  1856.  In  that  year  the  old  man  came 
to  Illinois  to  spend  the  remainder  of  his  life  with 


his  children  at  Jefferson  Grove,  Ogle  County, 
and  there  death  found  him  in  the  fullness  of 
time. 

Jacob  Fisher  passed  his  early  years  in  Penn- 
sylvania, and  when  his  father  removed  to  Ohio 
he  accompanied  him  to  the  new  home  in  the 
forest  wilds.  He  bought  one  hundred  acres  of 
timber  land,  cleared  quite  a  tract  of  it,  and  then 
sold  it  at  an  advance  and  bought  other  land, 
upon  which  he  erected  the  substantial  double  log 
house  which  was  the  birthplace  of  our  subject. 
In  1852  he  sold  that  place,  and  coming  to  Illinois, 
was  a  pioneer  of  this  county.  He  was  accompanied 
by  his  wife  and  ten  children,  and  by  his  brother 
and  his  wife  and  three  children,  the  entire  jour- 
ney across  the  intervening  country  being  made 
wholly  by  land.  He  stopped  a  short  time  at  Jef- 
ferson Grove,  and  then  bought  land  at  Twin 
i  Grove,  in  what  is  now  Willow  Creek  Township, 
this  county.  His  purchase  included  two  hundred 
and  forty  acres  of  land,  of  which  thirty-five  acres 
were  timber  and  the  remainder  open  prairie.  There 
was«a  small  frame  house  on  the  place,  also  a  small 
log  stable,  and  seventy  acres  of  the  land  were 
j  under  cultivation.  At  that  time  there  were  no 
I  railways  in  the  county,  and  but  little  improve- 
ment had  been  made  throughout  the  length  and 
breadth  of  this  beautiful  farming  region  that  is 
to-day  the  scene  of  so  many  smiling  homes  and 
highly  developed  farms.  Mr.  Fisher  soon  showed 
himself  to  be  a  practical,  capable  pioneer,  but  he 
was  not  destined  to  tarry  long  in  this  promised 
land,  where  he  sought  to  build  up  a  new  home,  as 
death  removed  him  from  the  scenes  of  his  labors 
three  years  after  his  settlement  here.  His  widow, 
who  was  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  her  maiden 
name  Ruth  Carleton,  continued  to  live  on  the 
farm  at  Twin  Grove  many  years,  until  her  death 
at  a  venerable  age  in  1889.  At  her  husband's 
death  she  was  left  with  a  family  of  ten  children, 
whom  she  reared  carefully. 

Adolphus  Fisher  was  but  a  child  when  his  par- 
ents came  to  this  county,  and  here  he  grew  up  to 
a  self-reliant,  energetic  manhood.  He  attended 
school  in  his  youth,  and  when  not  so  doing  as- 
sisted in  carrying  on  the  farm.  He  lived  with 
his  mother  until  he  was  twenty-two  years  old. 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


223 


and  then  began  his  independent  career  as  a  farmer 
on  rented  land  in  Ogle  County.  He  farmed  as  a 
renter  six  years,  and  at  the  expiration  of  that 
time  was  enabled  to  invest  in  land  of  his  own, 
and  bought  one  hundred  and  thirty-eight  acres  at 
Jefferson  Grove.  He  was  busily  engaged  in  its 
improvement  until  1882,  when  he  sold  that  and 
bought  the  farm  where  he  now  resides  in  Wyoming 
Township.  He  has  one  hundred  and  seventy-five 
acres  of  fine  land,  of  exceptional  fertility  and 
under  excellent  tillage,  and  provided  with  a  sub- 
stantial set  of  frame  buildings  and  all  the  neces- 
sary farming  machinery  for  carrying  on  agricul- 
ture after  the  best  methods. 

Mr.  Fisher  was  married,  in  1873,  to  Miss  Dolly 
Siglin,  a  native  of  Pennsylvania  and  a  daughter 
of  Amos  and  Catherine  Siglin,  of  whom  a  sketch 
appears  on  another  page  of  this  volume.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Fisher  enjoy  life  in  a  cozy  home,  which  is 
the  seat  of  an  abundant  hospitality,  which  they 
dispense  with  a  free  hand  to  friend  or  stranger 
who  may  cross  their  threshold.  They  have  two 
children  living,  Elsie  and  Amos. 


eHARLES  JONES  came  to  Lee  County  with 
his  parents  more  than  forty  years  ago,  who 
were  among  its  pioneers,  and  since  he  enter- 
ed upon  his  career  as  a  farmer  he  has  had  a  hand 
in  its  development,  inasmuch  as  he  has  improved 
a  good  farm  in  Wyoming  Township.  He  is  a 
Pennsylvania!!  by  birth,  born  in  Exeter  Township, 
Luzerne  County,  May  17, 1832.  His  father,  Lord 
Jones,  was  born  in  the  same  township  July  5, 1805, 
a  son  of  Lewis  Jones,  who  was  a  native  of  the 
State  of  New  York.  When  a  young  man,  the  lat- 
ter had  taken  up  his  residence  in  Luzerne  County, 
and  was  married  at  Pittston  to  Sarah  Benedict, who, 
so  far  as  known,  was  born  in  Pennsylvania.  He 
bought  a  partly  improved  farm  in  Exeter,  and  his 
remaining  days  were  passed  upon  it. 

The  father  of  subject  grew  up  on  the  farm  which 
was  his  birthplace.  He  worked  with  an  elder  brother 
ajid  became  a  carpenter  under  his  instruction. 
He  pursued  his  trade  in  Exeter  until  1K18,  and 


then  determined  to  avail  himself  of  the  larger 
opportunities  offered  by  what  was  at  that  time 
considered  the  "Far  West."  In  his  migration  to 
Illinois  he  was  accompanied  by  his  wife  and  seven 
children,  and  he  founded  his  new  home  on  a  tract 
of  Government  land  on  what  is  now  section'  8, 
Wyoming  Township.  He  was  one  of  its  early  set- 
tlers and  did  an  important  work  as  a  pioneer  in 
advancing  its  growth.  He  erected  a  small  frame 
building  on  his  land  as  a  temporary  shelter,  and 
some  years  later  he  replaced  it  by  a  more  substan- 
tial brick  residence.  He  devoted  the  most  of  his 

j  time  to  the  improvement  of  his  farm,  and  lived 
upon  it  until  1877,  when  he  sold  it  at  a  good  price, 
and  from  that  time  until  his  death,  September  21, 

i  1887,  lived  in  honorable  retirement.  He  was  mar- 
ried in  Exeter,  his  native  town,  January  6,  1830, 
to  Phebe  Goble,  and  their  wedded  life  was  of  un- 
usual  duration,  extending  over  a  period  of  more 
than  fifty-seven  years.  It  was  a  felicitous  union, 
and  was  blessed  with  children,of  whom  they  reared 
eight  to  useful  lives,  namely:  Theodore  S., 
Charles,  Orlando  H.,  Ira  1).,  Ann  Elizabeth  (wife 

'  of  William  Eddy)  ,  Benjamin  A.,  Gilbert  W.,  and 
Sarah  (wife  of  J.  W.  McIIale).  Early  in  their 
married  life,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jones  united  with  the 
Baptist  Church,  she  joining  in  April,  1834,  and  he 
in  January,  1835.  She  survives  her  husband, and 
though  in  her  eighty-third  year,  is  sound  of  mind 
and  body.  She  was  born  in  Kingston,  Luzerne 
County,  Pa.,  July  29,  1809,  a  daughter  of  Ezekiel 
Goble. 

The  maternal  grandfather  of  our  subject  was  a 
native  of  New  Jersey,  and  was  a  son  of  Ezekiel 
Goble,  who,  for  aught  that  is  known  to  the  con- 
trary .was  also  born  in  that  State,  and  was  a  descend- 
ant of  early  English  ancestry.  He  removed  from 
New  Jersey  to  Kingston,  Penn.,  with  his  family  in 
1795,  and  there  his  life  was  brought  to  a  close  in 
'1811  on  the  farm  that  he  purchased  when  he  first 
located  in  that  place.  The  maiden  name  of  his 
wife,  whose  death  occurred  on  the  farm  in  1809, 
was  Phebe  Peck.  The  grandfather  of  our  subject 
was  nineteen  years  of  age  when  the  family  went  to 
Pennsylvania,  and  he  was  married  in  that  State  to 
.Margaret  Thompson,  a  native  of  Bucks  County, 
and  a  daughter  of  James  and  Susanna  Beck.  He 


•>•>  I 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


bought  a  farm  in  Kingston  and  lived  there  until 
1815.  when  he  sold  it  and  took  up  his  abode  in 
Exeter  Township,  whence  he  came  in  1847  to  Illi- 
nois. He  made  his  home  thereafter  with  his  sons  I 
Ezekiel  and  Charles,  and  departed  this  life  May  2, 
1849.  His  wife  survived  him  until  September  12, 
1859,  when  she  too  passed  away. 

The  subject  of  this  biographical  record  was  ed- 
ucated in  his  native  State.  He  was  a  youth  of  six-  > 
teen  years  when  the  family  left  the  old  home  to 
begin  life  anew  on  the  frontier.  That  memorable 
journey  across  the  intervening  country  was  made 
with  teams,  and  they  were  four  weeks  on  the  way. 
A  tent  and  sheet  iron  stove  formed  part  of  their 
equipment,  and  at  night  they  camped  by  the  way- 
side and  cooked  their  food.  Upon  their  arrival  at 
the  scene  of  their  new  home,  they  found  a  wild, 
sparsely  settled  country,  where  deer  and  other 
kinds  of  game  flourished,  and  there  were  no  rail- 
ways or  means  of  communication  with  the  outside 
world,  except  over  rough  roads,  or  no  roads  at  all, 
Chicago,  many  miles  distant,was  the  nearest  market 
for  the  sale  of  produce  or  where  supplies  could  be 
obtained.  The  greater  part  of  the  land  was  still 
in  the  hands  of  the  Government,  and  was  held  for 
sale  at  $1.25  an  acre. 

Mr.  Jones  resided  with  his  father  until  he  mar- 
ried and  established  a  home  of  his  own  on  the 
farm  in  Wyoming  Township,  where  he  still  resides. 
He  has  not  only  teen  a  witness  of  the  wonderful 
transformation  that  has  taken  place  in  this  section 
since  he  came  here,  but  he  has  helped  to  bring  it 
about.  His  farm  is  highly  productive,  and  com- 
pares favorably  with  the  others  in  its  vicinity  in 
all  respects. 

Our  subject  was  married  February  14,  1854,  to 
Miss  Martha  E.  Harris,  who  is  to  him  all  that  the 
word  wife  implies.  Mrs.  Jones  was  born  in  the 
town  of  Summer  Hill,  Cayuga  County,  N.  V.,  Sep- 
tember 15,  1833,  to  Daniel  and  Miriam  (Page) 
Harris.  For  her  parental  history  see  sketch  of  D. 
M.  Harris.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jones  have  fourchildren 
living,  of  whom  the  following  is  the  record:  La- 
verne  Fountain  was  born  April  17,1855,  Ada  Eve- 
line, June  14,  1858;  Loren  E.,  October  23, 
I860;  Maud  Albertie,  May  13,  186;2.  Laverne 
married  Miss  Minnie  Berkland,and  they  have  one 


daughter,    whose    name  is    Mattie.     Ada    married 

Frank    H.  Bryant,  and  they  have  four  children 

Tessie,  Emma.  Carl  and  Wilson.  Maud  married 
John  Adrian,  of  Viola  Township,  and  the}'  have 
three  children:  Ethel,  Robert  S.  and  Ada. 


RS.  CATHERINE  E.  ASCHENBRENNER. 
This  lady,  who  is  the  owner  of  one  of  the 
finest  places  in  Bradford  Township,  and 
which  is  situated  on  section  30,  is  an  old  set- 
tier  inthis  county,  and  is  highly  esteemed  in  thecom- 
munity  in  which  she  has  so  long  made  her  home. 
Her  maiden  name  was  Catherine  E.  Reinhart,  and 
she  was  born  in  Germany,  October  24,1832.  When 
shs  was  twelve  years  of  age  her  parents  Christian 
and  Christina  (Denhardt)  Reinhart.  emigrated  to 
America,  coming  to  Illinois  and  settling  in  China 
Township,  this  county,  in  1845  where  they 
both  died. 

Our  subject  was  reared  to  womanhood  in  China 
Township  and  lived  there  until  her  marriage  with 
Oman  Hillison.  Mr.  Hillison  was  a  native  of  Nor- 
way and  emigrated  to  America  when  he  was  nine- 
teen years  old.  being  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  in 
Lee  County.  He  built  the  first  farm  house  be- 
tween Melugon's  Grove  and  Dixon,  and  which 
was  a  favorite  stopping  place  for  many  of  tin- 
pioneers  on  their  journey  to  their  new  homes  in 
the  Western  States.  By  this  marriage  our  subject 
became  the  mother  of  two  children,  Henry  W.,and 
Betsey  J.,  the  latter  being  the  wife  of  C.  Bran- 
dau.  ' 

After  the  death  of  the  first  husband  which  took 
place  in  Bradford  Township,  our  subject  was  mar- 
ried to  John  J.  Aschen  broil  ner,  of  which  union  three 
children  were  born,Christian,  Reinhart  and  Andrew. 
Mrs.  Aschenbrenner  is  an  intelligent,  go-ahead 
woman,  and  is  in  possession  of  an  excellent  prop- 
erty, comprising  four  hundred  and  eleven  acres  of 
land,  improved  with  first-class  buildings  and  all 
the  conveniences  so  essential  to  rural  life.  She  is  an 
estimable  woman  and  conducts  her  extensive 
estates  in  an  admirable  manner. 


OFTF  . 
rannawrjr  wTiuwM 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


227 


§II()MAS  II.  STETLKR,  M.    I).,  of  Paw  Paw, 
is  not  only  one   of  the   leading   physicians 
of  Lee  County,  whose  reputation   for  skill 
and  success  in  his  profession  is  very  high,  but   he 
is  prominent  in  its  social  and  political    life,  and 
his  public-spirited  and  enterprise  have  been  potent 
agents  in  its  progress  since  he  became  a  citizen  of 
this  section  of  Illinois. 

The  Doctor,  whose  portrait  is  presented  on  the 
opposite  page,  is  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  and 
was  horn  in  Wilkesbarre,  Luzerne  County.  His 
father,  John  Stetler,  was  also  a  native  of  the  Key- 
stone State,  his  birthplace  in  Columbia  County. 
He  married  Julia  Lazarus,  a  native  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  they  settled  in  Wilkesbarre.  and  spent 
their  remaining  days  in  that  place,  he  being  en- 
gaged in  teaming  and  boating. 

A  thorough  student,  our  subject  laid  the  foun-  i 
dation  of  a  good  education  in  the  public  schools  of  } 
his  native  town,  and  at  the  age  of  eighteen,  when 
he  commenced  to  teach,  he  was  well  equipped  for 
that  vocation,  to  which  he  devoted  himself  the 
ensuing  five  years.  When  twenty-three  years  old, 
he  turned  his  attention  to  the  study  of  medicine 
with  T.  I).  Palmer,  of  Paw  Paw.  He  made  rapid 
progress  in  his  studies,  and  afterward  entered  the 
Chicago  Medical  College,  from  which  he  graduated 
March  21,  1876.  He  immediately  opened  an  office 
at  Paw  Paw,  and  in  the  course  of  time  has  built  up 
an  excellent  practice  in  the  village  and  surround- 
ing country,  early  winning  the  confidence  of  the 
people,  as  in  his  treatment  of  the  various  diseases 
with  which  he  has  had  to  cope,  he  has  displayed 
an  accurate  knowledge  of  medicine,  has  always 
given  his  patients  every  needed  attention,  and 
ha*  shown  himself  to  be  a  sagacious  and  carefxil 
physician,  who  keeps  well  abreast  of  the  times  in 
his  profession. 

Dr.  Stetler  by  no  means  confines  his  attention 
solely  to  his  profession,  but,  as  he  is  wide-awake 
and  progressive,  endowed  with  an  active  mind,  a 
forceful  character,  and  an  enterprising  spirit,  he 
interests  himself  in  what  concerns  his  adopted 
county,  as  a  true  citizen  should,  and  is  a  promi- 
nent member  of  various  social  organizations.  lie 
is  one  of  the  foremost  leaders  of  the  Republican 
party  in  this  section,  standing  high  in  its  council 
10 


as  Chairman  of  the  County  Central  Committee. 
He  is  a  valued  member  of  the  North  Central  Illi- 
nois Medical  Society,  and  has  been  appointed  del- 
egate to  the  State  and  National  Medical  Society, 
lie  belongs  to  Corinthian  Lodge,  No.  205,  F.  &  A. 
M.;  Mendota  Chapter,  No.  79,  R.  A.  M.,  and 
Bethany  Commandery,  K.  T.  The  Doctor  has  an 
inherent  love  for  a  horse,  and  is  the  fortunate 
possessor  of  several  high-bred  animals. 

In  1870  Dr.  Stetler  was  married  to  Miss  Libbie 
Rosenkrans,  a  native  of  Luzerne  County,  Pa.,  and 
a  daughter  of  Abram  and  Betsy  Rosenkrans,  of 
whom  mention  is  made  in  the  sketch  of  Andrew  J. 
Rosenkrans  on  another  page  of  this  volume.  The 
Doctor  and  his  amiable  wife  have  a  pleasant  home, 
whose  attractiveness  is  enhanced  by  their  charm- 
ing hospitality,  which  is  often  enjoyed  by  their 
friends,  of  whom  they  have  man}'.  Their  house- 
hold is  completed  by  their  one  child,  Orla  Nettie. 


;ILLIAM  II.  FISCEL,  deceased,  is  numbered 
among  the  early  settlers  of  Lee  County, 
of  1 849,  and  here  he  made  his  home  for 
forty  years  or  until  his  death  April  23,  1889.  A 
native  of  Adams  County,  Pa.,  he  was  born  May 
14, 1832,  and  came  of  old  families  of  the  Keystone 
State.  His  ancestors  were  farming  people  who  re- 
sided in  York  and  Adams  Counties.  His  parents 
were  David  and  Mary  A.  (Herbst)  Fiscel,  natives 
of  Adams  County,  where  after  their  marriage  they 
resided  for  some  years.  Later  they  removed  to 
Washington  County,  Md., and  in  1849,  with  teams, 
started  overland  for  Lee  County,  111.  The  three 
years  succeeding  their  arrival  were  spent  in  China 
Township,  after  which  Mr.  Fiscel  purchased  a  tract 
of  land  from  the  Government  on  section  32,  Na- 
chusa  Township,  where,  devoting  his  attention  to 
agricultural  pursuits,  he  spent  the  remainder  of 
his  days.  His  death  occurred  in  1865,  at  the  age 
of  forty-nine  years.  He  was  a  successful  farmer, 
who  by  his  industry,  perseverance  and  good  man- 
agement accumulated  a  handsome  property.  In 
his  political  views  he  was  a  Democrat  and  with 


228 


POETEAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


the  German  Baptist  Church  lie  held  membership. 
Since  the  death  of  her  husband  Mrs.  Fiscel  has  re- 
sided with  her  children  and  is  now  living  with  the 
wife  of  our  subject.  Although  she  has  reached  the 
allotted  age  of  three-score  years  and  ten,  she  yet 
retains  her  health  in  a  remarkable  degree  and  her 
mental  faculties  are  little  impaired. 

William  H.  Fiscel  was  the  eldest  in  a  family  of 
four  sons  and  three  daughters,  and  his  brother  and 
sisters  are  all  yet  living,  five  being  residents  of 
Iowa.  With  his  parents  he  came  to  Lee  County, 
in  1849,  and  with  them  removed  from  China 
Township  to  Nachusa  Township  in  1852.  He  aided 
in  the  laborious  task  of  developing  a  new  farm  and 
at  length  became  the  owner  of  one  hundred  and 
sixty  IK-ITS  of  land  on  section  32,  where  he  had  a 
comfortable  home.  The  many  improvements  there 
to  be  seen  stand  as  monuments  to  his  thrift  and 
enterprise,  for  he  was  an  energetic  and  progressive 
man  who  labored  untiringly  in  whatever  line  of 
work  he  undertook. 

In  the  township  where  his  widow  still  resides, 
Mr.  Fiscel  was  united  in  the  holy  bonds  of  matri- 
mony with  Miss  Elizabeth  Stambaugh,  a  native  of 
Adams  County,  Pa.,  bom  December  25,  1846.  She 
was  a  young  maiden  when  she  came  West  with 
her  parents,  George  and  Christina  (Wolf)  Stam- 
baugh, the  family  settling  in  Nachusa  Township, 
Lee  County,  where  the  father  and  mother  spent 
the  remainder  of  their  days.  They  were  only  a 
little  past  middle  life  when  called  to  their  final 
rest.  In  politics  Mr.  Stambaugh  was  a  Democrat 
and  his  wife  was  a  member  of  the  German  Baptist 
Church.  Their  union  was  blessed  with  six  sons 
and  four  daughters,  and  the  family  circle  is  yet 
unbroken.  The  children  are  now  all  married  and 
have  families. 

I'nto  Mr.  and  Fiscel  were  born  three  children, 
E.  Franklin,  Ray  W.  and  Leroy,  who  are  still  at 
home  with  their  mother.  Our  subject  was  a  life- 
long member  of  the  German  Baptist  Church,  and  in 
politics  was  a  stalwart  supporter  of  the  Republican 
party.  He  lived  a  quiet,  unassuming  life,  taking 
no  prominent  part  in  public  affairs,  content  rather 
to  devote  his  energies  to  his  business  and  spent 
his  leisure  time  in  the  enjoyment  of  home.  In 
his  death  the  comity  lost  one  of  its  best  citizens 


and  his  family  a  loving  and  faithful  husband  and 
father.  Mrs.  Fiscel  manages  the  farm  which  is 
located  on  section  32,  Nachusa  Township,  and  in 
its  care  displays  considerable  executive  ability. 
She  is  a  lady  of  high  social  standing  and,  like  her 
husband,  has  been  a  member  of  the  German  Bap- 
tist Church  from  her  childhood. 


jji'  ENRY  C.  BROOKNER  was  a  master  me- 
[Ml)  chanic  and  builder  of  more  than  usual  abil- 
'xd?  ity,  and  in  that  capacity  occupied  important 
(|p  positions  in  the  employ  of  the  Illinois  Cen- 
tral and  the  Big  Four  railways  at  different  times. 
During  the  latter  part  of  his  life  he  settled  on  his 
farm  in  the  vicinity  of  the  city  of  Dixon,  which 
he  had  owned  for  many  years,  and  superintended 
its  improvement. 

Mr.  Brookner  was  born  in  Osnabruck,  Hanover, 
Germany,  June  15,  1827,  a  son  of  George  and 
Maria  (Engle)  Brookner.  His  father  was  a  re- 
nowned contractor  and  builder,  and  was  architect 
to  the  king.  He  and  his  wife  spent  their  entire 
lives  in  the  German  Fatherland.  They  reared  a 
family  of  six  sons  of  whom  these  three  came  to 
America:  Henry  C.,  Edward  II.,  who  settled  in 
Dixon,  but  he  and  his  wife  are  now  in  Hamburg. 
Germany,  educating  their  two  children,  and  Charles 
J.,  a  resident  of  Rochester,  Minn.,  who  is  married, 
and  has  two  children. 

Our  subject  attended  school  constantly  in  his 
native  town  during  his  boyhood.  At  the  age  of 
nineteen,  ambitious  to  see  something  of  the  world, 
and  to  try  his  fortunes  in  America,  he  left  the 
parental  home,  and  crossing  the  Atlantic  on  a  sail- 
ing vessel, six  weeks  later  he  landed  at  New  Orleans. 
His  outlook  was  not  very  encouraging  as  he  was  in 
ill  health,  and  the  expenses  of  the  voyage  had  left 
him  but  $4.  With  true  manliness  he  at  once 
sought  employment  whereby  he  could  turn  an 
honest  penny,  and  found  a  situation  in  a  hotel  in 
the  Crescent  City.  He  remained  there  a  few  months 
and  then  made  his  way  to  St.  Louis,  and  became  a 
clerk  in  a  hardware  store  in  that  city,  continuing 
in  that  occupation  until  1847.  In  the  month  of 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


August,  that  year,  lie  came  to  Dixon,  and  com- 
menced work  with  his  uncle  Christopher  Brook- 
ner,  who  was  a  carpenter.  lie  evinced  great  apti- 
tude for  the  trade,  quickly  mastering  it  in  every 
detail,  and  in  no  very  long  time  became  a  builder 
on  his  own  account.  The  Illinois  Central  Railway 
Company  engaged  him  to  superintend  the  construc- 
tion of  bridges,  and  he  remained  with  them  nine 
years,  resigning  at  the  end  of  that  time  to  accept 
the  position  of  roadmaster  and  master  builder 
with  the  Indiana  <fe  St.  Louis  Railroad  Company, 
now  known  as  the  "Big  Four."  He  retained  that 
situation  ten  years,  making  his  headquarters  at 
Li tch field.  In  1879  he  retired  to  Lee  County  and 
located  on  his  larm,  which  he  had  bought  in  185fi, 
which  is  a  mile  and  a  half  south  of  Dixon.  He 
busied  himself  with  its  improvement  during  the 
remainder  of  his  life,  which  was  brought  to  a  close 
January  10,  1889.  In  dying  he  left  behind  him  a 
high  reputation  as  a  man  whose  conduct  at  all 
times  and  in  all  places  showed  that  his  life  was 
guided  by  Christian  principles,  and  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  with  which  he  connected  him- 
self early  in  life,  found  in  him  an  exemplary  mem- 
ber, who  was  esteemed  for  his  unswerving  honesty 
and  veracity. 

During  his  residence  in  Litchfleld  Mr.  Brookner 
was  married  to  Miss  Emma  R.  Keith  ley,  their  union 
being  solemnized  April  4,  1875.  She  was  tenderly 
watchful  of  his  interests  and  comfort,  made  his 
last  years  the  best,  and  reverently  cherished  his 
memory.  She  is  a  woman  of  sterling  worth,  and  is 
a  devoted  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  with  which  she  united  when  s,he  was  young. 
Her  marriage  with  our  subject  brought  them  these  j 
three  children — Mae  Adella,  Paul,  and  George 
Keithley. 

Mrs.  Brookner,  who  was  born  in  Greenville,  Ind.,, 
is  a  daughter  of  Seth  M.  Keithley,  who  was  born 
at  Elizabethtown,  Ky.,  in  1812.  His  father  was 
Joliu  Keithley,  and  he  was  a  native  of  Maryland 
coming  of  German  ancestry.  He  removed  from 
that  State  to  Kentucky  in  the  early  days  of  its  sefr- 
tlement,  and  thence  to  the  Territory  of  Indiana, 
where  he  became  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  Floyd 
County,  local  ing  in  the  primeval  forests  near  Green- 
ville, lie  bought  a  tract  of  heavily  timbered  land. 


erected  a  log  house  on  it,  and  before  his  death  had 
cleared  a  good  farm.  The  maiden  name  of  his 
wife  was  Phebe  McCollum.  She  was  a  native  of 
Maryland,  and  of  Scotch  ancestry.  Both  she  and 
her  husband  are  quietly  sleeping  their  last  sleep  in 
a  churchyard  near  Greenville. 

Mrs.  Brookner's  father  was  very  young  when 
his  parents  removed  to  Indiana,  and  there  he  grew 
to  manhood  under  pioneer  influences.  He  learned 
the  trade  of  a  carriage  maker  and  followed  it  in 
Greenville  some  years.  In  1857  he  came  to  Illinois 
with  his  family,  and  settled  in  Litchfield,  where  he 
was  engaged  in  manufacturing  carriages  until  1878 
when  he  retired  from  active  business,  making  his 
home  with  his  children  in  that  place  until  his  death 
March  28,  1887.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife 
was  Theresa  Miller.  She  was  born  near  Elizabeth- 
town,  Ky.,  was  reared  in  Floyd  County,  Ind.,  and 
died  in  Litchfield  in  1872. 


JOSEPH  TAIT.     Following  the  maxim   that 
"whatever  is  worth  doing  at   all,  is    worth 
doing  well,"  in  the  truth  of   which  he  has 
always  believed,  Mr.  Tait  has  been  remark- 
ably successful  in  life  and  is   a   man    of   note   in 
Amboy   and  the  surrounding   country.      Besides 
the  considerable  amount  of   real  estate   which    he 
holds  in  the  city,  he  is  the  owner  of  five    hundred 
acres  of  valuable  farming  land  and  is  an  extensive 
dealer  in  live  stock.     His  solid  reputation  has  been 
gained  by  strenuous  application    and    continuous 
labor,  and  he  has  always  been    most  conscientious 
in  the    faithful    discharge   of   every    duty    which 
faces  him. 

Mr.  Tait  was  born  in  County  Durham,  England, 
December  15,  1820,  and  is  the  son  of  John  and 
Mary  (Gibson)  Tait.  The  following  isi  noted  of 
the  remaining  members  of  the  family  of  eight  sons 
and  two  daughters,  of  which  he  was  a  member: 
Mary  married  Robert  Kirk  and  died  in  1890  at 
Buffalo,  N.  Y.;  John  remained  in  England  and 
died  in  1881)  in  the  house  in  which  he  was  born; 
Thomas  came  to  the  United  States  and  returning 
to  his  native  laud,  now  resides  in  Northumberland; 


•230 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


Margaret  married  and  remained  in  England  until 
her  death  in  1854;  William  resides  in  Bismarck; 
Iowa;  James  and  Ralph  are  located  in  Denver, 
Col.,  while  George  lives  in  Akron,  Ohio. 

The  son  of  poor  parents,  our  subject  was  oarlv 
in  life  thrown  upon  his  own  resources  and  com- 
menced to  learn  a  trade.  He  became  a  millwright 
and  engaged  at  his  trade  until  he  emigrated  in 
1841  to  the  United  States.  In  this  country  he 
he  traveled  over  several  of  the  States  and  worked 
on  the' building  of  the  college  at  Iowa  City,  Iowa. 
After  spending  one  year  on  this  side  of  the  Atlan- 
tic he  returned  to  England,  where  he  learned  the 
trade  of  pattern-maker  with  Jonathan  Robinson 
and  tha  trade  of  a  machinist  with  George  Steven- 
son, the  originator  of  the  locomotive.  In  1849  lie 
again  came  to  the  United  States  and  on  the  Hud- 
son River,  opposite  Newbury,  built  two  locomo- 
tives, the  "Erie"  and  the  "Mohawk,"  both  of 
which  were  in  use  for  many  years. 

Next  Mr.  Tait  removed  to  Schenectady,  N.  Y., 
where  he  worked  at  his  trade  of  a  machinist  for  a 
few  months  but  he  was  never  paid  for  the  work  he 
did,  and  thus  without  money  he  went  to  Cleve- 
land, Ohio,  where  he  worked  for  the  Cleveland, 
Columbus  <fe  Cincinnati  Railway  Company.  In 
1855  he  came  to  Amboy  and  was  the  first  machin- 
ist in  the  employ  of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad 
Company,  with  whom  he  continued  for  twenty- 
one  years  as  foreman  of  the  round  house  or  gang 
foreman.  Later  he  proceeded  Westward  to  Lar- 
amie,  Wyo.,  from  which  place  after  a  sojourn 
of  four  years,  he  returned  to  Amboy  and  again 
entered  the  employ  of  the  Illinois  Central  Rail- 
road. After  continuing  with  the  company  eight 
years  he  began  to  engage  in  the  live  stock  busi- 
ness and  still  operates  in  this  way  with  consider- 
able success. 

The  marriage  of  Mr.  Tait  to  Miss  Caroline  Gas- 
goine  took  place  December  SI,  1840,  and  brought 
them  mutual  happiness  until  death  removed  the 
loving  wife,  September  27,  1880.  Seven  children 
were  born  of  the  union:  Mary,  who  married  W. 
Coleman  and  died  in  1873,  leaving  one  daughter, 
Carrie,  now  the  wife  of  Frank  Calkins;  John,  a 
machinist  on  the  Pacific  Slope;  Thomas  G.,  a  ma- 
chinist and  locomotive  engineer  on  the  Missouri, 


Kansas  &  Texas  Railroad;  Joseph  R.,  who  has 
charge  of  his  father's  Inrge  farm  in  this  county; 
Ann,  who  is  the  wife  of  Samuel  Adams;  Carrie, 
now  Mrs.  William  Gasgoine  and  Sarah,  the  wife  of 
Asa  Dresbach,  of  New  Louisville,  Ark.  In  poli- 
tical belief  Mr.  Tait  is  not  a  strict  partisan  but  is 
a  friend  of  protective  tariff,  and  socially  belongs 
to  the  Masonic  fraternity. 


LOYD  BURGER  is  a  general  farmer  owning 
a  fine  tract  of  one  hundred  and  fifty-seven 
IL^s  acres,  on  section  16,  Palmyra  Township, 
this  county.  He  has  here  been  a  resident  since 
1881,  purchasing  land  in  1882,  and  operating 
the  farm  on  which  he  now  resides  since  1888.  He 
was  born  April  11,  1853,  in  Columbia  County, 
Pa.,  and  removed  to  Illinois  in  1855,  first  settling 
in  Whiteside  County. 

The  father  of  our  subject,  Isaac  Burger,  was 
born  in  the  Blue  Mountains  in  Pennsylvania,  but 
was  reared  in  Columbia  County.  He  came  of 
Pennsylvania  parents  who  were  of  German  descent, 
and  in  his  native  State  learned  the  trades  of  a 
cabinet-maker  and  carpenter,  following  them  for 
some  twenty-two  years'.  After  coming  to  Illinois 
with  his  family  he  settled  on  a  farm  in  Jordan 
Township,  Whiteside  County,  where  he  carried  on 
farming  and  also  worked  in  his  trade  as  a  mechanic 
until  his  death,  April  9,  1887,  when  seventy-eight 
years  of  age.  He  was  a  thorough-going  Demo- 
crat, and  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 
His  wife,  the  mother  of  our  subject,  was  a  native  of 
Columbia  County,  Pa.,  also  born  of  parents  of 
German  descent.  She  was  a  most  excellent  woman, 
and  a  true  wife  to  her  good  husband.  This 
worthy  couple  spent  forty-nine  years  in  harmony 
together,  and  were  separated  for  only  a  short 
time  by  death,  she  soon  following  her  husband, 
her  deatli  occurring  August  23,  in  the  same  year 
as  his,  1887.  She  was  then  seventy-six  years  and 
six  months  old.  Like  her  husband,  she  was  an 
earnest  member  of  the  Lutheran  Church. 

Our    subject    was   the   youngest,  but   one,  in   a 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


family  of  four  sons  and  five  daughters.  He  was 
reared  and  educated  in  Jordan  Township,  White- 
side  County,  where  he  came  with  his  parents  when 
only  two  years  old.  He  was  married  near  Free- 
port,  Stephenson  County,  this  State,  to  Miss  Han- 
nah M.  Swartz,  who  was  born  in  Center  County, 
Pa.,  May  21,  1850.  She  came  to  Stepheuson 
County  when  a  child  with  her  parents,  Michael 
and  Esther  (Mensch)  Swartz,  natives  of  Pennsyl- 
vania. After  coming  to  Illinois  with  their  family 
of  three  sons  and  three  daughters,  they  located  in 
the  northern  part  of  Stephenson  County,  and 
there  purchased  and  improved  a  fine  farm,  where 
they  still  reside,  both  being  pust  seventy  years  of 
age.  They  are  members  of  the  Lutheran  Church. 
Mrs.  Burger,  the  wife  of  our  subject,  is  the  third 
child  of  this  worthy  couple. 

Our  subject  and  his  wife  have  been  the  parents 
of  six  children,  of  whom  two,  Jesse  and  an  infant, 
are  deceased.  Those  living  are  Sarah  E.,  Maggie 
M.,  Bessie  M.,  Clinton  E.,  all  at  home.  Mr.  Burger 
is  an  energetic  and  hard  working  man  and  owes 
much  of  his.success  to  the  assistance  of  his  estima- 
ble wife.  For  nineteen  years  he  operated  a 
thresher  in  this  and  Whiteside  Counties,  and  is 
well  known  as  one  of  the  oldest  men  in  this  busi- 
ness in  this  part  of  the  State.  Mrs.  Burger  is  a 
worthy  member  of  the  Lutheran  Church.  Mr. 
Burger  is  a  Democrat  in  politics,  and  has  held 
local  offices  in  his  township. 


ILLIAM  T.  TUTTLE,  editor  and  proprietor 
of  the  Franklin  Grove  Reporter  and  Prin- 
cipal of  the  Franklin  Grove  schools,  is  a 
scholar  and  a  gentleman,  whose  reputation  is  that 
of  an  educator  of  marked  intelligence  and  pro- 
gressive views.  He  is  a  native  of  New  York,  born 
at  Corning,  May  9,  1846,  a  son  of  Hiram  B.  and 
Amanda  (Skinner)  Tuttle,  who  were  natives  of 
Camden,  Oneida  County,  X.  V. 

Hiram  B.  Tuttle  was  an  experienced  lumberman 
in  Ins  curly  (lays,  and  in  the  '."ills  was  Superin- 
tendent of  the  largest  lumber  interests  in  the 
I'nited  States,  those  of  the  firm  of  Langdon,  Divin 


<fe  Co.,  of  Williamsport,  Pa.,  who  at  that  time 
owned  the  largest  sawmill  in  the  world.  Later  in 
life  Mr.  Tuttle  turned  his  attention  to  -farming, 
and  was  engaged  at  that  occupation  in  Steuben 
County,  N.  Y.,  until  failing  health  obliged  him  to 
abandon  it  in  1866,  and  he  sought  the  West  in  the 
vain  hope  of  recovery.  He  located  at  Grand 
Mound,  Iowa,  and  there  death  came  to  him  with 
its  healing  balm  for  all  the  ills  of  life.  His  wife 
survives  him  and  is  a  respected  resident  of  New 
Hampton,  Iowa.  Ten  children  were  born  of  their 
marriage,  five  sons  and  five  daughters,  as  follows: 
Mary,  wife  of  Daniel  Sunderlin,  a  farmer  of  New 
Hampton,  Iowa;  Harriet,  wife  of  William  F.  Geise, 
of  Jackson,  Mich.;  Hiram  B.,  now  a  prosperous 
merchant  at  Little  Falls,  Minn.,  who  was  a  member 
of  the  Fiftieth  New  York  Engineers,  and  did  noble 
service  during  the  Civil  War;  William  T.,  our  sirb- 
ject;  Henry  S.,  manager  of  St.  Louis  Furniture 
Board  of  Trade,  St.  Lou  is,  Mo.;  PhineasC.,a  farmer 
at  New  Hampton,  Iowa;  Ella,  who  lives  with  her 
mother  at  New  Hampton;  Charles  N.,  a  merchant 
of  that  town,  and  two  who  died  in  infancy. 

William  T.  Tuttle  attended  school  until  he  was 
fourteen  years  old,  and  then  the  family  moved 
onto  a  farm,  and  his  school  days  were  over  except 
two  winters  in  the  public  school,  but  his  education 
did  not  stop  there  by  any  means,  as  he  was  a  bright, 
thoughtful  boy,  eager  to  learn,  and  having  already 
become  well  grounded  in  the  common  branches, 
had  a  good  foundation  for  the  knowledge  he  has 
since  obtained  by  hard  study,  by  close  observation, 
and  by  careful  reading,  and  many  a  college-bred 
man  may  envy  him  his  culture. 

In  1867  our  subject  left  his  native  State  with 
his  young  wife,  and  after  a  short  stay  at  Grand 
Mound,  Iowa,  came  to  Illinois,  of  which  he  has 
since  been  a  resident.  He  worked  at  the  carpen- 
ter's trade  in  and  about  Sterling  for  twelve  years, 
and  occasionally  during  that  time  taught  a  country 
school.  He  was  so  successful  in  that  line  that  he 
decided  in  1879  to  give  his  attention  entirely  to 
school  work.  He  threw  his  whole  energies  into 
his  new  profession,  and  wherever  he  taught  his 
manner  and  methods  of  teaching  were  highly  com- 
mended, lie  had  charge  of  a  school  ill  ( Vlfta.  i  i 
Whiteside  County,  at  one  time;  from  there  he  \va- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


called  to  Prairieville,  Lee  County,  and  thence  to  the 
"Mound"  school,  also  in  this  county,  whither  his 
reputation  had  proceeded  him,  and  during  the  last 
year  that  he  taught  there  his  school  had  the  highest 
marking  of  any  in  Lee  County  in  country  school 
gradation.  From  there  he  returned  to  Whiteside 
County  to  accept  the  principalship  of  the  Tampico 
schools,  and  held  that  position  until  he  came  to 
Franklin  Grove  to  take  charge  of  the  village  school 
here.  This  institution  of  learning  is  graded,  has 
four  departments,  and  over  two  hundred  pupils 
arc  enrolled,  and  a  high  standard  is  maintained 
under  our  subject's  excellent  system  of  instruction. 

March  1,  1891,  Mr.  Tuttle  added  to  the  profes- 
sion of  teacher  that  of  editor,  buying  on  that  date 
the  paper  known  as  the  Franklin  Reporter,  to- 
gether with  the  office  in  which  it  is  published,  and 
all'  its  appurtenances.  He  was  at  first  assisted  in 
his  editorial  work  by  Miss  Rose  Kreitzer,  an  exper- 
ienced printer.  On  -January  1st,  1892,  Mr.  Tuttle 
formed  a  partnership  with  George  W.  Gaver,  a 
gentleman  of  large  experience,  and  who  has  charge 
of  the  paper  and  is  fully  competent  to  carry  it  on 
in  all  its  departments.  The  Reporter  is  a  bright, 
newsy  sheet,  with  plenty  of  space  devoted  to 
matters  of  local  import  that  are  well  written  up, 
and  the  editorials,  which  are  often  trenchant  and 
alwa3'S  to  the  point,  indicate  a  thorough  grasp  of 
the  subjects  which  are  of  popular  interest  to-day. 

The  marriage  of  our  subject  with  Miss  Loretta 
T.  Towsley,  took  place  in  1866,  and  theirs  is  a 
charming  home,  tasteful  and  neat  in  its  appoint- 
ments. One  daughter,  Mary  A.,  completes  their 
pleasant  household.  Their  other  child,  Cora  K., 
early  exchanged  this  life  for  immortality.  Mrs. 
Tuttle  was  born  in  Steilbcn  County, N.  Y.,  in  1847, 
and  is  a  daughter  of  the  late  William  II.  and  Roxa 
(Tubbs)  Towsley,  who  were  also  natives  of  Steuben 
County.  Her  father  was  a  gallant  soldier  in  a 
New  York  regiment  during  the  war,  serving  under 
Gen.  Sherman.  His  death  occurred  in  Beloit,  Wis., 
in  1889. 

Mr.  Tuttle's  culture,  high-toned  character  and 
his  pleasing  personality  have  made  a  favorable 
impression  upon  the  people  in  whose  midst  he  is 
carrying  on  his  professional  labors,  and  he  exerts 
a  wholesome  influence  in  the  community.  He  is 


an  ardent  Republican,  as  was  his  father  before  him. 
and  his  party  find  in  him  an  able  champion. 
Socially,  he  is  a  prominent  member  of  the  Modern 
Woodmen  of  America,  and  occupies  the  Chair  of 
Council  of  that  society.  He  has  an  earnest  religious 
nature,  which  finds  expression  in  the  faith  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  of  which  he  and  his 
wife  and  daughter  are  members. 


HARLES  A.  MORRIS,  editor  and  proprietor 
of  the  Paw  Paw  Herald,  a  bright  and  weil- 
conducted  paper,  has  already  won  an  hon- 
orable position  in  his  profession,  although  one  of 
its  younger  members.  He  comes  of  good  old 
Revolutionaiy  ancestry  en  one  side,  and  on  the 
other  of  a  family  that  was  well  represented  in  the 
late  Civil  War,  both  his  father  and  father's  father, 
and  others  of  his  kin  doing  gallant  service  in  the 
Union  ranks. 

Our  subject  is  a  representative  native  citizen  of 
the  county,  born  in  Wyoming  Township,  April  10, 
1863.  He  is  a.  son  of  Stephen  J.  Morris,  a  well-to- 
do  farmer  of  Lee  County,  residing  on  his  farm  in 
Wyoming  Township.  He  was  born  near  Lock 
Haven,  Pa.,  August  29,  1834,  and  is  a  son  of  Will- 
iam A.  Morris,  who  was  a  native  of  Greene 
County,  N.  Y.  The  father  of  the  latter,  whose 
given  name  was  Stephen,  was  born  in  that  same 
county, 'and  removed  from  there  to  Allegany 
County  in  1834.  He  bought  a  tract  of  timber 
land  in  West  Almond,  and  dwelt  there  upon  the 
fine  farm  that  he  cleared  from  the  wilderness  until 
old  age  compelled  him  to  retire,  and  lie  then  lived 
with  his  son,  Josiali,  in  the  same  county,  and  died 
at  his  home  at  the  age  of  ninety-three  years. 
The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  Phebe  Utter. 
She  was  born  near  Boston,  Mass.,  and  died  at  the 
home  of  her  son  Josiali  at  the  advanced  age  of 
ninety  years.  She  was  a  daughter  of  Josiah  Utter, 
who  was  a  patriotic  soldier  in  the  Continental 
Army,  fought  in  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill,  and 
served  with  fidelity  throughout  the  entire  struggle 
of  the  colonists  for  freedom  until  the  surrender  of 
Cornwall  at  Yorktown  brought  the  long  conflict 
to  an  end. 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


The  grandfather  of  our  subject  passed  his  early 
life  in  his  native  State,  but  when  he  became  a  young 
man  he  crossed  the  border  into  Pennsylvania,  and 
in  Clinton  County  found  himself  a  wife  in  the 
person  of  Elizabeth  Quay,  a  native  of  that  county, 
and  a  daughter  of  John  Quay.  William  Morris 
continued  to  live  in  Clinton  County  until  1842, 
when  he  returned  to  New  York,  and  renting  land 
in  Allegany  County,  resided  there  until  1866.  In 
the  meantime  the  rebellion  broke  out,  and  not  only 
did  the  brave  old  man  go  to  the  front  to  help  fight 
his  country's  battles,  as  a  member  of  the  85th  New 
York  Infantry,  but  four  of  his  sons  showed  that 
they  inherited  the  patriotism  of  their  sire  by  en- 
listing in  the  Union  Army.  He  served  faithfully 
for  two  years,  and  was  honorably  discharged  with 
a  good  military  record.  In  1866  he  removed  to 
Kansas  with  his  wife,  and  they  spent  their  remain- 
ing days  in  Pawnee  County,  that  State. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  a  small  boy  when  his 
father  returned  to  New  York,  and  he  grew  to  a 
vigorous  manhood  in  Allegany  County.  He  re- 
mained with  his  parents  until  he  attained  his 
majority,  and  in"  that  year,  185,5,  came  to  Illinois. 
He  resided  in  McHenry  County  until  1861,  and 
then  coming  to  Lee  County,  took  up  his  residence 
here  permanently,  buying  the  farm  on  which  he 
makes  his  home  two  years  later.  He  is  a  good 
farmer,  having  a  sound  knowledge  of  agriculture, 
and  has  done  well  in  the  pursuit  of  his  occupation, 
becoming  one  of  the  substantial  men  of  his  neigh- 
borhood. He  took  part  in  the  war,  enlisting  in 
March,  1865,in  Company  G,  Fifteenth  Illinois  In- 
fantry. He  joined  his  regiment  in  North  Carolina, 
inarched  with  it  from  Richmond  to  Washington, 
participated  in  the  Grand  Review,  and  was  hon- 
orably discharged  with  his  regiment  in  September, 
1865.  at  Fort  Leaven  worth,  having  shown  himself 
to  be  an  efficient  soldier  during  the  term  of  his 
service.  Mr.  Morris  was  married  in  August,  1861, 
to  Mrs.  Rachel  (Clark)  Hawley,  a  native  of  Ohio, 
daughter  of  Alexander  Clark,  and  widow  of 
Adolphus  Hawley.  Their  pleasant  wedded  life 
has  been  blessed  to  them  by  these  three  children- 
Charles  A.;  Rachel  Emma,  wife  of  Harry  Strader; 
and  Ida,  wife  of  Elmer  D.  Holton. 

Charles    A.    Morris,    the    subject   of    this    brief 


biography,  began  his  education  in  the  district 
school,  and  subsequently  pursued  a  good  course  of 
study  in  the  East  Paw  Paw  Seminary,  .where  lie 
ranked  well  for  scholarship.  At  the  age  of  eigh- 
teen he  commenced  to  learn  the  art  preservative 
in  the  office  of  the  Lee  County  Times.  Having 
become  quite  an  expert  type-setter,  he  entered  the 
office  of  the  Paw  Paw  Herald  a  year  later  as  a 
compositor.  In  1866  he  bought  the  office,  its  ap- 
purtenances, and  the  good  will  of  the  former 
proprietor,  and  has  since  conducted  a  good  busi- 
ness as  job  printer,  as  well  as  an  editor  and  pub- 
lisher. The  Herald  is  doing  well  under  his 
management,  is  a  neatly  gotten  up,  well -printed 
sheet,  in  which  the  local  news  are  set  forth  in  an 
interesting  manner,  the  editorials  on  topics  of 
common  interest  sensible  and  sound,  and  the 
general  tenor  of  the  paper  shows  that  the  editor 
s  desirous  of  pushing  forward  whatever  will  be 
of  benefit  to  his  native  county. 


PRANK  KING,  who  is  one  of  the  famous 
'49ers  who  sought  wealth  in  the  gold  fields 
of  'California  after  the  discovery  of  the 
precious  metal  in  that  State,  and  who  afterwards 
made  his  fortune  as  a  lumberman  in  the  forests  of 
Washington,  near  Puget  Sound,  where  he  formerly 
carried  on  an  extensive  business  in  his  line,  has 
been  identified  with  the  farmers  and  stockmen  of 
this  county  since  1881.  In  that  year  he  purchased 
a  tract  of  more  than  two  hundred  acres  of  valua- 
f  arm  ing  land  on  section  16,  Nelson  Township,  and 
has  placed  upon  it  substantial  modern  improve- 
ments, and  stocked  it  with  fine  herds  of  horses, 
cattle  and  swine  of  standard  breeds. 

Our  subject  was  born  on  Staten  Island,  in  New 
York  Harbor  and  passed  the  early  years  of  his  life 
amid  its  pleasant  scenes.  His  father,  William  King, 
was  a  native  of  England,  and  was  reared  and  mar- 
ried in  the  land  of  his  birth,  Miss  Catherine  Sim- 
mons becoming  lii.s  wife.  In  his  youth  he  becan.e 
a  mechanic,  and  acquired  great  skill  in  his  vo<:>- 
tion.  He  w:is  in  the  prime  and  vigor  of  a  stalwnrt 


234 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


manhood  wlien  he  decided  that  the  United  States 
promised  to  be  a  better  fleld  of  labor  than  his  old 
home,  and  he  migrated  to  this  country  with  his 
wife  and  the  two  children  that  had  previously 
been  born  to  them.  He  settled  on  Staten  Island, 
where  he  found  employment  at  his  trade,  and 
there  he  passed  the  remainder  of  his  life  in  peace 
and  contentment.  His  wife  survived  him  some 
years,  and  was  quite  aged  at  the  time  of  her  death. 
She  was  a  woman  of  true  Christian  character,  and  a 
devoted  member  of  the  Church  of  England. 

Our  subject  is  one  of  twelve  children,  seven  of 
whom  are  living,  and  all  are  well-to-do,  although 
their  sole  inheritance  from  their  parents  was  an 
untarnished  name  and  thrifty  habits.  He  of  whom 
we  write  was  young  when  his  father  died  and  he 
has  since  made  his  own  way  in  the  world.  He  was 
a  bright  manly  lad  full  of  spirit  and  resolution, 
and  though  thus  early  thrown  on  his  own  resources 
made  a  brave  struggle  against  heavy  odds,  and  ere 
long  was  independent.  He  was  but  a  boy  when  he 
left  his  island  home  to  join  the  adventurers  who 
were  going  to  cruise  to  California  in  search  of 
gold.  He  secured  passage  on  a  vessel  bound 
around  Cape  Horn  to  the  Golden  State,  obtaining 
a  situation  as  cabin  boy,  and  on  August  8,  1849, 
entered  the  Golden  Gate  at  San  Francisco.  After 
landing  he  accepted  a  good  office  to  go  to  the  gold 
fields  as  a  driver  of  an  ox-team  up  the  valley  of  the 
Yuba  River.  He  mined  some,  and  afterwards  drove 
team  for  some  time.  lie  had  a  full  experience  of 
all  the  various  phases  of  frontier  life  in  the  min- 
ing camp  and  elsewhere,  and  during  his  residence 
on  the  Pacific  coast  occasionally  revisited  the  P]ast 
returning  once  by  the  Isthmus,  and  making  three 
trips  across  the  plains.  He  eventually  went  into 
the  lumber  regions  in  Kitsap  County,  Wash.,  near 
Puget  Sound,  and  for  twenty-two  years  was  in  the 
lumber  business  in  that  and  other  counties.  He 
made  money  by  his  transactions,  and  desirous  of 
locating  permanently  in  some  more  eastward  lo- 
cality, he  came  to  Illinois,  and  selecting  Lee 
County  as  the" seat  of  his  future  home,  bought  the 
fine  farm  that  he  now  occupies  in  Nelson  Town- 
ship, and  is  very  pleasantly  situated  here.  His 
farm  consists  of  more  than  two  hundred  acres  of 
land  that  is  exceedingly  fertile,  and  under  his  able 


management  it  has  become  one  of  the  most  valua- 
ble estates  in  the  vicinity,  and  it  is  also  a  fine  stock 
farm.  Mr.  King  is  a  man  of  high  personal  stand- 
ing, and  his  many  genial  social  qualities  have 

.  gained  him  the  good  will  and  friendship  of  the 
people  among  whom  he  has  come  to  make  his 
home.  He  is  a  Republican  of  no  uncertain  tone, 
who  takes  a  genuine  interest  in  local  politics  and 
he  is  regarded  by  his  fellow-townsmen  as  a  decided 

I   acquisition  to  the  citizenship  of  this  locality. 


OS  I  All  L.  GRAY,  Deputy  Sheriff  of  Lee 
County,  is  now  a  resident  of  Dixon,  and 
has  made  his  residence  here  since  December, 
1890,  when  he  came  here  to  serve  in  his 
present  position.  He  had  been  living  in  Lee 
Center  for  forty-two  years,  and  was  only  five 
years  old  when  he  went  with  his  parents  to  that 
place.  He  was  born  at  Leaf  River,  Ogle  County, 
this  State,  October  24,  1844,  to  John  and  Mary 
(Powell)  Gray,  natives  of  Ireland  and  Wales 
respectively.  He  was  variously  engaged  as  a 
farmer  and  mechanic  at  Lee  Center,  and  was  a 
successful  house  building  mechanic  for  a  good 
many  years. 

The  gentleman  of  whom  we  write  enlisted  in 
the  War  of  the  Rebellion  in  Company  D,  Fifteenth 
Illinois  Infantry,  and  fought  with  his  regiment  in 
Sherman's  Army  and  was  with  him  when  he  was 
driving  Johnson's  Army  North  and  was  with  him 
at  the  Grand  Review  at  AVashington  City.  He  was 
then  sent  \Vest  to  Kansas  and  Nebraska  to  sup- 
press the  Indian  troubles,  the  regiment  being 
stationed  at  Kearney,  and  on  September  26,  1865, 
was  honorably  discharged  at  Leavenworth,  Kan. 
Since  that  time  he  has  lived  in  this  county,  with 
the  exception  of  a  four  years'  residence  in  Iowa. 
Mr.  Gray  is  the  youngest  of  ten  children,  born 
to  his  worthy  parents,  all  of  whom  are  yet  living 
but  two.  The  father  although  born  in  Ireland, 
came  of  English  parents,  his  father,  Henry  Gray, 
having  been  sent  there  from  England  as  a  col- 
lecting agent  and  died  there.  John  Gray  had 
come  to  Canada  when  a  young  man  and  there 


OF  rsj 


PORTRAIT  AX!)  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


237 


married  his  wife  and  helpmate.  In  1841  they 
came  to  Ogle  County,  this  State,  and  in  1849 
came  to  Lee  County  and  bought  a  farm  in  Lee 
Center  Township,  and  there  the  father  passed 
away  in  1889,  at  the  age  of  ninety-eight  years,  and 
the  wife  died  in  1868  at  the  age  of  sixty-two 
years.  They  were  valued  and  consistent  members 
of  the  Baptist  Church.  Mr.  Gray  served  in  the 
War  of  the  Canadian  Rebellion  while  in  Canada, 
and  in  politics  was  a  sound  Republican.  The 
subject  of  this  notice  was  a  stalwart  adherent  to  the 
Republican  party,  as  were  also  his  five  brothers, 
three  of  whom  served  bravely  in  the  late  war. 
John  C.,  of  the  Seventy-fifth  Illinois  Infantry, 
served  about  one  year;  William  II.  was  in  the 
Seventh  Illinois  Cavalry  for  the  same  length  of 
time;  and  James  was  in  the  Thirteenth  Illinois 
Infantry,  in  which  he  served  for  three  years  and 
four  months,  re-enlisting  in  the  Seventh  Illinois 
Cavalry  for  one  year  more.  He  was  badly 
wounded  by  a  bursting  shell  and  left  on  the  field 
for  dead.  He  was  found  and  taken  care  of,  and 
is  at  present  Postmaster  at  Lee  Center.  Our  sub- 
ject is  one  of  the  prominent  and  leading  members 
of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  No.  229,  of 
Dixon,  a  society  in  which  all  old  soldiers  like  to 
meet  their  comrades. 


eOL.  ALEX.  P.  DYSART,  who  resides  on  the 
outskirts  of  the  village  of  Nachusa,  is  one 
of   the   most   widely  and  favorably  known 
men  of  this  part  of  the  State.       His  public  life  as  a 
military  officer  and  a  legislator  has  gained  him  a 
wide   acquaintance  among  some  of  the  best  and 
most  prominent  men  of  our  country.     We  there- 
fore append  his  sketch  and    present    his   portrait, 
knowing    they    will   be    received  with  interest  by 
our  readers. 

The  Colonel  was  born  in  Huntingdon  County, 
Pa.,  February  3,  1826,  and  there  resided  until  his 
removal  to  Illinois  in  1845.  His  paternal  grand 
father,  Joseph  Dysarl.  was  born  in  Londonderry 
Ireland,  of  Scotch-Irish  parentage,  and  came  of  a 
family  that  figured  prominently  in  public  affaii>. 


members  of  which  are  yet  associated  with  the  poli- 
tics of  that  country.  His  ancestors  belonged  to 
the  nobility  of  France  and  Scotland.  When  a 
young  man,  Joseph  D\'sart  came  to  America,  lo- 
cating in  Lancaster  County,  Pa.,  were  he  married. 
A  few  years  later  he  went  to  Mifflin  County, 
and  improved  a  farm  at  Newton  Hamilton, 
where  he  and  his  wife  spent  their  last  days. 
They  were  Presbyterians  in  religious  belief. 

Of  the  four  children  left  to  mourn  their  loss, 
James,  the  father  of  our  subject  was  the  eldest.  A 
native  of  Lancaster  County,  he  was  reared  in 
Mifflin  County,  Pa.  When  a  young  man  he  went 
to  Huntingdon  County,  where  he  wooed  and  won 
Elizabeth  Roler,  a  native  of  the  Keystone  State, 
and  a  daughter  of  Philip  Roler,  who  was  born  in 
Berks  County,  of  German  descent.  lie  married  a 
Scotch  lady  and  they  settled  in  Huntington 
County  in  an  early  day,  ere  the  Indians  had  left 
that  region.  In  fact,  two  of  the  brothers  of 
Philip  Roler  were  killed  by  the  red  men.  He  and 
his  wife  continued  to  reside  in  Huntingdon  County 
until  called  to  their  final  home.  They  too,  were 
Presbyterians. 

During  the  residence  of  James  Dysart  and  his 
wife  in  that  county  seven  sons  and  two  daughters 
were  bom  unto  them  and  were  there  reared  to 
mature  years.  In  1858,  the  parents  followed  their 
children  to  Illinois  and  spent  their  last  days  in 
Franklin  Grove,  Lee  County,  where  Mr.  Dysart 
died  at  the  age  of  eighty-four  years  and  his  wife 
in  her  seventy-ninth  year.  She  was  a  Presbyter- 
ian in  religious  belief  and  Mr.  Dysart  was  a  stanch 
Whig  in  politics.  He  entertained  strong  abolition 
principles,  and  when  the  Republican  party  sprang 
into  existence  to  prevent  the  further  extension  of 
slavery,  joined  its  ranks.  He  had  an  uncle  who 
served  as  colonel  in  the  War  of  1812,  and  three  of 
his  sons  were  numbered  among  the  boys  in  blue, 
namely:  our  subject;  Lieut.  B.  F.,  who  is  now  Post- 
master at  Franklin  Grove;  and  Corporal  James, 
who  died  from  disease  contracted  in  the  service. 
Another  brother,  Joseph,  now  living  in  Dysart, 
Tama  County,  Iowa,  is  ex-Lieutenant  Governor 
of  that  State.  Samuel,  ex-Commissioner  to  Paris. 
i>  M  member  of  the  State  Board  of  Agriculture  and 
resides  in  China  Township. 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RKCORD. 


Col.  Dysart  was  nineteen  years  of  age  when  he 
came  to  Illinois.  Farming  he  has  made  his  life 
work  and  has  been  most  successful  as  an  agricul- 
turist and  stock-raiser.  His  first  land  lie  pur- 
chased from  the  Government  on  section  7,  Nachusa 
Township,  and  thirty  acres  of  this  was  platted  into 
the  village  of  thai  name  in  1852.  He  had  entered 
the  north  half  and  the  southwest  quarter  of  section 
6,  upon  which  his  home  is  .also  located,  he  having 
there  resided  since  1847.  Mr.  Dysart  has  also 
been  prominent  in  official  life.  He  has  held  all 
the  local  offices  and  for  some  years  prior  to  the 
war  was  Supervisor  of  China  Township,  before  the 
town  of  Nachusa  was  set  off  from  it.  Since  the  di- 
vision he  lias  been  Supervisor  of  the  latter  for 
about  ten  years.  He  was  also  Justice  of  the  Peace 
for  some  years  and  for  two  years  has  been  Assessor 
of  his  town. 

In  1879,  he  was  nominated  and  elected  on  the 
Republican  ticket  as  Representative  from  the 
Twelfth  District  to  the  Thirty-First  General  As- 
sembly, and  in  1881,  was  re-elected  at  which  time 
Lee  and  Ogle  Counties  comprised  the  district. 
During  the  former  term  he  was  made  Chairman  of 
the  committee  on  agriculture,  and  during  the  latter 
was  Chairman  of  the  committee  on  continued  ex- 
penses, also  serving  on  several  other  important 
committees.  The  drainage  law  was  passed  during 
his  first  term.  So  well  did  he  demonstrate  his 
ability  as  a  legislator  that  the  people  returned  him 
to  office  where  he  faithfully  served  his  constituents 
and  labored  earnestly  for  the  best  interests  of  the 
people  in  general. 

Of  his  war  record  Col.  Dysart  may  be  justly 
proud.  He  had  watched  with  interest  the  progress 
of  events  in  the  South,  and  when  the  blow  was 
struck  against  the  Government  in  1861,  he  raised 
a  company  of  volunteers,  which  was  mustered  into 
service  September  7,  18(51,  as  Company  C,  of  the 
Thirty-Fourth  Illinois  Infantry.  He  was  commis- 
sioned Captain  by  the  War  Governor,  Dick  Yates, 
and  went  at  once  to  the  front,  joining  the  com- 
mand of  Gen.  Buell,  of  the  Army  of  the  Cumber- 
land. With  his  troops  he  participated  in  the  battle 
of  Pittsburg  Landing,  April  7,  1862,  and  when 
the  .Major  was  killed  early  in  the  day  lie  filled  the 
place  of  that  officer.  After  the  engagement  li 


was  commissioned  to  that  rank  and  as  the  result  of 
lii.s  efficient  service  and  courage  displayed  at  the 
battle  of  Stone  River  in  January,  1863,  was  pro 
nioted  to  the  rank  of  Colonel,  serving  as  such 
until  the  ninth  of  August  following.  A  special 
order  had  been  issued  requiring  a  reduction  of 
some  of  the  commissioned  officers  and  it  fell  upon 
Col.  Dysart  to  change  his  place.  He  was  offered  a 
cavelry  regiment  by  Gov.  Yates,  but  not  wishing  to 
be  stationed  where  no  active  interests  were  looked 
for,  he  declined  and  was  honorably  discharged. 
Returning  home,  he  then  aided  all  he  could  in 
a  local  way  to  further  the  progress  of  the  war  and 
bring  it  to  a  successful  termination.  He  had  won 
for  himself  much  honor  and  credit  as  a  brave 
soldier,  prompt  and  fearless  in  the  discharge  of 
duty. 

In  Huntingdon  Count}',  Pa.,  Col.  Dysart  married 
Catherine  Grazier,  who  was  born  and  reared  in 
county,  tier  birth  occurring  in  July,  1826.  Her 
parents  were  Henry  and  Margaret  (Beck)  Grazier, 
who  spent  their  entire  lives  in  Huntingdon  County 
as  farming  people.  They  were  members  of  the 
German  Baptist  Church  and  her  brother  was  a 
preacher  of  that  society.  In  the  family  were  four 
sons  and  six  daughters,  five  of  whom  are  yet  living 
and  are  married. 

Unto  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dysart  were  born  seven 
children,  one  of  whom  is  now  deceased — Dr. 
Joseph  W.,  who  died  in  the  prime  of  life  in 
Omaha,  Neb.,  where  he  had  gained  a  position  in 
the  front  ranks  of  the  medical  profession.  James 
H..  who  wedded  Emma  Bender,  is  a  well-known 
passenger  engineer  on  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern 
Railroad  and  resides  in  Chicago;  Allison  A.,  mar- 
ried Amanda  Miller  and  their  home  is  in  Belvi- 
dere,  111.;  he  is  engineer  on  the  Chicago  &  North- 
western Railroad;  Ida  M.,  is  the  wife  of  Jesse  R. 
Whitney,  a  real-estate  dealer  of  Carroll  County, 
Iowa;  Carrie  J.,  is  the  wife  of  Frank  Miller,  of 
Chicago,  an  engineer  on  the  Northwestern  Rail- 
road ;  Frank  E.,  who  wedded  Carrie  Thorp,  is  also 
employed  as  an  engineer  on  that  road,  and  himself 
and  wife  make  their  home  in  Chicago;  Emma  C., 
the  youngest,  presides  over  her  father's  home. 

The  Colonel  was  called  upon  to  mourn  the  loss 
of  his  wife  in  1877,  her  death  occurring  at  her 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


23!) 


home  iu  Nachusa  Township.  He  still  resides  on 
section  6,  where  lie  located  so  long  ago  and  where 
lie  lias  oiie  of  the  finest  homes  in  the  county.  A 
commodious  and  substantial  residence,  supplied 
with  all  the  comforts  and  many  of  the  luxuries  of 
life,  is  situated  in  the  midst  of  a  beautiful  ever- 
green grove,  containing  more  than  one  thousand 
trees,  all  of  which  were  planted  by  Mr.  Dysart. 
The  effect  is  most  beautiful  and  renders  the  home 
one  of  the  most  attractive  places  in  this  part  of 
the  State.  In  summing  up  the  life  of  our  subject 
we  would  say  that  it  has  been  an  honorable  one  of 
which  he  may  well  be  proud.  His  public  and 
private  record  are  alike  above  reproach,  and  in  his 
military  career  he  displayed  many  of  the  best 
qualities  of  his  character.  Wherever  known  he  is 
held  in  high  regard.  His  intelligence  and  ability 
well  lit  him  to  be  a  leader  of  the  people,  yet  he 
never  assumes  that  arbitrary  power  which  so  often 
rests  upon  those  who  have  command  of  others. 


eHARLES  F.  PRESTON,  President  of  the 
Village  Board  of  Trustees  of  Paw  Paw,  is 
a  young  man  of  talent  and  energy  who  has 
already  won  a  fine  reputation  as  a  lawyer,  and  is 
prominent  in  the  public  life  of  the  community. 
He  is  a  representative  of  the  native-born  citizens 
of  this  county,  who,  as  professional  or  business 
men,  and  in  the  various  walks  of  life,  have  come 
to  the  front  of  late  years  and  given  a  new  impetus 
to  its  growth,  adding  to  its  wealth  and  elevating 
its  status. 

He  was  born  in  Marion  Township,  January  20, 
1860,  and  is  a  sou  of  James  II.  Preston,  the  well- 
known  editor  of  the  Amboy  News.  His  father  was 
born  in  New  York,  grew  to  manhood  in  his  native 
State,  and  was  there  married  to  Miss  Nancy  A. 
Maydole.  who  was  also  born  in  the  State  of  New 
York.  He  was  well  educated,  and  began  teaching 
when  quite  young.  In  1855  he  left  his  early  home 
and  coming  to  Illinois,  located  at  Amboy  in  the 
early  years  of  its  settlement.  He  was  for  a  time 
manager  of  a  corporation  store,  but  having  a  taste 
for  agricultural  nur.Miits,  he  soon  rented  a  farm  in 


Marion  Township,  and  engaged  in  farming  there 
for  four  or  five  years.  Removing  to  Sublette 
Township,  he  carried  on  the  same  occupation  there 
until  1865,  and  then  bought  an  improved  farm  two 
and  one-half  miles  from  Amboy.  In  1879  he  took 
up  his  residence  in  Amboy,  and  has  ever  since  made 
that  city  his  home.  In  1884  he  bought  the  Amboy 
News,  and  still  owns  and  edits  the  paper,  which 
under  his  able  management  has  become  one  of  the 
leading  papers  of  the  county.  He  and  his  wife 
are  pleasantly  situated  in  a  cozy  home.  Sorrow 
has  come  to  them  in  their  wedded  life  in  the  death 
of  two  of  their  children,  Albert  W.  and  Frances 
A.  Two  children  remain  to  bless  their  declining 
years— their  daughter  Addie  M.,  wife  of  William 
F.  Wolcott,  of  China  Township,  and  our  subject. 
Charles  F.  Preston  was  given  every  advantage 
to  secure  a  liberal  education,  of  which  he  laid  the 
foundation  in  the  district  schools  of  this,  his  na- 
tive county.  He  attended  the  State  Normal  School, 
at  Normal,  111.,  pursuing  a  thorough  course  of 
study  in  that  one  of  the  most  excellent  and  practi- 
cal institutions  of  learning  in  this  State,  of  which 
he  was  a  student  two  years.  After  leaving  the 
Normal  he  did  as  so  many  others  have  done  from 
time  immemorial  who  are  now  famous  as  lawyers, 
doctors,  statesmen,  etc.,  began  teaching,  making 
that  a  stepping  stone  to  the  profession  of  law.  He 
taught  in  Marion  Township  two  years,  and  then 
commenced  his  legal  studies  in  the  Wesleyan  Law 
School  at  Bloomiugton,  111.,  where  he  remained 
three  months.  At  the  end  of  the  term  he  entered 

'  the  office  of  Charles  II.  Wooster,  of  Amboy,  and 
under  his  instruction  made  rapid  progress,  and 

t  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  May,  1882.  In  June, 
1883  he  opened  an  office  at  Paw  Paw,  and  has 
gradually  built  up  a  lucrative  practice,  that  is  by  no 
means  confined  to  the  village.  He  has  won  the 
confidence  of  his  clients  by  his  careful  attention  to 
affairs  entrusted  to  his  hands,  by  his  skill  in  con- 
ducting their  law  suits,  and  because  they  know  him 
to  be  a  man  of  scrupulous  honor. 

A  good  wife  and  true  has  much  to  do  with  a 
young  man's  success  in  life,  and  our  subject  has 
been  fortunate  enough  to  secure  such  an  one  in  his 
marriage  Octolx>r  (!,  1886,  to  Miss  Ida  A.  Hender- 
schott,  a  native  of  Lee  County,  and  a  daughter  of 


21(1 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


Jacob  and  Jane  M.  Henderschott.  Two  children 
complete  their  charming-  home  circle,  Frances  H. 
and  Hazel  J. 

Mr.  Preston's  energies  and  well-known  capacity 
for  affairs  have  been  called  into  requisition  by  his 
fellow-citizens  to  help  administer  the  local  govern- 
ment, and  he  is  recognized  as  one  of  our  best 
equipped  civic  officials.  lie  was  appointed  Post- 
master of  Paw  Paw  by  President  Cleveland,  and 
served  until  after  the  change  of  administration. 
As  before  mentioned,  he  is  President  of  the  Vil- 
lage Board  of  Trustees,  and  in  that  position,  and 
as  a  citizen  of  true  public  spirit,  he  loses  no  op- 
portunity to  do  all  that  he  can  to  push  forward  all 
schemes  for  the  benefit  of  Paw  Paw  or  the  county 
at  large.  He  is  actively  interested  in  politics,  and  is 
a  leading  spirit  among  the  young  Democrats  of 
this  part  of  the  State. 


JOHN  SHANK,  one  of  the  most  extensive 
landowners  of  Lee  County,  now  living  a 
retired  life  in  the  village  of  Nachusa  where 
he  has  made  his  home  for  the  past  sixteen 
years,  came  to  Illinois  from  Pennsylvania,  his  na- 
tive State.  Lebanon  County  was  the  place  of  his 
birth  and  the  date  was  1835.  The  Shank  family  is 
of  German  origin  and  in  Colonial  days  was  estab- 
lished in  America.  Joseph  Shank,  the  grandfather 
of  our  subject,  was  born  in  Lebanon  Count}',  Pa., 
of  German  parentage  and  became  one  of  the  early 
settlers  of  Heidelberg  Township,  that  county,  where 
he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  life,  dying  at  about 
the  age  of  eighty  years.  His  wife,  whose  maiden 
name  was  Fannie  Over,  was  also  born  in  Lebanon 
County  and  was  of  German  descent.  Both  were 
members  of  the  Mennonite  Church.  Their  familv 
numbered  eighteen  children,  two  sons  and  sixteen 
daughters,  all  of  whom  reached  very  advanced 
ages,  while  one  son  and  five  daughters  are  still  resi- 
dents of  the  Keystone  State. 

One  of    this   family,  Jacob  Shank,  became  the 
father  of  our  subject.     He  was  born  in  Heidelberg   j 
Township,  where  he  was    reared    to   farm    life  and 


after  reaching  manhood  married  Miss  Mollie  Miller, 
also  a  native  of  that  locality.  Her  parents  were 
Henry  and  Susan  (Troutman)  Miller,  who  were 
born  and  spent  their  entire  lives  in  Lebanon  Coun- 
ty, passing  away  when  well  advanced  in  years. 
They  died  on  the  same  day  and  were  buried  in 
the  same  grave.  They  had  lived  upright  lives  as 
farming  people  and  were  members  of  the  German 
Reformed  Church.  Their  families  were  both  of  Ger- 
man origin  and  located  in  Lebanon  County  at  an 
early  day.  After  his  marriage  Jacob  Shank  and 
his  wife  began  their  domestic  life  upon  a  farm  near 
the  old  homestead,  to  which  they  afterward  re- 
moved and  there  spent  their  last  days.  Both  were 
about  three-score  years  of  age  when  they  passed 
away.  Mrs.  Shank  was  a  life-long  member  of 
the  German  Reformed  Church,  and  won  friends 
wherever  she  went  by  her  goodness  of  heart.  In 
politics  Mr.  Shank  was  first  a  Whig  and  afterward 
a  Republican. 

Our  subject  is  the  fourth  in  order  of  birth  of 
their  six  sons  and  two  daughters,  all  of  whom  are 
married,  with  the  exception  of  the  eldest  daughter. 
In  their  various  careers  they  have  been  successful 
and  the  sons  of  the  family  have  generally  engaged 
in  merchandising  in  Pennsylvania.  John  Shank, 
however,  has  followed  the  occupation  to  which  he 
was  reared.  In  the  usual  manner  of  farmer  lads 
he  spent  the  days  of  his  boyhood  and  youth  and 
his  education  was  acquired  in  the  common  schools. 
In  the  township  of  his  birth  he  was  united  in  mar- 
riage with  MissMalinda  Grove,  who  was  also  born 
in  Heidelberg  Township,  Lebanon  County,  Pa.,  and 
is  the  seventh  in  a  family  of  four  sons  and  four 
daughters.  The  children  were  all  married  and  with 
one  exception  are  all  yet  living.  Their  parents, 
Abraham  and  Sarah  (Strickler)  Grove,  were  natives 
of  Lebanon  County,  as  were  their  parents  before 
them,  and  doubtless  the  ancestry  had  there  resided 
for  many  years  previous.  Farming  was  the  occu- 
pation of  both  families  and  that  pursuit  Mr.  Grove 
followed.  Himself  and  wife  were  members  of  the 
Lutheran  Church  and  were  quite  prominent  in  that 
community.  His  death  occurred  at  the  age  of 
eighty-one  years  and  his  wife  was  called  to  her 
final  rest  when  seventy-three  years  of  age. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Shank   continued   to  make  their 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


241 


home  in  Pennsylvania  until  1867,  which  year  wit- 
nessed their  emigration  to  the  West.  They  located 
in  Illinois  and  a  few  years  later  came  to  Lee  Coun- 
ty, where  they  have  since  resided.  Their  home 
has  been  blessed  by  the  presence  of  five  children: 
Mary  A.,  .Sarah  V.,  Ida  M.,  Minnie  M.,  and  John, 
Jr.  The  family  circle  ^  et  remains  unbroken  and 
all  are  still  under  the  parental  roof.  They  are  in- 
telligent and  well  educated  and  the  family  is  one 
of  which  the  parents  may  well  be  proud.  They 
now  reside  in  Nachusa  and  Mrs.  Shank  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Lutheran  Church. 

For  many  years  after  coming  to  this  county, 
Mr.  Shank  engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits  and  in 
his  undertakings  met  with  most  excellent  success. 
He  is  one  of  the  large  landowners  of  the  com- 
munity, his  landed  possessions  aggregating  eight 
hundred  and  thirty  acres.  Of  this  amount  five 
hundred  and  fifty-four  acres  lay  in  Nachusa  Town- 
ship, one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  in  Nelson  Town- 
ship and  a  one  hundred  and  twenty  acre  tract  is 
located  in  Cherokee  County,  Iowa.  All  of  this 
land  is  improved.  It  is  divided  into  five  farms, 
each  of  which  is  well  supplied  with  good  farm 
buildings  and  all  other  necessary  accessories.  In- 
dustry and  enterprise  have  characterized  Mr.  Shank 
throughout  life  and  have  been  potent  factors  in 
his  successful  career.  Fair  and  honorable  in  all 
his  dealings  he  has  won  the  confidence  of  all  with 
whom  he  comes  in  contact  and  has  secured  their 
warm  j-egard.  In  politics  he  is  a  stalwart  Republi- 
can, and  has  held  a  number  of  local  offices  of  honor 
and  trust. 


/^gy  HARLES  A.  BECKER,  now  deceased,  was 
(If  one  of  the  honored  pioneer  settlers  of  Pal- 
v^t'  myra  Township,  where  he  located  in  1839. 
Upon  the  farm  which  he  there  developed  he  con- 
tinued to  make  his  home  until  his  death,  which 
occurred  February  27,  1859.  He  was  born  in 
Nordhausen,  Prussia,  Germany,  January  7,  1810, 
the  city  being  that  to  which  Martin  Luther  once 
fled  to  escape  from  his  enemies.  There  Charles 
was  reared  to  manhood  and  learned  the  jeweler's 


trade  under  his  father,  John  Becker,  a  jeweler 
who  was  also  born,  reared,  lived  and  died  in  Nord- 
hausen. Our  subject  was  the  second  child  of  the 
family  numbering  four  sons  and  two  daughters. 
He  had  acquired  an  excellent  collegiate  education 
and  just  before  attaining  his  majority,  knowing 
that  he  would  have  to  enter  the  German  Army  or 
escape  to  this  country,  he  decided  on  the  latter 
step,  and  after  securing  the  consent  of  his  parents, 
bade  them  adieu  and  sailed  from  Bremen  to 
Philadelphia,  Pa.  lie  first  located  in  what  was 
then  New  Holland,  Lancaster  County,  Pa.,  from 
whence  he  removed  to  Reading,  that  State,  where 
he  followed  his  trade  as  a  jeweler  and  clock-maker. 

It  was  while  in  Reading  that  Mr.  Becker  was 
joined  in  wedlock  with  Miss  Mary  Kessler,a  native 
of  that  city,  born  January  30,  1813.  Her  parents, 
Charles  A.  and  Catherine  (Hitter)  Kessler,  were 
natives  of  Saxony,  Germany,  and  Berks  County, 
Pa.,  respectively.  The  father  acquired  a  university 
education  in  his  native  land  and  when  a  young 
man  crossed  the  Atlantic  to  the  United  States.  He 
traveled  through  the  South  for  some  time  and 
after  locating  in  Reading  married  Miss  Ritter.  In 
the  War  of  1812  he  fought  for  the  flag  of  his 
adopted  country.  In  connection  with  his  brother- 
in-law,  John  Ritter,  he  established  the  first  German 
newspaper  in  Reading,  known  as  the  Reading  Adler, 
which  paper  is  still  in  existence,  being  now  carried 
on  by  a  kinsman.  For  sixty-five  years  it  was  con- 
ducted under  the  firm  title  of  Ritter  <fe  Co.  Both 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kessler  died  in  Reading,  Pa.,  the 
former  when  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Becker  was  only 
ten  years  old.  His  wife  reached  a  very  advanced 
age  and  died  in  the  faith  of  the  Lutheran  Church, 
to  which  Mr.  Kessler  also  belonged. 

On  leaving  the  East,  Charles  Becker  located  in 
Cleveland,  Ohio,  where  he  engaged  in  business  as 
a  jeweler  and  watch-maker  for  some  time.  Many 
of  the  watches  which  he  sold  in  those  days  were 
imported  from  Switzerland.  He  came  to  Lee 
County  in  1839,  and  made  a  claim  of  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres  on  section  9,  Palmyra  Township, 
for  which  he  paid  $650.  The  land  was  in  its  prim- 
itive condition  but  the  site  which  he  selected  was 
a  favorable  one.  and  is  bordered  on  the  south  by 
the  Rock  River.  With  characteristic  energy  he 


242 


"PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


began  the  development  of  the  land  and  at  the  time 
of  his  death  had  a  fine  farm,  well  cultivated  and 
improved, and  a  comfortable  and  commodious  resi- 
dence. He  had  brought  with  him  to  the  county 
many  of  the  appliances  of  his  trade  and  in  the 
early  days  followed  that  vocation  for  some  time. 
For  two  years  he  engaged  in  business  in  Dixon. 
He  was  the  first  watch-maker  and  jeweler  west  of 
Chicago  and  as  he  had  no  competition  all  work  in 
his  line  was  brought  to  him,  his  income  thereby 
being  materially  increased.  He  was  a  successful 
business  man,  enterprising  and  progressive,  and 
won  a  well  deserved  prosperity.  With  his  fellow-  j 
townsmen  he  became  quite  popular  and  at  his 
death  left  many  warm  friends.  He  took  an  active  j 
interest  in  all  public  affairs  and  the  community 
found  in  him  a  valued  citizen. 

Mrs.  Becker  acquired  her  education  in  her  native 
city  and  is  a  lady  of  much  force  of  character, 
capable  and  energetic.  Since  the  death  of  her 
husband  she  has  carried  on  the  farm  successfully 
with  the  aid  of  her  children  and  has  also  increased 
it  in  extent  by  the  additional  purchase  of  a  sixty- 
four  acre  tract.  She  is  a  consistent  member  of  the 
Lutheran  Church,  to  which  Mr.  Becker  also  be- 
longed. Their  family  numbered  eleven  children 
but  Francis  and  Elizabeth  are  now  deceased. 
Charles  has  also  passed  away.  He  was  a  Corporal 
in  the  service  during  the  late  war  and  at  the  first 
attack  on  Vicksburg  was  shot.  A  few  days  later 
he  died  on  the  8th  of  January,  1862,  at  the  age  of 
twenty-three  years  and  was  buried  opposite  White 
River  on  the  bank  of  the  Mississippi.  He  was  a 
brave  young  soldier  and  his  death  was  sincerely 
mourned  by  many  friends.  The  other  members  of 
the  family  are  Mary,  wife  of  James  McGinnis,  a 
farmer  of  Palmyra  Township;  Sarah,  widow  of 
William  Briner,  who  served  in  the  late  war  as  a 
Ma-jor  and  was  an  insurance  agent  of  Reading,  Pa., 
where  he  died  in  1891,  and  where  his  widow  still 
resides;  Julia,  wife  of  Christian  Kauffman,  a  drug- 
gist of  Avoca,  Neb.;  Cecelia,  wife  of  Patrick  Hall,  j 
a  farmer  of  Cass  County,  Neb.;  Francis,  who  mar- 
ried Ella  Heaton  and  operates  the  home  farm; 
Fannie,  wife  of  James  Brooks,  a  grain  merchant  of 
Avoca,  Neb.;  Pauline,  who  lives  with  her  mother, 
and  Lizzie,  wife  of  Dr.  David  Meese,  a  physician 


of  North  Auburn,  Neb.  The  Becker  family  is  one 
of  the  worthy  families  of  Lee  County,  its  members 
being  held  in  high  regard  by  all  who  know  them 
for  they  are  men  and  women  of  sterling  worth  and 
integrity  of  character. 


W.  HILL,  Postmaster  at  Harmon, 
is  the  oldest  settled  merchant  in  the  town, 
carrying  on  a  well-conducted  general  mer- 
chandise business,  and  is  a  prominent  figure  in  the 
political  and  public  life  of  the  place.  He  is  a  na- 
tive of  Massachusetts,  Fall  River  his  birthplace, 
his  father's  residence  being  on  the  State  line  of 
Rhode  Island,  and  he  was  born  October  18,  1848,. 
to  George  and  Margaret  (Whittle)  Hill.  His  ances- 
tors were  originally  from  the  North  of  Ireland  and 
settled  in  New  England  in  early  Colonial  days.  His 
father  was  a  soap  manufacturer  and  pursued  that 
occupation  all  his  life.  He  was  twice  married. 
His  first  wife,  mother  of  our  subject,  died  in  1850, 
leaving  these  three  children — William  J.,  a  resi- 
dent of  Belfast,  Ireland,  where  he  represents  a 
wholesale  hardware  firm  as  general  salesman; 
Thomas,  who  is  a  postal  clerk  at  Frostburg,  Md.; 
and  our  subject,  who  is  the  youngest  of  the  three. 
The  father  married  a  second  time  and  reared  a 
family. 

Our  subject  was  less  than  three  years  old  when 
he  suffered  the  sad  loss  of  his  mother.  He  contin- 
ued to  live  in  his  native  city  until  he  was  twelve 
years  old,  and  at  that  early  age  went  out  into  the 
world  to  fight  the  battle  of  life  single-handed.  He 
accompanied  his  brother  Thomas  to  Monongahela 
City,  Pa.,  and  there  his  brother  subsequently  en- 
listed as  a  soldier  to  help  fight  for  the  preservation 
of  the  Union  in  the  Civil  War.  George,  who  had 
previously  worked  in  the  coal  mines  of  that  cityr 
then  went  to  Frostburg,  Md.,  whence  he  came  to* 
Illinois  at  a  later  date.  He  first  stopped  near  El- 
dena,  where  he  worked  as  a  farm  hand  two  seasons. 
The  following  two  seasons  he  was  employed  in  the- 
same  capacity  near  Harmon.  After  that  he  worked 
at  the  trade  of  a  carpenter  until  1877.  In  the 
month  of  April,  that  year,  he  took  a  now  departure- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


243 


by  establishing  himself  as  a  general  more-haul  al 
Harmon,  and  is  still  carrying  on  a  flourishing  busi- 
ness at  this  point,  which  has  contributed  in  no 
small  degree  to  the  good  fortune  of  the  village  in 
its  steady  growth. 

Mr.  Hill,  although  he  began  life  with  no  mon- 
eyed capital,  is  one  of  the  substantial  men  of  this 
section.  He  has  besides  a  goodly  amount  of  prop- 
erty in  the  village,  including  his  store  building 
and  residence,  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  fine 
land  on  section  25,  and  eighty  acres  on  section  23, 
Harmon  Township, and  all  this  he  has  accumulated 
since  he  entered  business  in  1877,  scarcely  fourteen 
years  ago.  He  is  likewise  self-educated  principally, 
as  his  school-days  were  limited  in  his  boyhood,  but 
he  subsequently  made  up  for  his  early  deficiencies 
in  that  line  by  studying  sedulously  at  evening 
schools.  Besides  his  present  business,  he  was  at 
one  time  partner  in  a  hardware  concern  at  Har- 
mon. 

Mr.  Hill  was  married  November  1,  1871,  to  Miss 
Gula  Elma,  daughter  of  James  Porter,  Jr.,  one  of 
the  early  settlers  of  Lee  County.  She  was  born  at 
Dixon  February  9,  1850.  The  following  is  the 
record  of  the  six  children  that  have  blessed  her 
marriage  with  our  subject — Elmer,  who  was  horn 
October  6,  1872,  was  graduated  from  the  business 
college  at  Dixon,  in  1889,  and  is  now  in  the  store 
with  his  father;  George  M.  was  born  February  26, 
1874;  Gertrude  I.,  June  17,1876;  Arthur,  July 
31,  1880;  Clarence,  January  29,  1882;  and  Gula 
Elma,  born  October  19,  1891. 

Our  subject's  fellow-citizens,  rightly  judging 
that  a  man  of  his  metal  possesses  sound  qualifica- 
tions for  responsible  offices,  have  often  called  him 
to  assist  in  the  management  of  public  affairs.  Thus 
he  has  been  Secretary  of  the  Committee  of  Harmon 
Township;  he  has  been  Collector  three  terms,  and 
one  term  represented  his  township  on  the  County 
Board  of  Supervisors.  He  has  always  been  a  stead- 
fast advocate  of  the  policy  of  the  Republican 
party  and  has  frequently  taken  part  in  the  coun- 
cils of  his  fellow  Republicans  as  a  delegate  to 
county,  district  and  State  conventions.  He  was 
Postmaster  at  Harmon  during  the  administrations 
of  Hayes,  Garfield  and  Arthur,  stepped  out  when 
Cleveland  was  in  the  Presidential  chair,  but  was 


re-instated  when  Harrison  became  the  head  of  the 
Government  and  is  now  and  has  been  since  1889, 
Notary  Public,  receiving  the  appointment  from 
Gov.  Fifer.  He  is  a  man  of  correct  habits  and  up- 
right principles,  but  is  not  a  member  of  any  relig- 
ious denomination,  and  neither  is  he  connected 
with  any  secret  society.  Mrs.  Hill,  who  shares  the 
respect  in  which  her  husband  is  held,  is  a  member 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 


HARRINGTON,  who  resides  on 
sect'on  13,  Nachusa  Township,  is  numbered 
among  the  honored  pioneers  of  the  county 
where  he  has  made  his  home  since  1837,  or  for  a 
period  of  about  fifty-five  consecutive  years.  At  the 
time  of  his  arrival  here  the  county  was  but  sparsely 
settled,  in  fact  it  was  an  almost  unbroken  wilder- 
ness and  gave  little  promise  of  the  transformation 
and  change  which  would  occur  and  make  it  what 
it  is  to-day.  He  had  come  to  Illinois  from  Chau- 
tauqua  County,  N.  Y.,  but  was  a  native  of  AVash- 
ington  County,  that  State,  where  his  birth  occurred 
August  22,  1813.  His  father,  Rev.  Ebenezer  Har- 
rington, a  prominent  Baptist  preacher  and  a  well- 
known  man  in  the  Empire  State,  was  torn  in  . 
the  village  of  Adams,  Mass. 

The  grandfather  of  our  subject,  Jeremiah  Har- 
rington, was  also  a  native  of  the  Bay  State  and 
was  descended  from  English  ancestors  who  came 
to  America  in  Colonial  days  and  were  prominent 
in  public  affairs  in  Massachusetts  during  the  earlier 
history  of  our  country.  Members  of  the  family 
also  aided  the  colonies  in  their  struggle  for  inde- 
pendence. The  grandfather  wedded  a  Massa- 
chusetts lady,  and  when  their  son  Ebenezer  was 
nine  years  old  they  removed  to  Warren  Count}', 
N.  Y.,  where  they  spent  the  remainder  of  their 
lives.  By  occupation  Mr.  Harrington  was  a  farmer 
and  in  politics  he  was  a  Whig.  Ebenezer  Harring- 
ton spent  his  boyhood  days  under  the  parental 
roof  and  after  attaining  to  mature  years  entered 
the  ministry  of  the  Baptist  Church.  He  married 
Paulina  Doolin  of  Saratoga,  N.  Y..  who  WHS  :ils<> 


244 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD, 


bom  in  the  Empire  State  and  came  of  a  respected 
f  amity  among  the  early  settlers  of  the  Butternut 
Valley.  Rev.  Mr.  Harrington  died  in  Washington 
Grove,  Ogle  County,  111.,  at  the  age  of  sixty-five 
years,  having  taken  up  his  residence  in  that  locality 
some  years  previous.  He  was  a  man  of  strong 
character,  possessed  superior  intelligence,  was 
gifted  as  a  preacher  and  his  life  work  was  one  of 
good.  His  wife,  who  was  also  a  consistent  member 
of  the  Baptist  Church,  died  at  the  age  of  sixty 
years,  while  visiting  in  Ohio.  There  were  eight 
children  in  their  family,  of  whom  two  sisters  are 
now  living  in  Wisconsin. 

The  only  other  surviving  member  is  Chester 
Harrington  of  this  sketch.  He  was  the  fifth  in 
order  of  birth.  In  his  youth  he  acquired  a  good 
education  and  when  he  made  choice  of  a  life  work 
he  determined  to  follow  the  occupation  to  which 
he  was  reared,  that  of  farming.  When  a  young 
man  he  started  Westward  and  cast  his  lot  with  the 
pioneer  settlers  of  Lee  County,  111.,  which  has  since 
been  the  scene  of  his  labors.  Before  leaving  New 
York,  however,  he  had  engaged  for  some  four  years 
in  the  lumber  business  and  had  also  taught  school 
for  many  years  during  the  winter  season.  He 
followed  the  same  profession  for  one  term  in  Lee 
County  but  his  energies  have  mainly  been  devoted 
to  agriculture.  He  entered  land  from  the  Govern- 
ment which  lies  near  the  junction  of  Franklin 
Creek  and  Rock  River  and  at  once  began  its  de- 
velopment. It  was  all  wild  prairie,  not  a  furrow 
having  been  turned  or  an  improvement  made,  but 
lie  plowed  and  planted  it  and  in  course  of  time 
abundant  harvests  were  garnered  as  the  fruit  of  his 
labors.  He  now  owns  three  hundred  and  twenty 
acres,  most  of  which  was  improved  by  himself,  but 
as  he  has  laid  aside  business  cares  and  is  now  living 
a  retired  life,  his  children  operate  the  farm. 

In  this  county  Mr.  Harrington  was  united  in 
marriage  with  Miss  Zerna  Chamberlain,  who  was 
bom  in  Eva  Township,  Genesee  County,  N.  Y., 
in  1821,  and  came  West  in  1836  with  her  parents, 
Silas  and  Pluma  (Burton)  Harrington.  They  were 
farming  people  and  died  in  this  locality,  the  father 
being  eighty-one  years  of  age  at  the  time  of  his 
death.  Unto  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Harrington  were  born 
three  children,  but  Cyrus  died  when  about  twenty- 


one  years  of  age.  Inez  I.  resides  in  Ogle  County 
and  Chester  wedded  Emma  Brantigan,  of  Dixon. 
and  operates  the  old  homestead.  The  young 
couple  have  two  children — Clande  J.  and  Pearl  E. 
The  mother  of  this  family  was  called  to  her  final 
rest  in  March,  1891,  and  left  behind  her  many 
friends  who  sincerely  mourned  her  loss. 

In  politics  Mr.  Harrington  and  his  son  are  stanch 
Republicans  and  inflexible  adherents  of  the  party 
principles.  He  has  been  honored  with  a  number 
of  local  offices,  having  served  as  Supervisor,  Asses- 
sor, Road  Commissioner,  etc.  Every  trust  reposed 
in  him  has  been  faithfully  executed  and  in  his 
official  career  he  won  the  commendation  of  all  con- 
cerned. A  self-made  man,  by  his  own  efforts  he 
attained  a  handsome  competence  and  he  is  now 
spending  his  declining  years  in  the  enjoyment  of 
a  rest  which  he  has  so  well  earned  and  richly  de- 
serves. 


OSES  C.  WEYBURN,  represents  the  Amer- 
ican Express  Company  at  Dixon,  having 
been  its  agent  at  this  place  since  1869.  His 
connection  with  the  company  covers  a 
period  of  more  than  twenty-two  years,  he  being 
one  of  its  trusted  employes.  A  native  of  Geneva, 
N.  Y.,  he  was  born  in  1845,  and  is  descended  from 
an  old  and  highly  respected  family  of  tl.  ;  Empire 
State,  of  Scottish  origin.  His  paternal  grand- 
father, Samuel  Weybiirn,  was  a  native  of  Tomp- 
kins  County,  N.  Y.,  where  he  engaged  in  farming 
for  many  years.  He  was  a  highly  educated  man 
and  also  followed  the  profession  of  teaching. 
During  the  time  the  British  made  their  raid  into 
the  State  in  the  War  of  1812,  he  was  a  member  of 
the  home  militia. 

Dr.  Edward  Weyburn,  father  of  our  subject  was 
born  on  the  shores  of  Seneca  Lake,  in  New  York, 
in  1817,  and  became  a  physician  and  surgeon  of 
prominence,  extensively  engaging  in  practice  in 
Geneva.  He  died  in  that  city  from  injuries  sus- 
tained by  falling  from  a  horse  when  sixty-two 
years  of  age.  Near  the  home  of  his  childhood  he 


THE  LfBIMflf 

OF  TH; 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


247 


had  married  Elsie  Wooden,  who  was  also  born  in 
that  locality,  and  was  descended  from  a  New 
Jersey  family  that  in  an  early  day  became  pioneers 
of  Central  New  York.  I  ts  meml>ers  there  resided 
for  several  generations  and  were  generally  farming 
people.  Mrs.  Weyburn,  mother  of  our  subject, 
died  in  Geneva,  at  the  age  of  fifty-three  years. 
She  held  membership  with  the  Baptist  Church,  and 
was  an  untiring  worker  in  its  interest**.  The  family 
of  the  Doctor  and  his  wife  numbered  eight  chil- 
dren, five  of  whom  are  yet  living  and  are  married. 
They  are  intelligent  and  prosperous  people  who 
occupy  prominent  positions  and  move  in  the  best 
circles  of  society  in  the  various  communities 
where  they  reside. 

Moses  Weyburn,  the  subject  of  this  notice,  was 
the  third  in  order  of  birth.  Under  the  parental 
roof  the  days  of  his  childhood  were  passed,  and  in 
Geneva  he  began  his  school  life,  h'is  education  be- 
ing completed  in  New  Haven,  Conn.  His  advan. 
tages  in  this  direction  were  liberal  and  he  was 
thus  well  fitted  for  the  practical  duties  of  life. 
On  attaining  his  majority  he  started  out  for  him- 
self, and  the  autumn  of  1866  witnessed  his  ar- 
rival in  Illinois.  The  following  year  he  was 
engaged  by  the  American  Express  Company  in 
Hockford,  where  he  remained  for  two  years,  when 
in  1869,  he  was  transfeired  to  Dixon  and  has  since 
represented  the  company  in  this  place.  His  long 
service  in  the  one  employ  is  the  highest  testimonial 
of  his  fidelity  and  faithfulness  that  could  be  given. 
We  know  that  he  has  been  a  trusted  employe  and 
that  the  interests  of  the  company  have  not  suffered 
at  his  hands,  else  he  would  have  long  since  been 
discharged. 

Mr.  Weyburn  was  first  married  to  Mrs.Mary  Broom 
iwf  Noble.  By  her  first  union  she  had  one  child, 
Charles  A.  Broom,  who  is  now  living  in  Norwich, 
Conn.  Her  death  occurred  at  her  home  in  Dixon, 
at  the  age  of  thirty-seven  years  and  Mr.  Weyburn 
was  a  second  time  married,  the  lady  of  his  choice 
being  Miss  Eva  Dunning.  Again  he  was  called 
upon  to  mourn  the  loss  of  his  wife,  who  at  her 
death  left  two  children  to  mourn  her  loss — Elsie 
and  Florence.  The  present  wife  of  Mr.  Weyburn 
was  in  her  maidenhood  Miss  Minnie  Weibezahn. 
She  was  born  in  Akron,  Ohio,  and  with  her  parents. 
11 


when  a  child,  came  to  Dixon,  where  she  grew  to 
womanhood  and  was  married.  One  son  graces 
this  union,  Edward. 

Mr.  Weyburn  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist 
Church  and  also  takes  considerable  interest  in  civic 
societies.  He  belongs  to  Dixon  Lodge,  No.  139, 
I.  0.0.  F.,  in  which  lie  has  filled  all  the.  offices, 
and  is  also  a  member  of  the  Phicampment,  in  which 
he  likewise  served  in  the  various  official  positions. 
Of  the  United  Workmen  Lodge  of  Dixon,  he  is  a 
charter  member  and  was  its  first  presiding  officer, 
and  is  also  connected  with  the  Modern  Woodmen. 
Among  his  lodge  associates  and  business  acquaint- 
ances he  is  held  in  high  esteem  for  his  sterling 
worth,  and  both  he  and  his  estimable  wife  have  a 
host  of  friends  throughout  this  community. 


ITIIIEL  A.  HORTOX,  of  Reynolds  Township, 
has  acquired  a  goodly  amount  of  property  by 
_  years  of  hard  labor,  notwithstanding  the  many 
discouragements  that  he  had  to  encounter  in  the 
early  years  of  his  settlement  in  Northern  Illinois, 
lie  is  now  enjoying  the  fruits  of  his  labor  in  his 
comfortable  home  in  company  with  his  wife,  who 
was  so  helpful  in  its  upbuilding.  In  connection 
with  the  following  biographical  outline,  his  por- 
trait is  presented  on  the  opposite  page. 

Mr.  Horton  was  born  in  Sheshequin  Township, 
Bradford  County,  Pa.,  April  17,  1817.  His  father, 
Joshua  Morton,  was  born  in  a  settlement  [on  the 
Jersey  side  of  the  Delaware  River,  and  located  in 
Pennsylvania  before  marriage.  He  had  been  reared 
on  a  farm  and  made  farming  his  occupation.  He 
bought  a  tract  of  timber  land  in  Sheshequin  Town- 
ship, and  the  log  cabin  that  he  built  in  the  forests 
was  the  birthplace  of  his  son,  of  whom  we  write. 
There  were  no  railways  for  many  years,  and  before 
there  were  any  public  roads  the  father  used  to  go 
in  a  canoe  to  Tanquehanie,  on  the  Stisquehanna  • 
River,  which  was  the  nearest  market.  He  cleared 
a  good  farm,  and  made  it  his  home  until  his  death 
in  1870,  in  his  ninetieth  year.  The  maiden  name 
of  his  second  wife,  mother  of  our  subject,  was  Lu- 
cimla  Kills.  She  was  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  a 


248 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


daughter  of  Eleazer  Ellis,  and  died  on  the  old 
homestead  in  1850. 

The  early  years  of  our  subject  were  spent  amid 
the  pleasant  scenes  of  his  birth,  and  his  education 
was  obtained  in  the  subscription  schools  of  that 
day,  each  family  paying  according  to  the  number 
of  scholars  sent.  The  schools  were  held  in  primi- 
tive log  houses,  furnished  with  slab  benches  that 
were  supported  by  wooden  pins  for  legs.  Our 
subject  commenced  to  help  in  the  labors  of  the 
farm  when  quite  young,  and  continued  to  give  his 
father  the  benefit  of  his  services  until  he  attained 
his  majority.  He  then  started  out  in  the  world 
with  no  other  capital  than  brawn  and  muscle,  re- 
en forced  by  sound  sense  and  excellent  habits. 

After  working  out  b3r  the  month  for  two  years, 
with  the  earnings  which  resulted  from  his  steady 
industry,  our  subject  purchased  a  farm  of  one  hun- 
dred acres,  in  company  with  his  brother  Ulysses. 
They  farmed  together  for  a  time  and  then  our  sub- 
ject sold  his  share  of  that  place  and  bought  sixty- 
acres  of  lund  near  by  in  his  native  township.  He 
was  busily  engaged  in  its  cultivation  until  1854, 
and  then  disposed  of  that  farm  at  a  good  price  in 
order  to  avail  himself  of  the  many  privileges  of- 
fered to  a  farmer  by  the  rich  soil  of  this  State. 
After  his  arrival  in  Illinois  he  purchased  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  acres  of  wild  prairie,  located  in 
Ogle  County  five  miles  northwest  of  Rochelle,  pay- 
ing for  it  at  the  rate  of  $5  an  acre.  He  built 
upon  the  place  and  lived  there  three  years,  at  the 
expiration  of  which  time  he  sold  it  at  $20  an  acre, 
and  invested  the  money  thus  made  in  adjoining 
land. 

This  investment  did  not  prove  a  fortunate  one, 
as  on  account  of  poor  crops  and  other  misfortunes 
Mr.  Horton  lost  that  farm.  He  did  not,  however, 
despair,  but  came  to  Reynolds  Township  to  begin 
life  anew  on  rented  land.  He  did  well  by  that 
venture,  and  a  year  later  bought  eighty  acres  of 
prairie  land  in  the  same  township  and  occupied  it 
twenty  years.  Then  selling  that  farm,  he  bought 
the  one  upon  which  he  now  resides,  which  com- 
prises two  hundred  acres  of  land  of  exceeding  fer- 
tility, under  fine  cultivation,  and  supplied  with 
good  modern  improvements.  Since  settling  here 
he  has  sold  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  the 


farm  to  his  son,  retaining  forty  acres  for  his  own 
use. 

April  22,  1840,  was  the  date  of  the  marriage  of 
our  subject  to  Miss  Polly  Brink,  who  was  born  in 
the  same  Pennsylvania  township  as  himself,  and  is 
a  daughter  of  Daniel  and  Rachel  Brink.  Their 
wedded  life  has  been  of  unusual  duration,  having 
already  passed  the  golden  milestone  that  marked 
its  fiftieth  anniversary.  It  has  not  been  without 
its  sorrows,  but  it  has  held  many  joys  for  them,  and 
among  their  blessings  may  be  counted  the  six  chil- 
dren spared  to  comfort  their  declining  years, 
namely — Alonzo,  Rachel,  Albert,  Theodore,  Daniel 
and  Emma.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Horton  are  people  of 
sincere  practical  piety  and  are  valued  members  of 
the  Free-will  Baptist  Church,  which  they  joined 
some  years  ago.  In  politics  he  is  a  Republican, 
and  stands  stanchly  by  his  party. 


JULES    BRECHON.       Lee    County    has    a 
large    percentage    of    citizens    of    foreign 
birth  among  her  population,  who  arc  potent 
in  developing,  sustaining  and  carrying  for- 
ward the  great  industries  that   flourish  within  her 
borders.     Our  subject,  although  reared  and  educa- 
ted in  this  country,  and  has  known  no  other  home, 
is  one  of  this  class.     His  business   is  that  of  a  far- 
mer and  stock  raiser,  and  his  farm  of  eighty  acres 
on    section    33,    South   Dixon    Township,    gives 
abundant  evidence   of  the  skill   and    intelligence 
with    which    everything   about    the    premises   is 
managed. 

Our  subject  is  of  French  extraction  and  birth, 
born  February  20,  1862,  in  the  province  of 
Alsace  when  it  formed  a  part  of  France.  He  is  a 
son  of  Joseph  and  Margaret  (Blanc)  Brechon,  the 
father  late  a  prosperous  farmer  of  this  section  who 
was  for  many  years  closely  identified  with  the  ag- 
ricultural interests  of  this  county,  which  lost  in 
his  death  a  valuable  citizen.  Both  he  and  his  wife 
were  of  pure  French  blood,  and  they  were  natives 
of  Alsace.  After  the  birth  of  all  their  children, 
they  decided  to  emigrate  to  this  country  in  1864, 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


249 


and  took  passage  from  Havre  de  Grace  on  a  ship 
bound  for  New  York,  where  they  landed  twenty 
days  later.  They  came  direct  to  Lee  County,  and 
settling  in  Bradford  Township  on  a  farm  that  was 
mostly  improved,  began  life  there  as  fanners. 
They  made  further  improvements,  and  nine  years 
later  sold  the  place  in  order  to  remove  to  South 
Dixon  Township,  there  Mr.  Brechon  had  pur- 
chased a  quarter  of  section  33,  which  was  then  onlj- 
slightly  improved.  After  he  had  made  it  into  a 
pleasant  home  with  the  assistance  of  his  wife  and 
children,  he  rested  from  his  labors  in  the  sleep  of 
death,  which  fell  to  him  October  4,  1886,  sixty- 
one,  years  having  passed  since  his  birth  in  the  land 
of  his  fathers  across  the  sea.  He  was  ever  a  con- 
sistent Christian,  and  the  Catholic  Church  under 
whose  teachings  he  had  teen  reared  found  in  him  a 
worthy  member.  In  politics  he  was  a  Democrat. 
His  good  wife  survives  him,  making  her  home 
with  her  children.  Three  score  years  and  ten 
mark  her  age,  but  in  her  activity  and  retention  of 
all  her  faculties  she  gives  but  little  sign  of  being 
elderly.  She  too  lias  been  a  life-long  member  of 
the  Catholic  Church. 

Our  subject  is  the  second  child   and  the   second 
son  of  the  three  children  born  to  his  parents.    His   | 
In-other  Gustave,  owns  and  occupies  eighty  acres 
of  the  parental  homestead.     The  sister,  Mary,   is 
the  wife  of  Thomas  Ford,  a  thrifty  young  farmer 
occupying    the  Dan    McKenney   farm    in   Dixon 
Township.      Jules  Brechon  received  the  benefit  of 
a  common-school  education  in  the  district  schools 
of  this  county,  where  he   has  lived  ever  since  he   j 
was  two  years  old,  nine  years  of  his  boyhood  be-   t 
ing  passed  in  Bradford  Township,  and  the  remain- 
der of  his  life  he  has  been  a  resident  of  South  Dix-   I 
on  Township.     He  has  devoted  himself  to  farming   \ 
from  his  youth  to  good   purpose,  and  has   owned   ' 
his  present  farm    two  years.     It  is   well   supplied 
with   buildings  and   with  modern    machinery    for 
carrying  on  the  various  operations  of  fanning,  and   1 
it  is  well  stocked  with  fine  breeds  of  cattle,  horses   i 
and    hogs,  which  bring  him  a  good  yearly  income. 

The  marriage  of  Mr.  Brechon  with  Miss  Marga- 
ret I'lrich  was  duly  celebrated  in  Marion  Town- 
ship. Among  the  blessings  it  lias  brought  ^hein  is 
the  little  daughter.  Ixirn  August  15.  1890,  to  whom 


they  have  given  the  sweet,  old-fashioned  name  of 
Mary  Margaret.  Mrs.  Brechon  is  a  native  of  this 
State,  having  been  born  at  Sandwich,  in  De  Kalb 
County,  April  20,1869.  She  was  chiefly  reared, 
however,  in  this  county,  her  parents,  Joseph  and 
Margaret  (Hunt)  I'lrich,  removing  to  Marion  Town- 
ship and  settling  there  on  a  farm  when  she  was  a 
child.  They  are  yet  living  in  that  place,  and 
have  a  comfortable  home.  They  are  members  in 
high  standing  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church. 
Mr.  Ulrich  was  born  in  Alsace,  and  came  to  this 
country  when  a  young  man.  In  De  Kalb  County 
he  met  and  married  his  wife.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Brech- 
on are  connected  with  the  Catholic  Church  at 
Dixon,  and  are  generous  in  their  contributions  to 
its  support.  In  his  political  affiliations  Mr. 
Brechon  is  a  Democrat. 


OIIN  M.  STERLING.  The  name  of  Ster- 
ling has  been  connected  with  the  rise  and 
progress  of  Lee  County  since  the  early 
years  of  its  settlement.  Maj.  Sterling  fig- 
ured prominently  as  a  pioneer  merchant  and 
farmer  and  as  a  public-spirited  citizen,  and  in  later 
years,  his  son,  of  whom  we  write,  has  come  to  the 
front  as  one  of  the  foremost  men  of  this  section. 
He  is  an  enterprising  and  successful  farmer  and 
dairyman  of  Nelson  Township,  his  fanning  inter- 
ests and  home  lying  on  section  15,  and  he  is  one 
of  our  most  valued  civic  officials,  representing  said 
township  as  a  member  of  the  County  Board  of 
Supervisors. 

Our  subject  is  a  native  of  this  county,  his  fath- 
er's old  homestead  in  Palmyra  Township  being  the 
place  of  his  birth,  and  November  26,  1849  the  date 
on  which  he  first  opened  his  eyes  to  its  pioneer 
surroundings.  His  father,  Maj.  James  Sterling,  was 
born  in  Braintrim,  Luzerne  County.  Pa.,  in  May, 
1805,  and  came  from  an  old  family  that  had  lived 
in  America  since  early  Colonial  times,  being  promi- 
nent in  the  annals  of  Pennsylvania  and  New  York, 
especially  of  the  latter  State,  embraced  in  Wyoming 
County,  in  whose  early  history  much  mention  is 
made  of  them,  as  well  as  of  the  Suttons,  who  were 


250 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


kinsmen  of  theirs,  both  families  hearing  a  gallant 
part  in  the  Indian  wars  of  this  section  of  the 
country.  Maj.  Sterling  was  a  son  of  Daniel  Ster- 
ling, who  was  a  native  of  Wyoming  County,  but 
became  a  resident  of  Luzerne  County,  Pa.,  where 
he  was  prominent  in  various  capacities.  He  was 
a  public  man,  active  in  business,  managed  a  hotel, 
sold  goods  and  did  farming.  In  his  last  years  he 
came  to  Illinois  and  a  short  time  afterward  died  in 
Rock  Island  at  an  advanced  age.  lie  had  visited 
the  new  State  of  Illinois  soon  after  its  admission  to 
the  Union,  and  had  seen  the  country  when  it  was 
for  the  most  part  a  literal  wilderness. 

Maj.  Sterling  passed  his  boyhood  amid  the  pleas- 
ant scenes  of  his  birth.  He  inherited  in  a  remark- 
able degree  the  active  temperament  of  his  father, 
together  with  his  versatile  talent  and  business 
acumen.  He  had  scarcely  attained  manhood  when 
he  achieved  prominence  in  various  directions,  as 
his  executive  ability  and  genius  for  affairs  were 
early  recognized  by  his  fellow-citizens  who  pushed 
him  lo  the  front.  He  obtained  his  title  of  Major 
through  his  being  an  officer  of  the  State  Militia. 
While  a  resident  of  Pennsylvania  he  took  a  promi- 
nent part  in  public  works,  and  he  afterward  be- 
came interested  in  the  improvement  of  the  Rock 
River.  This  was  what  first  led  him  to  Illinois  in 
1838,  whither  he  came  to  attend  to  the  letting  of 
contracts  by  the  State  Commission,  for  carrying 
on  the  said  improvements,  which  were  to  be  con- 
ducted under  what  was  known  as  the  Internal 
Improvement  System.  The  Major  was  in  partner- 
ship with  Smith  Gilbraith  for  the  purpose  of  im- 
proving the  navigation  of  the  aforementioned 
river,  but  the  State  failed  to  carry  through  this 
gigantic  scheme  of  internal  improvements,  and 
Maj.  Sterling  returned  to  Pennsylvania,  and  was 
engaged  partly  there  and  partly  in  the  West  for 
some  years  after  that. 

In  1847,  he  came  here  with  his  family  to  locate 
permanently,  and  for  a  few  years  had  a  mercantile 
establishment  at  Dixon.  Later  he  removed  to  a 
large  tract  of  land  in  Palmyra  Township,  which 
was  in  all  its  original  wildness  when  it  came  into 
his  possession,  but  under  his  supervision  it  became 
a  well-improved  farm.  He  erected  substantial 
buildings,  drawing  the  lumber  from  Chicago  for 


the  purpose,  and  in  other  ways  he  made  of  it  a  val- 
uable place  and  attractive  home.  Here  death 
rounded  out  his  life  November  15,  1860,  when  it 
was  scarcely  past  the  noon-tide,  although  it  was 
one  of  unusual  completeness  as  regards  what  he 
had  accomplished.  This  county  then  lost  a  citizen 
whom  it  held  in  high  honor,  and  who  had  been 
noted  for  his  public  spirit,  push  and  enterprise  in 
matters  of  moment  that  concerned  the  welfare  of 
the  community  at  large.  He  was  a  man  of  de- 
cided moral  character  who  was  always  to  be  found 
on  the  side  of  the  right  in  all  the  great  questions 
of  his  day.  He  was  a  strong  Whig  and  anti-slavery 
man,  and  was  ever  ready  to  champion  the  cause  of 
the  weak  and  oppressed. 

Maj.  Sterling's  first  wife,  to  whom  he  was  mar- 
ried in  Luzerne  County,  Pa.,  was  Kezia  M.  Can- 
field.  She  was  born  and  reared  in  Pennsylvania, 
and  died  in  Luzerne  County  in  the  prime  of  life, 
leaving  three  children — a  daughter,  Amanda,  who 
died  after  her  marriage;  and  Edward  and  Edwin, 
twins,  the  former  a  farmer  in  Huron ,S.  Dak.;  and  the 
latter  now  a  resident  of  San  Francisco,  who  went 
to  California  in  1849,  and  was  a  miner  for  some 
years.  The  Major  was  a  second  time  married  in 
Luzerne  County,  Pa.,  Miss  Eliza  Passmore  be- 
coming his  wife.  She  was  born  in  Auburn,  that 
State,  and  was  there  reared  and  educated.  Her 
father  was  a  Rhode  Island  man,  who  spent  the  lat- 
ter days  of  his  life  in  the  Keystone  State.  Mrs. 
Sterling  accompanied  her  husband  to  Illinois  when 
he  came  here  to  locate,  and  she  helped  him  to  make 
a  good  home,  in  which  she  reared  a  family  of  five 
children,  of  whom  our  subject  is  the  youngest  and 
is  now  the  only  survivor.  The  mother  was  a 
prominent  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  and  was  a  conscientious  Christian  to  the  last. 
She  died  at  the  home  of  her  son,  our  subject,  Oc- 
tober 13,  1889,  aged  eighty  years,  she  having  been 
born  August  14,  1809. 

John  M.  Sterling  received  his  education  in  the 
pioneer  schools  of  this  and  his  native  county,  where 
his  entire  life  has  been  passed  thus  far,  and  he  has 
risen  to  a  position  of  prominence  among  his  fellow- 
citizens,  as  he  is  progressive  in  his  views,  is  saga- 
cious and  politic  in  council,  and  is-  discriminating 
I  and  clear-sighted  in  his  judgment  of  men  and 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


251 


affairs.  These  traits  have  made  him  successful  in 
business  and  brought  him  into  public  life.  Thus 
he  has  held  civic  offices  with  great  credit  to  him- 
self and  to  the  benefit  of  the  community.  He  has 
been  Assessor  for  four  years,  and  has  represented 
Nelson  Township  as  a  member  of  the  County 
Board  of  Supervisors  for  the  last  two  terms.  He 
has  lived  in  Nelson  Township  since  1870,  and  he 
has  here  a  good  farm,  which  is  equal  in  its  appoint- 
ments and  improvements  to  any  in  its  vicinity, 
and  he  devotes  it  to  general  farming  and  dairy 
purposes,  having  a  fine,  well-kept  herd  of  milch 
cows  on  the  place. 

Our  subject  was  happily  married  in  Nelson 
Township  to  Miss  Dora  Rickey  Passmore,  who  is  to 
him  all  that  a  wife  can  be  to  her  husband.  She 
manages  the  affairs  of  her  household  intelligently, 
and  so  as  to  make  its  inmates  contented  and  com- 
fortable, and  cordially  seconds  her  husband  in  ex- 
tending hospitality  to  all  who  enter  their  door. 
Three  children  complete  their  home  circle — John, 
Robert  and  James.  Mrs.  Sterling  was  born  in  Penn- 
sylvania in  1851,  and  received  her  education  in 
that  State.  She  had  attained  womanhood  when 
she  came  to  Lee  County.  In  her  the  Presbyterian 
Church  lias  an  earnest,  working  member. 


ILLIAM  S.  BRIERTON.  In  the  early  days 
of  the  settlement  of  Lee  County  there 
came  hither  from  his  old  home  in  Penti- 
sylvania  one  Joseph  Brierton,  who  was  among  the 
first  to  settle  in  Nachusa  Township,  and  from  that 
time  the  name  of  Brierton  has  been  linked  with 
the  history  of  the  development  and  welfare  of 
this  section  of  Illinois.  The  gentleman  who  is  the 
subject  of  this  biographical  review  is  a  son  of  that 
honored  pioneer  of  whom  mention  has  just  been 
made,  and  he  has  risen  to  an  honorable  place 
among  the  intelligent,  progressive  farmers  of  his 
native  county,  his  agricultural  interests  being  com- 
prised in  a  well  stocked,  finely  improved  farm,  ly- 
ing on  sections  16  and  17,  Nelson  Township. 

Our  subject  was  born  November  25,  1839,  on  his 
father's  homestead  in  Nachusu  Township,  and  wa> 


reared  and  educated  under  the  pioneer  conditions 
that  prevailed  in  this  county  during  his  youth. 
He  early  adopted  the  calling  to  which  he  has  been 
bred,  and  at  first  engaged  in  it  in  his  native  town- 
ship, of  which  he  remained  a  resident  until  1874. 
He  purchased  his  present  farm  in  Nelson  Town- 
ship sixteen  years  ago,  and  has  since  busied  himself 
with  its  cultivation  and  improvement.  He  owns 
nearly  a  quarter  of  a  section  of  land,  which  is 
finely  tilled,  and  is  amply  supplied  with  modern 

i  improvements,  neat  and  well  appointed  buildings 
adding  to  the  attractiveness  as  well  as  to  the  value 

I  of  the  place,  and  on  all  sides  are  evidences  of  well- 
considered  and  systematic  arrangements  for  con- 
ducting agriculture  in  an  enlightened  manner, 
thoroughly  in  keeping  with  the  advanced  methods 
of  farming  in  use  by  the  most  progressive  and 
thoughtful  farmers  of  to-da}'. 

Joseph  Brierton,  the  lather  of  our  subject,  was 
l»orn  in  Luzerne  County,  Pa.,  of  foreign  parent- 
age. His  father  was  a  native  of  England,  who  had 

I  come  to  this  country  when  a  young  man,  had  mar- 
ried a  Pennsylvania  lady  of  Dutch  descent,  and 

I  they  had  lived  and  died  in  Luzerne  County  when 
past  middle  life.  The  father  of  our  subject  grew  up 
in  the  county  of  his  nativity,  and  learned  the  trade 
of  a  brewer,  which  he  followed  for  a  time,  and 
then  abandoned  that  to  fit  himself  for  a  black- 
smith, which  calling  he  pursued  for  awhile  in  the 
county  where  he  was  born.  He  was  in  the  prime 
and  vigor  of  a  stalwart,  active  manhood,  when  he 
decided  to  improve  his  fortunes  by  migration  to 
the  wilderness  of  Illinois,  where  land  was  cheap, 
and  there  were  other  advantages  to  compensate  for 
the  rough,  rude  life  on  the  frontier,  with  which  he 
was  well  fitted  to  cope.  He  set  forth  from  his  old 
home  with  his  family  in  1836  or  1837,  and  traveled 
over  the  intervening  country  to  his  destinatson. 
with  teams. 

After  Joseph's  arrival  here,  he  purchased  a 
squatter's  claim  on  section  26,  Nachusa  Township, 
and  was  one  of  the  original  settlers  of  that  place. 
He  at  once  began  to  improve  his  land,  and  also  es- 
tablished a  smithy,  which  he  operated  in  connection 
with  farming  for  some  years.  He  built  up  a  com- 
fortable home,  in  which  he  rounded  out  a  life  of 
unusual  length,  he  being  past  ninety-six  years  of 


252 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


age  when  lie  died,  and  the  eldest  but  one  man  in 
the  county.  He  was  of  a  quiet,  thoughtful  dispo- 
sition, of  an  even  temperament  and  irreproachable 
habits,  and  was  reverenced  by  all  who  knew  him. 
He  was  a  strong  Methodist  in  religion,  and  in  poli- 
tics lie  was  a  downright  Republican  to  the  day  of 
his  death.  As  one  who  witnessed  almost  the  en- 
tire growth  of  this  county,  actively  aiding  his  fel- 
low-pioneers in  their  great  work  of  redeeming  it 
from  the  hand  of  nature;  and  as  one  of  the  origi- 
nal settlers  of  Nachusa  Township  his  memory  will 
always  be  cherished  by  all  who  take  an  interest  in 
this  section  of  the  State. 

Mr.  Brierton 's  wife  died  in  1872,  at  the  age  of 
three-score  years  and  ten.  She  too  was  a  native 
of  Luzerne  County,  her  parents  also  being  of  Penn- 
sylvanian  birth,  and  living  and  dying  in  that 
county,  and  her  maiden  name  was  Elizabeth  Gar- 
rison. She  was  a  noble  type  of  the  pioneer  women 
who  assisted  their  fathers,  brothers  and  husbands 
in  the  making  of  comfortable  homes  and  in  the 
upbuilding  of  Lee  County,  where  she  had  many 
warm  friends.  She  was  a  consistent  Christian 
and  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

Our  subject  is  one  of  twelve  children,  five  of 
whom  are  living,  all  married  and  residing  within 
the  borders  of  this  county.  After  attaining  his 
majority  he  was  first  married  in  Nachusa,  his  na- 
tive township,  to  Miss  Mary  E.  Stetler,  a  native  of 
Pennsylvania,  who  came  to  this  county  when  a 
child  with  her  parents.  Her  death  occurred  in  Nel- 
son Township,  August  3,  1886,  when  she  was  still 
in  life's  prime,  and  she  left  behind  her  a  beautiful 
memory  as  a  daughter,  wife  and  mother.  Four  chil- 
dren were  liorn  to  our  subject  by  that  marriage, 
namely:  .Joseph,  a  farmer  in  Amboy  Township, 
who  married  Miss  Silvie  Collins;  Charles, a  farmer 
in  Nelson  Township,  who  married  Miss  May  Poor- 
baugh;  Alva  and  Rlioda  A.,  who  are  at  home.  The 
second  marriage  of  our  subject,  which  took  place 
in  Taylor  Township.  Ogle  County,  was  with  Miss 
Anna  Hewitt.  Mrs.  Brierton  was  born  in  Ireland, 
in  the  County  of  Downe,  March  24,  186(1.  Her 
parents  are  yet  living  at  their  old  home  in  that 
Irish  county.  She  came  to  the  United  States  in 
December,  1885,  ambitious  to  make  more  of  her 
life  than  was  possible  in  her  n:ilivc  land.  Our 


subject  has  in  her  a  true  wife,  and  the  Presbyterian 
Church  a  good  working  member.  Mr.  Brierton  is 
an  earnest  thinker,  with  a  mind  well  stored  with 
facts,  and  with  opinions  of  his  own  on  all  subjects 
with  which  he  is  familiar.  He  has  no  faith  in  re- 
ligious creeds,  but  his  principles  are  high,  and  his 
conduct  in  ail  the  affairs  of  life  is  irreproachable. 
He  cast  his  first  vote  for  Abraham  Lincoln,  and 
has  ever  since  been  loyal  to  the  Republican  party. 
Mr.  Joseph  Brierton  left  an  estate  of  over  $100,- 
000,  and  the  division  of  the  estate  was  made  with- 
out an  administrator,  with  the  help  of  one  man 
outside  the  family — Jason  C.  Ayers — and  each  heir 
was  entirely  satisfied  with  the  division,  and  the 
whole  cost  amounted  to  $100  only;  something  re- 
markable in  the  history  of  settling  up  large  estates. 


JLLIAM  B.  PAGE,  a  son  of  one  of  the 
earliest  pioneer  settlers  of  Lee  County, 
represents  the  Anglo-Swiss  Condensed 
Milk  Co.,  which  is  of  world-wide  fame,  having 
several  branch  establishments  in  Europe  as  well  as 
the  United  States,  and  its  products  are  sold  in 
various  countries.  The  manufacture  of  this  ar- 
ticle at  Dixon  is  one  of  the  most  important  in- 
dustries in  Northern  Illinois,  and  under  our  sub- 
ject's able  management  the  works  are  in  .1  perfect 
condition. 

Mr.  Page  is  a  native  of  this  county,  born  in  the 
pioneer  home  of  his  parents  in  the  township  of 
Palmyra,  in  1854.  His  father,  John  II.  Page,  was 
one  of  the  first  to  settle  in  this  part  of  the  State, 
and  was  well  known  here  for  many  years.  lie 
was  born  in  the  town  of  Rochester,  Stafford  Coun- 
ty, N.  H.,  in  1806,  a  son  of  David  Page,  and  a 
grand  son  of  Joseph  Page.  He  was  reared  on  a 
farm  in  the  town  of  Sandwich,  and  was  educated 
in  the  common  schools.  He  early  acquired  a  taste 
for  farming,  and  in  due  time  adopted  that  honor- 
able calling  for  his  life-work,  engaging  in  agricul- 
ture on  the  rugged  soil  of  his  native  State  until 
1831.  In  the  spring  of  that  year  he  boldly  set  his 
face  Westward,  determining  to  brave  the  unknown 
perils  of  life  in  the  wilderness  on  the  frontier  so 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


253 


as  to  profit  by  the  cheap  and  rich  lands  of  the 
great  State  of  Illinois,  which  was  still  in  the  hands 
of  the  pioneers,  with  but  little  of  its  wonderful 
resources  developed.  He  located  in  what  is 
now  Palmyra  Township,  Lee  County,  where  but 
two  or  three  had  ventured  to  make  a  settlement 
before  his  arrival,  the  land  being  still  held  by  the 
Government,  and  the  survey  incomplete.  Mr. 
Page  made  a  claim  to  a  tract  of  land,  and  the  log 
house  that  he  erected  upon  it  was  the  second  or 
third  dwelling  built  in  the  township.  At  that 
time  deer,  wolves  and  other  wild  animals  were 
numerous,  and  were  often  troublesome  to  the  set- 
tlers. There  were  no  railways  and  the  farmers  had 
to  carry  their  grain  and  other  produce  way  to 
Chicago  to  obtain  a  market,  and  to  get  needed  sup- 
plies. Mr.  Page  resided  on  the  farm  that  he  im- 
proved by  hard  and  persistent  labor  until  1869, 
when  he  sold  it  and  made  his  home  at  Menlo, 
Iowa,  the  few  remaining  years  that  were  left  to 
him,  his  death  occurring  there  in  1870.  He  was 
first  married  in  1830  to  Miss  Julia  M.  Fellows,daugh- 
ter  of  Stephen  Fellows.  She  died'  in  Palmyra  in 
1856;  He  was  married  a  second  time  in  1858,  Mrs. 
Sarah  (Jenness)  Wiggin  becoming  his  wife.  By  the 
first  marriage  there  were  eight  children,  of  whom 
these  five  are  now  living, — George  H.,  Charles  A., 
David  S.,  William  B.  and  Julia  M. 

As  the  foundation  of  the  industry  with  which 
our  subj:ct  is  connected  was  due  to  the  far-reach- 
ing enterprise  and  wonderful  executive  ability  of 
his  brothers,  a  brief  resume  of  their  lives  will  not 
be  out  of  place  in  this  biographical  sketch.  The 
eldest  George  H.  Page,  was  born  in  Palmyra 
Township,  May  16,  1836.  He  received  a  liberal 
education  at  Iowa  City  College,  of  which  his 
uncle  Stephen  N.  Fellows  was  one  of  the 
founders  and  the  first  principal.  After  leaving 
he  engaged  in  farming  for  a  time,  but  soon 
after  the  war  broke  he  was  appointed  to  a  clerk- 
ship in  the  War  department  at  Washington,  and 
did  good  service  for  the  Government  the  ensuing 
three  years.  In  1866  he  went  to  Switzerland,  and 
in  company  with  his  brothers  Charles  S.  and  David 
S..  embarked  in  the  business  of  condensing  milk, 
the  first  undertaking  of  the  kind  in  Europe,  and 
under  their  skillful  management  it  has  grown  to 


immense  proportions.  The  business  proved  such  a 
success  that  a  stock  company  was  eventually 
formed,  with  a  capital  of  $2,000,000  and  now 
eight  factories  are  in  operation  — three  in 
England,  two  in  Switzerland,  one  in  Germany, 
and  two  in  the  United  States.  In  1868  the  plant 
at  Dixon  was  started,  and  upwards  of  a  half 
million  dollars  expended  on  the  grounds,  buildings, 
fixtures,  etc.  One  hundred  and  thirty  five  hands 
are  employed  in  the  factory,  and  the  milk  of  three 
thousand  cows  is  consumed  each  day.  Mr. 
George  Page  is  the  general  manager  of  the  busi- 
ness, and  resides  at  New  York  City.  He  was  mar- 
ried in  1875  to  Miss  Adelheid  Schwerzmann,  of 
Zug,  Switzerland,  and  they  have  one  child. 

Charles  A.  Page,  the  second  son  of  the  family, 
was  born  in  Palmyra  Township  May  22,  1838.  He 
was  graduated  from  Cornell  College,  at  Mt.  Ver- 
non,  Iowa,  and  after  that  he  edited  a  paper  in  that 
town  for  one  year.  He  was  then  appointed  clerk 
in  the  fifth  auditor's  office  in  the  Treasury  Depart- 
ment at  Washington.  He  held  that  position  for 
three  or  four  years,  and  during  the  war  turned  his 
attention  to  journalism,  and  became  famous  as  a 
war  correspondent  of  the  New  York  Tribune.  He 
accompanied  theaimy  of  the  Potomac  in  its  var- 
ious campaigns,  and  his  vivid  descriptions  and 
graphic  delineations  of  the  marches  and  battles, 
and  the  defeats  and  triumphs  of  that  heroic  army,, 
published  in  the  Tribune  over  the  initials  C.  A.  P., 
were  read  with  intense  interest  by  thousands  of 
anxious  ones  at  home  all  over  our  broad  land 
wherever  that  newspaper  circulated,  and  are  re- 
membered to  this  day  by  the  old  readers  of  the 
Tribune.  He  was  one  of  the  party  that  had  the 
honor  of  accompanying  the  remains  of  President 
Lincoln  to  their  last  resting  place  at  Springfield. 
In  1866  he  was  appointed  Consul  of  Zurich,  Swit- 
zerland, in  recognition  of  his  services  as  war  cor- 
respondent, and  he  held  that  otfice  four  years. 
At  the  expiration  of  that  time  he  became  the  man- 
ager of  the  London  office  of  the  Anglo-Swiss  Con- 
densed Milk  Co..  of  which  lie  was  one  of  the  ori- 
ginators.. He  resided  in  that  city  until  his  un- 
timely death  May  26,  1873, deprived  the  coiii|;:ui\ 
of  his  valuable  services,  mid  closed  a  career  in 
which  he  had  already  accomplished  much  though 


254 


PORTRAIT  AXD  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


still  in  the  prime  of  life,  and  which  had  given 
every  promise  of  a  brilliant  future  as  a  business 
man  of  more  than  ordinary  talent,  lie  had  been 
married  in  1868  to  Miss  Grace  D.  Cowes,  of  Wash- 
ington, I).  C.,  who  now  makes  her  home  in  Boston, 
Mass.  By  their  marriage  were  four  children. 

David  S.,  the  fourth  brother  of  our  subject,  was 
born  on  the  old  family  homestead  in  Palmyra 
Township.  He  was  given  excellent  educational 
advantages,  and  in  his  career  has  displayed  the 
same  energy  and  genius  for  business  that  marks  his 
brothers.  He  is  the  assistant  general  manager  of 
the  company,  and  resides  in  Europe.  He  married 
Miss  Martha  Stulz,  a  native  of  Cham,  Switzerland, 
and  they  have  four  children. 

AVilliam  B.  Page,  the  principal  subject  of  this 
biography ,passed  his  early  years  in  his  native  town- 
ship, and  in  the  local  schools  laid  the  solid  foun- 
dation of  his  education  which  he  completed  at 
Cornell  College  in  Iowa.  His  connection  with  the 
business  founded  by  his  brothers  began  in  1872, 
when  he  went  to  England  to  enter  their  employ 
in  their  factory  atChippenham  Village,  Wiltshire. 
During  the  eight  years  that  he  remained  there  he 
became  thoroughly  conversant  with  the  art  of 
manufacturing  condensed  milk,  and  at  the  end  of 
that  time  he  went  to  the  Canton  of  Zug,Switzerland, 
and  was  connected  with  the  management  of  the 
factory  there  until  1888.  In  that  year  he  returned 
to  America  to  take  charge  of  the  works  at  Dixon, 
which  under  his  energetic  management  is  in  a 
nourishing  condition.  lie  is  certainly  "the  right 
man  in  the  right  place."  as  no  detail  of  this  large 
business  escapes  his  watchful  eye,  and  under 
his  careful  supervision  everything  is  kept  in  good 
order,  and  the  enormous  amount  of  -condensed 
milk  turned  out  daily  by  this  establishment  has 
no  superior  for  excellence  of  quality  in  any 
country.  This  is  one  of  the  institutions  of  which 
Dixon  is  justly  proud,  as  not  only  has  it  brought 
much  capital  into  the  city,  and  lias  increased 
materially  the  wealth  of  city  and  county,  but  its 
Hue  buildings,  of  a  pleasing  and  appropriate  style  : 
of  architecture,  and  its  handsome,  well-laid  out 
grounds  are  an  ornament  to  the  locality,  an  air  of 
exquisite  neatness  and  cleanliness  pervading  the 
whole  place,  adding  greatly  to  its  attractiveness. 


Mr.  Page  was  married  during  his  residence  in 
England  to  Miss  Catherine  Buckle,  of  London, 
their  marriage  being  celebrated  in  1876.  They 
have  established  a  handsome  home  in  Dixon,  the 
centre  of  a  charming  hospitality,  and  whoever 
crosses  its  threshold  is  sure  of  a  pleasant  welcome 
from  courteous  host  and  amiable  hostess.  Their 
household  circle  is  completed  by  the  four  children 
born  unto  them,  whose  names  are  Carl,  Roland. 
Henry  and  Walter. 


MRICH  WEISHAAR.  The  qualities  of 
thrift  of  pei-severance  which  almost  invari- 
ably characterize  the  Germans,  have  crowned 
their  efforts  with  prosperity  in  whatever  portion  of 
the  world  their  lot  may  be  cast.  Nor  does  the  life 
of  Mr.  Weishaar  furnish  an  exception  to  the  usual 
rule,  for  he  is  numbered  among  the  most  prosper- 
ous citizens  of  'this  county.  For  many  years  he 
devoted  his  attention  assiduously  to  agricultural 
pursuits,  but  has  now  retired  from  the  active  duties 
of  life  and  makes  his  home  in  Ashton,  where  in 
tranquil  and  cheerful  intercourse  with  his  family 
and  friends  he  hopes  to  pass  his  declining  years. 

As  has  already  been  indicated,  the  native  home 
of  Mr.  Weishaar  is  in  Germany  and  the  date  of  his 
birth  February  3,  1834.  During  his  childhood 
he  was  given  excellent  advantages  in  the  schools 
of  the  Fatherland  and  upon  starting  out  in  life 
for  himself,  secured  employment  as  a  laborer  in  the 
vicinity  of  his  early  home.  Having  resolved  to 
seek  a  home  in  the  New  World,  he  emigrated  to 
this  country  in  the  fall  of  18f>(>  and  landed  in 
New  York,  whence  he  came  direct  to  this  county. 
At  first  he  worked  out  as  a  laborer  in  Bradford 
Township,  where  he  was  married  March  9, 1861,  to 
Miss  Anna  B.  Merbach.  Mrs.  Weishaar,  who  was 
a  native  of  Germany,  died  in  Bradford  Township. 
She  was  the  mother  of  ten  children,  four  of  whom 
are  now  living,  namely — Ernest,  John,  Henry  and 
Caroline. 

On  January  Id.  1SH-I.  Mr.  Weishaar  was  again 
miiiTH'd.  choosing  a.-  his  \vifi>  Miss  Anna  Bech,  an 


IHE  liL.ALV 

OF  rife 
Hf  i>ujwiis 


.  ctf. 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


257 


excellent  lady,  who,  like  himself,  was  born  in  Ger- 
many. Mr.  and  Mrs.  Weishaar  are  the  parents  of 
one  child,  a  son — Frederick.  They  occupy  a  prom- 
inent position,  socially,  and  are  highly  esteemed  j 
for  their  many  worthy  and  upright  qualities.  The 
labors  of  Mr.  Weishaar  have  met  with  more  than 
ordinary  success,  for  by  the  exercise  of  sound 
judgment  and  excellent  business  tact,  he  is  now 
the  owner  of  four  hundred  and  nineteen  acres, 
most  of  which  is  under  high  cultivation  and  all  ' 
valuable  fanning  land.  After  actively  engaging 
in  farming  pursuits  for  many  years,  he  came  to 
Ashton  in  the  spring  of  1891,  and  here  is  quietly 
living,  surrounded  by  the  comforts  which  his  un- 
aided efforts  have  accumulated.  He  takes  great  in- 
terest in  the  public  affairs  of  the  community  and 
contributes  his  share  to  the  development  of  the  in- 
terests of  the  village.  Before  he  came  here  to  live 
he  served  as  Highway  Commissioner  in  Bradford 
Township. 


L.WILLIAMSON.  The  gentleman 
IfT^V  whose  portrait  is  presented  on  the  opposite 
i±M^  page  and  whose  biography  is  here  given  in 
((|y)  outline,  is  a  retired  farmer  residing  in 
Ashton.  He  is  the  son  of  Samuel  B.  and  Sybil 
(Delong)  Williamson,  natives  respectively  of  Corn- 
wall and  Shoreham,  Vt.  The  father  died  in  his 
native  place  and  the  mother  passed  from  this  life 
in  Cook  County,  this  State. 

Harlow  A.  Williamson  was  one  of  a  family  of 
seven  children,  and  was  born  in  Cornwall,  Vt., 
January  8,  1830.  He  was  reared  on  a  farm  in  his 
native  place  and  received  a  good  education,  but 
appreciating  the  value  of  knowledge  he  lias  been 
a  constant  reader  and  to-day  is  a  man  of  intelli- 
gence and  culture.  In  1850,  when  twenty  years 
of  age.  he  started  out  in  life  for  himself  and  came 
to  Illinois,  choosing  Lee  County  as  his  abiding- 
place.  He  had  nothing  with  which  to  begin  the 
battle  of  life  hut  his  strong  hands  and  a  determina-  j 
tion  to  win,  and  on  locating  here  worked  out  by 
the  month  on  a  farm  for  four  years.  At  the  ex-  ! 
pirntion  <if  that  time  lie  WHS  enabled  to  pun-huso 


a  farm  of  his  own,  having  been  very  economical 
and  industrious  and  saving  his  earnings.  His  tract 
of  land  was  located  in  Bradford  Township  and 
upon  this  he  settled  and  continued  its  improve- 
ment until  when  ready  to  dispose  of  it,  he  had 
brought  it  to  a  flue  state  of  cultivation. 

January  1,  1857,  was  the  date  of  our  subject's 
marriage  to  Miss  Emeline,  daughter  of  Charles 
and  Sarah  (Pratt)  Starks,  the  father  a  native  of 
Poughkeepsie,  N.  Y.,  and  the  mother  born  in  Brad- 
ford County,  Pa.  They  were  among  the  very 
earliest  settlers  of  Illinois,  having  made  Lee  County 
their  home  as  early  as  1838.  Thus  pioneer  life  in 
this  State  is  a  familiar  tale  to  Mrs.  Williamson,  as 
its  hardships  as  well  as  its  adventures  have  made 
a  lasting  impression  upon  her.  Her  parents  re- 
mained in  Lee  Center  Township  for  a  few  years 
and  later  went  to  Bradford  Township,  where  they 
lived  honored  and  useful  lives  and  died  after  hav- 
ing reared  a  large  family  of  children,  eleven  in 
number.  Mrs.  Williamson  was  the  seventh  child 
and  was  born,  February  14,  1835,  in  Bradford 
County,  Pa. 

After  his  marriage,  our  subject  located  in  Brad- 
ford Township  and  there  he  worked  industriously, 
cultivating  the  soil  until  the  fall  of  1889,  when 
he  and  his  wife  came  to  Ashton,  where  they  now 
reside.  Having  no  .children  of  their  own  they 
have  acted  the  part  of  parents  to  three  little  ones —  . 
Nellie,  Harry  and  Katie,  on  whom  they  have 
bestowed  a  wealth  of  affection  and  have  trained  to 
become  useful  in  whatever  position  in  life  they 
may  be  placed. 

Mr.  Williamson  was  elected  to  the  positions  of 
Collector  of  his  township,  Constable  and  School 
Director  and  gave  perfect  satisfaction  to  his  fel- 
low-townsmen while  the  incumbent  of  those  posi- 
tions. He  is  a  true-blue  Republican  and  has  always 
been  since  the  organization  of  the  party.  Witli 
his  estimable  wife,  he  is  active  in  all  good  works 
and  is  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 
They  are  now  living  retired  from  the  active  duties 
of  life  and  entertain  their  host  of  friends  in  their 
beautiful  new  home  which  lias  just  been  completed 
and  which  in  elegance  of  appointments  is  in  keep- 
ing with  its  cultured  inmates.  Mrs.  Williamson  is 
iin  excellent  lady  and  presides  with  grace  and 


258 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


dignity  over  their  new  home,  beloved  and  respected 
by  all  who  have  the  honor  to  know  her,  and  indeed 
that  is  saying  a  great  deal,  for  they  are  pioneers 
of  this  section,  hence  have  an  extended  acquaint- 
ance. 


ICHARD  GOOCH.  Among  the  prominent 
and  influental  residents  of  Lee  Center 
Township,  may  be  classed  the  subject  of 
this  sketch  who  came  to  this  county  at 
nu  earty  day  and  has  aided  much  in  its  develop- 
ment and  progress.  He  was  born  at  Somersetshire, 
Kugland,  December  7,  1848  and  was  only  fifteen 
months  old  when  brought  by  his  parents  to  Amer- 
ica, settling  in  Ogle  County,  this  State,  where  the 
father  was  employed  on  public  works  and  also  on 
the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  as  construction  fore- 
man. From  Ogle  County,  the}7  removed  to  Jo 
Daviess  County  where  they  remained  for  some 
two  years  soon  after  coming  to  Bradford  Town- 
ship, this  county,  where  our  subject  grew  to  man- 
hood. 

Edgar  Gooch,  the  father  of  our  subject,  was 
born  in  England,  May  10,  1821.  His  wife,  whose 
maiden  name  was  Eliza  Ilann,  was  also  a  native  of 
England,  being  born  in  Lancastershire,  March  22, 
1826.  They  came  to  America  in  the  spring  of 
1850  and  after  living  in  various  places  as  has 
been  stated,  they  finally  settled  in  the  village  of 
Ashton  in  the  spring  of  1889.  They  had  a  family 
of  nine  children  of  whom  our  subject  was  the  eld- 
est. They  were  excellent  people  who  brought  up 
their  children  in  the  most  careful  manner  and 
were  highly  esteemed  by  their  many  friends  and 
acquaintances. 

Richard  Gooch  was  reared  to  manhood  on  his 
father's  farm  and  remained  at  home  until  his  mar- 
riage January  14,  1872,  which  took  place  at  Sub- 
lette  to  Miss  Sarah  Hodges  a  native  of  Lee  Center 
Township,  her  birth  occurring  August  19,  1851. 
The  young  couple  settled  near  Ashton,  in  the 
township  of  the  same  name,  where  they  lived  for 
seven  years,  at  the  end  of  that  time  removing  to 
I.ee  (  enter  Township,  where  they  h.-ive  ever  since 


resided,  making  their  home  since  1883  at  Shaw 
Station.  The  father  of  Mrs.  Gooch,  Joseph  A. 
Hodges,  was  born  in  Indiana,  and  her  mother, 
whose  maiden  name  was  Olive  Tourtillott.  \v:is 
I  torn  near  Bangor,  Me.  They  were  married  in 
Bureau  County,  111.,  and  settled  in  Lee  Center 
Township,  this  county,  where  they  lived  until  the 
spring  of  1889  when  they  removed  to  Mendota, 
this  Stale.  There  they  are  spending  the  evening 
of  their  lives  in  quiet  retirement,  happy  in  the 
consciousness  of  a  well-spent  life.  This  worthy 
couple  were  the  parents  of  eleven  children,  of 
whom  Mrs.  Gooch  is  the  eldest. 

Our  subject  and  his  wife  have  two  children, 
Eva  E.  and  Roy  W.  In  politics  Mr.  Gooch 
is  a  through  Republican,  although  he  has  never 
taken  an  active  part  in  political  affairs.  He  has 
held  several  of  the  school  offices  and  is  interested 
in  educational  and  religious  progress.  He  and  his 
wife  are  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  and  give  their  aid  to  all  enterprises  which 
tend  toward  the  welfare  of  their  community.  Mr. 
Goocli  is  the  owner  of  four  hundred  and  thirty 
acres  of  land,  his  farm  being  highly  cultivated  and 
containing  a  fine  line  of  improvements.  He  has.  a 
pleasant  residence  in  which  are  hospitably  enter- 
tained the  many  friends  of  his  refined  and  cul- 
tured family. 


AVID  B.  SENGER  is  carrying  on  a  large 
and  profitable  business  at  Franklin  Grove 
as  manufacturer  of  "Dr.  Wrightsman 's 
Sovereign  Balm  of  Life."  Mr.  Senger 
was  borji  near  the  town  of  Waynesboro,  Pa.,  July 
8,  1849,  coming  of  one  of  the  old  families  of  that 
State,  which  has  been  represented  there  for  several 
generations.  He  is  a  son  of  Daniel  and  Elizabeth 
(Bayer)  Senger,  who  removed  to  Iowa  in  1865  and 
settled  near  the  city  of  Cedar  Rapid.s.  where  the 
father  carried  on  his  trade  as  a  shoemaker  for  some 
years.  He  is  now  a  resident  of  Ogle  County,  this 
State1.  His  wife,  the  mother  of-  our  subject, 
died  in  Iowa,  in  December,  1887,  in  the  seventy- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


2.59 


first  year  of  her  age.  They  had  a  family  of  four 
children,  of  whom  David  B.  is  the  eldest.  The 
others  are  Mary,  wife  of  James  B.  Menlzer,  of  Linn 
County,  Iowa;  George,  a  resident  of  Linn  County, 
Iowa;  and  Joel,  who  is  with  his  brother  of  whom 
we  write. 

The  subject  of  this  biographical  review  received 
a  substantial  education  in  the  common  schools  and 
in  Western  College  in  Iowa,  and  in  early  life  he 
learned  the  trade  of  a  shoemaker.  After  he  at- 
tained manhood  he  entered  the  profession  of  a 
teacher1  engaging  in  that  vocation  in  Iowa,  and  it 
was  in  that  capacity  that  he  came  to  Lee  County 
in  1873.  He  taught  school  near  Franklin  Grove 
for  three  winters,  and  he  then  turned  his  attention 
to  stili  another  profession,  entering  the  editorial 
ranks,  purchasing  the  Franklin  Reporter,  in  August. 
1876,  and  was  successfully  engaged  in  editing  and 
publishing  it  until  October,  1886,  when  the  de- 
mands of  his  business  obliged  him  to  abandon 
journalism  and  confine  himself  to  the  manufacture 
of  medicine.  In  November,  1881,  he  had  asso- 
ciated himself  with  George  W.  Lipe,  a  druggist  of 
the  village,  in  the  purchase  of  Dr.  Wrightsman's 
''Sovereign  Balm  of  Life, "and  they  had  commenced 
its  manufacture  under  the  firm  style  of  Senger  & 
Lipe.  In  1888  Mr.  Senger  purchased  his  partner's 
interest  in  the  concern,  and  has  since  conducted 
the  business  alone.  His  establishment  is  well  fitted 
up  with  all  the  appliances  and  machinery  necessary 
for  the  most  careful  and  best  possible  preparation 
of  the  medicine, -and  none  but  the  purest  ingre- 
dients are  used  in  compounding  it.  Under  our 
subject's  energetic  and  practical  mode  of  carrying 
on  the  business  the  sales,  which  for  the  first  few 
years  amounted  to  only  $300,  now  bring  in  #10,000 
annually,  and  the  medicine  is  now  sold  in  over 
twenty  States  in  the  Union,  the  druggists  all  over 
the  country  being  the  medium  of  sale,  and  an  idea 
of  the  extent  of  the  business,  which  is  all  done  by 
mail  may  he  gathered  by  the  fact  that  *:!,100  worth 
of  stamps  are  required  every  year. 

Mr.  Senger  was  happily  married  March  18, 1875, 
to  Miss  Susan  Buck,  a  native  of  Franklin  Grove, 
and  a  daughter  of  Henry  and  Mary  Buck.  Three 
of  the  six  children  horn  to  them  are  living:  Kda 
A.,  Ray  W.  and  Frank  II.  Mr.  Senger  is  a  mem- 


ber of  the  German  Baptist  Church,  and  he  and  his 
wife  are  highly  thought  of  in  the  community  where 
they  have  established  a  pleasant  home.  He  is  pub- 
lic-spirited, and  encourages  all  plans  for  the  ma- 
terial benefit  of  town  and  county,  as  well  as  using 
his  influence  for  their  moral  and  religious  ele- 
vation. 


\Tr%ICHARD  PHILLIPS  has  been  a  valuable 
\f*\{  citizen  of  Lee  County  for  many  years,  and, 
Ji  *  although  not  one  of  its  earliest  settlers,  is 
entitled  to  an  honorable  place  among  ils 
pioneers,  as  during  his  residence  here  he  has  im- 
proved one  of  the  best  farms  in  Viola  Township, 
where  he  has  made  his  home  for  more  than  thirty 
years. 

Mr.  Phillips  is  of  Irish  birth,  his  native  place 
being  in  County  Cavan.  Ireland.  His  father, 
George  Phillips,  was  also  born  in  that  county,  and 
was  the  son  of  another  George  Philips  who  was  a 
native  of  England.  He  had  gone  from  there  to  Ire- 
land in  early  manhood,  and  spent  the  remainder  of 
his  life  inCounty  Cavan,  where  he  followed  farming. 
He  married  Sarah  Howard,  a  native  of  England, 
whose  last  years  were  passed  on  her  husband's  farm 
on  the  Emerald  Isle.  The  father  of  our  subject  de-. 
voted  his  entire  life  to  farming  in  his  native  ounty. 
He  married  Sarah  Staddard,  a  native  of  the 
county,  and  a  daughter  of  James  Staddard.  Her 
whole  life  was  passed  in  County  C'avan.  The  par- 
ents of  our  subject  were  both  devout  members  of 
the  Episcopal  Church,  and  reared  their  children  in 
the  same  faith.  They  had  nine  children,  of  whom 
seven  came  to  America,  namely:  Ann,  Hannah, 
Margaret,  George,  Catherine,  Richard  and  Sarah. 
William  and  Jane  remained  in  Ireland. 

Our  subject  was  reared  and  educated  in  the  land 
of  his  nativity,  and  remained  an  inmate  of  the 
paternal  home  until  he  was  grown  to  manhood. 
Then,  in  the  prime  of  vigorous,  active  life,  he  em- 
igrated to  the  United  States  of  America,  setting 
sail  from  Liverpool  in  the  month  of  May,  and 
landing  in  New  York  on  our  national  holiday  in 
the  month  of  July.  He  proceeded  to  Weslchestcr 


260 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIO- IHATIIICAL   RECORD. 


County,  N.  Y.,  where  he  was  employed  on  a  farm 
by  the  month  until  1851,  when  he  came  to  Illinois. 
He  started  on  his  momentous  journey  on  a  boat, 
bound  up  the  Hudson  River  to  Albany,  where  he 
embarked  on  a  stage  for  Schenectady,  from  there 
a  canal  boat  conveyed  him  to  Buffalo,  whence  he 
voyaged  on  the  Great  Lakes  to  Chicago,  thence 
by  canal  to  La  Salle;  a  stage  then.took  him  to  his 
destination  in  Lamoille,  Bureau  County.  He 
worked  by  the  month  in  that  place,  being  em 
ployed  for  nine  years  by  one  man,  was  diligent 
and  faithful,  his  labors  giving  satisfaction,  and, 
with  characteristic  good  sense,  he  saved  his  earn- 
ings that  he  might  become  a  land-holder  in  his 
own  right.  He  continued  in  the  employ  of  one 
man  until  1857,  and  then  came  to  Lee  County, 
and  the  money  that  he  had  accumulated  went 
partly  to  purchase  eighty  acres  of  land  on  section 
23,  Viola  Township,  for  which  he  'paid  $2.50  an 
acre.  When  it  came  into  his  possession  it  was  a 
tract  of  wild  prairie,  and  he  did  not  locate  on  it 
until  his  marriage  two  years  later.  He  has  been  a 
continuous  resident  here  since,  and  now  has  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land,  which  constitutes 
one  of  the  best  farms  of  its  size  in  the  township  of 
Viola,  as  its  fields  are  under  admirable  tillage,  and 
a  neat  and  commodious  set  of  frame  buildings 
have  been  erected  on  the  place,  which  is  further 
adorned  by  beautiful  shade  and  fruit  trees  planted 
by  Mr.  Phillips  himself. 

Our  subject  was  first  married  May  2,  1859,  to 
Amelia  E.  Davenport,  a  native  of  Harpersfield,  N. 
Y.,  and  a  daughter  of  Erastusand  Pamelia  Daven- 
port. They  lived  together  a  quarter  of  a  century, 
and  then  the  tie  that  bound  them  was  broken  by 
the  death  of  Mrs.  Phillips,  September  7,  1884. 
Two  children  are  living,  born  of  that  marriage, 
William  and  Harry.  Mr.  Phillips  was  married  to 
his  present  estimable  wife,  formerly  Mary  E. 
Harris,  February  18,  1886.  She  was  born  in 
Juniata  County,  Pa.,  and  is  a  daughter  of  Alex- 
ander Harris,  a  native  of  the  same  county.  His 
father,  Thomas  Harris,  was  a  blacksmith,  and  fol- 
lowed that  trade  in  Juniata  County,  where  he 
spent  his  last  years.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife 
was  Jane  Baty.  She  was  born  near  Belfast,  Ire- 
land. The  father  of  Mrs.  Phillips  began  work 


with  his  father  at  the  age  of  thirteen,  and  was 
engaged  as  blacksmith  for  upwards  of  fifty  years. 
In  1871  he  came  to  Illinois,  and  made  his  home 
in  La  Salle  County  during  the  remainder  of  his  life. 
He  married  Margaret  Kelly,  who  was  born  in 
Franklin  County,  Pa.,  and  was  a  daughter  of 
Joseph  and  Margaret  (Kennedy)  Kelly.  She  now 
resides  in  Earlville,  111.  One  child  has  been  t  orn 

I  to  our  subject  and  his  present  wife,  who  died  in 
infancy. 

Mr.  Phillips  is  a  man  of  sterling  character  and 
good  principles,  and  is  well-known  for  his  genial- 
ity and  kindness  of  heart.  Soon  after  coming  to 

|  this  country  the  cause  of  the  slave  aroused  his 
warmest  sympathies,  and  he  became  a  pronounced 
abolitionist.  He  was  one  of  the  conductors  on 
the  celebrated  "underground  railroad'  of  ante 
bellum  days,  and  helped  several  fugitives  to  free- 
dom. He  cast  his  first  vote  for  Abraham  Lincoln, 
and  has  been  a  stanch  Republican  ever  since. 


IOMAS  P.  MoCUNE,  who  is  engaged  in 
farming  on  section  34,  Dixon  Township, 
claims  Pennsylvania  as  the  State  of  his  na- 
tivity. He  was  born  in  Canal  Township,  Venango 
County,  in  1832, and  came  of  an  old  Pennsylvania 
family.  His  grandfather,  William  McCune,  lived 
and  died  in  Venango  County,  his  occupation  being 
farming,  which  he  followed  in  Canal  Township. 
He  was  of  Scotch-Irish  descent.  He  married  Eliza- 
beth Paxton,  a  native  of  Luzerne  County,  Pa., and 
she  died  on  the  old  homestead  in  Canal  Township 
at  about  the  age  of  eighty  years.  Religiously  she 
was  a  member  of  the  Seceders'  Church. 

William  McCune  was  born  on  his  father's  farm 
in  Venango  County,  of  which  he  afterwards  be- 
came owner  and  made  it  his  home  until  his  death, 
which  occurred  on  the  16th  of  May,  1889,  at  the 
age  of  eighty-two  years.  In  Mercer  County  he 
was  joined  in  wedlock  with  Kcziah  Paxton,  who 
became  a  true  wife  and  helpmate  to  him.  She  was 
also  a  memberof  the  Seceders'  Church.  Unto  this 
worthy  couple  were  born  only  two  children,  our 
subject  and  a  brother,  James,  who  has  been  twice 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


261 


married  and   is  engaged   in   farming  in  Venango 
County,  Pa. 

Under  the  parental  roof  Thomas  McCune  spent 
the  days  of  his  boyhood  and  youth,  and  the  educa- 
tional advantages  afforded  him  were  those  of  the 
district  schools  of  the  neighborhood.  In  1858 
he  led  to  the  marriage  altar  Miss  Lydia  J.Williams, 
a  native  of  Center  County,  Pa.,  and  a  daughter  of 
Thomas  and  Sarah  (Smith)  Williams,  the  former 
born  in  Center  County  and  the  latter  in  Mercer 
County,  Pa.  Their  union  was  celebrated  in  French 
Creek  Township,  of  the  last  named  county,  and 
there  they  began  their  domestic  life.  Mr.  Williams 
was  a  millwright  by  trade.  When  his  daughter, 
Mrs.  McCune,  was  only  three  years  old,  he  removed 
with  his  family  to  Canal  Township,  Venango 
County,  where  the  family  made  their  home  for 
some  years  and  then  came  to  Illinois,  the  father 
purchasing  a  farm  in  Dixon  Township,  the  same 
that  is  now  owned  and  operated  by  our  subject. 
Here  he  died  on  his  eighty-third  birthday — Janu- 
ary 23,  1885.  His  wife  survived  him  a  few  years 
and  passed  away  at  the  age  of  eighty.  In  early 
life  they  had  been  members  of  the  Baptist  Church,  ; 
but  afterwards  became  connected  with  the  United  j 
Brethren  Church. 

Mrs.  McCune  is  one  of  five  children,  three  of  j 
whom  are  yet  living.  Her  maidenhood  days  were 
passed  in  her  parents'  home,  where  she  remained 
until  she  gave  her  hand  in  marriage  to  our  subject,  I 
Their  union  has  been  blessed  with  six  children — 
S.  Miles,  who  married  Minna  Martin  and  is  now  a 
photographer  of  Dixon;  W.  Irven  wedded  Christ- 
ine Weiiner  and  resides  on  the  old  homestead; 
Sarah  is  the  wife  of  Joseph  Atkinson,  a  resident 
farmer  of  Dixon  Township;  Lorinda  E.  is  the  wife 
of  Bert  Swartz,  who  is  engaged  in  agricultural 
pursuits  in  Palmyra  Township;  Maud  is  at  home; 
and  Byron  died  in  childhood. 

Mr.  and    Mrs.  McCune    are    people    of   sterling 
worth  and  are  held  in  high  regard  by  all  who  know  • 
them.     In  politics  he  is  a  Democrat,  but  does  not 
take  an  active   part  in  political  affairs,  preferring 
to  give  his  time  and  attention  to  his  business  in- 
terests.    His  fine  farm  embraces  one  hundred  and 
eighty-three  acres  of  arable  land,  the  greater  part  ' 
of    which   is    under  a  high    state   of   cultivation.   . 


The  improvements,  which  are  many,  are  both  use- 
ful and  ornamental,  and  the  neat  appearance  of  the 
place  indicates  his  thrift  and  enterprise.  The  farm 
is  well  stocked  and  Mr.  McCune  also  has  an  apiary 
of  one  hundred  and  twenty  active  colonies  of  bees. 
For  the  past  few  years  he  has  engaged  in  this  line 
of  business  and  has  met  with  good  success. 


,  Superintendent  of  the  County 
j  Hospital  and  Poor  Farm,  located  on  section 
'=}$  26,  South  Dixon  Township,  is  an  intelli- 
(|p  gent,  progressive  and  humane  official,  and 
a  man  of  marked  ability  who  has  long  been  promi- 
nently known  in  public  life  and  as  a  successful 
business  man,  whose  record  is  without  a-  blemish. 

Mr.  Ely  is  a  native  of  Chenango  County,  N.  Y., 
and  was  born  July  9,  1827.  His  father,  Thomas 
R.  Bly,  was  a  native  of  Rhode  Island,  and  a  son  of 
Job  Bly,  who  was  also  born  in  that  State,  and  was 
of  English  descent.  It  is  supposed  that  he  spent 
his  last  years  in  Oneida  County,  N.  Y.,  where  he 
had  been  engaged  as  a  farmer.  He  was  twice 
married.  His  son,  Thomas,  early  became  a  me- 
chanic, having  much  natural  ability  in  that  line, 
and  was  married  in  his  native  State  after  he  at- 
tained manhood,  to  Miss  Nancy  Tanner,  a  native  of 
Connecticut,  and  of  good  New  England  stock. 
After  marriage  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Thomas  Bly  removed 
to  Richmond,  Va.,  where  he  followed  the  trade  of 
a  carpenter.  They  subsequently  retraced  their 
steps  Northward  and  settled  in  Chenango  County, 
N.  Y.,  where  the  most,  if  not  all,  of  their  children 
were  born  and  reared.  The  father  died  there 
when  about  sixty  years  of  age,  and  the  mother 
afterwards  came  to  Illinois  to  spend  her  declining 
years,  and  died  in  Ogle  County  at  the  age  of 
seventy  years. 

Henry  Bly,  of  this  life  review,  was  not  of  nge 
when  he  came  to  this  State  in  1845,  but 
attained  his  majority  some  three  years  later  in 
Ogle  County,  where  he  first  settled  in  the 
Township  of  Nashua,  but  he  afterward  made 
his  mark  as  a  pioneer  of  Northern  Illi- 


•2(52 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


nois.  Five  years  later  he  went  out  from  that 
township  to  join  the  great  caravan  that  was 
streaming  across  the  continent  to  the  newly  dis- 
covered gold  fields  of  California,  attaching  himself 
to  a  party  with  whom  he  traveled  across  the  plains 
and  over  the  mountains  to  the  Pacific  slope, 
journeying  over  the  South  Pass  by  the  Sublet  cut- 
off route,  and  finally  arriving  at  Hangtown  after  a 
trip  lasting  five  and  one-half  months,  from  Febru- 
ary 28,  to  August  17.  After  staying  for  awhile  at 
their  first  stopping  place,  our  subject  proceeded  to 
the  valley  of  the  America  River,  and  later  on  in 
the  spring  of  1851  went  up  the  Sacramento  River 
to  Scott  River  in  Oregon  with  others,  but  before 
reaching  their  destination  he  and  his  companions 
found  gold  at  what  is  now  known  as  Shasta.  At 
that  place  Mr.  lily  mined  nearly  all  the  precious 
mineral  that  he  obtained  while  in  the  Golden 
State  during  the  fifteen  months  that  he  remained 
there.  There  he  had  full  experience  of  the  rough 
life  of  a  frontier  mining  camp.  Excitement  ran 
high,  and  he  witnessed  the  magic  growth  of  the 
town  from  a  lonely,  desolate  spot  to  a  village  of  a 
thousand  souls  in  thirty  days.  Well  satisfied  with 
his  experiences  as  a  miner  and  frontiersman,  Mr. 
Bly  resolved  to  return  to  more  civilized  regions, 
and  in  the  fall  of  1851,  on  the  loth  day  of  No- 
vember, he  left  San  Francisco  for  an  ocean  voyage 
to  New  York  by  the  way  of  the  Isthmus  of 
Panama,  and  some  months  later  was  re-united  to 
his  family  in  Illinois. 

After  returning  to  this  part  of  the  country  Mr. 
Bly  continued  to  live  in  Ogle  County  for  several 
years,  and  was  actively  identified  with  its  business 
and  public  interests.  In  the  fall  of  1865  he  came 
to  Lee  County  and  took  up  his  residence  in  the 
city  of  Ash  ton,  where  he  soon  made  his  influence 
felt  as  a  man  of  affairs,  far-seeing  and  enterprising 
in  business,  and  a  promoter  of  all  plans  likely  to 
advance  the  growth  of  the  city.  For  several 
years  he  conducted  a  grocery,  to  which  he  after- 
ward added  a  market  for  the  sale  of  meat.  He 
was  one  of  the  leaders  in  the  public  and  political 
life  of  his  community,  the  Republican  party,  to 
which  he  has  belonged  since  its  organization,  find- 
ing in  him  one  of  its  most  effective  workers  and 
steadfast  champions  in  this  section  of  the  State. 


For  twentv-one  years  he  was  a  member  of  the  Lee 
County  Board  of  Supervisors,  and  was  Chairman 
of  the  Board  for  some  time.  He  was  elected  to 
the  position  of  Justice  of  the  Peace,  having  had 
several  years'  experience  in  that  line  while  a  resi- 
dent of  Ogle  County.  When  he  accepted  his 
present  position  he  resigned  that  office  and  his 
membership  of  the  School  Board  of  Ash  ton,  with 
which  he  had  been  connected  for  years. 

In  1887  Mr.  Bly  was  honored  by  being  selected 
to  be  Superintendent  of  the  County  Hospital  and 
Poor  Farm  of  Lee  County,  as  it  was  conceded  on 
all  sides  by  men  of  all  parties  that  he  was  the  man 
most  competent  to  fill  the  onerous  office,  and  he 
assumed  the  duties  of  his  new  position  in  the 
month  of  September.  Mr.  Bly  has  thrown  his 
whole  soul  into  the  work  here,  devoting  his  time 

I  and  energies  to  the  efficient  and  conscientious  dis- 
charge of  his  duties.  He  met  with  the  State  Board 
of  Charities  that  convened  in  Chicago  in  Novem- 
ber, 1888,  and  has  at  all  times  made  a  careful  study 
of  the  systems  used  in  conducting  such  institu- 
tions, and  has  brought  the  one  under  his  charge 
to  such  a  high  standard  that  it  has  a  reputation  of 
being  one  of  the  best  managed  in  the  State.  The 
hospital  is  a  good-sized  building,very  well  equipped, 

I  and  is  kept  nearly  filled  with  insane  patients,  there 
being  but  comparatively  few  sane  paupers  here,  as 

I  the  county  paupers  are  for  the  most  part  cared  for 
outside  of  the  county.  The  farm  embraces  one 
hundred  acres  of  tillable  land,  is  supplied  with 
good  buildings,  and  improvements  are  constantly 
being  made  in  that  line  and  in  the  way  of  adorning 
the  grounds  with  trees  and  shrubbery  under  the 
supervision  of  our  subject. 

Mr.  Bly  and  Miss  Anna  .1.  Wood  were  united  in 
marriage  in  Ogle  County.  She  is  much  interested 
in  her  husband's  work,  and  he  finds  in  her  a  wise, 
discreet  and  able  coadjutor.  She  is  a  member  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  her  daily  life 
shows  her  to  be  a  consistent  Christian.  Her  mar- 
riage with  our  subject  has  brought  them  seven 

1   children,  of  whom  two  are  dead,  Charles   W..  and 

!  Almeron.  who  were  smothered  to  death  in  a  grain 
bin  at  Ashton  when  sixtee  .  years  old.  The  sur- 
viving children  are  Egford,  an  attorney  at  DC 
Land.  Flu.,  who  married  Miss  Samantha  Sproul; 


PORTRAIT  AM)  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


.Minn,  wife  of  P.  ().  Sproul,  a  teacher  and  editor  at 
DeLand;  Lela,  wife  of  Perry  Burdick  (they  being 
with  her  parents  on  the  poor  farm);  Grant,  who 
married  Miss  Emma  Boerner,  and  is  connected 
with  the  Star  newspaper  office  at  Dixon;  and  Ertie, 
at  home  with  her  parents. 

Mrs.  Bly  was  born  in  Prescotl,  Canada,  March  7, 
1830,  the  eldest  of  a  family  of  eleven  children, 
one  son  and  ten  daughters,  of  whom  four  are  yet 
living.  Her  parents,  Anasa  and  Lourietta  (Nettle- 
ton)  Wood,  were  natives  of  Canada,  and  were 
respectively  of  English  and  Irish  descent.  Mrs. 
Hly  was  only  eight  years  old  when  they  left  their 
Canadian  home  to  establish  another  in  the  wilds 
of  Ogle  County,  coming  hither  in  1838,  and  mak- 
ing the  entire  journey  with  teams.  They  were 
among  the  early  settlers  of  Light  House  Point, 
where  Mr.  Wood  secured  a  tract  of  Government 
land,  which  he  began  to  turn  into  a  farm.  He 
worked  hard  and  was  doing  well,  when  deatli 
terminated  his  career  in  1846.  He  was  laid 
to  rest  in  the  Light  House  Cemetery,  his  body 
being  the  first  to  be  buried  there.  He  won  for 
himself  an  honorable  place  among  the  pioneers  of 
Ogle  County,  and  was  valued  for  his  good  citizen- 
ship. His  wife  survived  him  until  the  summer  of 
1885,  when  she  died  at  the  age  of  seventy-five  at 
the  home  of  her  daughter,  Mrs.  Addie  Tarbox,  at 
Olive,  lowaj  and  she  now  lies  sleeping  her  last 
sleep  by  the  side  of  her  husband  in  the  quiet  of 
the  peaceful  cemetery  at  Light  House  Point.  Both 
were  for  many  years  connected  with  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  and  Mr.  Wood  served  it  long 
and  honorably  as  Class-Leader. 

EV.  .JAMES  THEACV,  Pastor  of  St.  Pat- 
rick's Church  at  Dixon,  is  one  of  the  most 
learned,  zealous  and  worthy  upholders  of 
)  the  Catholic  faith  in  the  State  of  Illinois. 
His  birthplace  is  in  County  Cork,  Ireland,  and  lie 
is  a  son  of  .John  and  Bridget  (Noonan)  Trenry. 
who  were  also  born  in  County  Cork.  His  paternal 
grandmother  died  in  the  city  of  Cork  at  the  re- 
markably advanced  age  of  one  hundred  and  three 


years.  His  father  was  prosperously  engaged  in  the 
mercantile  business  in  his  native  county  until  1853, 
when  he  came  to  America,  and  spent  the  remainder 
of  his  days  in  Pittsburg.  Pa.,  where  lie  died  at  the 
venerable  age  of  ninety-four  years.  The  parents 
of  our  subject  reared  ten  children,  who  were  given 
liberal  educational  advantages,  and  two  of  the  sons 
are  doctors  and  one  is  an  attorney. 

Father  Treacy  early  became  a  pupil  in  the  schools 
of  his  native  place,  and  subsequently  his  education 
was  advanced  under  the  supervision  of  the  Lazarist 
Fathers  in  th|  city  of  Cork.  He  came  to  the 
United  States  in  1849  and  entered  St.  Michael's 
Seminary  at  Pittsburg,  in  which  institution  of 
learning  he  remained  two  or  three  years,  prepar- 
ing himself  for  the  sacred  office  of  the  priesthood, 
and  he  then  finished  his  studies  in  St.  Mary's  Sem- 
inary at  Baltimore,  where  he  was  under  the  in- 
struction of  the  Rev.  Father  Varot,  later  Bishop 
of  Florida,  and  of  Father  Freddot,  the  distin- 
guished moral  theologian  and  author.  Thus  well 
prepared  for  the  duties  that  lay  before  him  in  the 
life  that  he  had  chosen,  our  subject  was  ordained 
by  the  late  Archbishop  Kendrick,  of  Baltimore, 
and  was  appointed  assistant  pastor  of  St.  Patrick's 
Church  and  Chapel,  and  of  Mercy  Hospital  at  Pitts- 
burg. He  occupied  that  position  one  year,  and 
then  was  placed  in  charge  of  the  building  of  St. 
Bridget's  Church. 

He  remained  a  resident  of  Pittsbur;  until  1878, 
and  the  church  there  found  in  him  a  noble  and 
earnest  worker,  who  threw  his  whole  soul  into  his 
labors,  and  was  an  ardent  champion  of  whatsoever 
tended  to  elevate  the  community  and  the  status  of 
its  citizens,  making  the  cause  of  the  unfortunate 
and  the  suffering  his  own.  It  was  while  he  was  at 
Pittsburg  that  the  Bishops  and  Archbishops  of  the 
church  in  council  at  Baltimore  received  a  dispatch 
from  Cardinal  Barnnbo,  of  Rome,  representing  the 
will  of  the  Pope,  instructing  the  assembled  council 
in  the  most  emphatic  terms  to  espouse  the  cause 
of  the  colored  man  in  the  most  practical  manner. 
This  order,  promulgated  from  the  head  of  the 
Church  of  Rome,  found  read}'  response  in  the 
heart  of  our  subject,  and  he  was  one  of  the  first  to 
move  in  the  good  work  of  helping  the  negro  to  an 
education,  and  to  the  benefit*  of  the  Roman  Cath- 


264 


PORTRAIT  AND  BlOGKAl'UK  AL   RECORD. 


olic  religion.  He  built  a  church  and  school  for 
the  colored  people  of  Pittsburg  at  a  cost  of  $10,- 
000,  the  school  being  taught  by  the  Sisters  of 
Mercy.  He  officiated  in  the  pulpit,  and  had  a 
colored  choir  and  colored  altar  boys.  He  was  very 
successful  in  his  work  in  other  directions,  especially 
among  the  poorer  and  more  abandoned  class,  the 
outcasts  of  a  great  manufacturing  city.  This  work 
was  performed  by  Father  Treacy  under  adverse 
circumstances  it  not  being  popular  at  that  time, 
but  owing  to  the  vast  amount  of  good  resulting 
from  it,  it  has  become  popular.  , 

While  in  Pittsburg  Father  Treacy  was  a  member 
of  the  Bishops'  Council,  and  held  the  offices  of 
Chancellor  and  Secretary.  He  was  also  a  member 
of  the  Orphan  Seminary  and  Cemetery  Boards.  In 
the  midst  of  his  many  arduous  duties  he  found 
some  time  to  devote  to  literacy  work  as  an  author 
and  as  editor  of  a  Catholic  journal,  first  called  the 
Hibernian,  and  later  the  Catholic  Journal,  in  which 
he  had  a  half  interest.  He  prepared  two  works  for 
publication,  which  are  of  great  merit,  but  owing 
to  ill  health,  brought  on  by  a  too  close  application 
to  his  duties,  and  to  the  change  of  scene  necessi- 
tated thereby,  he  has  not  yet  given  them  to  the 
world.  One  of  them  is  a  poem,  containing  up- 
wards of  fifteen  thousand  lines,  illustrative  of  the 
glories  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church. 

In  1878  our  subject  was  obliged  to  abandon  his 
labors  in  Pittsburg,  as  his  failing  health  and  flag- 
ging energies  warned  him  that  he  must  seek  to  re- 
store his  physical  powers  elsewhere.  He  removed 
to  Chicago,  where  he  joined  his  old-time  friend, 
Bishop  Foley.  He  was  appointed  to  attend  to  the 
missions  at  New  Dublin,  Lena,  Apple  River  and 
Elizabeth  town,  and  after  a  short  time  was  sent  to 
look  after  the  church  at  Rochelle.  He  remained 
there  six  years,  and  was  then  appointed  to  take 
charge  of  St.  Patrick's  Church  at  Dixon,  one  of 
the  leading  churches  of  the  Catholic  faith  in 
Northern  Illinois.  By  his  good  works  and  by  the 
example  of  a  pure  life  guided  by  lofty  principles 
of  right,  he  has  gained  the  sincere  respect  and 
esteem  even  of  the  members  of  other  Christian  de- 
nominations, and  has  been  an  influence  for  much- 
good  in  the  community. 

Father  Treacy  looks  after  the  spiritual    welfare 


of  three  hundred  families,  including  the  Catholic 
societies  at  Harmon  and  Ashton.  His  church  at 
Dixon  was  founded  more  than  thirty  years  ago  by 
Father  McDermott.  In  1887  the  original  structure 
in  which  services  were  held  was  partially  burned, 
the  walls  remaining  intact,  and  the  present  house 
of  worship  is  composed  of  the  walls  of  the  original 
edifice.  It  is  a  handsome  brick  building,  of  an  ap- 
propriate style  of  architecture,  and  cost,  with  its 
rich  furnishings,  $18,000. 


>ILLIAM  W.  HECKMAN  is  a  young  man 
of  much  natural  ability,  and  displays  an 
enterprising  and  progressive  spirit  in  the 
management  of  his  farming  interests,  which  com- 
prise eighty  acres  of  land  on  section  30,  South 
Dixon  Township,  where  he  makes  his  home,  and  a 
tract  of  the  same  size  on  section  25,  Nelson  Town- 
ship, the  whole  being  under  good  cultivation,  Well 
watered  and  drained,  and  subject  to  excellent 
improvements. 

Mr.  Ileckman  was  born  in  Bedford  County,  Pa., 
July  28,  1854,  and  was  there  reared  until  he  was 
eleven  years  old,  when  he  came  to  this  county  with 
his  uncle,  with  whom  he  lived  until  of  age.  His 
mother,  wife  of  Talbot  Rose,  is  now  living  with 
her  husband  in  the  city  of  Bedford,  Pa.  She  is  also 
a  native  of  Bedford  County.  She  has  been  a  kind 
and  loving  mother  to  our  subject,  and  carefully 
trained  him  to  a  manly  and  honorable  manhood. 
Mr.  Rose,  a  native  of  Bedford  County,  where  he 
has  always  lived,  is  a  shoemaker  by  trade,  and  he 
and  his  wife  and  children  have  a  comfortable 
home. 

Our  subject  has  lived  in  this  county  since  1866. 
and  since  attaining  man's  estate  has  identified 
himself  with  its  farmers  and  stockmen.  He  came 
into  possession  of  his  homestead  in  South  Dixon 
in  1877,  and  since  then  has  put  up  a  good  class  of 
well-arranged  farm  buildings,  and  has  all  the  con- 
veniences for  tilling  the  soil  and  caring  for  stock. 
He  has  excellent  facilities  for  watering  his  cattle 
and  horses,  and  on  that  part  of  his  farm  in  Nelson 
Township  is  a  fine  artesian  well  that  throws  water 
two  IVi't  above  tin1  surface. 


IH£  LfSRAHf 
OF  THE 

• 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


267 


The  marriage  of  Mr.  lleckinan  to  Miss  Hannah 
Mi.-snian  was  celebrated  in  Nelson  Township,  and 
her  devotion  to  his  interests  and  cheerful  co-opera- 
tion in  the  making1  of  a  home,  has  greatly  encour- 
aged him  in  his  work.  Their  family  circle  is 
completed  by  the  three  children  born  unto  them: 
( Jraee  A.,  C.  Eugene  and  Walter  I.  Mrs.  lleckman 
is  also  of  Pennsylvania  birth,  born  in  Somerset 
County,  April  20,  1853.  She  was  but  two  years 
old  when  her  parents, (Jerhardt  and  Mary  ( Leydig) 
Missman,  came  to  this  county  and  settled  in  Nel- 
son Township.  Mr.  Missman  improved  a  fine  farm 
of  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres  before  he  re- 
tired to  Dixon  in  1886,  to  enjoy  the  money  that 
he  had  made  by  hard  work,  and  he  and  his  good 
wife  are  now  living  in  that  city  in  quiet  and  ease, 
enjoying  in  a  full  degree  the  respect  of  all  about 
them.  They  are  the  parents  ' of  six  children,  of 
whom  Mrs.  Heckman  is  the  second  in  order  of 
birth. 

Our  subject  is  a  man  of  correct  habits,  has  kept 
his  reputation  unsullied,  and  is  always  to  be  found 
on  the  side  of  the  right.  lie  and  his  wife  are 
earnest  -  working  members  of  the  Evangelical 
Church.  Politically,  they  are  in  full  sympathy 
with  the  Prohibition  party,  and  believe  in  legisla- 
tive measures  to  suppress  the  great  evil  of  intem- 
perance. 


•VI  \DREW  RKIMIAHT.  The  portrait  pre- 
'9/  I  sentcd  on  the  opposite  page  is  that  of  the 

'/I  I*  wealthy  farmer  and  stock-raiser  residing 
Gjjl  on  section  24,  China  Township,  where  his 
extensive  agricultural  interests  centre.  Though 
not  a  native  of  Lee  County,  the  most  of  his  life  has 
been  passed  here  as  a  boy  and  man,  and  as  one  of 
the  most  able  men  in  his  line  who  has  been  potent 
in  its  development  his  place  is  among  its  foremost 
citizens. 

Mr.  Reinhart  was  born  in  Hesse-Cassel.  ( Jermany, 
August  28.  1813.  His  parents,  Christian  and  Anna 
('.  (Denhart)  Rein  hart,  were  also  ( iermans  by  birth, 
and  are  known  in  the  history  of  tins  county  as 
among  its  early  pioneer  settlers,  who  for  many 
12 


years  were  valued-  citizens  of  China  Township, 
where  she  died  October  16.  187(1;  and  he  in  April, 
186;")  from  the  effects  of  injuries  caused  by  being 
kicked  by  a  horse.  They  had  come  to  the  l"nited 
states  from  tlie  Fatherland  in  1846,  and  at  first 
settled  in  Lee  Centre,  whence  they  removed  to 
section  24.  China  Township.  They  had  a  family 
of  three  sons  and  three  daughters,  of  whom  our 
subject  was  the  fifth  in  order  of  birth. 

Andrew  Reinhart  was  nearly  three  years  old 
when  the  family  crossed  the  waters  to  found  a  new 
home  on  American  soil,  and  his  boyhood  was 
chiefly  passed  in  China  Township  where  the  busy 
years  of  his  maturer  life  have  also  been  spent.  lie 
grew  to  an  active,  energetic  manhood  on  the  old 
farm  that  his  father  redeemed  from  the  wilderness 
after  settling  here,  and  it  is  now  his  own.  lie  has 
been  remarkably  successful  in  his  career,  as  he  has 
bent  his  whole  energies  to  his  business  as  a  farmer 
and  stock-raiser,  and  his  wealth  is  the  legitimate 
result  of  diligent  labor  well  performed,  directed 
by  an  intelligent,  thoughtful  mind.  A  promptness 
to  take  advantage  of  opportunities  to  make  money 
when  the  markets  were  active,  as  well  as  an  apti- 
-  tudB  for  business  matters  also  have  something  to 
do  with  his  good  fortune.  Me  has  a  val  liable  estate, 
including  three  hundred  and  sixty-six  acres  com- 
prising his  homestead  and  other  land  in  China 
Township,  amounting  in  all  to  six  hundred  and 
twenty  acres,  besides  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres 
in  Lee  Centre  Township,  two  hundred  acres  in  Sac 
County,  Iowa,  and  two  hundred  and  forty  acres  in 
Fayette  County,  Iowa.  His  homestead  farm  is  a 
model  of  its  kind,  having  all  the  modern  facilities 
for  conducting  agriculture  after  the  most  approved 
methods,  and  its  improvements  are  of  a  high  order, 
including  the  handsome  and  conveniently  arranged 
set  of  farm  buildings  that  he  has  erected. 

Our  subject  was  married  June  1,  1868,  to  Miss 
Catherine  Ilafenrichter,  and  she  has  been  all  to  him 
that  is  implied  in  the  word  wife.  Sorrow  has  not 
passed  them  by  in  their  wedded  life,  as  four  of 
their  children  have  died — Martha  and  Charlie  dy- 
ing in  infancy;  Theresa. at  the  age  of  seven  months; 
and  Mabel  at  the  age  of  two  years.  They  have 
these  six  children  living — Charlotte  ('..  Anna  C., 
Henry  ('.,  Catherine  ElizaU-th.  John  F.  andCathe- 


268 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


rine  A.  Mrs.  Reinhart  was  born  in  Montgomery 
County,  X  Y.,  March  7,  1845,  and  is  the  eldest  of 
the  nine  children  of  Henry  and  Charlotte  (Heise) 
Hafenrichter,  who  were  early  pioneers  of  Kane 
County,  this  State.  They  were  born  in  German}-, 
and  came  to  this  country  in  July,  1839,  settling  at 
Ft.  Plain,  Montgomery  County,  N.  Y.,  whence 
they  soon  removed  to  St.  Johnsville,  in  the  same 
county,  and  dwelt  there  until  they  came  to  this 
State  in  1846,  and  cast  in  their  lot  with  the  early 
settlers  of  Kane  County,  of  which  they  are  still 
residents. 

In  this  life-record  of  our  subject  enough  has 
been  written  of  what  he  has  accomplished  to  indi- 
cate that  he  possesses  strength  of  mind  and  char- 
acter and  other  inherent  endowments  that  are  essen- 
tial to  true  success  in  any  walk  in  life,  and  we  ma}' 
add  that  his  personal  attributes,  such  as  frankness 
and  generosity,  are  such  as  to  make  his  neighbors 
and  all  with  whom  lie  associates  esteem  him  highly. 
He  is  liberal  in  his  religious  views,  cheerfully  gives 
of  his  money  to  support  the  churches,  and,  with 
his  wife,  is  a  consistent  member  of  the  Evangelical 
Church.  In  his  political  sentiments  he  is  in  full 
accord  with  the  principles  promulgated  by  tire  Re- 
publican party. 


|IL_ON.  SHERWOOD  DIXON,  the  present  Re- 
ifjl)  presentative  of  the  Nineteenth  District, 
'J±M?  and  a  worthy  member  of  one  of  the  most 
(^)  honored  pioneer  families  of  Lee  County,  is 
now  engaged  in  the  practice  of  the  legal  profes- 
sion in  the  city  which  bears  his  name,  as  a  member 
of  the  firm  of  Dixon  &  Bethea.  He  was  born  in 
the  city  whicli  is  still  his  home,  November  15, 
1847,  an  honor  to  which  few  of  his  age  can  lay 
claim.  His  father,  James  P.  Dixon,  was  a  native 
of  New  York  City,  and  a  son  of  John  Dixon,  the 
founder  of  the  county  seat  of  Lee  County.  The 
latter  emigrated  with  his  family  to  Illinois  at  an 
early  day  and  amid  the  wild  scenes  of  pioneer  life 
James  Dixon  was  reared  to  manhood.  In  Buffalo 
Grove,  Ogle  County,  he  married  Miss  Fannie 


Reed,  a  native  of  Delaware  County,  X.  Y.,  where 
her  father,  Samuel  Reed,  was  also  born.  After  his 
marriage  he  came  with  his  family  to  Illinois  at  a 
very  early  day  and  located  at  Buffalo  Grove,  upon 
land  which  he  obtained  from  the  Government. 
The  Indians  were  still  numerous  in  the  settlement 
and  the  work  of  civilization  seemed  scarcely 
begun.  Samuel  Reed  and  his  wife  there  resided 
until  death  and  were  prominent  people  of  the 
communit}'.  During  the  Black  Hawk  War  they 
had  to  flee  to  the  fort  at  Dixon  for  protection  from 
the  red  men. 

The  parents  of  our  subject  began  their  domestic 
life  on  a  farm  near  this  city,  and  in  public  affairs 
James  Dixon  was  quite  prominent.  He  became 
agent  for  the  Fink  &  Walker  stage  line  running 
from  Galena  to  Rock  Island  and  Chicago. 
Throughout  this  part  of  the  State  he  had  a  wide 
acquaintance  and  was  a  leader  in  all  public  affairs. 
Just  before  his  death  he  engaged  in  keeping  a 
livery  stable.  In  politics  he  was  a  Whig  and  his 
opinions  were  much  sought  in  the  councils  of  his 
party.  On  the  llth  of  April,  1852,  this  honored 
pioneer  passed  away.  His  widow  yet  survives 
him  and  is  making  her  home  with  her  children. 
She  was  born  in  1815.  The  members  of  the  family 
who  still  survive  are  Sherwood  and  Mrs.  William 
Barge,  residents  of  Dixon;  Henrietta,  wife  of 
William  Richards,  of  Moline,  111.;  Sarah,  wife  of 
George  W.  Goodwin,  of  Sioux  City,  Iowa;  and 
John  R.,  of  Chicago,  a  telegraph  operator  on  the 
Western  Indiana  road.  He  married  Miss  Mattie 
Evans,  of  Indiana. 

Our  subject  acquired  his  literary  education  in 
the  public  schools  and  afterward  entered  the  law 
office  of  William  Barge,  whose  sketch  appears  else- 
where in  this  work.  In  1869  he  was  admitted  to 
the  bar  and  soon  afterward  formed  a  partnership, 
becoming  a  member  of  the  firm  Ustis,  Barge  & 
Dixon.  •  The  senior  member  was  formerly  Circuit 
Judge.  This  connection  continued  until  1874, 
when  Mr.  Dixon  went  to  Chicago  and  became 
associated  in  the  practice  of  law  with  William 
O'Brien  and  William  Barge,  the  firm  title  being 
O'Brien,  Barge  and  Dixon.  For  three  years  this 
connection  continued,  after  which  our  subject 
returned  to  his  native  city  and  ht  formed  a  part- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


269 


ncrship  with  his  present  partner.  They  continued 
together  from  1H78  until  188-1,  when  for  four  years 
the  firm  of  Crahtree  it  Dixon  carried  on  practice. 
In  1888.  the  first  named  gentleman  was  elected 
to  the  bench  as  Circuit  Judge,  and  Messrs.  Dixon 
A:  Bethea  resumed  their  old  business  relations. 
Their  office  is  located  in  the  Schuler  building,and  the 
practice  which  the  firm  has  built  up  is  an  exten- 
sive one. 

Mr.  Dixon  was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss 
Melissa  (i.  Mead,  their  union  being  celebrated  in 
this  city,  where  the  lady  was  born  in  1847.  Her 
father,  Herman  Mead,  was  a  native  of  New  York, 
and  at  an  early  day  came  to  Lee  County  locating 
on  the  farm  where  he  made  his  home  for  a  number 
of  years.  In  1855  he  removed  to  Dixon,  where 
both  he  and  his  wife  passed  away  at  an  advanced 
age.  Mrs.  Dixon  was  one  of  their  eight  children. 
She  is  an  intelligent  and  cultured  lady  who  has  a 
host  of  friends  in  this  community  and  her  social 
standing  is  high.  Of  the  Methodist  Church  she  is 
a  member.  Three  sons  have  been  born  of  their 
marriage,  Henry  S.,  who  is  now  stud.ying  law  in 
his  father's  office;  Louis,  who  is  employed  in  the  i 
Hun  printing  office;  and  George  C.,  who  is  yet  ! 
attending  school. 

The  cause  of  education  has  ever  found  in  Mr.  j 
Dixon  a  warm  friend  and  for  seven  years  he  has  j 
been  connected  with  the  School  Board,  serving  as 
its  president  for  three  years.  From  September 
1880  until  September,  1888,  he  was  Master  in 
Chancery,  being  appointed  by  Judge  I'stis,  Circuit 
Judge.  In  politics  he  is  a  stanch  advocate  of 
Democratic  principles  and  has  been  a  member  of 
every  State  Convention  since  1872,  while  in  1884  I 
he  was  also  a  delegate  to  the  National  Convention. 
As  a  member  of  the  General  Assembly  he  has 
proved  an  able  representative  of  his  district  and  is 
quite  prominent  in  the  House.  During  the  last 
session  he  was  chairman  of  the  Judiciary  Com- 
mittee and  a  member  of  many  other  committees  of 
importance.  He  took  a  leading  part  in  drawing 
up  the  election  reform  bill  and  did  good  service 
as  a  member  of  the  committee  on  Municipial  Cor- 
porations, Elections,  Federal  Relations,  Contingent 
Expenses  and  Senatorial  Appointments.  With  the 
interests  of  his  constituents  ever  in  his  thoughts, 


his  labors  for  the  benefit  of  the  county  he  repre- 
sented and  he  proved  a  most  efficient  assembly- 
man. His  public  and  private  life  have  been 
alike  above  reproach.  As  a  lawyer  he  is  gifted, 
possessing  more  than  ordinary  ability  and  his 
success  at  the  bar  has  won  him  a  foremost  place 
among  his  professional  brethren.  He  possesses 
great  energy  and  enterprise  and  whatever  lie 
undertakes  he  carries  forward  to  completion.  His 
natural  abilities  well  fit  him  to  be  a  leader  of  the 
people  and  the  high  place  which  he  holds  in  the 
regard  and  esteem  of  his  fellow-townsmen  is  well 
merited. 


SAMUEL  MONG,  an  influential  farmer  of 
Bradford  Township,  Lee  County,  oper- 
ates a  fine  estate  of  one  hundred  and  ten 
acres  on  section  6,  and  through  unremit- 
ting industry  has  become  well-to-do.  He  was  born 
in  Clarion  County,  Pa.,  July  26,  182!l,  and  is  the 
son  of  Henry  and  Sarah  (Hurket)  Mong,  natives 
of  Maryland  and  Huntingdon  County,  Pa.,  re- 
spectively. The  parents  passed  most  of  their  lives 
in  the  Keystone  State  and  died  in  Clarion  County 
when  past  the  prime  of  life.  They  reared  a  large 
family  of  children,  our  subject  being  the  sixth. 

In  his  native  county  our  subject  passed  his  boy- 
hood days,  attending  the  district  schools  and 
gleaning  a  common-school  education  from  the  text 
books  then  in  vogue.  However,  he  enjoyed  none 
of  the  opportunities  that  are  considered  essential 
by  the  youth  of  to-day,  but  his  habits  of  observa- 
tion and  systematic  reading  in  a  large  measure 
made  up  for  the  defects  in  his  schooling.  As  soon 
as  old  enough  he  began  to  assist  his  father  in  his 
farming  operations  and  gained  a  practical  knowl- 
edge of  agriculture  when  he  was  still  quite  young. 
He  was  about  fifteen  years  old  when  he  removed  to 
Huntingdon  County,  Pa.,  where  he  grew  to  a  stal- 
wart and  vigorous  manhood. 

At  the  age  of  sixteen  Mr.  Mong  commenced  to 
learn  the  trade  of  a  tanner,  which  he  followed 
alnnit  seven  years  with  success.  In  the  spring  of 
1855  he  came  to  this  State,  settling  in  Lee  County 


270 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


and  working  on  a  farm  near  Dixon  for  about  two 
years.  He  was  married  in  China  Township,  this 
county,  in  February,  1857,  to  Miss  Margaret  K. 
Kelley,  daughter  of  William  and  Mary  (Jacobs) 
Kelley.  Mr.  Kelle3-  is  deceased,  having  passed  away 
at  his  home  two  miles  south  of  Dixon.  Mrs.  Kelley 
is  also  deceased.  Mrs.  Margaret  Mong  was  born  in 
Pennsylvania  and  is  the  mother  of  five  living 
children,  namely:  John;  Lucy,  the  wife  of  Haber 
Schmucker;  Hattie,who  is  now  Mrs. William  Schren- 
ner;  George  and  Peter. 

After  his  marriage  Mr.  Mong  engaged  in  farming 
for  about  two  years  in  Dixon  Township,  from  which 
place  he  removed  to  China  Township,  and  later  lo- 
cated on  his  present  farm  on  section  6,  Bradford 
Township.  His  industry  has  been  rewarded  by 
the  possession  of  one  hundred  and  ten  acres,which 
he  cultivates.  His  estate  presents  a  most  attractive 
appearance  to  the  passer-by,  with  its  substantial 
set  of  farm  buildings,  its  commodious  residence 
and  well-tilled  fields.  In  politics  he  is  a  stanch 
Democrat  and  has  served  to  the  general  satisfac- 
tion as  School  Director,  having  always  maintained 
great  interest  in  educational  matters.  He  is  a 
consistent  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  and  a  man  whose  daily  life  proves  his 
earnest  religious  belief.  While  he  has  been  in  the 
main  successful,  he  has  met  with  many  losses,  per- 
haps the  most  severe  being  the  destruction  of  his 
barn  by  lightning  during  the  spring  of  1890. 


J|  OSHUA  E.  LAHMAN,  who  is  prosperously 
I    engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits  on  section 
12,  just  south  ot  Franklin  Grove,  where  he 
has  a  good   farm,  was  a  soldier  in  the  late 
war  whose  bravery  and  efficiency  raised  him  from 
the  ranks  to  an  official   position,  and    it  gives  us 
pleasure  to  place  the  record  of  the  life  of  this  rep- 
resentative of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Repiiblfc  on 
these  pages. 

Mr.  Lahman  is  a  native  of  Washington  County, 
Md.,  born  June  16,  1839,  to  Christian  and  Eliza- 
beth Lahman,  who  were  pioneers  of  Illinois.  Our 
subject  was  a  child  of  live  years  when  the  family 


came  to  this  State,  and  here  lie  was  reared  on  a 
farm.  He  was  in  the  full  prime  and  vigor  of  man- 
hood when  the  war  broke  out,  and  as  soon  as  he 
could  he  went  to  the  front  to  help  fight  his  coun- 
try's battles.  He  enlisted  in  September,  1861.  and  was 
mustered  into  the  service  as  a  member  of  Company 
C,  Thirty-fourth  Illinois  Infantry.  For  two  years 
lie  was  with  his  regiment  in  various  battles  and 
skirmishes,  and  at  the  end  of  that  time  he  was  hon- 
orably discharged  on  account  of  disability  caused 
by  a  gun-shot  wound  received  while  he  was  in  the 
heat  of  that  fearful  battle  at  Murfreesboro.  He 
was  also  present  at  the  battle  of  Shiloh  and  did 
some  hard  fighting  there.  He  retired  from  the 
arrny  with  a  fine  military  record  and  with  the 
well-earned  title  of  Sergeant.  He  had  displayed 
coolness  and  daring  in  the  face  of  the  enemy, 
promptness  and  readiness  of  resource  in  emergen- 
cies, and  his  superior  officers  felt  that  they  could 
rely  upon  him  whether  in  camp  or  on  the  field. 

The  suffering  that  he  endured  from  the  wounds 
received  for  his  country's  sake  incapacitated  our 
subject  for  active  work  in  his  calling  as  a  farmer 
and,  fearing  that  he  would  be  permanently  crippled 
and  not  liking  to  be  idle,  he  learned  the  trade  of 
harness-maker  as  soon  as  he  was  able  to  do  any- 
thing. And  in  1865  he  went  to  Guthrie  County, 
Iowa,  where  he  was  engaged  in  business  as  a  har- 
ness manufacturer  the  ensuing  three  years. 
While  there  it  was  his  good  fortune  to  secure  the 
hand  of  Miss  Hannah  M.  Batschlett  in  marriage, 
the  ceremony  that  made  them  one  being  performed 
December  20,  1867.  Of  the  five  children  born  to 
them  four  are  living,  namely:  Edgar  R.,  a  resident 
of  Rockford,  111.;  Clifford,  who  died  when  twelve 
years  of  age;  Elizabeth,  Clara  and  George  W.  Mrs. 
Lahman  is  a  daughter  of  Peter  and  Eliza  Katschlett 
and  she  is  a  native  of  this  State,  born  in  Knox 
County. 

In  1868  Mr.  Lahman  returned  to  Franklin  Grove 
and  having  recovered  from  the  wounds  in  his  arm 
and  leg  received  in  battle,  lie  resumed  his  old  oc- 
cupation, buying  at  that  time  eighty  acres  of  his 
present  farm.  He  made -excellent  improvements, 
including  a  good  class  of  buildings,  stocked  his 
farm  \vithgood  breeds  of  cattle,  horses  and  hogs, 
and  has  done  well  in  his  enterprise.  He  has  ac- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


271 

with  all  the  ardent  patriotism  of  youth,  and  at 
length  when  he  was  seventeen  years  old,  he  was 
permitted  to  enroll  his  name  among  those  of  the 
soldiers  that  formed  the  One  Hundred  Fortieth  Illi- 
nois Infantry  he  being  assigned  to  Company  A, 
which  was  organized  at  the  last  call  for  troops  in 
1864.  Our  subject  went  with  his  comrades 
to  the  front,  and  served  nine  months.  He  saw 
no  active  fighting,  but  did  full}'  as  important  work 
in  keeping  guard,  for  which  his  regiment  was 
detailed  and  he  was  honorably  discharged  at  the 
close  of  the  war,  with  a  good  record  for  fidelity  to 
duty  and  unfaltering  devotion  to  the  cause,  which 
would  well  have  become  a  veteran. 

When  he  left  the  army  Mr.  Mensch  returned  to 
his  old  home,  and  was  a  resident  of  Whiteside 
County  until  1879.  In  the  month  of  September, 
that  year  he  purchased  the  farm  that  he  now  oc- 
cupies in  Palmyra  Township,  and  settled  on  it  in 
the  spring  of  18"80.  He  is  constantly  adding  to  its 
improvements,  has  it  under  a  high  state  of  tillage, 
and  the  cattle,  horses  and  hogs  that  he  raises  upon 
it  are  of  excellent  stock.  Our  subject  is  a"  man  of 
sturdy  round-about  common  sense,  has  an  even 
temper,  is  thoroughly  reliable  in  .all  respects,  an  up- 
right man,  an  honorable  citizen,  a  husband  kind 
and  true,  a  tender  father  and  a  pleasant  neighbor. 
His  political  creed  is  that  of  the  Democratic  party, 
and  in  religion  he  is  a  Lutheran,  both  he  and  his 
wife  belonging  to  the  church  of  that  denomination 
and  they  have  had  their  children  baptized,  dedicat- 
ing them  to  the  church. 

Mr.  Mensch  and  Miss  Lydia  Gruver  were  married 
in  Nelson  Township.  She  also  is  a  native  of  Col- 
umbia County,  Pa.,  and  a  daughter  of  Uriah  Gruver, 
a  Pennsylvanian  by  birth,  who  was  one  of  the  pio- 
neers of  Lee  County.  After  living  some  twelve 
years  in  Naschusa  Township  he  bought  two  hun- 
dred .and  forty  acres  of  land  in  Nelson  Township. 
He  lived  upon  that  farm  some  years  and  then  re- 
tired to  Dixon  to  enjoy  the  competence  that  he 
had  accumulated  at  his  leisure.  His  first  wife, 
mother  of  Mrs.  Mensch,  died  during  their  residence 
in  Nachusa  Township  when  she  was  only  forty- 
two  years  old.  She  was  a  member  of  the  Lutheran 
Church  and  left  behind  her  the  memory  of  a  true 
Christian  womanhood.  Mr.  Gruver  is  a  faithful 


cumulated  a  goodly  amount  of  property,  and  has 
increased  Ins  landed  estate  to  two  hundred  and 
forty  acres  of  choice  land.  He  is  energetic  and  en- 
terprising, has  strength  of  mind  enough  to  carry 
out  his  plans  under  difficulties,  as  we  have  seen, 
always  maintains  good  credit  in  regard  to  money 
matters,  and  the  value  of  his  citizenship  has  been 
proved  not  only  when  his  country  was  in  need  of 
good  soldiers,  but  in  less  trying  times  as  a  member 
of  a  law-abiding  community.  In  politics,  he  is 
loyal  to  the  Republican  party,  and  socially  he  is  a 
member  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic. 


JOHN   MENSCH   was  scarcely    more  than  a 
boy  when  he  enlisted  in  an  Illinois  regiment 
during  the  war,  but  not  withstanding  his 
youth  he  did  good  service  as  a  soldier.     He 
is  now  making  himself  useful  as  a  general  farmer 
and  stock-raiser,    who   holds   an    honorable    place 
among  the  men  of  his  class  in  Palmyra  Township, 
where  he  has  a  good  farm  of  eighty  acres  of  exceed- 
ingly fertile  land,  lying  on  section  23. 

Born  May  29,  1846,  our  subject's  home  during 
the  first  eight  years  of  his  life  was  in  Columbia 
County,  Pa.  His  parents  were  Christian  and 
Peggy  (Cromley)  Mensch.  They  came  to  Illinois 
in  April,  1854,  and  located  in  Jordan  Township, 
Whiteside  County,  on  a  farm,  which  they  made 
their  home  until  death  sealed  their  eyes  in  the 
sleep  that  knows  no  waking,  the  father  dying  iu 
1887  at  the  age  of  sixty-four  years,  the  mothei 
having  passed  away  two  years  previously  at  tin 
age  of  three-score.  They  were  firm  Christians,  and 
devoted  members  of  the  Lutheran  Church.  Oui 
subject  was  the  second  of  their  eight  children,  all 
of  whom  are  living  but  one  daughter,  who  died  at 
the  age  of  twenty-three. 

John  Mensch  of  this  notice  was  reared  to  the 
life  of  a  farmer  on  his  father's  farm  in  Whiteside 
County,  and  every  day  was  adding  to  his  exper- 
ience in  that  line  when  the  rebellion  broke  out. 
He  was  a  hoy  too  young  to  take  up  arms  in  defense 
of  his  country's  honor,  but  he  longed  to  do  so 


272 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


follower  of  the  Republican  party  in  politics.  Re- 
ligiously, he  is  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  faith, 
and  he  and  his  present  wife  are  members  of  that 
church. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mensch  have  been  abundantly  bles- 
sed in  their  married  life,  and  eight  children  add  to 
their  happiness,  named  as  follows — Charles,  Mary. 
Harry,  Mabel,  Kate,  Edward,  Evaline  and  a  baby 
named  I  va. 

>  - 

ELI  LLOYD  is  widely  known  and  hon- 
ored as  one  of  the  first  pioneers  in  that 
part  of  Lee  County  of  which  he  has  been  a 
resident  for  more  than  half  a  century,  making  his 
home  a  part  of  the  time  in  the  city  of  Dixon,  and 
the  remainder  of  the  time  on  his  farm  on  section 
13,  Nelson  Township,  which  he  purchased  of  the 
Government  in  1837.  On  this  beautiful  place 
which  has  been  made  attractive  by  his  labors  he  is 
now  serenely  passing  the  declining  years  of  a  life 
well  spent,  in  retirement  from  active  business. 

The  birth-place  of  our  subject  is  near  the  seat  of 
the  court  of  justice  in  the  County  of  Huntingdon, 
Pa.,  where  he  first  opened  his  eyes  to  the  light  on 
the  glorious  Fourth  of  July  in  the  year  1823.  His 
father,  whose  given  name  was  Henry,  was  also  a 
native  of  that  county,  and  was  a  son  of  Henry 
Lloyd.  Sr.,  who  was  of  Welsh  descent,  but  was  n 
native  and  life-long  resident  of  Huntingdon 
County,  where  he  died  when  past  eighty  years  of 
age.  His  wife,  who  was  also  a  Pennsylvanian  by 
birth,  lived  to  be  very  old.  The  elder  Lloyds 
were  stanch  Haptists  in  religion.  Henry  Lloyd,  Jr. 
grew  up  on  the  old  Lloyd  estate,  and  was  married 
in  his  native  county  to  Miss  Jane  Schwapish,  who 
was  born  and  reared  in  the  same  county  as  himself, 
and  came  of  the  high  Dutch  stock  that  had  settled 
in  that  part  of  Pennsylvania  in  Colonial  times. 
After  their  marriage  the  Lloyds  moved  to  Cambria 
County,  and  there  they  spent  their  remaining  days 
on  a  farm,  dying  full  of  years.  They  were  mem- 
liers  of  the  Baptist  Church. 

Our  subject  is  the  sixtli  of  a  family  of  twelve 
children.  He  was  reared  in  a  good  home  by 


worthy  parents,  whose  instruction,  no  less  than 
their  example,  led  him  to  form  good  habits  and 
principles  of  right  living  early  in  life.  He  grew 
to  manhood  in  his  native  county,  but  was  subse- 
quently married  in  Blair  County.  He  was  in  the 
full  flush  and  vigor  of  the  prime  of  life  when  he 
came  to  Lee  County  in  1837.  He  was  one  of  the 
first  to  perceive  the  fine  natural  advantages  of  this 
part  of  the  State  and  to  avail  himself  of  them. 
He  saw  the  country  when  it  was  in  all  its  original 
wildness,  and  has  been  lost  on  the  prairie  when  it 
was  so  new  that  there  were  no  roads  to  travel  by, 
and  when  there  were  but  very  few  settlements 
within  a  radius  of  many  miles  of  the  site  which  he 
selected  for  his  future  home  on  what  is  now  sec- 
tion 13,  Nelson  Township.  He  may  well  be  proud 
of  the  fact  that  he  has  done  his  share  of  the  hard 
labor  necessitated  in  bringing  about  the  wonder- 
ful change  that  has  been  wrought  by  the  hand  of 
man  within  half  a  century  whereby  this  has  become 
one  of  the  richest  and  best  improved  farming  reg- 
ions in  Illinois.  It  contains  two  hundred  acres  of 
arable  land,  which  is  now  highly  cultivated,  and 
is  complete  in  its  appointments  as  regards  build- 
ings and  machinery,  and  its  fertile  soil  is  capable 
of  supporting  a  great  deal  of  stock.  Mr.  Lloyd 
himself  has  retired  from  farming,  and  his  son  now 
operates  the  farm,  keeping  it  up  to  the  same  high 
standard  it  had  attained  before  it  came  under  his 
care.  Besides  his  homestead  Mr.  Lloyd  owns  a 
fine  property  in  Dixon,  and  is  one  of  the  wealthy 
men  of  the  community.  He  has  spent  much  of 
his  time  for  the  last  twenty  years  in  that  cit3r  and 
has  done  conspicuous  service  in  the  line  of  public 
improvements  during  his  incuml>ency  ot  the  office 
of  Street  Commissioner  and  in  other  civic  positions. 
He  has  also  been  prominent  in  the  political  life  of 
the  city  and  township,  and  has  exercised  a  favor- 
able influence  on  the  fortunes  of  the  Republican 
party  in  this  section. 

April'5,  1891,  the  wife  of  our  subject  passed 
away  from  the  home  that  had  been  blessed  and 
sanctified  by  her  presence  for  so  many  years,  her 
death,  which  occurred  very  suddenly  at  their  res- 
idence in  Dixon,  being  caused  by  the  rupture  of  an 
artery.  Mrs.  Lloyd's  maiden  name  wasAdveanna 
Anderson.  She  was  born  in  1812  in  the  town  of 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


273 


Phoenixville,  Chester  County,  Pa.,  and  was  there 
roared  to  womanhood.  Her  father,  Julius  Ander- 
son, lived  and  died  a  farmer  in  Pennsylvania, 
dying  in  Ihe  prime  of  life  of  consumption  con- 
tracted while  serving  as  a  soldier  in  the  War  of 
1812.  Mrs.  Lloyd  came  to  Illinois  with  her  hus- 
band, and  was  his  helpmate,  companion,  counselor 
and  comfort  in  the  hardships  of  the  rough  pio- 
neer life  that  they  shared  together  in  the  found- 
ing of  a  new  home.  She  was  a  woman  of  more 
than  ordinary  intelligence,  her  mind  ripened  by 
culture  and  much  reading  of  the  best  literature, 
she  being  well  known  as  a  scholar  and  historian, 
and  her  death  was  mourned  by  many  friends  she 
and  her  husband  had  gathered  around  them  during 
their  many  years  sojourn  in  this  county.  She  was 
possessed  of  a  lovely  Christian  spirit,  and  as  one  of 
the  earnest  and  active  members  of  the  Baptist 
Church  she  is  greatly  missed. 

Three  children  were  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lloyd, 
of  whom  two  are  deceased, — Anna  M.,  who  died  at 
the  age  of  six  years,  and  Catherine,  who  was 
twenty-eight  years  old  when  she  died.  Their  son 
Julius,  an  enterprising  and  successful  farmer, 
residing  on  and  managing  the  old  homestead,  mar- 
ried Miss  Harriet  Goodyear,  and  they  have  five 
children. 


|p^  IMON  RHODES.  No  member  of  the  farm- 
^^4  ing  community  of  this  county  is  more 
V^m  worthy  of  representation  on  these  pages 
than  Mr.  Rhodes,  who  has  shown  the  value 
of  his  citizenship,  as  an  intelligent  and  practical 
farmer;  by  helping  in  the  great  work  of  carrying 
on  the  agricultural  industries  for  which  this  State 
is  noted ;  and  as  a  patriotic  and  useful  soldier  during 
the  late  war  who  nobly  did  his  part  in  saving  our 
country  from  disunion  and  dishonor. 

( )ur  subject  was  born  in  Somerset  County,  Pa., 
January  12,  1839.  His  father,  David  Rhodes,  was 
also  a  native  of  that  county,  coming  of  the  old 
German  stock  that  were  early  settlers  of  that  por- 
tion of  Pennsylvania,  and  there  his  father  and 
mother  lived  and  died  on  their  farm.  They  were 


pious  people  and  members  of  the  Lutheran  Church. 
David  Rhodes  became  a  farmer  himself,  and  oper- 
ated a  small  farm  in  his  native  county  until  he 
died,  and  was  gathered  to  his  fathers  in  1889,  at 
the  venerable  age  of  four-score  years.  He  too 
was  a  Lutheran,  and  his  politics  were  of  the  Dem- 
ocratic order.  He  married  Miss  Netta  Snopsnyder, 
who  came  of  similar  parentage,  and  died  in  their 
old  home  in  1886  when  full  of  years. 

Simon  Rhodes  passed  his  boyhood  amid  the 
scenes  of  his  birth,  and  as  he  was  early  set  to 
work,  he  could  not  obtain  the  education  for  which 
he  craved  which  has  afforded  him  life-long  regret. 
He  has  in  a  measure  made  up  for  it,  however,  as  he 
has  an  intelligent,  receptive  mind,  and  he  is  very 
well  informed  on  current  topics.  Being  thrown  on 
his  own  resources  when  he  was  young,  he  soon 
|  acquired  self-reliance,  steady  habits  and  a  manli- 
ness beyond  his  years  that  well  fitted  him  to  cope 
with  the  hardships  to  be  encountered  in  a  hand 
to  hand  struggle  for  independence  in  any  walk  in 
life.  Manhood  was  just  opening  before  him  when 
he  first  made  his  appearance  in  this  county 
in  1861.  He  did  not  tarry  here  many  months  at 
that  time,  but  returned  to  his  native  county  to 
join  his  old  associates  who  were  forming  the  One 
Hundred  and  Thirty-third  Pennsylvania  Infantry, 
and  were  going  forth  to  help  fight  their  country's 
battles.  His  name  was  enrolled  in  June,  1862,  as 
a  member  of  Company  E,  of  that  regiment,  which 
was  commanded  by  Capt.  Bear  and  Col.  Schock, 
and  was  assigned  to  the  Army  of  the  Potomac. 
Our  subject  and  his  comrades  did  their  share  of 
the  fighting  in  the  hotly  contested  battles  of 
Antietam,  Fredericksburg,  and  in  numerous  other 
engagements.  Our  subject  had  enlisted  for  nine 
months,  but  he  served  faithfully  for  a  year,  and 
his  military  record  for  soldierly  bearing  and  fidel- . 
ity  to  duty  was  equal  to  that  of  any  veteran  of 
them  all. 

Mr.  Rhodes  was  honorably  discharged  from  the 
army  and  returned  to  Pennsylvania,  whence  he 
again  came  to  Lee  County  in  1865.  and  he  has 
ever  since  lived  and  labored  here.  He  purchased 
his  farm  on  section  31,  South  Dixon  Township,  in 
1868,  and  applying  himself  to  its  improvement 
early  and  iate,  he  has  brought  it  into  a  fine  condi- 


274 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


tion,  nearly  the  whole  of  its  one  hundred  and 
twenty  acres  being  under  good  cultivation;  it  is 
well  provided  with  suitable  buildings,  and  is  com- 
pletely stocked  with  cattle,  horses  and  swine  of 
high  grades,  lie  has  won  for  himself  an  honor- 
able place  among  our  best  citizens  by  keeping  his 
credit  sound,  his  reputation  unspotted,  and  by 
fairness  and  honesty  in  all  his  dealings.  He  and 
his  wife  attend  the  Evangelical  Church,  contri- 
buting liberally  of  their  means  toward  its  support. 
In  politics  he  is  a  stanch  advocate  of  the  Republi- 
can party. 

Our  subject  was  married  at  the  bride's  home  in 
this  township  to  Miss  Mary  Moore,  who  was  born 
in  Cumberland  County,  Pa.,  and  was  but  a  child 
when  she  came  to  Illinois  with  her  mother  and 
step-father,  Frederick  Bollman,  (of  whom  see 
sketch),  who  settled  in  South  Dixon  Township, 
where  she  was  reared  and  educated.  Six  children 
have  been  born  to  our  subject  and  his  wife,  of 
whom  one — George,  died  young.  The  others  are 
Emma,  wife  of  Thomas  Parker,  a  farmer  in  this 
township;  AVilliam,  a  resident  of  Wliiteside 
County,  who  married  Mattie  Parker,  who  is  now 
dead;  Hattie,  who  makes  her  home  with  her 
parents,  and  is  a  bright  and  successful  teacher, 
having  been  educated  for  her  profession  at  Dixon 
College;  Fred  and  Frank,  both  of  whom  are  at 
home  with  their  parents. 


JOHN      1).    SITTS.  an   old    resident  of   Lee 
County,  lias   been   engaged   in  the  grocery 
business    at    Franklin    ("4 rove  many  years, 
and  is  numbered  among  the    pioneer   mer- 
chants of  this   section.     He   was  born    in  Oneida 
County,  N.  Y.,  January  23,  1831,  and  is  of  sturdy 
Teutonic  and  Revolutionary  stock,  he  being  one  of 
the  fourth  generation  of  the  American  branch  of 
the    Sitts    family  that  settled     in     this    country 
in  c  >lonial   times.     His  grandfather,  Henry  Sitts, 
was   born    either    in  New    York  or  New  England, 
and  was  a  gallant  soldier  of  the  Continental  Army 
throughout  the  struggle  of  the   colonists   for  free- 


dom from  the  mother  country.  He  died  in  Mont- 
gomery County,  N.  Y.  many  years  after  at  the 
venerable  age  of  ninety-three  years. 

The  parents  of  our  subject  were  George  and 
Harriet  (Bartlett)  Sitts.  who  were  natives  of  the 
Mohawk  Valley,  in  the  Empire  State.  His  mother 
died  when  lie  was  fourteen  years  old.  His  father 
was  a  contractor  on  the  Erie  Canal  in  his  early 
life.  lie  came  to  Chicago  in  181!),  and  was  pros- 
perously engaged  in  the  grain  and  lumber  trade  in 
that  city  until  his  death  in  1863  in  the  midst  of 
his  busy  career  at  the  age  of  sixty-three  years. 
He  had  six  children,  four  sons'and  two  daughters, 
who  came  to  Illinois,  namely  George,  who  died  in 
Chicago,  in  April,  1891;  Joseph,  who  died  in  Cleve- 
land, Ohio;  Benjamin  F.,  a  resident  of  Chicago; 
Elizabeth  A.,  who  married  John  M.  Wandell,  of 
'  Chicago;  John  D;  and  Margaret  II.,  who  married 
Cyrus  Thomas,  of  Columbus,  Ohio,  and  died  at 
Franklin  Grove  in  November,  1865. 

Our  subject  learned  the  trade  of  an  iron  moulder 
when  he  was  young,  and  pursued  it  in  Monroe 
County.  N.  Y.,  for  some  years.  He  came  from 
there  to  Illinois  in  1854  and  for  three  years  was 
engaged  in'railroading.  He  subsequently  became 
interested  in  the  lumber  trade  at  Franklin  Grove, 
forming  a  partnership  with  others  under  the  firm 
name  of  Sitts,  Thomas  &  Co.,  and  continued  in 
that  line  six  years.  At  the  end  of  that  time  he  be- 
gan farming  in  Bradford  Township,  but  four 
years  later  he  abandoned  agricultural  pursuits,  and 
returning  to  Franklin  Grove,  has  ever  since  been 
engaged  in  the  grocery  business  at  this  point,  and 
is  one  of  the  oldest  and  most  experienced  business 
men  in  this  part  of  the  State.  He  has  his  store 
well  fitted  up,  and  carries  a  good  and.  varied  stock 
of  everything  that  the  market  affords  in  his  line 
that  is  demanded  by  his  custom.  He  has  acquired 
a  comfortable  property,  and  besides  his  possessions 
in  this  village  owns  a  farm  near  by  in  the  southern 
part  of  Ogle  County.  His  political  sentiments  are 
in  accord  with  the  policy  of  the  Republican  parly. 
of  which  he  is  a  tried  and  true  member.  He  has 
held  several  local  ollices,  filling  them  satisfactorily 
and  always  with  an  eye  single  to  the  public  good, 
lie  lias  1  it-en  a  member  of  the  County  Board  of 
Supervisors,  and  did  all  that  lie  could  in  that 


\&l  LIBHAKf 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


277 


capacity  to  push  forward  all  schemes  for  the 
further  development  of  township,  village  and 
county,  as,  indeed,  he  has  always  done  since  he 
became  a  resident  of  this  section.  He  was  atone 
time  Justice  of  the  Peace,  and  was  active  in  pre- 
serving law  and  order  in  the  community  while  he 
was  an  incumbent  of  that  position. 

.Mr.  Sitts  was  married  in  January,  1863,  to  Miss 
Eva  E.,  daughter  of  John  and  Lydia  (Gifford) 
Lincoln,  and  a  native  of  Genesee  County,  N.  Y. 
For  a  quarter  of  a  century  they  lived  together  in 
a  harmonious  and  felicitous  wedded  life,  and  then 
death  invaded  their  pleasant  home,  April  11,  1888, 
and  removed  the  devoted  wife  and  loving  mother, 
who  had  filled  in  a  perfect  measure  those  sacred 
offices.  She  was  fifty-four  years  of  age  when  she 
died.  Four  children  were  born  k>  her  and  our 
subject:  Henry  B.,  an  employe  of  the  Chicago  & 
Northwestern  Railway;  Gertie  G.,  wife  of  W.  S. 
Winter,  of  Turner,  111.;  Bertha  C.  and  Helen 
Kdna. 


ERNEST  WERNICK,  one  of  the  early  set- 
tlers of  Dixon  Township,  who  since  1848 
has  resided  in  the  county,  now  makes  his 
home  on  section  li).  It  is  with  pleasure  that  we 
present  to  our  readers  the  portrait  and  biography 
of  a  self-made  man  who  by  his  own  efforts  has 
worked  his  way  upward  to  a  position  of  affluence. 
In  many  respects  his  example  is  worthy  of  emula- 
tion and  in  this  sketch  there  will  be  much  to  en- 
courage those  who  like  himself  have  to  begin  life 
empty  handed,  depending  only  on  their  own 
exertions. 

Mr.  Wernick  was  born  in  Prussia,  July  8,  1832, 
and  CM  me  of  Saxon  parentage.  He  is  a  son  of 
Andrew  and  Mary  (Bunker)  Wernick.  His  father 
was  born  in  Saxon}1  and  served  with  Napoleon 
throughout  the  Prussian  campaign  as  one  of  the 
MMgtaimrg  I'.luc  Hussars,  lie  fought  at  the  battle 
of  Lipsing  and  at  Waterloo  and  in  many  other 
engagements  served  with  valor  in  the  front  ranks. 
On  one  occasion  he  rescued  the  horse  that  was 
secured  for  (Jen.  Bhiclier.  «  lio.-c  Meed  had  Ix-en  shot 


from  under  him.  Mr.  Wernick  was  twice  wounded 
but  did  not  allow  himself  to  be  captured.  He 
was  a  brave  and  undaunted  cavalryman  and  with 
a  comrade,  Mr.  Comstadt,  who  was  later  frozen  in 
the  mountains  in  the  Prussian  campaign,succeeded 
in  capturing  five  mounted  Cossacks,  killing  four 
of  the  number  and  taking  their  horses.  In  after 
years,  accompanied  by  his  two  sons,  our  subject 
and  Lewis,  Mr.  Wernick  sailed  from  Bremen  and 
after  a  voyage  of  forty-two  days  landed  at  New 
York  City,  whence  he  made  his  way  to  Chicago. 
As  their  money  gave  out  father  and  son  walked 
from  that  city  to  Dixon,  where  a  year  later  they 
were  joined  by  the  mother  and  other  members  of 
the  family.  Mrs.  Wernick  did  not  long  enjoy  her 
new  home,  her  death  occurring  in  1854.  Mr.  Wer- 
nick died  February  14,  1883,  at  the  advanced  age 
of  ninety-five  years.  He  possessed  remarkable 
powers  of  endurance  and  physical  strength  and 
was  never  sick  a  day  in  his  life  while  in  the  Father- 
land. He  and  his  wife  were  members  of  the 
Lutheran  Church. 

Our  subject  was  yet  a  youth  when  he  came  to 
this  country  and  in  Lee  County  he  attained  his 
majority.  For  some  time  he  worked  as  a  day  lab- 
orer and  in  18o4,  purchased  thirty-six  acres  of 
unbroken  land  with  money  acquired  by  his  own 
industry  and  economy.  To  its  improvement  lie 
devoted  his  energies  for  some  time  and  afterwards 
went  to  Grand  Detour,  where  he  engaged  in  team- 
ing for  the  plow  factory  for  a  time.  He  then  fol- 
lowed farming  pursuits  near  Amboy  for  a  few 
.years,  his  farm  work  being  done  with  oxen.  In 
the  meantime  he  had  wedded  Mary  Page,  whose 
parents  were  pioneer  settlers  of  this  community 
She  died  in  18(51,  leaving  three  children.  The 
following  year  Mr.  Wernick  enlisted  in  the  service 
of  his  adopted  country  as  a  member  of  Company 
F,  Seventy-fifth  Illinois  Infantry.  He  wore  the 
blue  for  three  years,  participating  actively  in 
twenty-three  battles  and  during  the  engagement 
at  Resaca.  lie  was  wounded  in  the  shoulder. 

At  the  expiration  of  his  term  of  service.  Mr. 
Wernick  was  honorably  discharged  and  returned 
to  his  home  and  his  three  little  children.  Soon 
afterward  he  began  farming  and  that  time  his  cash 
capital  consisted  of  *2<IO.  He  purchased  a  team 


27* 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


and  then  rented  forty  acres  where;  he  now  lives. 
A  few  years  later  he  made  a  partial  payment  on 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  and  by  his  industry, 
good  management  and  perseverance  was  soon  en- 
abled to  pay  off  all  indebtedness.  As  his  finan- 
cial resources  increased  he  also  extended  the 
boundaries  of  his  farm,  whicli  now  comprises  five- 
hundred  and  fourteen  acres  of  valuable  land,  well 
improved,  highly  cultivated  and  stocked  with  fine 
horses  and  cattle.  He  has  one  of  the  best  barns  in 
the  county  and  recently  erected  a  commodious  and 
substantial  residence  built  in  modern  style  and 
supplied  with  all  modern  conveniences.  A  glance 
at  the  Wernick  farm  indicates  that  the  owner  is  a 
man  of  progressive  and  practical  ideas  and  a  care- 
ful manager.  On  another  page  of  this  volume  the 
reader  will  find  a  view  of  this  attractive  rural 
abode  whicli  is  complete  in  all  its  appointments 
and  one  of  the  best  homesteads  in  the  county. 

The  children  born  unto  Mr.  Wernick  by  his  first 
wife  are:  Henry,  who  wedded  Ida  Sheffield  and 
resides  in  Lake  City,  Iowa;  Anna,wife  of  George 
Hickman,  a  farmer  of  Sioux  County,  Neb.;  and 
Mary,  wife  of  Martin  Funk,  a  farmer  of  Cass 
County,  Iowa.  Mr.  Wernick  was  again  married  in 
New  Albany,  I  nd.,  his  second  union  being  with 
Mrs.  Catherine  Helfrich,  who' was  born  in  Baden, 
Germany,  in  the  town  of  Stein,  and  came  to  this 
country  during  her  girlhood,  with  her  parents, 
the  family  settling  in  Forreston,  Ogle  County, 
where  her  father,  John  Rupert,  is  now  living.  He 
is  a  stone  and  brick  mason  by  trade  and  served 
for  three  years  in  the  late  war,  participating  in 
many  battles,  but  escaped  uninjured.  In  Ogle 
County,  Catherine  Rupert  gave  her  hand  in  mar- 
riage to  Jacob  Helfrich  who  enlisted  with  the  boys 
in  blue  in  1862.  He  took  part  in  some  important 
battles  and  at  Chickamauga  was  taken  prisoner. 
He  was  placed  in  Andersonville  prison,  where  he 
died  some  time  later  in  1863.  At  his  death  he  left 
one  son,  John,  who  married  Jennie  Wooley  and  is 
now  a  farmer  of  Ogle  County,  111. 

Unto  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wernick  have  been  born 
eight  children:  George  at  home,  Minnie,  wife  of 
James  Howell,  a  farmer  of  Dixon  Township;  Wes- 
lev.  Oscar,  Carrie,Vernon,  Bert  and  Stanley,  under 
the  parental  roof.  The  Wernick  household  is  the 


abode  of  hospitality  and  the  members  of  the  fam- 
ily rank  high  in  social  circles.  Their  home  is  one 
of  the  best  in  the  community  and  in  it  their  many 
friends  delight  to  congregate.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wer- 
nick attend  the  Lutheran  Church  and  he  exercises 
his  right  of  franchise  in  support  of  the  Republican 
partv. 


ILL1AM  H.  MOSSHOLDER  is  one  of  the 
foremost  of  the  enlightened  and  wide-a- 
wake farmers  and  stock-raisers  who  are 
carrying  on  the  great  agricultural  interests  of  Lee 
County.  He  is  an  extensive  landed  proprietor, 
having  at  least  four  valuable  farms,  and  upon  one 
of  these  on  section  18,  South  Dixon  Township,  he 
makes  his  home. 

Mr.  Mossholder  was  born  in  Somerset  County, 
Pa.,  March  27,  1841,  a  son  of  Jacob  and  Mary 
(Flamm)  Mossholder,  natives  respectively  of 
Pennsylvania  and  Germany.  The  father  was  born 
in  Somerset  County  of  parents  who  were  also  na- 
tives of  the  Keystone  State,  and  were  of  German 
blood.  They  were  prosperous  farmers  and  came  to 
this  county  in  1854  and  here  died.  The  mother 
of  our  subject  came  to  this  country  from  the  Ger- 
man Fatherland  when  she  was  thirteen  years  old 
with  her  parents,  who  settled  in  Somerset  County, 
and  there  died  when  full  of  years.  After  their 
marriage  and  the  birth  of  all  their  children  but  one, 
the  parents  of  our  subject  came  to  Illinois  in  1854, 
and  were  valued  citizens  of  this  county  until  their 
death  several  years  later,  he  dying  in  1873  when 
past  sixty-one  years  old,  and  she  in  1884,  at  the 
age  of  seventy-two.  On  coming  here  they  had  set- 
tled on  a  new  farm  of  two  hundred  and  forty  acres 
of  wild  land,  located  on  section  17,  and  they  de- 
veloped it  into  a  finely  improved  piece  of  property. 
They  were  prominent  in  the  moral  and  religious 
uplifting  of  their  community  as  lending  members 
of  the  Evangelical  Association  of  South  Dixou, 
helping  to  organize  the  church,  and  Mr.  Mossholder 
gave  the  land  on  which  the  house  of  worship  was 
built. 

William  Mossholder  was  a  Lioy  of  thirteen  years 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


279 


when  the  family  came  to  this  county  from  his 
early  home  on  a  Pennsylvania  farm,  and  here  he 
attained  manhood.  He  and  his  brother,  Nicholas, 
and  sisters,  Eve,  now  Mrs.  Samuel  Allen,  and  Cath- 
erine, now  the  wife  of  Levi  Heokman  are  the  only 
survivors  of  a  family  of  seven  children,  four  sons 
and  three  daughters,  of  whom  he  is  the  third  in 
order  of  birth.  He  early  showed  that  he  was  well- 
endowed  with  the  qualifications  so  necessary  to  a 
farmer  in  order  to  assure  success  in  agricultural 
pursuits.  He  has  a  keen,  discerning  mind,  is  quick 
to  grasp  details,  and  forethought  and  business  acu- 
men are  his  in  a  large  degree.  He  entered  into 
his  work  with  zest  when  he  became  an  independ- 
ent farmer,  conducting  it  with  characteristic  vigor 
iin flagging  zeal,  being  careful,  prudent  and  me- 
thodic withal,  and  these,  with  a  happy  faculty  of 
carrying  out  his  plans  satisfactorilj-.  have  led  him 
far  on  the  high  road  to  fortune.  As  before  men- 
tioned he  has  several  farms.  The  one  on  which  he 
resides  on  section  18,  South  Dixon,  contains  eighty 
acres  of  land,  highly  cultivated,  and  supplied  with 
a  good  set  of  farm  buildings,  including  a  pleasant, 
roomy  residence  with  attractive  surroundings.  He 
has  another  farm  in  the  same  township  of  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty-three  acres,  which  is  all  under  the 
plow,  and  Mr.  Mossholder  has  erected  a  good  barn, 
dwelling  and  other  necessary  buildings  upon  it. 
In  Nelson  Township,  he  has  a  fine  farm  of  eighty 
acres  on  section  24,  upon  which  is  a  comfortable 
house  and  good  outbuildings;  and  he  owns  a  good 
farm  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  in  Adair 
County,  Iowa,  which  is  well  improved.  Besides 
the  income  derived  from  his  farms  Mr.  Mossholder 
makes  money  by  raising  fine  blooded  stock,  owning 
some  of  the  best  graded  cattle,  horses  and  swine  in 
South  Dixon  Township. 

In  the  accumulation  of  his  property,  Mr.  Moss- 
holder  has  not  been  without  the  assistance  of  a 
good  wife,  who  has  co-operated  with  him  by  her 
able  management  of  the  household  affairs,  and  her 
devotion  to  her  family.  His  marriage  witli  Miss 
Catherine  Lievan  was  celebrated  in  South  Dixon 
Township  at  the  Lutheran  parsonage.  June  21, 
1874.  Mrs.  Mossholder  is  a  daughter  of  Mathias 
Lievan.  of  whom  a  biography  appears  in  this  book. 
She  was  born  .lanuary  11.  1847,  in  Somerset 


County,  Pa.,  and  was  but  a  girl  when  she  came 
v  estward  with  her  parents,  with  whom  she  lived 
until  her  marriage.  The  happy  home  circle  of  her- 
self and  her  husband  is  completed  by  the  three 
children  born  unto  them,  namely:  Nora  .].,  aged 
fifteen;  Inez  (i.,  twelve  years  old  and  Clinton  E., 
who  is  five  years  of  age. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mossholder  are  members  of  the 
Evangelical  Association,  and  are  identified  with  its 
every  good  work.  They  are  people  of  fine  social 
qualities,  genial,  open  hearted  and  charitable,  and 
many  and  warm  are  the  friends  that  they  have 
gathered  around  them  in  the  community  where  the 
most  of  their  lives  has  been  spent.  Mr.  Moss- 
holder  takes  a  keen  interest  in  politics,  although 
he  is  no  office-seeker,  and  his  preference  is  for  the 
Republican  party. 


JOHN  HOLDREN,  a  wealthy  farmer  residing 
in  the  village  of   Compton,   is    honored  as 
one  of  the  pioneers  of  Lee  County,  whose 
work  has   helped   in  making  it   one  of  the 
richest  and  best   developed   agricultural    counties 
of  Northern  Illinois.     He  was   born    February  4. 
1825,  in  that  part  of  Mt.  Pleasant  Township,  Co- 
lumbia   County,    Pa.,  now    included    in    Montour 
County.     His    father   was   Edward    Holdren,  and 
he  was  a  native  of  New  Jersey,  of  which  his  fa- 
ther was  a  life-long  resident. 

The  father  of  our  subject  passed  his  youth  in 
his  native  State,  but  when  he  attained  manhood 
he  wont  to  Pennsylvania  and  identified  himself 
with  the  farmers  of  that  State,  buying  a  tract  of 
partly  improved  land  in  Ml.  Pleasant  Township. 
That  part  of  the  country  was  then  comparatively 
wild,  there  were  no  railways  for  several  years 
after  Mr.  Holdren  'a  settlement  there,  and  Phila- 
delphia, over  one  hundred  miles  away,  was  the 
nearest  market  to  which  the  people  could  take 
their  produce  and  stock  to  sell  and  obtain  house- 
hold necessities  in  return.  Mr.  Holdren  made 
many  improvements  on  his  farm  during  his  resi- 
dence in  Mt.  Pleasant  Township,  and  then  he  sold 
it  some  years  after  locating  on  it,  and  bought  a 


JgO 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


place  near  White  Hall,  which  was  his  home  there- 
after until  death  removed  him  from  the  scene  of 
his  usefulness.  He  had  married  after  going  to 
Pennsylvania,  taking  as  his  wife  Abigail  De  Mott, 
a  native  of  Columbia  County,  that  State,  and  a 
daughter  of  Richard  De  Mott,  and  she  spent  her 
last  years  with  him  on  the  home  farm  near  White 
Hall. 

John  Holdreu  was  educated  in  his  native  county 
and  there  grew  to  man's  estate.  He  was  early 
taught  to  be  of  use  on  his  father's  farm,  and  he 
continued  to  assist  him  in  its  management  until 
after  his  marriage,  remaining  an  inmate  of  the 
parental  home  until  then.  In  1851  he  determined 
to  emigrate  to  the  fertile  prairies  of  Northern 
Illinois,  his  father  having  landed  interests  here, 
and  on  the  15th  of  June  he  arrived  in  this  county 
to  make  a  permanent  settlement  here,  and  to  ally 
his  fortunes  with  those  of  the  pioneers  that  had 
preceded  him  into  this  then  sparsely  settled  wil- 
derness. He  located  on  a  tract  of  land  that  his 
father  had  entered  from  the  Government,  situated 
one  mile  south  of  the  present  site  of  C'ompton. 
The  prairies  were  then  but  little  used  for  agricul- 
tural purposes,  as  the  early  settlers  had  not  real- 
ized their  value  as  land  of  surpassing  fertility. 
There  were  no  railways,  and  Aurora  and  Peru 
were  the  nearest  market  towns,  though  the  farmers 
often  took  their  grain  and  other  products  to 
Chicago. 

Mr.  Holdren  erected  suitable  buildings  on  his 
land,  and  busily  engaged  in  its  improvement  for 
some  years,  in  1863  lie  sold  it  and  bought  another 
i>n  section  16,  Brooklyn  Township,  upon  which  he 
lived  until  1876,  when  he  took  up  his  residence 
in  the  village  of  Compton,  and  has  remained  here 
since.  He  has  acquired  a  handsome  property  by 
the  exercise  of  those  traits  of  character  that  mark 
liim  as  a  thrifty,  sagacious  man,  with  a  full  under- 
standing of  the  test  way  to  handle  his  affairs  so 
is  to  make  money.  He  is  the  owner  of  four 
hundred  acres  of  Hue  farming  land,  conveniently 
livided  into  three  farms,  that  are  amply  supplied 
with  all  the  necessary  buildings,  and  are  under 
excellent  tillage. 

In  what  he  has  accomplished  our  subject  has 
iceii  greatly  aided  by  his  wife,  who  lias  been  l<> 


him  all  that  the  term  helpmate  implies,  as  it  was 
his  good  fortune  to  marry,  in  August,  18-1!).  Mi.-s 
Phebe  A.  Derr,  a  native  of  the  same  State  as  him- 
self, her  birthplace  being  in  Northumberland 
County.  They  have  five  children — William  ('., 
Eleanora,  Edward,  Janet  and  Sherman  J.  William 
married  Miss  Ellen  Adrian,  and  they  have  two  chil- 
dren— Fannie  and  John.  Eleanora  married  Shep- 
ard  Mannon,  and  they  have  three  children — Emma 
C.,Willard  and  Laura.  Janet  is  the  widow  of  Alonzo 
Davison  and  has  two  children — Gracie  P.  and 
R.  Palmer.  Edward  married  Miss  Emma  G.  Swope, 
and  they  have  two  children — Emma  C.  and  Cal- 
vin. Sherman  married  Miss  Ellen  N.  Kline,  and 
they  have  one  child — Rosanna. 


CHARLES  F.  EMERSON,  of  the  well-known 
and  enterprising  firm  of  the  C.  F.  Emerson 
Lumber  Co.,  of  Dixon,  dealers  in  all  kinds 
of  dressed  and  undressed  lumber,  house  building 
supplies  and  sewer  pipes,  established  his  present 
business  in  1867.  The  following  year,  in  February, 
Mr.  Anderson  was  admitted  to  partnership  but  the 
present  firm  title  was  not  assumed  until  the  1st  of 
January,  1891.  Business  is  carried  on  on  Water 
Street  between  First  and  Second  Streets  and  the 
firm  has  an  extensive  trade. 

Mr.  Emerson  was  born  in  the  old  historical  town 
of  Castine,  Me.,  on  the  Penobscot  River,  August 
28,  1828,  and  comes  of  an  old  Scotch  family  of  the 
same  clan  from  which  the  late  Ralph  W.  Emerson 
was  descended.  His  father,  Henry  Emerson,  a  na- 
tive of  York,  Me.,  learned  the  trade  of  a  blacksmith 
in  the  Navy  Yards  at  Kittery,  where  he  was  em- 
ployed between  the  ages  of  fourteen  and  twenty- 
one  years,  during  the  time  the  War  of  1812  was 
fought.  He  afterward  established  a  smithy  in 
Castine,  where  he  spent  his  entire  business  life  and 
died  at  the  age  of  seventy-six  years.  Two  of  his 
sisters,  both  of  whom  are  Mrs.  Thompson,  are  widow 
ladies  residing  in  Ypsilanti,  Mich.,  and  both  have 
passed  their  ninetieth  birthdays.  The  mother  of 
our  subject  was  in  her  maidenhood  Nancy  Hutch- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


281 


ing,  a  native  of  Kenuebunk,  Me.  She  survived  her 
husband  some  fifteen  years  and  died  in  her  ninetieth 
year.  Both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Emerson  were  strong  be- 
lievers in  the  Universalist  faith  and  in  early  life 
he  was  a  Democrat  in  politics.  On  that  ticket  he 
was  elected  to  the  State  Legislature  of  Maine,  but 
when  the  Republican  party  sprang  into  existence, 
as  the  outcome  of  the  slavery  question,  he  joined 
its  ranks,  being  stanch  advocate  of  abolition  prin- 
ciples. Hamilton  Hampton,  late  United  States 
Senator,  was  one  of  the  warm  personal  friends  of 
Henry  Emerson. 

C.  F.  Emerson,  whose  name  heads  this  sketch, 
was  the  third  in  a  family  of  five  children,  four  of 
whom  are  yet  living,  although  he  is  the  only  one 
residing  in  the  West.  He  grew  up  as  did  most  of 
the  boys  of  his  day  in  the  Pine  Tree  State  and  with 
his  father  learned  the  blacksmith's  trade.  After 
he  had  attained  his  majority,  he  shipped  before  the 
mast  and  became  engaged  in  the  coasting  service 
from  Bangor,  Me.,  to  the  south  coast  of  Florida. 
He  also  made  trips  to  the  West  Indies  tind  fished 
from  the  smacks  off  the  Grand  Banks  of  New- 
foundland. For  seven  years  he  followed  a  sea- 
faring life  and  then  turned  his  attention  to  other 
pursuits.  He  sought  a  home  in  the  West  in  1855, 
and  since  that  time  has  been  a  resident  of  Dixon. 

Ere  locating  in  Illinois,  however,  Mr.  Emerson 
was  married  in  Boston,  on  the  4th  of  December, 
1855,  to  Hannah  E.  Avery,  who  was  born  and  reared 
in  Castine,  Me.,  but  when -a  maiden  went  to  Boston 
where  she  lived  until  her  marriage.  Her  parents 
and  grandparents  were  both  natives  of  the  Pine 
Tree  State,  and  the  home  of  the  latter  was  occupied 
by  the  British  during  the  War  of  1812.  Herfather,  ! 
John  A.  Avery,  was  a  sea-faring  man  and  merchant 
and  died  in  Castine,  Me.,  at  an  advanced  age,hav- 
ing  survived  his  wife  some  fifteen  years.  They 
were  parents'  of  eleven  children,  six  of  whom  are 
now  living. 

Mr.  Emerson  brought  his  bride  to  Dixon   where 
they  have  since  formed  a  wide  acquaintance  and 
won  many  friends.     Their  social  status  is  high,  and 
in  religious  belief  both  Mr.  Emerson  and  his  wife   j 
are  I'M  iversalists.     He  embarked  in  the  lumber  busi-   i 
ness  in  1N67,  and  carried  it  on  until  1876,  when  he   j 
retired  but  five  years  later  lie  again  resumed  oper- 


ations in  that  line  and  has  since  continued  to  be 
one  of  the  leading  lumber  merchants  of  this  city. 
By  his  fair  and  honest  dealing  he  has  won  unlim- 
ited confidence  and  the  liberal  patronage  accorded 
him  is  but  the  just  reward  of  his  labors.  Mr.  Emer- 
son is  a  public  spirited  and  enterprising  citizen 
and  for  four  years  has  served  as  Alderman. 
He  is  also  one  of  the  Nachusa  House  directors,  and 
in  politics  supports  the  Republican  party  by  his 
ballot.  Socially,  he  is  a  member  of  the  Odd  Fel- 
lows Lodge,  belonging  both  to  the  subordinate 
lodge  and  encampment. 


IOMAS  W.  BROWN,  an  old  and  honored 
citizen  of  Lee  County,  and  one  of  its  pio- 
neers, is  one  of  the  wealthy  residents  of 
Franklin  Grove,  where  he  has  a  beautiful  home, 
and  is  conducting  a  good  business  as  a  grower  of 
small  fruits.  His  native  place  is  the  fine  old  city 
of  Newport,  R.  I.,  and  the  date  of  his  birth,  Au- 
gust 14,  1820.  His  parents,  Thomas  W.  and  Re- 
becca (Vial)  Brown,  were  also  natives  of  Rhode 
Island,  and  were  life-long  residents  of  that  State. 
The}'  reared  a  family  of  six  children,  as  follows: 
Louisa,  who  died  unmarried;  Mary,  who  became 
the  wife  of  Thomas  H.  Kirtly,  a  banker  of  Phila- 
delphia, in  which  city  she  died;  Harriet,  the  wife 
of  R.  P.  Lee,  cashier  in  a  bank  at  Newport,  R.  I.; 
Charlotte,  now  Mrs.  Richard  E.  Hamlin,  of  Provi- 
dence, R.  I.;  Elizabeth  B.,  wife  of  William  M. 
Steadman,  a  wholesale  merchant,  of  Boston,  Mass.; 
and  our  subject,  the  only  son. 

He  of  whom  we  write  learned  the  trade  of  a  mer- 
chant tailor  under  his  father's  instruction  in  his 
youth,  and  at  nineteen  years  of  age  started  West- 
ward to  grow  up  with  the  country  in  some  pioneer 
settlement,  where  he  would  have  a  broader  field 
for  the  exercise  of  his  energies,  as  he  did  not  by 
any  means  propose  to  confine  himself  to  his  trade 
if  he  found  that  he  could  do  better  in  another  di- 
rection. After  his  arrival  iij  Lee  County  he  took 
up  and  improved  a  claim,  although  the  land  was 
not  then  in  the  market,  and  subsequently  selling 
it  at  a  good  price,  he  removed  to  Inlet,  (a  village 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


now  defunct)  and  did  business  as  a  merchant  tailor 
and  as  a  daguerrean.  It  is  worthy  of  note  in  con- 
nection with  the  latter  that  he  made  daguerreo- 
types of  many  of  the  early  settlers,  which  are  now 
probably  preserved  in  many  households  as  precious 
heirlooms. 

In  1856  Mr.  Brown  removed  to  Franklin  Grove, 
and  in  1860  he  settled  where  he  now  resides,  which 
place  had  been  purchased  that  year  by  his  brother- 
in-law.  He  continued  in  the  same  business  as  be- 
fore until  1871,  when  he  sold  medicine  for  three 
years.  In  1875  he  began  to  engage  in  the  culture 
of  small  fruits,  and  in  1885  purchased  the  place  on 
which  he  resided.  He  then  erected  his  handsome 
residence,  which  is  finely  located  at  the  head  of 
Main  Street  in  the  south  part  of  the  village  of 
Franklin  Grove,  where  he  has  a  home  replete  with  I 
all  the  comforts  and  luxuries  necessary  to  the  best  j 
social  life.  His  dwelling  is  a  large  brick  house,  sec-  j 
ond  to  none  in  the  village  in  beauty  of  architect- 
ure and  the  convenience  of  its  interior  arrange- 
ments. It  is  supplied  with  the  modern  improve- 
ments, heated  by  a  furnace,  and  has  hot  and  cold 
water  in  all  parts  of  the  house,  besides  a  well  ap- 
pointed bath  room.  Among  the  most  pleasant 
features  of  this  elegant  home  is  the  good  cheer 
always  to  be  found  within  its-walls,  its  inmates  un- 
derstanding well  the  art  of  true  hospitality  .that 
"  welcomes  the  coming  and  speeds  the  parting 
guest." 

Although  Mr.  Brown  is  a  man  of  wealth  his  act- 
ive temperment  is  intolerant  of  a  life  of  leisure, 
and,  as  before  mentioned,  he  devotes  his  time  to 
the  culture  of  small  fruits,  for  which  his  forty 
acres  of  land  is  well  adapted.  He  is  well  versed 
in  the  best  methods  of  fruit  culture,  having  made 
a  careful  study  both  from  observation  and  from 
the  perusal  of  the  works  of  the  best  authorities  on 
the  subject,  and  he  has  a  large  and  constantly- 
growing  business  under  his  supervision,  as  he  has 
acquired  a  wide  reputation  for  the  superior  qual- 
ity of  the  fruit  that  he  raises,  which  always  finds  a 
market  and  sells  at  good  piices. 

On  April  10,  1841,  in  his  native  city,  Newport, 
R.  I.,  Mr.  Brown  and  Ruth  F.  Simpson  were  united 
in  marriage.  She,  too,  was  born  in  that  beautiful 
seaside  resort,  her  birth  occuiring  February  12, 


1819,  and  she  is  a  daughter  of  Samuel  and  Harriet 
Simpson.  For  fifty  years  she  and  our  subject  have 
shared  the  vicissitudes  of  life  together,  and  the 
joys  and  sorrow  that  have  fallen  to  their  lot  dur- 
ing that  half  century  of  time  have  but"  strength- 
ened the  tie  that  binds  them.  Nine  children  have 
been  born  to  them,  of  whom  these  four  have 
passed  from  life  to  death:  Matilda,  who  died  at 
the  age  of  sixteen  years;  Ella,  who  died  when  six 
years  old;  and  two  who  died  in  infancy.  The  five 
children  living  are  Thomas  VV.,  a  resident  of  Frank- 
lin Grove;  Robert,  a  resident  of  Sioux  Rapids, 
Iowa;  Mary  E.;  Harriet,  now  Mrs.  Blair;  and  Lot- 
tie; the  three  daughters  live  at  home  with  their 
parents. 

Mr.  Brown  was  in  early  life  a  Whig,  but  he  was 
heartily  in  sympathy  with  the  movement  that  led 
to  the  formation  of  the  Republican  party,  and  from 
its  birth  he  has  been  one  of  the  most  stanch  sup- 
porters of  its  principles.  He  was  the  first  Town 
Clerk  of  Lee  Centre  Township,  and  his  record  as  a 
citizen  shows  that  he  has  alwavs  contributed  to  lo- 
cal improvements,  and  all  measures  to  advance  the 
growth  and  well-being  of  his  adopted  county  have 
met  with  his  cordial  approval  and  material  sup- 
port. 


ELIJAH  H.  AND    DANIEL    B.    RAYMOND, 
who  are  well-known  and  prominent  citizens 
of    this   county,   are    conducting  farming 
and    stock-raising    in    partnership,    owning    and 
operating    a   good-sized,    well-equipped    farm  on 
sections  21  and  22,  South    Dixou    Township,    that 
is  in  all  respects  one  of    the   finest    estates  in  this 
part  of  Illinois. 

The  Raymond  brothers  are  scions  of  the  sturdy 
pioneer  stock  of  Southern  Michigan.  The  elder 
brother,  however,  was  born  in  Steuben  County,  N. 
Y.,  prior  to  the  removal  of  the  family  to  the  pri- 
meval wilds  of  that  section  of  the  country  in  terri- 
torial days,  the  date  of  his  birth  Iwing  May  1  I . 
1821.  Daniel  B.,  the  youngest  member  of  the 
household,  was  born  November  2.  1833,  in  the 
primitive  pioneer  home  of  his  parents  in  the  town- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


283 


ship  of  Raisin,  Leuam>e  County,  shortly  after  they 
had  made  settlement  in  that  region. 

Our  subject's  ancestors  were  Englishmen,  of  the 
same  blood  as  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  of  the  Mayflow- 
er, and  some  of  them  were  among  the  colonists  of 
New  England,  and  made  their  homes  in  the  quaint 
old  city  of  Salem  and  ;n  the  town  of  Wareham, 
Mass.,  and  representatives  of  the  family  may  still 
be  found  in  that  section  of  the  country.  The 
first  to  avail  himself  of  the  privileges  of  religious 
freedom  in  America  was  John  Raymond,  who  came 
hither  in  1631!.  Following  him  in  line  of  descent 
were  William  Raymond  Sr.,  William  Raymond  Jr. 
and  then  in  succession  three  of  the  name  of 
Daniel,  the  latter  of  whom  was  the  father  of  the 
gentlemen  of  whom  we  write.  The  grandfather 
of  our  subjects  was  a  native  of  Richmond  Town- 
ship, Greene  County,  N.  Y.,  whither  his  father  had 
removed  after  marriage  from  his  old  Massachusetts 
home  to  found  a  new  one  in  the  wilderness.  He 
and  his  wife  were  also  pioneers  of  Steuben  County 
and  hewed  out  a  farm  in  Cohocton  Township, 
where  they  died.  He  had  been  a  patriotic  soldier 
during  the  Revolution,  serving  throughout  the 
war,  and  lived  to  be  nearly  ninety  years  old.  The 
father  of  our  subjects  was  reared  in  his  native 
State,  and  when  the  War  of  1812  broke  out  he 
showed  himself  a  worthy  son  of  his  sire  by  enlist- 
ing in  the  service  of  his  country  in  a  New  York  regi- 
ment, in  which  he  held  the  rank  of  Orderly  Sergeant. 
He  was  married  in  Steuben  County  with  Miss  Lucy 
A.  Woodruff,  who  was  born  in  Berkshire  County, 
Mass.,  coming  of  a  long  line  of  New  England  an- 
cestry, and  her  parents  were  also  of  Massachusetts 
birth. 

After  the  birth  of  seven  children,  Daniel  Ray- 
mond and  his  wife  set  out  for  the  Territory  of 
Michigan  in  the  spring  of  1833,  traveling  with  an 
ox-team,  and  journeying  by  the  lakes  and  over- 
land until  they  had  penetrated  the  forest  wilds  of 
Lena  wee  County  as  far  as  the  present  site  of  Rai- 
sin Township,  where  they  determined  to  found 
their  new  home.  Mr.  Raymond  selected  a  suitable 
location  in  the  woods,  on  section  24,  of  said  town- 
ship, two  and  one  half  miles  from  the  Raisin  River 
buying  a  part  of  it  from  the  Government.  He 
toiled  hard,  and  had  already  hewed  out  a  goodly 


farm,  when  he  was  attacked  by  a  malignant  epi- 
demic that  then  prevailed  in  that  section,  and 
died  at  the  nge  of  fifty-four  years,  twelve  years 
after  settling  there.  His  community  was  thus  de- 
|  prived  of  one  of  its  most  highly  prized  citizens, 
j  who  was  a  man  of  rare  virtue,  of  force  and  dignity 
i  of  character,  and  was  associated  with  all  that  was 
good  in  his  township.  He  was  a  Whig  in  politics 
and  religiously,  was  a  member  of  the  Congrega- 
tional Church,  as  was  his  wife,  who  died  on  the  old 
homestead  in  Michigan,  in  1858,  at  the  age  of  six- 
ty-five years.  She  was  the  mother  of  eight  chil- 
dren, of  whom  six  are  yet  living,  two  in  Michigan, 
and  the  others  in  Illinois.  All  are  married  but  two, 
Elijah  H.,  of  this  notice,  and  Hannah.  They  have 
all  lived  together  under  one  roof  since  they  came 
to  this  State  in  1865,  and  settled  on  the  farm 
where  they  have  since  made  their  home,  and  which 
was  purchased  the  year  before  they  took  possession 
of  it.  Our  subjects  have  made  of  ita  very  fine  place 
bringing  it  to  a  high  standard  of  cultivation  and 
improvement,  erecting  commodious  and  well  fitted 
up  buildings  of  the  most  approved  modern  class, 
and  stocking  its  pastures  with  cattle,  horses  and 
swine  of  superior  breeds.  The  farm  contains  two 
hundred  and  forty  acres  of  land  of  exceeding  fer- 
tility. The  brothers  had  previously  had  a  good 
training  in  farming  on  the  old  homestead  where 
they  had  passed  their  boyhood  days,  and  they 
were  well  educated  in  the  public  schools  of  Adrian 
and  Lenawee  County. 

Daniel  B.  Raymond  was  married  at  the  old 
home  in  his  native  State  to  Miss  Maria  S.  Clark, 
who  was  born  in  Berkshire  County,  Mass.,  January 
29,  1834.  Her  parents  were  also  natives  of  Massa- 
chusetts, and  came  of  some  of  the  old  Colonial 
families  of  New  England.  Her  father  died  in  the 
old  Bay  State  while  yet  in  the  prime  of  life.  Her 
mother  was  middle-aged  when  she  died  in  Michi- 
gan. Mr.  and  Mrs.  Raymond  have  been  blessed  in 
their  pleasant  wedded  life  by  the  birth  of  three 
children, — Daniel  E.,  Agnes  C.,  and  Florence  M. 
All  are  accomplished  and  highly  educated,  having 
attended  Dixon  College,  and  the  daughters  have 
taught  in  the  South-Side  public  schools  of 
Dixon.  The  son  as&ists  his  father  and  uncle  in  the 
management  of  the  farm.  All  the  family  are  mem- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


ben  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  Dixon. 
Mr.  Raymond  has  borne  a  conspicuous  part  in  the 
management  of  public  affaire  in  township  and 
county  for  several  years.  He  was  the  first  Clerk  of 
the  Township,  holding  that  office  for  fourteen 
years  and  has  represented  it  as  a  member  of  the 
County  Hoard  of  Supervisors.  He  and  his  brother 
Elijah  are  representative  Republicans,  and  are 
generous,  public-spirited,  high-minded  men,  whose 
citizenship  carries  weight  and  influence  for  good 
in  the  community  where  their  lot  has  been  cast. 


1  01  IN  F.  BOSSEMEYER  was  a  man  of  intel- 
ligent mind  and  superior  character,  exem- 
plary in  his  habits,  manly  and  straightfor- 
ward in  his  dealings,  and  true  in  the  vari- 
ous relations  that  he  sustained  towards  others  as 
son,  husband,  father,  neighbor,  and  steadfast  in  his 
friendships.  And  the  death  of  such  an  estimable 
citizen  was  a  serious  loss  to  his  community.  For 
several  years  he  had  been  busily  engaged 'in  im- 
proving a  farm  on  section  22,  South  Dixon  Town- 
ship, and  in  general  agricultural  operations,  and 
there,  while  yet  in  life's  prime,  with  a  promising 
future  before  him,  his  hand  was  stayed  from  its 
labors,  and  he  passed  from  the  scenes  of  earth 
April  1,1888. 

Mr.  Bossemeyer  was  born  in  the  State  of  Mary- 
land,' May  24,  1849.  His  father,  whose  given 
name  was  Frederick,  was  of  German  birth  and  an- 
cestry. He  was  a  young  man  when  he  came  to  the 
United  States  and  settled  in  Maryland,  where  he 
met  and  married  Miss  Hannah  Gammer,  a  native 
of  that  State.  They  continued  to  live  in  that 
commonwealth  until  after  the  birth  of  their  eldest 
children  and  then  they  came  to  Illinois  and  cast  in 
their  lot  with  the  pioneers  of  Lee  County.  They 
located  on  a  tract  of  wild,  unbroken  land  on  sec- 
tion 24,  South  Dixon  Township,  where  they  estab- 
lished a  little  home,  which  was  afterward  replaced 
by  a  more  commodious  dwelling,  and  in  the  course 
of  time  Mr.  Bossemeyer  opened  up  a  valuable  farm 
of  two  hundred  and  fifty  acres.  In  18X0.  he  retired 


from  active  business  with  his  wife  to  the  city  of 
Dixon.  and  they  quietly  passed  their  remaining 
days  in  their  residence  on  (ialena  Street,  his  death 
occurring  in  1886,  at  the  age  of  three-score  and  ten 
years,  and  hers  in  1889,  when  she  was  well  ad- 
vanced in  years.  She  was  a  woman  of  many  vir- 
tues, of  a  warm  and  tender  heart,  and  was  re- 
garded with  great  affection  by  all  about  her.  Mr. 
Bossemeyer,  Sr.,  was  considered  one  of  the  leading 
German  farmers  of  his  day,  and  was  well  and  fav- 
orably known.  He  was  a  prominent  Republican, 
taking  an  active  part  in  local  politics,  and  he  was 
a  great  worker  in  the  church;  both  he  and  his  wife 
belonged  to  the  Lutheran  Church  of  Dixon. 

A  boy  of  ten  or  eleven  years  when  his  parents 
brought  him  to  this  county,  our  subject  grew  to 
man's  estate  on  his  father's  farm,  and  there  re- 
ceived the  practical  training  that  was  to  make  him 
successful  as  a  farmer  on  his  own  account.  He  re- 
mained on  the  paternal  homestead  until  he  at- 
tained his  majority,  and  after  his  marriage  he  pur- 
chased a  farm  of  one  hundred  and  seven  acres  on 
section  22,  South  Dixon  Township,  and  made  many 
improvements  in  the  shape  of  good  farm  buildings, 
etc.  He  was  a  young  man  of  much  ability.  wa> 
remarkably  industrious,  was  progressive  in  his 
ideas,  and  was  ambitious  to  make  a  pleasant  home 
for  his  family,  to  whom  he  was  devoted.  He  was 
a  student  and  a  thinker,  and  seemed  to  have  an 
aptitude  for  inventions,  which  might  have  made 
him  famous  one  day  had  he  lived.  He  was  well 
educated,  and  made  his  mark  as  a  teacher,  engag- 
ing in  that  profession  in  this  county  some  three 

j  years.  His  religion  was  that  of  the  Lutheran 
Church,  of  which  he  was  a  member.  In  politics, 

I   he  was  a  decided  Republican. 

September  4.  1874,  the  marriage  of  our  subject 
witli  Miss  Fannie  A.  Smith  was  duly  solemnized  in 
Dixon  Township,and  in  her  he  found  an  affectionate 

,  and  devoted  wife,  who  made  his  interests  her  own, 
and  materially  added  to  his  success  in  life  and  to 
his  comfort  and  happiness.  She  was  born  in  this 
township  on  her  father's  homestead  March  15, 
1858.  She  was  carefully  reared  under  wholesome 
home  influences,  and  was  educated  in  the  public 
schools.  At  her  husband's  death  she  bravely  took 
up  the  work  that  he  laid  down,  and  is  managing 


IH£  i" 
,. 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


287 


the  farm  with  consummate  skill,  displaying  an  un- 
doubted talent  for  business.  She  is  the  mother  of 
four  children,  who  HIT  at  home  with  her;  their 
names  are  as  follows:  Arthur  J.,  Etta  L..  Lester  O. 
and  Nellie  II.  For  Mrs.  Bossi'ineyer's  parental  his- 
tory see  sketch  of  Joseph  Smith  on  another  page. 


JAMES  SNEED,  whose  sketch  now  invites 
attention,  is  one  of  the  prominent  men  of 
Lee  County,  having  in  the  course  of  his 
long  life  witnessed  many  changes  and  an 
immense  amount  of  progress  in  the  State,  and  also 
l>avin<raccumulated  a  considerable  fortune.  He  is 
now  engaged  in  general  farming  on  sections  20 
and  29,  of  Palmyra  Township,  where  he  owns  and 
operates  a  large  estate  of  two  hundred  and  thirty- 
seven  acres,  on  which,  besides  farming,  he  carries 
on  the  stock  trade.  lie  has  lived  on  this  farm  since 
1X71,  having  come  to  the  State  in  1854.  lie  was 
for  a  while  in  Morris  County,  Kan.,  and  then  re- 
moved to  Carroll  County,  where  he  remained  four 
years.  Since  that  time  he  has  lived  continuously 
on  his  present  homestead. 

Mr.  Kneed 's  birth  occurred  in  Pulaski  County. 
Ky.,  near  Somerset,  on  the  15th  of  January,  1827, 
lieing  the  son  of  Charles  and  Elizabeth  (Dal ton) 
Sneed.  When  just  a  small  boy  our  subject  moved 
with  hi*  parents  to  Indiana,  the  family  leaving  the 
beautiful  Blue  Grass  country  for  no  other  reason 
than  that  the  idea  of  slavery  was  distasteful  to 
them,  and  as  that  custom  prevailed  everywhere 
south  of  '-Mason  and  Dixon's  line",  they  were 
forced  to  seek  a  Northern  home.  They  first  located 
in  Washington  County,  and  began  life  there  as  far- 
mers, and  later  lived  for  a  time  in  Jackson  County 
scion  returning  to  Washington  County,  where 
they  spent  their  last  years.  The  father  died  when 
about  seventy  and  the  mother  when  about  sixtv 
years  of  age.  They  were  both  born  and  reared  in 
Kentucky  and  were  there  married.  To  them  were 
born  thirteen  children,  four  sons  and  one  daughter 
yet  surviving,  our  subject  being  the  only  one  of 
the  family  in  Illinois. 

Our  subject  was  reared  in  Washington  County. 
13 


Ind.,  and  while  there  attained  his  majority,  at 
which  time  he  came  to  Lee  County  and  was  mar- 
ried in  this  township  to  Miss  Sarah  F.  Toliver,  who 
was  born  in  Lawrence  County,  Ind.  She  was  yet 
quite  young  when  her  parents  removed  to  Richland 
County,  Ind.,  and  a  short  time  afterwards  she  was 
deprived  of  a  mother's  loving  care  and  protection. 
She  was  taken  care  of  by  her  grandparents  who 
lived  in  this  township,  and  it  was  here  that  she  re- 
ceived her  education.  She  was  always  quite  stud- 
ious and  gained  a  good  education  with  what  ad- 
vantages she  had.  She  has  made  our  subject  a 
true  and  faithful  helpmate,  and  is  held  in  high  re- 
pute for  her  intellectuality  and  her  many  excellent 
traits  of  character.  This  lady  was  called  to  her 
eternal  home  the  14th  of  August,  1891. 

The  marriage  of  our  subject  and  his  estimable 
wife  has  been  blessed  by  the  advent  of  seven  chil- 
dren, two  of  whom  are  now  deceased.  The  living 
are:  Francis  M.,  who  took  to  wife  Alice  Schultz,  a 
resident  of  Dixon;  Alice  M.,  wife  of  E.  II.  Hughs, 
a  farmer  in  Ogle  County,  this  State;  James  B.,  a 
farmer,  who  resides  at  home;  and  William  F.  and 
Minnie  L.,  who  are  also  at  home.  Mr.  Sneed  has 
held  several  township  and  county  offices,  among 
them  being  the  office  of  County  Collector,  and  is 
at  present  the  incumbent  of  the  office  of  Justice  of 
the  Peace,  which  lie  holds  with  satisfaction  to  his 
constituents.  In  his  politics  he  affiliates  with  the 
Republican  Party. 


JOHN  M.  TKOSTLE    is  an  enterprising  and 
successful  business  man,  the  owner  and  op- 
erator of  the  East  Elevator  at  Ash  ton.  He 
was  born    in  Frederick  County,    Md.,   Nov- 
ember   1,    1855.     He  was  reared  on  a  farm  in  his 
native  county  until  he  was  eighteen  years  of  age, 
when  he  came   to  Franklin   Grove,  111.,  where  he 
learned  the    carpenters'   trade  under  J.  L.  Strock 
and  J.  C.  Spangler,  working  at  it  for  twelve  years. 
He  then  came  to   Ashton  and  rented  the  East  Ele- 
vator which  he  operated  for  three  years,  at  the  end 
of  that  time  becoming  its  purchaser.     It  has  a  capa- 
city of  fifteen  thousand   bushels  anil   has   proved  a 


288 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


great  convenience  to  the  farmers  in  the  disposal  of 
their  grain.  In  the  hands  of  such  a  competent 
besiness  man  as  Mr.  Trestle,  the  business  has  be- 
come one  of  importance  and  has  proved  a  financial 


Mr.  Trostle  was  married  in  Nachusa,  December 
3,  1877,  to  Miss  Minerva  A.  Brierton,  who  was 
born  in  this  county,  in  February,  1856.  They 
have  one  adopted  child,  Lottie  M.  The  parents  of 
our  subject,  Jacob  D.,  and  Sarah  (Pfoutz)  Trostle, 
were  natives  of  Adams  Count}',  Pa.,  and  are  now 
residing  in  Dickinson  County,  Kan.  They  have 
had  twelve  children,  of  whom  John  M.  was  fifth 
in  the  order  of  birth.  Mr.  Trostle  is  a  stanch 
Republican  and  lias  always  been  very  active  in 
political  affairs  and,  in  fact  in  whatever  relates  10 
the  welfare  of  his  community.  He  is  Chairman  of 
the  Ashton  Township  Republican  Committee,  and 
was  for  four  years  a  member  of  the  Village  Board 
in  Franklin  Grove.  At  present  he  is  serving  as 
Mayor  of  Ashton,  which  office  he  has  held  for  two 
terms,  being  first  elected  in  the  spring  of  1889,  and 
re-elected  in  the  spring  of  1891.  Under  his  wise 
supervision  the  affairs  of  the  town  are  in  a  flour- 
ishing condition,  he  giving  much  attention  to  the 
various  projects  which  tend  to  the  upbuilding  of 
the  communit}-.  Socially  he  is  a  member  of  the 
Masonic  fraternity. 


^  BOLLMAN  owns  one  hundred  and 

||jj)  twenty  acres  of  fine  farming  land  on  sec- 
'tyz?  tion  22-  Nelson  Township,  and  is  conduct- 
(|P  ing  a  profitable  business  as  a  general 
farmer.  He  was  born  in  Prussia,  Germany,  March 
27,  1833,  to  Gotlieb  and  Elizabeth  Bollman,  who 
were  also  natives  of  Prussia,  and  passed  their  en- 
tire lives  there  on  a  farm,  the  father  dying  at  the 
age  of  forty-nine,  when  scarcely  past  the  prime  of 
life,  and  the  mother  was  not  much  older  when  she 
died.  They  were  most  excellent  people,  true 
Christians  and  members  of  the  Lutheran  Church. 
Our  subject  is  one  of  eight  children,  of  whom 
two  are  living  in  the  United  States,  he  and  his 


brother  Fred,  the  latter  a  prosperous  farmer  of 
South  Dixon  Township.  He  came  to  this  country 
ten  years  before  Henry  came,  being  scarcely  more 
than  a  boy  when  he  ventured  to  try  his  fortunes 

!    in  a  strange  land. 

Amid  the  quiet  scenes  of  his  birthplace  our 
subject  grew  apace,  and  in  the  local  schools  conned 
his  lessons  diligently,  thus  secui  ing  a  good  prac- 
tical education,  and  he  also  received  a  useful 
training  in  agriculture  on  his  father's  farm.  He 
was  but  fifteen  years  old  when  he  determined  to 
follow  his  brother  Henry  to  the  far-away  country 
across  the  sea,  and  witli  a  courageous  spirit  and 
the  high  hopes  of  youth,  he  set  out  on  the  long 
voyage  in  the  good  ship  "Baltimore,"  from  which 
he  disembarked  six  weeks  later  in  the  city  of  that 
name  in  the  State  of  Maryland.  From  there  he 
made  his  way  to  Pennsylvania,  and  upon  his  ar- 
rival in  Somerset  County,  found  he  had  but  two 
dollars  in  money  left.  He,  however,  was  nothing 
daunted  as  long  as  he  could  secure  employment, 
and  he  worked  for  different  people  until  he  ob- 
tained a  good  start  in  life.  He  then  came  to 
Illinois  to  invest  his  earnings  where  he  could  get 
rich  farming  land  comparatively  cheap,  and  could 
profit  by  numerous  other  advantages  which  this 
region  offers  to  a  skillful,  industrious  farmer.  He 
made  his  first  purchase  of  realty  in  Soutli  Dixon 
Township,  and  while  he  held  it  made  many  good 
improvements  upon  it.  He  finally  disposed  of 
that  farm  at  quite  an  advance  on  the  cost  price, 
and  bought  the  farm  that  he  now  occupies  in 
Nelson  Township.  He  has  the  land  under  ex- 
cellent tillage,  the  productive  soil  yielding  abund- 
ant harvests  in  repayment  of  the  care  and  toil 
expended  upon  it,  and  he  raises  a  good  class  of 

'  stock.  He  is  very  comfortably  situated  here,  keeps 
his  place  in  a  good  condition,  everything  about 
it  denoting  thrifty  management. 

Mr.  Bollman  was  wedded  to  Miss  Christina 
Grobe  in  this  township,  and  their  domestic  life  has 
been  productive  of  much  real  happiness,  among  its 
blessings  being  the  six  children  born  to  them,  of 
whom  these  five  are  still  inmates  of  their  home — 
Anna,  Alvena,  William,  Henry  and  Gertie.  Their 
eldest  daughter,  Mary,  is  the  wife  of  Milt  Hax. 
Mrs.  Bollman  was  born  in  Saxon-Weimar,  Germany. 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


Her  father  died  when  she  was  very  young,  :md 
she  afterwards  came  to  the  Tinted  States  and  to 
Illinois  with  her  mother  and  four  brothers,  the 
family  locating  in  Lee  Couniy.  The  mother  lived 
to  !H>  an  old  lady,  and  died  in  Nelson  Township. 
Mrs.  Bollman  was  seventeen  years  old  when  she 
came  to  this  country,  and  here  met  and  married 
our  subject  a  few  years  later.  She  shares  with 
him  the  respect  accorded  to  his  genuine  worth, 
and  both  are  very  much  liked  by  their  neighbors 
for  their  friendliness  and  readiness  to  help  any 
who  are  suffering  or  needy  if  it  is  possible  for 
them  to  do  so.  In  them  the  Lutheran  Church  has 
two  of  its  truest  Christian  members.  Mr.  Bollman 
first  exercised  the  right  of  suffrage  by  casting  his 
vote  for  James  Buchanan  for  the  Presidency,  and 
he  has  ever  since  given  the  Democratic  party 
sturdy  support. 


JOHN  H.  ABBOTT,  who  is  engaged  in  gen- 
eral farming  and  stock-raising  on  sections 
29  and  30,  Nachusa  Township,  is  a  native 
of  Columbia  County,  Pa.  He  traces  his 
ancestry  back  to  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury, when  members  of  the  Abbott  family  of  Eng- 
lish birth  came  to  America  in  the  British  service 
to  tight  in  the  French  and  Indian  War.  Making 
permanent  locations  in  this  country  their  children 
became  American  citizens  and  turned  against  the 
mother  country  when  the  Colonies  revolted.  Jacob 
Abbott,  Sr.,  the  paternal  grandfather,  was  a  native 
of  New  Jersey,  and  throughout  the  Revolutionary 
War  was  a  member  of  Gen.  Sullivan's  regiment, 
serving  through  six  campaigns  and  participating 
in  the  battles  of  Monmouth  and  Brandywine  and 
many  others  of  importance.  The  Abbott  family 
lias  an  excellent  military  record.  In  every  war  in 
which  the  United  States  has  been  engaged,  its  rep- 
resentatives were  found.  Jacob  Abbott,  father  of 
our  subject,  served  in  the  War  of  1812,  and  to  the 
War  of  the  Rebellion  he  sent  his  son  William  to 
defend  the  stars  and  stripes.  In  times  of  peace 
the  Abbotts  were  farming  people  and  were  promi- 
nent in  the  various  localities  where  they  resided. 


They  were  also  usually  of  a  religious  turn  of  mind 
and  the  Methodist  Church  received  many  members 
from  its  ranks. 

Jacob  Abbott  Sr.  removed  from  New  Jersey  to 
I  Pennsylvania,  being  accompanied  by  his  family, 
one  of  which,  Jacob  Jr.,  became  the  father  of  our 
subject.  He  was  then  a  lad  and  in  Columbia 
County  grew  to  manhood.  He  there  wedded 
Mary  Tomlinson,  a  lady  of  English  descent,  born 
and  reared  in  the  Keystone  State,  where  her  parents 
were  early  settlers.  She  died  in  middle  life  and 
Jacob  Abbott  passed  away  at  the  age  of  sixty-four. 

Our  subject  lost  his  mother  when  he  was  a  lad  of 
eleven  years  and  by  his  father  and  stepmother  he- 
was  reared.  In  his  native  county  he  found  a  ma- 
trimonial alliance  with  Miss  Ellen  Shoemaker,  who 
was  born  in  Columbia  County,  Pa.,  in  November, 
1827.  Her  parents,  however,  were  natives  of  New 
Jersey,  but  spent  their  last  years  in  Pennsylvania. 
Andrew  Shoemaker,  the  father,  carried  on  a  public 
'  inn  for  many  years  and  was  quite  a  prominent 
character  in  the  community  where  he  resided.  I  n 
the  family  were  three  sons  and  three  daughters. 

Mrs.  Abbott  spent  the  days  of  her  maidenhood 
under  the  parental  roof  until  she  gave  her  hand 
in  marriage  to  our  subject.  Seven  children  grace 
their  union,  the  eldest  of  whom,  Amzy.  wedded 
Martha  W.  Miller  and  now  resides  in  Nachusa; 
Elizabeth  is  the  wife  of  Samuel  Becktleheimer,  a 
lumber  dealer,  residing  in  Polien,  Adams  County, 
Neb.:  Robert  R.  follows  the  occupation  of  farming 
and  resides  at  home;  William  wedded  Ida  Shoe- 
maker and  they  reside  in  Nachusa  Township; 
Martha  is  the  wife  of  Myron  Trivelpeace  and 
,  their  home  is  in  Frontier  County,  Neb.;  Charles  is 
a  dealer  in  lumber  and  coal  in  Avers,  Neb.;  and 
Mary,  at  home,  completes  the  family.  The  parents 
are  both  memliers  of  the  Methodist  Church  and  are 
active  workers  in  the  Master's  vineyard.  For 
many  years  Mr.  Ahlxrtt  has  been  a  stalwart  sup- 
porter of  the  Republican  party  and  does  all  in  his 
power  to  promote  its  growth  and  insure  its  suc- 
cess. He  is  a  well-informed  man,  both  on  politi- 
cal questions  and  otherwise,  and  is  recognized  as 
one  of  the  leading  citizens  of  the  community. 

To  general  farming  and  stock  raising  Mr.  Abbott 
devotes  his  energies,  his  home  being  in  Naclmsa 


290 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


Township,  where  ho  located  March  28,  1864.  Since 
that  time  he  lias  improved  two  good  farms  and  is 
also  the  owner  of  eighty  acres  of  land  in  Nebraska. 
The  well  tilled  fields  on  sections  29  and  30,  which 
pay  to  him  a  golden  tribute,  attest  the  fact  of  his 
thrift  and  enterprise  and  his  neighbors  add  their 
testimony  by  speaking  of  him  as  one  of  the  practi- 
cal and  progressive  agriculturists  of  the  com- 
munity. 


AVID  MURRAY,  an  honored  resident  of 
Nelson  Township,  is  a  noble  type  of  the 
vigorous  Scotch  race,  many  of  whose  sons 
have  sought  homes  in  the  United  States, 
and  are  to-day  among  the  most  valued  and  loyal 
citizens  of  this  country.  Mr.  Murray  has  for  a  long 
time  been  counted  as  one  of  the  most  sagacious 
and  well-to-do  of  the  general  farmers  and  stock- 
raisers  of  this  section  of  the  county,  where  he  owns 
two  fine  farms,  which  are  complete  in  their  appoint- 
ments, one  located  on  sections  26  and  27,  Nelson 
Township,  comprising  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres 
of  land,  and  the  other  situated  on  section  33, 
Harmon  Township,'  consisting  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty  acres. 

Our  subject  was  born  in  Ayreshire,  Scotland,  not 
far  from  the  home  of  the  poet  Burns,  December  5, 
1838,  and  is  a  son  of  Gilbert  and  Jennett  (Mulrick) 
Murray.  His  parents  were  born  and  bred  in  Ayre- 
shire, being  of  pure  Scotch  blood,  and  were  descen- 
dants of  some  of  the  old  families  of  their  native 
land.  They  inherited  the  superior  qualities  of 
their  race  and  were  earnest,  honorable  and  hard- 
working people.  They  reared  a  large  family  of 
children,  but  as  they  shared  the  poverty  of  their 
countrymen,  much  was  required  of  their  offspring, 
who  were  early  sent  away  from  home  to  look  alter 
themselves,  and  never  but  twice  were  they  alto- 
gether under  one  roof  tree.  The  first  of  the  fam- 
ily, of  whom  there  were  eight  sons  and  five  daugh- 
ters, to  come  to  the  United  States,  were  the  two 
older  boys, 'John  and  Gilbert.  They  came  hither 
in  1853  and  settled  in  Connecticut,  where  they 
were  joined  by  their  parents  and  other  members  of 


the  family  in  1855,  after  a  voyage  of  five  weeks 
and  four  days  on  the  ocean  in  a  sailing  vessel. 
The  father  and  mother  passed  their  remaining  days 
in  that  New  England  State,  living  to  be  old  peo- 
ple, the  former  dying  in  New  London  County,  in 
the  town  of  Norwich,  in  1886,  at  the  age  of  eighty- 
one;  and  his  wife  dying  in  June,  1891,  aged 
eighty-two  years.  They  were  strong  in  their  re- 
ligious beliefs,  clung  tenaciously  to  the  Presbyte- 
rian faith,  which  was  so  dear  to  their  fathers  from 
the  days  of  John  Knox,  and  they  were  active 
workers  in  the  church.  Of  their  thirteen  children 
but  one  son  and  one  daughter  are  dead. 

David  Murray  was  but  a  boy  when  the  family 
came  to  dwell  in  the  United  States,  and  though 
"Auld  Scotia"  is  still  dear  to  his  heart,  as  it  is  to 
every  true-born  son  of  its  rugged  soil,  he  has  come 
to  love  the  land  of  his  adoption  with  an  ardor 
scarce  surpassed  by  those  native  and  to  the  manor 
born,  holding  its  institutions  and  form  of  govern- 
ment in  profound  admiration,  and  speaking  of  it 
as  "the  most  glorious  country  on  earth,"  lo  quote 
from  one  of  his  talks  on  the  subject  when  he  re- 

I  ferred  with  pride  to  the  good  fortune  that  had  at- 
tended the  family  since  they  landed  on  these 

|   shores. 

Our   subject    left    Connecticut,    where    he    had 

j  spent  the  first  few  years  of  his  life  in  this  country, 
in  1858,  with  a  determination  to  establish  himself 
in  the  great  and  growing  State  of  Illinois,  and 
since  then  has  lived  in  the  townships  of  Harmon 
and  Nelson,  in  this  county.  Good  fortune  has 
smiled  upon  his  venture,  and  as  we  have  seen,  he 
has  acquired  a  handsome  property.  He  first  lo- 

j   cated  in   Harmon  Township,  and  in  time  became 

j  the  proprietor  of  a  well-improved  farm  of  one 
hundred  and  twenty  acres  in  that  place,  upon 
which  lie  lived  sixteen  years.  In  the  fall  of  1888 
he  purchased  the  farm  in  Nelson  Township,  which 

;    has  since  been  his  home. 

Mr.  Murray  was  unmarried  when  he  came  to  this 
county,  but  he  was  subsequently  wedded  in  Dixon 
to  Miss  Helen  Burnham.  She  is  a  native  of  New 
Hampshire,  born,  reared  and  educated  among  the 
beautiful  hills  of  the  old  Granite  Stale,  and  she  is 
well  endowed  with  the  fine  virtues  of  the  good 
old  New  England  stock  from  which  she  is  do- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


•291 


scended.  She  came  to  Illinois  in  young  woman- 
hood with  her  parents  Samuel  and  Mary  (Godfrey) 
Burnham,  who  made  their  home  in  Dixon  until 
(hey  passed  from  the  scene  of  earth  when  full  of 
years.  The  household  of  our  subject  and  his  ami- 
able wife  is  completed  by  their  two  children,  Frank 
15.  and  Hattie  F.,  who  are  bright  and  well-educated 
young  people.  Mr.  Murray  is  just,  fair-minded, 
thoughtful  and  frank  in  his  disposition,  and,  with 
his  wife,  enjoys  the  cordial  good-will  and  friend- 
ship of  the  entire  community.  They  are  atten- 
dants at  the  Lutheran  Church,  all  good  causes 
finding  in  them  generous  support.  In  his  politi- 
cal relations  our  subject  is  a  Republican,  who  is 
stanch  in  his  fealty  to  his  party.  He  has  been 
an  incumbent  of  local  offices,  and  has  always  en- 
couraged public  improvement. 


§HOMAS  DOLAN,  a  merchant  tailor  of 
Dixon,  doing  business  in  the  Dolan  Block, 
on  Galena  Avenue,  located  permanently  in 
tliis  city  in  1871,  but  had  resided  here  previously, 
the  date  of  his  coming  being  1841.  He  was  born 
in  County  Longford,  Ireland,  November,  14,  1827, 
and  is  a  son  of  Michael  and  Ellen  (Phiney)  Do- 
lan, who  spent  their  entire  lives  in  County  Long- 
ford, on  the  farm  which  had  been  the  family, 
homestead  for  three  generations.  The  death  of 
the  father  resulted  from  an  accident  incurred  at 
the  age  of  fifty-four  years,  and  his  wife  only  sur- 
vived him  about  six  months.  They  both  adhered 
to  the  faith  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church.  Only 
l\\(i  <>f  their  children  are  yet  living — Thomas,  of 
this  sketch,  and  Mary,  wife  of  James  Carroll, 
who  for  thirty-seven  years  has  been  foreman  of 
the  water  works  of  Jersey  City,  N.  J. 

Our  .subject  is  one  of  the  self-made  men  of  Lee 
County,  having  made  his  own  way  in  the  world 
from  the  age  of  fourteen  years.  Prior  to  that 
time  he  remained  under  the  parental  roof,  but  in 
the  spring  of  1841  bade  good-by  to  home  and  na- 
tive land,  and  accompanied  by  a  brother  as  far  as 
Liverpool,  England.  whence  he  crossed  the  At- 
lantic in  the  sailing-vessel  "Kilber,"  lauding  at 


[  New  Orleans  several  weeks  later.  He  then  pro- 
ceeded up  the  Mississippi  River  to  Peru,  111.,  and 

j  the  same  year  joined  another  brother,  William, 
in  Lee  County.  Empty-handed  he  began  life  in 

j  the  New  World,  and  for  the  success  which  has 
crowned  his  efforts  he  deserves  all  the  credit.  Not 
long  after  his  arrival  he  met  with  a  sad  accident. 
While  working  in  a  dye  house  his  right  leg  was 
scalded  and  fears  were  entertained  for  his  life, 
but  through  the  kind  treatment  he  received  in  the 
Sisters'  Hospital,  of  St.  Louis,  he  ultimately  re- 
covered after  two  years  of  illness,  but  was  left  a 
cripple.  In  the  fall  of  1843  he  began  learning 
the  tailor's  trade  in  Joliet,  111.,  where  he  remained 
until  1846,  when  he  went  to  Chicago,  and  in  that 
city  spent  fourteen  years  in  the  line  of  his  chosen 
profession.  He  was  also  employed  as  a  journey- 
man in  a  tailoring  establishment  in  Morrison,  111., 
for  five  years,  and  for  six  years  engaged  as  cutter 
with  Wilson  Allen  in  Polo,  this  State.  In  the 
meantime  he  had  spent  the  years  1852  and  1853  in 
Dixon,  and  now  returned  in  1871,  making  a  per- 
manent location.  For  more  than  twenty  years 

|   he  has  carried   on  his    tailoring  establishment  in 

!    Lee  County  with  good  success. 

While  in  Chicago  Mr.  Dolan  wedded  Miss  Rose 

;  Crawford,  who  was  born  in  Ireland,  and  in  1851 
came  with  an  uncle  to  this  country.  Her  mother 

I  had  died  in  the  Emerald  Island  and  subsequently 
her  father,  Nicholas  Crawford,  crossed  the  At- 
lantic to  America,  joining  his  daughter  in  Chi- 
cago. In  after  years  he  went  to  Kankakee,  111., 
where  he  is  still  living  at  an  advanced  age.  He 
belongs  to  the  Catholic  Church,  as  did  also  his 
wife.  Unto  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dolan  have  been  born  six- 
teen children, among  these  being  tripletsand  twins. 
Ten  of  the  number  are  yet  living — Lucy,  wife  of 
John  McBride,  a  publisher  of  periodicals  in  New 
York  City;  Thomas  F.,  who  wedded  Maria  O'Con- 
ner,  is  engaged  in  merchant  tailoring  in  Chicago, 
as  a  partner  with  his  twin  brother,  Joseph  M.; 
Minnie,  Nina  and  Maggie  are  all  stenographers  of 
Chicago,  one  being  employed  as  a  court  reporter, 
another  in  the  Leland  House,  and  the  third  in  the 
Palmer  House:  William,  who  is  a  tailor  by  trade, 
but  is  now  employed  as  a  salesman  in  a  wholesale 
grocery  house  of  Chicago;  Agnes,  who  attends 


292 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


the  Normal  College  of  Dixon,  where  she  is  study- 
ing elocution;  and  Lizzie  and  John,  both  of  whom 
are  High  School  students. 

Mr.  Dolnn,  his  wife  and  children  are  all  active 
members  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  and  in 
politics  he  is  a  supporter  of  the  Democratic  party. 
While  in  Chicago  he  took  quite  an  active  part  in 
local  military  affairs  and  was  First  Lieutenant  of  the 
Kminet  Guards  from  1856  until  the  late  war  broke 
out.  With  Capt.  Pat  O'Conner  and  First  Lieut. 
D.  M.  Ward,  he  organized  a  company  for  service 
iu  the  Rebellion,  and  out  of  the  eighty-five  men 
he  was  the  only  one  not  accepted,  his  rejection 
being  due  to  his  lameness.  He  has  been  quite  a 
prominent  citizen  in  Dixon  for  many  years,  and 
in  1883  and  1884  served  as  City  Alderman.  Dur- 
ing this  time  the  city  waterworks  were  put  in  and 
the  cemetery  also  laid  out,  Mr.  Dolan  acting  as 
Chairman  of  the  Cemeteiy  Committee.  It  was 
largely  through  his  influence  that  the  Protestants 
and  Catholics  joined  in  making  this  burial  city 
for  their  dead.  Mr.  Dolan  has  led  a  busy  and 
useful  life,  and  by  his  industry  and  perseverance 
has  acquired  a  comfortable  property,  being  now 
well-to-do. 


MILLER.  The  German  citizen  of 
Ij  Jt.  the  United  States,  as  a  rule,  brings  with 
J±d?  him  from  the  Fatherland  three  traits  of 
(^;  character  which  may  almost  be  termed  na- 
tional, namely,  industry,  economy  and  persever- 
ance, and  in  the  broader  fields  of  labor,  nnd  wider 
opportunities  offered  him  in  this  country,  so  u>cs 
these  qualities,  as  not  only  to  secure  for  himself 
and  family  a  competency,  but  also  to  leave  his  im- 
press on  the  community  in  which  he  lives,  in  all 
that  tends  to  the  betterment  of  its  institutions  and 
enterprises. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch,  who  i>  :\  good  exam- 
ple of  the  class  of  men  spoken  of.  is  a  well-to-do 
former,  owning  a  fine  tract  of  two  hundred  nnd 
seventy  acres  on  sections  30,  31  and  32.  Palmyra 
Township,  on  the  latter  of  which  is  situated  the 


residence;  he  at  present  makes  his  home  in  Sterling. 
111.,  where  he  is  living  retired.  The  land  was  pur- 
chased from  the  Government  at  an  early  day.  and 
he  with  the  assistance  of  his  brothers,  improved  il 
from  the  raw  prairie  into  the  fine  farm  which  it  is 
to-day.  He  has  liecn  eminently  successful.  MS  the 
appearance  of  the  place  indicates,  it  being  well 
supplied  with  fine  farm  buildings  and  a  good  brick 
residence. 

Mr.  Miller  was  born  in  Oldenburg,  Germany. 
November  13,  1822,  and. is  the  youngest  son  of 
Pope  and  Theda  (Remmers)  Miller,  natives  of 
Oldenburg,  where  they  were  reared  and  married. 
The  family  resided  in  this  city  until  all  their  fam- 
ily of  five  sons  and  two  daughters  were  born  and 
reared,  when  they  emigrated  to  the  United  States 
in  May,  1837,  sailing  in  the  vessel  "Charlotte"  and 
after  a  voyage  of  forty  days  landed  in  New  York 
City.  From  that  place  they  came  to  Illinois  and 
began  life  again  in  the  wilds  of  the  Prairie  State. 
They  were  poor  in  purse,  but  possessed  of  true  Ger- 
man thrift  and  energy,  and  here  laid  the  founda- 
tion of  the  comfortable  fortune  which  each  one  at 
present  possesses.  They  first  settled  in  Cass  County, 
this  State,  and  about  one  year  later  the  father  died 
there,  aged  fifty-eight  years.  In  the  fall  of  1838  the 
widow  with  her  children  came  to  Palmyra  Town- 
ship, this  county,  remaining  there  until  the  spring 
of  1850,  when  she  returned  to  Germany  with  one 
of  her  sons,  Fred,  and  about  ten  years  later  died 
there  in  her  native  town  of  Oldenburg  in  the  sev- 
enty-third year  of  her  age.  She  as  well  as  her  hus- 
band and  children,  was  a  member  of  the  Lutheran 
Church,  and  was  a  most  estimable  woman. 

Henry  Miller  was  married  in  tliis  township  to 
Miss  Fredricka  A.  Klostermann,  also  a  native  of 
Oldenburg,  Germany,  born  in  1832.  She  is  a 
daughter  of  Ernest  E.  and  Alma  Klostermann.  na- 
tives respectively  of  Saxony  and  Oldenburg,  who 
were  married  in  that  country,  and  with  their  fam- 
ily came  to  the  United  States  in  1*15.  settling  on 
a  farm  in  Palmyra  Township.  Here  both  the  par- 
ents died,  the  father  in  18!M),  at  the  age  of  eighty- 
four  years,  and  his  wife  :i  few  years  previou>lv. 
:iged  seventv-eight  years.  They  were  worthy  mem 
bers  of  the  Lutheran  Church.  Mrs.  Miller  wa>  mar- 
ried after  coming  to  this  country,  and  has  proved 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RKC'ORI). 


a  worthy  wife,  assisting  her  husband  in  every  way 
possible.  She  is  the  mother  of  nine  children,  as 
follows:  Mary  is  the  wife  of  Warren  Powers,  a 
farmer  in  Whitesrde  County;  Charles  lives  in 
Monte  Christo,  Tex.;  Rena  is  the  wife  of  Mathias 
Rikert,  and  they  live  on  a  farm  in  tliis  township; 
Lucy  married  Henry  Lampkin,  and  they  reside  on 
a  farm  in  Grundy  County,  Iowa;  Alma  married 
David  Brightweizer,  who  is  a  farmer  in  Adams 
County,  Neb.;  Frank  married  Addie  Martin,  and 
resides  on  the  old  homestead;  Nellie  is  a  teacher 
in  Sterling  and  resides  with  her  parents;  Katie  is 
the  wife  of  Joseph  Crombie,  and  they  are  farmers 
in  Grundy  County,  Iowa;  and  Minnie  became  the 
wife  of  Frank  Snyder,  and  lives  in  Hitchcock 
County,  Neb. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Miller  are  of  the  same  religious 
faith  as  their  parents  and  prominent  members  of 
the  Lutheran  Church.  In  politics  Mr.  Miller  is  a 
Republican,  and  has  held  several  local  olh'ces  in  the 
township. 


xp^EORGE  L.  KLOSTERMANN,  a  well-to-do 
(I  (  <=•  farmer  residing  on  section  18,  Palmyra 
T^IJf  Township,  is  a  worthy  representative  of 
one  of  the  pioneer  families  of  Lee  County.  His 
father,  Ernest  F.  Klostermann,  came  to  Illinois  in 
1845,  and  settled  in  this  township.  He  was  a  na- 
tive of  Saxony,  Germany,  and  came  of  a  good 
family,  in  fact  royal  blood  flowed  in  his  veins.  He 
was  highly  educated  and  when  a  young  man  start- 
ed to  make  a  tour  through  Germany.  During  his 
travels  he  married  Miss  Alma  Klustermann,  who 
was  below  him  in  social  station  and  for  this  reason 
he  was  ostracized  by  his  family.  He  then  went  to 
Oldenburg  and  there  began  life  anew  with  his 
young  bride  who  proved  a  true  helpmate  and 
faithful  companion  to  him.  Some  years  later  with 
their  children  they  sailed  from  Bremen  to  Amer- 
ica reaching  New  York  City  after  a  voyage  of 
six  weeks.  Thence  they  came  to  Dixon  111.,  and 
the  family  has  since  made  Lee  County  their  home. 
Mr.  Klostermann  was  then  in  limited  circum- 
stances and  they  had  to  endure  ninnv  <>f  the  hard- 


ships and  privations  of  pioneer  life.  For  a  number 
of  years  before  they  got  a  foothold,  they  lived  in 
a  log  cabin,  but  at  length  the  father,  as  the  result 
of  his  ceaseless  activity  and  industry,  was  enabled 
to  purchase  a  tract  of  land  in  Palmyra  Township- 
the  same  on  which  our  subject  now  resides.  It  con- 
tinued to  be  the  home  of  himself  and  wife  until 
they  were  called  to  their  final  rest.  The  mother 
died  in  1885,  at  the  age  of  seventy  years  and  Mr. 
Klostermann  passed  away  April  25,  1890,  at  the 
advanced  age  of  eighty-four  years.  They  were 
members  of  the  Lutheran  Church  and  were  good 
Christian  people.  Mr.  Klostermann  was  quite 
prominent  in  this  community  and  was  a  well-read 
and  well  informed  man.  In  politics  he  was  a  sup- 
porter of  the  Republican  principles.  «Of  the  family 
three  sons  and  a  daughter  are  yet  living,  but  one 
child  died  in  Germany  and  two  after  coming  to 
this  country.  The  daughter,  Mrs.  Henry  Miller,  is 
represented  elsewhere  in  this  work;  Fred  is  a  stock- 
dealer  of  Sterling;  and  Henry  is  a  successful  barber 
of  Tipton  Iowa. 

George  L.  Klostermann  was  born  in  Java,  Ger- 
I  many,  March  29,  1845,  and  was  therefore  only 
six  months  old  when  his  parents  crossed  the  Atlan- 
tic to  America.  Practically,  his  entire  life  has  been 
passed  in  this  county.  Under  the  parental  roof  he 
was  reared  to  manhood  and  his  education  was  ac- 
quired in  the  public  schools.  After  attaining  to 
mature  years  he  chose  as  a  companion  on  life's 
journey  Miss  Rebecca  Lamcken,  the  wedding  cere- 
mony being  performed  in  Prairieville.  The  lady 
was  born  in  Blumenthal,  Germany,  April  2,  1848, 
and  is  a  daughter  of  John  and  Katie  (Faler)  Lamc- 
ken, natives  of  Hanover,  German}'.  In  early  life 
her  father  was  engaged  as  manager  of  a  sugar  re- 
finery in  London.  He  afterwards  returned  to 
Oldenburg,  where  he  married  Miss  Faler  who  was 
his  second  wife.  She  survived  her  marriage  some 
fifteen  years  and  died  at  the  age  of  forty-eight  in 
the  faith  of  the  Lutheran  Church,  of  which  she  was 
a  member.  Some  years  later  Mr.  Lamcken  departed 
this  life  near  Bremen,  at  the  age  of  seventy  years. 
He  was  a  prominent  and  successful  farmer  and  was 
a  leading  member  of  the  Lutheran  Church.  Mrs. 
Klostermann  with  her  two  brothers  and  two  sisters 
came  to  the  United  States  in  1866,  locating  in  Lee 


294 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


County.  Her  brothers,  George  and  Henry  are 
now  resident  farmers  of  Grnndy  County,  Iowa;one 
sister  is  now  deceased;  and  the  other  returned  to 
the  Fatherland. 

Mrs.  Klosterrnann  was  liberally  educated  in  Ger- 
many and  in  addition  to  her  literary  studies  at- 
tended a  cooking  school  in  Oldenburg.  By  her 
marriage  she  lias  become  the  mother  of  seven  chil- 
dren but  lost  two,  Fred  and  Harry.  The  living 
are  Ernest  II.,  Julia  F.,  Edward  W.,  Herbert  L.  and 
Nellie  A.,  all  yet  at  home.  The  children  have 
been  provided  with  good  educational  advantages 
and  Miss  Julia  has  attained  an  enviable  reputation 
as  a  successful  school  teacher.  Mr.  Klostermann, 
his  wife  and  children  are  members  of  the  Lutheran 
Church  and  in' political  sentiment  he  is  a  Prohibi- 
tionist. 

The  home  of  this  family  is  situated  on  section 
18,  Palmyra  Township,  where  our  subject  owns 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  highly  improved 
land  that  constitutes  one  of  the  best  farms  in  the 
community.  A  comfortable  and  substantial  resi- 
dence and  good  outbuildings  arc  among  the  im- 
provements and  the  place  is  well  stocked  with 
high  grades  of  horses  and  cattle,  in  fact  it  is  com- 
plete in  all  its  appointments  and  Mr.  Klostennaun 
is  regarded  as  a  model  farmer.  He  has  made  of  his 
life  a  success  and  his  prosperity  is  certainly  is  cer- 
tainly well  deserved. 


EVI  RAFENSPERGER,  now  living  in  re- 
tirement in  one  of  the  attractive  homes  of 
Franklin  Grove,  though  not  one  of  the 
earliest  settlers  of  Lee  County,  may  be  considered 
one  of  its  pioneers,  as  his  work  as  a  shrewd,  prac- 
tical farmer  when  in  active  business,  was  a  help  in 
developing  the  soil  and  making  this  a  prosperous 
agricultural  community. 

Our  venerable  subject  was  born  in  Franklin 
County,  Pa.,  April  4,  1818,  a  son  of  Jacob  and 
Magdalena  Rafensberger,  who  were  natives  of 
Adams  County.  Pa.  The  paternal  great-grandfather 
of  our  subject  was  a  Swiss  emigrant  who  settled 
in  this  country  in  Colonial  times.  In  early  life 


Mr.  Rafensperger  learned  the  trade  of  a  shoemaker 
but  when  he  attained  the  age  of  twenty-seven 
years  he  turned  his  attention  to  fanning,  which  In- 
carried  on  in  his  native  State  for  some  years.  In 
1851  he  determined  to  avail  himself  of  the  golden 
opportunities  afforded  by  the  rich  virgin  soil  of  the 
great  Prairie  State  and  came  here  to  locate  perma- 
nently, he  being  the  only  member  of  his  father's 
family  to  settle  in  any  part  of  tht-  West. 

After  his  arrival  in  Illinois  Mr.  Rafensperger 
selected  ninety  acres  of  land  that  was  but  little  im- 
proved, lying  near  the  village  of  Nachusa,  for 
which  lie  paid  11,000.  He  had  but  little  money 
with  which  to  begin  his  new  life  amid  pioneer 
scenes,  but  he  had  that  within  him  that  amply 
fitted  him  to  cope  successfully  with  the  hardships 
•  and  privations  that  are  sure  to  follow  settlement 
in  a  comparatively  new  and  not  very  thickly  pop- 
ulated region.  He  was  strong  and  active,  worked 
with  vigor,  making  every  stroke  tell,  and  he  has 
received  ample  compensation  for  his  labors.  lie 
increased  the  size  of  his  farm  by  an  additional  pur- 
chase of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land  near 
by.  He  continued  to  cultivate  ihesoil  assiduously 
and  to  raise  stock  until  1883,  when  he  rented  his 
farm  to  his  sons  and  retired  from  active  business 
to  Franklin  Grove  where  he  purchased  a  fine 
property  and  has  a  home  replete  with  all  the  com- 
forts of  life. 

Our  subject  was  married  in  his  native  State  to 
Miss  Sarah  Christman,  who  was  also  of  Pennsylva- 
nia birth,  and  in  her  cheerful  co-operation  he  has 
had  needed  assistance  in  the  making  of  a  home. 
They  are  the  parents  of  seven  children,  of  whom 
six  are  living:  Jacob,  the  eldest  son.  a  farmer  in 
Western  Iowa:  Henry,  Lydia,  Leah,  Ira  and  Lin- 
coln, the  two  latter  being  twins. 

A  perusal  of  this  brief  biography  of  our  subject 
will  show  that  he  is  a  self-made  man  and  his  caret -r 
illustrates  what  may  be  accomplished  by  determin- 
ation, perseverance,  a  capacity  for  hard  work,  sec- 
onded by  native  shrewdness  and  a  good  insight 
into  business  matters.  He  stands  high  in  his  com- 
munity as  a  man  of  thorough  honesty  and  unques- 
tioned integrity. as  an  obliging  neighbor,  as  a  true 
husband  and  faithful  father.  He  is  :i  Christian 
and  an  active  member  of  the  (icrman  l>;i]>ti>l 


THE  LIBRARY 

OFT^E 


j 


1 


L".IS 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


md  it  is  kept  up  to  the  same  high  standard  it  had 
ittained  under  her  husband's  supervision.  She  is 
a,  very  capable  manager,  understanding  how  every- 
thing ought  to  go  on  a  well-regulated  farm,  and 
having  a  clear  comprehension  of  all  business  mat- 
ters pertaining  to  it.  She  is  also  an  excellent 
liouse wife,  and  under  her  supervision  her  house- 
hold matters  always  go  smoothly.  She  is  a  moth- 
erly, noble-hearted  woman,  and  has  many  friends 
in  Nelson  Township.  She  is  a  member  of  the  Lu- 
theran Church,  in  which  her  husband  was  promi- 
nent as  an  official  member  during  his  life.  Mrs. 
Clayton  is  the  mother  of  six  children,  of  whom 
hut  one  survives,  her  son  Owen  I,.,  who  is  a  fine 
young  man,  a  hard  worker  and  an  intelligent  far- 
mer, assisting  his  mother  in  operating  his  father's 
homestead.  He  married  Miss  Mary  C.  Mensch,  who 
was  born,  reared  and  educated  in  Pennsylvania. 
She  is  a  daughter  of  Michael  and  Margaret 
Mensch,  who  were  also  Pennsylvanians,  and 
Michael  Mensch  died  in  his  native  state  some 
years  ago.  The  mother  is  yet  living,  at  a  venera- 
ble age.  She  is  a  member  of  the  Lutheran  Church, 
as  was  her  husband.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Owen  Clayton 
have  five  children,  all  at  home  with  them  except 
Mattic  ~E.  and  named  as  follows: — Hattie  E.,  Thom- 
as, Charles,  Clark  and  Harry  A.  Ilattie  E.  married 
Alonzo  Birdsallaud  lives  in  Whiteside  County;  she 
has  one  son  named  Orrin.  The  children  of  our 
subject  who  are  deceased  are  Delilah,  John,  Lafay- 
ette, and  M.  Alice,  who  died  in  childhood;  and 
Charles,  who  died  of  diphtheria  at  the  age  of 
twenty-two. 


|fi_  ON.  WILLIAM  ELLERY  IVES.  The  best 
ij^  biography  of  an  honorable  and  influential 
<=ffi?  nl!*n  is  *ure  to  be  his  own  works.  The 
\$&j)  simple  recital  of  prominent  events  in  the 
life  of  Mr.  Ives  needs  not  to  be  elaborated  by  the 
biographical  writer,  and  the  personality  of  names, 
places  and  dates  is  important  only  as  they  enable 
the  reader  to  trace  the  steps  of  his  mental  growth. 
He  is  widely  known  as  an  eminent  attorney-at-law 
and  is  the  pioneer  lawyer  of  Ainboy,  where  his 


shingle  has  been  hung  to  the  breeze  since  1854. 
He  has  been  foremost  in  all  important  measures  for 
the  development  of  the  city,  and  was  the  prime 
mover  in  founding  and  carrying  on  the  first  news- 
paper ever  published  here. 

Ellery,  Chautaiiqua  County,  N.  Y.,  was  the 
native  place  of  Mr.  Ives.  and  May  24,  1821,  the 
dale  of  his  birth.  Ilis  parents,  Almon  and  Nancy 
(Tomblin)  Ives,  were  natives  respectively  of  Ver- 
mont and  New  York,  and  the  former  was  engaged 
as  a  fanner  and  civil  engineer.  At  Malone,  a  town 
on  the  St.  Lawrence  River  in  New  York,  he  mar- 
ried, and  in  1816  settled  in  the  western  part  of 
that  State  when  it  was  an  unsettled  country.  In 
1834  he  migrated  to  Illinois  under  promise  to  sur- 
vey the  public  lands,  but  when  he  came  West 
Andrew  Jackson,  then  President,  concluded  that 
to  the  "victor  belongs  the  spoil,"  and  as  Mr.  Ives 
was  a  Whig,  his  services  were  not  desired.  He 
settled  in  that  part  of  La  Salle  County  which  in 
1840  became  Kendall  County,  and  improved  a 
farm.  In  the  public  affairs  of  the  county  he  be- 
came quite  prominent,  serving  as  the  first  Re- 
corder of  Deeds,  and  afterward  becoming  Judge 
of  the  County  Court,  which  office  he  held  several 
terms. 

In  1854  the  father  of  our  subject  removed  to 
Bloomington,  this  State,  and  a  year  later  came  to 
Amboy,  where  he  died  March  5,  1864,  aged 
seventy-five  years  and  eight  months.  During  the 
last  years  of  his  life  he  was  a  stanch  supporter  of 
the  Republican  party,  and  in  his  religious  senti- 
ments he  was  an  earnest  member  of  the  Baptist 
Church.  The  mother  of  our  subject  died  at 
Amboy,  April  22,  1862.  There  were  nine  chil- 
dren in  the  family,  of  which  our  subject  was  a 
member,  as  follows: — Almond  B.,  a  lawyer  at 
Bloomington,  111.,  where  he  died;  Simeon  P.,  a 
minister  in  the -Baptist  Church,  now  residing  in 
Missoula,  Mon.;  William  E.,  of  this  sketch;  Frank- 
lin B.,  a  physician,  whose  home  is  in  Chicago; 
Isaac  S.,  formerly  a  physician  at  Oswego,  111., 
where  he  died  in  1852;  Sarah  M.,  who  married 
Alfred  Tucker  and  resides  at  Ottawa,  111.;  Enos  J., 
a  member  of  the  Board  of  Trade  at  Chicago,  and  a 
resident  of  Woodlawn;  Ruth  A.,  who  married 
Willis  Hawthorn,  ami  died  in  Ainboy;  and  Nancy, 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


who   became   the   wife   of   Warren  C.  Sears,  and 
makes  her  home  in  Burlington,  Kan. 

When  the  Ives  family  moved  to  Illinois  William  [ 
K.  was  but  a  boy  entering  upon  his  teens.  His  | 
youth  was  passed  upon  a  farm,  and  he  received  a 
good  education  at  Grandvillc  Academy.  Having 
resolved  to  enter  upon  the  practice  of  law,  he 
attended  the  National  IAW  School  at  Balston  Spa, 
N.  Y.,  where  lie  graduated  in  1852.  He  first 
located  for  the  practice  of  law  in  Oswego,  111., 
whence  he  came  to  Amboy,  becoming  first  attorney 
here,  and  now  enjoying  the  distinction  of  being 
the  oldest  lawyer  in  Lee  County.  Besides  attend- 
ing lo  his  large  practice,  he  manages  a  stock  farm 
which  he  owns,  located  near  Amboy  and  compris- 
ing one  thousand  acres. 

On  December  8,  1811,  occurred  the  marriage  of 
Mr.  Ives  to  Miss  Susan  R.,  daughter  of  James 
Ryon,  and  sister  of  Dr.  Ryon,  of  Amboy,  whose 
sketch  is  presented  in  another  portion  of  this 
volume.  Mrs.  Ives  was  born  April  17,  1821,  in 
Tioga  County,  Pa.,  and  her  union  with  Mr.  Ives 
has  been  blessed  by  the  birth  of  five  children,  two 
of  whom  died  in  childhood.  The  survivors  are — 
Charles  E.,  a  lawyer  of  Amboy;  Esther  N.,  wife  of 
Elijah  A.  Winn,  of  Amboy;  and  James  R.,  of 
Denver,  Col.  The  latter  is  a  graduate  of  Roches- 
ter University,  N.  Y.,  and  a  lawyer  by  profession, 
having  practiced  for  a  time  in  Dixon,  this  State. 
Thence  he  removed  to  Denver  in  1881  and  there 
published  a  paper  called  the  Mining  Itcfifir.  lie 
has  devoted  considerable  attention  to  literary 
liursuits,  and  as  a  writer  possesses  more  than  ordi- 
nary ability,  wielding  a  ready  pen  and  being 
known  as  a  forcible  illustrator  of  truths.  Finan- 
cially, he  lias  been  very  successful  and  is  now 
devoting  his  energies  mainly  to  real  estate,  al- 
though he  was  recently  interested  in  the  Colorado 
Business  Directory  as  i.ts  publisher. 

During  his  earlier  years  Mr.  Ives  was  a  stanch 
adherent  of  the  Whig  party,  but  has  been  a  member 
of  the  Republican  party  since  he  served  as  delegate 
to  the  convention  which  organized  the  party  in 
this  State.  In  1N(>0  he  made  ''stump"  speeches 
for  Abraham  Lincoln  for  the  Presidency,  and  has 
contributed  his  inlluence  to  the  success  of  the 
party.  Frequently  he  is  called  upon  lo  serve  as 


delegate  to  District  and  State  conventions,  and  in 
many  positions  of  trust  and  responsibility  he  has 
served,  always  with  distinguished  ability.  As 
Mayor  of  the  city  of  Amboy  he  served  creditably 
for  four  years  and  contributed  no  little  to  the 
development  of  the  resources  of  the  place.  He 
was  also  States  Attorney  for  six  years.  He  is 
serving  as  Treasurer  of  the  Baptist  Church,  of 
which  he  is  a  consistent  member.  Socially,  he  be- 
longs to  the  Royal  Arch  Masons.  His  home  is 
one  of  the  most  elegant  in  Amboy  and  is  the  only 
residence  here  which  is  heated  by  hot  water.  His 
success  has  not  been  attained  without  great  effort 
on  his  part,  for  when  he  came  here  he  was  quite 
poor,  and  it  has  been  only  by  the  exercise  of  great 
industry  and  shrewd  judgment  that  he  has  become 
well-to-do. 


ARDIAS  VOSBURGH  is  a  prominent  mem- 
ber of  the  farming  community  of  this 
county,  who  has  not  only  been  active  in. 
its  agricultural  development,  but  has  borne 
a  conspicuous  part  in  its  public  affairs.  He  is  one 
of  the  principal  men  of  his  calling  in  Willow 
Creek  Township,  which  he  ably  represents  on  the 
County  Board  of  Supervisors. 

Mr.  Vosburgh  was  born  in  Lacka  wanna  Town- 
ship, Luxerne  County,  Pa.,  July  8,  1836.  His  fa- 
ther was  Charles  Vosburgh,  and  he  was  a  native 
of  Livingston  County,  N.  Y.,  a  son  of  Cornelius 
Vosburgh,  who  is  supposed  to  have  been  born  in 
the  Empire  State,  where  he  carried  on  business  as 
a  farmer  until  his  removal  to  Pennsylvania,  lie 
became  an  early  settler  of  Lacka  wanna  Township. 
He  bought  a  large  tract  of  land  in  the  wilderness, 
cleared  a  farm,  and  resided  there  until  the  fall  of 
18f>4,  when  he  came  to  Illinois.  He  purchased  a 
farm  in  La  Salle  Count}',  a  half  mile  north  of  the 
village  of  Earlville,  in  Karlvillc  Township,  and 
made  that  his  home  until  he  closed  his  eyes  in 
death  in  18<!4.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was 
1'ennelia  Pulver.  She  died  on  the  Earlville  farm 
in  the  fall  of  1877. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  young  when  his 
paients  removed  to  Pennsylvania,  and  theie  he 


PORTRAIT  AND  BKKiRAt'HICAL    KKCORD. 


;rew  U)  :i  vigorous  manhood,  and  in  duo  time 
ook  unto  himself  a  wife  in  the  person  of  Miss 
,'anluvanee  E.  Millesant,  a  native  of  the  State,  and 
.  daughter  of  Israel  and  Rachel  Millesant.  After 
narriage  he  settled  on  a  part  of  his  father's  old 
lomestead,  and  resided  there  until  1854,  when  he 
old  his  properly  there  and  took  up  his  abode  at 
.'lark's  Summit,  I,aekawanna  County,  the  same 
Itate.  He  made  his  home  there  until  his  life  was 
ounded  out  in  death  in  February,  1890.  His  wife 
Iso  died  on  that  farm,  her  demise  occurring  in  the 
nil  of  1881. 

The  subject  of  this  biographical  review  was 
eared  in  his  native  county  amid  its  pleasant 
cenes,  and  obtained  a  sound,  practical  education 
11  the  district  school,  which  was  supplemented  by 
>ne  term's  attendance  at  Kingston  Seminary.  In 
Lpril,  1855,  at  the  age  of  nineteen,  well-equipped 
or  the  battle  of  life,  and  ambitious  to  make  some- 
hing  of  himself,  he  left  the  shelter  of  the  parental 
oof  to  start  out  in  the  world  on  his  own  account, 
le  turned  his  face  towards  the  boundless  prairies 
f  this  State,  as  his  father  owned  land  in  Shabbona 
'ownship,  DeKalb  County,  and  he  shrewdly  fore- 
iiw  that  a  young  man  of  energy,  enterprise  and 
Buacity  of  purpose  must  of  necessity  do  well  in 
illing  the  rich  soil  of  this  section  of  the  country, 
le  rented  his  father's  land  until  1867,  and  did 
te]\  in  its  cultivation.  In  that  year  he  invested 

part  of  his  money  ,in  one  hundred  and  twenty 
cres  of  wild  prairie  that  is  included  in  his  present 
»rm  in  Willow  Creek  Township.  He  set  to  work 
rith  his  customary  vigor,  and  in  the  years  that 
ave  elapsed  has  wrought  a  great  change  by  the 
lany  substantial  improvements  that  he  has  made, 
:»  that  he  has  here  one  of  the  finest  pieces  of  prop- 
rty  in  this  locality.  He  has  erected  a  commo- 
ious  set  of  buildings,  has  placed  his  land  under 
ne  cultivation,  has  planted  an  abundance  of  fruit 
nd  shade  trees,  and  everything  about  the  place 
etokens  the  presence  of  one  who  fully  under- 
;ands  his  business,  and  carries  it  out  in  a  systema- 
c  and  well-ordered  manner,  so  as  to  reap  the  best 
jsults  by  applying  only  the  most  approved  meth- 
ds  of  conducting  agriculture.  Mr.  yosburgh  has 
pen  fortunate  in  his  farming  operations,  has  made 
ifin  remunerative,  and  has  been  enabled  to  add 


more  land  to  his  original  purchase,  so  that  he  now 
has  two  hundred  and  forty  acres  of  well-improved 
realty. 

Mr.  Vosburgh  was  married  in  18(il.  to  Miss 
Ellen  Atherton.  a  native  of  Lackawanna  Township, 
Luzerne  County,  Pa.,  and  a  daughter  of  Joseph 
Atherton.  She  iinder.-tands  well  the  art  of  ir.uk- 
ing  a  home  cozy  and  cheerful,  and  co-operates  with 
her  husband  in  dispensing  a  pleasant  hospitality 
to  whomsoever  of  their  numerous  friends  crosses 
their  threshold,  or  to  any  stranger  that  may  hap- 
pen within  their  gates.  They  have  three  children 
— William,  Fannie  and  Nellie.  Fannie  is  the  wife 
of  William  Fleming,  of  Willow  Creek  Township. 

A  man  of  our  subject's  calibre,  high  standing, 
and  well-known  business  tact  possesses  in  an  emi- 
nent degree  those  qualifications  that  fit  one  for 
public  life,  and  his  fellow-citizens,  recognizing 
this  fact,  have  frequently  called  him  to  important 
civic  stations.  Thus  in  1883  he  was  elected  Super- 
visor to  represent  Willow  Creek  on  the  County 
Board  of  Supervisors,  was  re-elected  to  that  office 
in  1881,  and  in  1885  was  elected  Assessor,  to  which 
position  he  was  re-eleoted  in  1886.  In  1887  he 
was  again  honored  by  election  to  his  former  office 
as  Supervisor,  and  has  served  continuously  since, 
proving  to  be  a  valuable  official,  and  his  influence 
is  felt  in  the  enactment  of  all  measures  that  have 
accrued  to  the  public  good  from  the  time  he  en- 
tered upon  the  duties  of  his  position.  He  has  al- 
ways been  a  Republican  in  politics,  and  his  party 
has  no  firmer  advocate  in  the  township. 


ARRKN  1)E  F.  HOLLY,  who  represents 
dairy  interests  of  Palmyra  Township, 
he  being  extensively  engaged  in  t'.:at  line, 
as  well  as  in  general  farming  and  stock-raising,  is 
a  native  born  son  of  Lee  County,  coming  of  one 
of  its  oldest  pioneer  families,  and  the  homestead 
that  he  operates  and  occupies  on  section  36,  of  the 
aforementioned  township  is  his  birthplace.  Here 
he  was  born  June  22,  1849,  and  this  has  always 
been  liis  home.  He  attended  the  local  schools 


POHTUAIT  AM)  UOGRAPffiCAL    BEOORD. 


301 


during  his  boyhood  and  gained  a  practical  educa- 
tion. :ind  since  arriving  :it  years  of  discretion  has 
devoted  himself  to  farming  and  the  dairy  business, 
for  which  the  farm  is  in  every  way  admirably 
adapted.  Its  two  hundred  acres  of  well-tilled 
soil  affords  ample  pasturage  fora  fine  herd  of  forty 
runs,  the  farm  also  being  otherwise  well  stocked, 
and  its  equipments  are  complete  as  regards  com- 
modious buildings,  etc. 

( )ur  subject  is  a  son  of  the  venerable  James  N. 
Holly,  a  retired  farmer  of  this  township,  whose 
name  will  always  occupy  an  honorable  place  in  the 
history  of  Lee  County  as  one  of  its  early  settlers 
who  did  a  good  work  in  redeeming  a  portion  of 
its  soil  from  the  wilderness.  He  was  born  in  the 
Province  of  Ontario,  Canada,  September  la,  1806. 
His  father,  .lessc  Holly,  who  was  a  son  of  Noah 
Holly,  was  a  native  of  Orange  County,  N.  Y., 
where  he  grew  to  manhood,  and  was  married  to 
Miss  Anna  E.  DeSharrar,  who  is  supposed  to  have 
been  a  native  of  York  State.  Jesse  Holly  and  his 
wife  went  to  the  Province  of  Ontario,  Canada,  to 
live,  and  after  the  birth  of  their  children  returned 
to  the  States,  and  took  up  their  residence  in  Illi- 
nois, spending  their  remaining  days  amid  the  pio- 
neer scenes  of  Franklin  Grove  in  this  township, 
where  Mrs.  Holly  died  when  about  sixty  years  of 
age,  and  Jesse  Hollv  when  past  ninety-six,  leaving 
behind  them  good  records  as  two  of  our  most 
worthy  pioneers. 

James  N.  Holly  grew  to  manhood  in  his  Cana- 
dian birthplace  and  subsequently  crossed  the  bor- 
der to  this  country  and  settled  among  the  pioneers 
of  ( >hio.  He  was  married  in  that  State  to  Miss 
Sophronia  Harrison,  their  marriage  taking  place 
near  Hellville.  She  was  a  native  of  Ohio,  and  was 
a  daughter  of  Norman  and  Deliverance  (Standish) 
Harrison,  who  were  also  born  in  that  State,  coming 
of  some  of  its  earliest  families,  and  they  were  of 
distinguished  ancestry,  Norman  Harrison  belong- 
ing to  the  Harrison  family  that  has  figured  so  con- 
spicuously in  the  history  of  this  country,  he  being 
a  cousin  of  General  William  Henry  Harrison,  the 
President  and  grandfather  of  our  present  ruler; 
while  his  wife  was  a  direct  descendant  of  Captain 
Milt •>  Standish,  one  of  the  Pilgrim  fathers.  Nor- 
man Harrison  and  wife  left  Ohio  several  years 


after  their  marriage  and  going  to  Clinton  County. 
Iowa,  died  there  when  full  of  years.  They  were 
farmers  by  occupation,  and  were  well  and  favora- 
bly known. 

The  parents  of  our  subject  lived  on  a  farm  in 
Ohio  until  after  the  birth  of  their  first  two  chil- 
dren, and  then  they  came  .across  the  intervening 
country  with  wagon  and  teams  to  Illinois.  They 
located  on  a  settler's  claim  in  Franklin  Grove,  Mrs. 
Holly  being  the  first  white  woman  to  live  there, 
and  her  brother  Charles  Harrison  took  the  first 
claim  that  was  taken  in  that  grove  or  in  that  re- 
gion for  a  distance  of  many  miles.  They  made 
some  slight  improvements,  but  two  years  later  sold 
their  claim  and  moved  still  further  Westward, 
crossing  the  Mississippi,  and  taking  up  a  claim  on 
the  west  bank  of  that  river  on  the  site  of  the 
present  city  of  Clinton,  Iowa.  Mr.  Holly,  with  a 
man  by  the  name  of  Murray,  and  possibly  one  or 
'two  others,  laid  out  a  town  on  his  claim,  and  gave 
it  the  name  of  New  York.  The  town,  however, 
never  materialized  to  any  great  extent,  as  during 
the  two  years  that  the  Hollys  remained  there  its 
population  never  exceeded  fifteen  whites.  The 
Indians,  who  were  generally  peaceable,  were  nu- 
merous in  that  region,  ranging  up  and  down  the 
river  at  will,  and  occasionally  gave  our  friends  a 
call.  One  fall  night  they  were  roused  from  their 
slumbers  by  some  fifteen  of  these  dusky  visitants 
creeping  under  the  quilts  which  served  as  a  door 
to  their  primitive  dwelling  and  arranging  them- 
selves comfortably  around  the  fire  in  the  rude  fire- 
place. 

After  some  two  years'  residence  in  Iowa,  the 
father  of  our  subject  decided  to  return  to  his  for- 
mer settlement  at  Franklin  Grove,  and  locate  in 
this  county  permanently.  After  a  time  he  came 
into  Palmyra  Township,  and  secured  a  desirable 
tract  of  land  from  the  Government,  which  has 
since  been  transformed  into  the  fine  farm  which  is 
now  owned  by  his  son.  After  living  on  it  to  make 
a  home,  he  went  to  Dixon  to  keep  a  hotel,  but  was 
verv  unfortunate  in  that  venture,  as  the  very  first 
night  that  the  establishment  was  opened  it  was 
burned  to  the  ground.  About  this  time  he  also 
lost  heavily  by  'laving  to  pay  a  bail  bond,  which 
amounted  to  xl.OOII  for  his  share,  for  the  land 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


lice  agent  at  this  point.  He  afterward  devoted 
mself  exclusively  to  fanning  with  good  success 
itil  the  infirmities  of  age  obliged  him  to  abandon 
e  arduous  labors  connected  with  his  calling, 
ipternber  15,  1891,  was  his  birthday,  and  marked 
ir  him  a  long  and  honorable  life  of  eighty-five 
>ars'  duration,  and  during  [that  time  he  had  wit- 
?ssed  the  wonderful  progress  of  the  country  at 
rge,  which  has  been  made  through  discoveries 
id  inventions  that  have  revolutionized  the  world; 
•  had  been  an  eye-witness  of  that  which  more 
>arly  concerns  him,  the  remarkable  growth  of 
is  county,  which  he  has  aided  by  his  work,  and 
liich  has  been  his  home  for  so  many  years.  He 
:is  formerly  a  Republican  in  politics,  but  later  a 
emocrat.  His  first  vote  was  cast  for  his  kinsman, 
en.  William  II.  Harrison,  and  he  also  supported 
ephen  A.  Douglas  at  the  polls,  he  having  been 
s  schoolmate  in  his  boyhood  days.  His  wife  is^ 
it  living,  and  is  nearly  eighty-three  years'  old, 
iving  been  born  February  15,  1809.  Both  have 
ng  been  connected  with  the  Christian  Church, 
iraes  N.  Holly  died  September  16,  1891. 
Warren  Holly  is  one  of  eight  children,  the 
ningest  son,  and  the  youngest  but  one  of  the 
inily,  three  of  whom  are  now  dead.  He  was 
arried  in  this,  his  native  township,  to  Miss  Mary 
itherine  Carpenter.  One  daughter,  Belle  A.,  a 
ight  and  accomplished  young  lady,  completes 
eir  pleasant  home  circle.  Two  other  children 
ive  been  born  to  them  who  are  now  dead,  James 
,,  and  a  child  who  died  in  infancy.  Mrs.  Holly 
a  native  of  Bradford  County,  Pa.,  born  October 

1850,  and  one  of  the  three  daughters,  all  of 
horn  are  living,  of  Edward  and  Eliza  (Goodwin) 
irpenter.  Her  parents  were  natives  respectively 

Pennsylvania  and  New  York,  and  were  married 

the  former  State.  Mr.  Carpenter  was  a  carpen- 
r  by  trade,  and  carried  on  his  calling  in  Pennsyl- 
in ia  until  after  the  birth  of  his  children,  when  lie 
nigrated  with  his  family  to  Dixon,  in  this  county, 

1854.  He  pursued  carpentering  in  that  city 
itil  his  death  in  1864  when  only  forty-two  years' 
d,  he  having  in  the  meantime  spent  six  years  in 
innesota.  His  wife  died  January  16,  1890,  aged 
xty-four  years.  Both  were  consistent  Christians 
'  the  Methodist  persuasion.  In  politics,  Mr.  Car- 


penter was  a  Republican.  Mr.  Holly  and  his  amia- 
ble wife  are  progressive  people,  who  occupy  a  high 
place  in  their  community  where  they  are  so  well 
known,  and  their  cordial,  unaffected,  hospitable 
manners  have  won  them  the  warm  regard  of  all 
with  whom  they  associate.  Mr.  Holly  is  a  Repub- 
lican, and  as  a  loyal  citizen  should,  has  always 
manifested  a  keen  interest  in  his  native  township, 
and  has  done  all  in  his  power  to  promote  its  wel- 
fare. He  has  held  the  office  of  Township  Collector, 
and  performed  the  duties  thus  devolving  upon  him 
to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  all  concerned. 


Y  TIIL.     This  gentleman  is  one  of  the 
rjij  well-informed  and  progressive  men  of   this 
iL^  county,  who,  from   a  small  beginning  has 
((jjj)     built  up  a  comfortable  fortune,  and  is  now 
enjoying  the  result  of  his  industry  and  enterprise. 
He  resides  in   DixYm.  where  he  owns  a  good  home 
on  Hennepin  Avenue,  removing  to  this  city  in  the 
spring  of  1882,  from  his  farm  on  section  12,  South 
Dixon    Township,   on    which    he  had  resided  for 
many  years. 

In  1852  Mr.  Dixon  took  up  a  tract  of  raw  prai- 
rie land  which  he  cultivated  and  improved  until 
now  it  is  an  excellent  farm  of  two  hundred  and 
sixty  acres.  lie  came  to  this  county  a  poor  man, 
and  in  1853  began  the  business  of  general  farming, 
in  which  he  has  since  been  engaged.  He  was  a  na- 
tive of  Allegany  County,  Md.,  his  birth  taking 
place  November  19,  1827,  .and  continued  a  resi- 
dent of  that  county  until  coming  to  Illinois  in 
1852.  His  father,  Peter  Uhl,  was  born  in  1794, 
and  a  native  of  the  same  county  as  his  son,  his 
father,  Charles  Uhl.  having  settled  there  about 
1785.  The  latter  gentleman  was  born  in  Germany 
and  was  only  one  year  old  when  Ins  father,  Michael 
Uhl,  emigrated  to  this  country  and  in  Colonial 
days,  and  some  years  prior,  to  the  Revolutionary 
War,  settled  in  Pennsylvania,  Somerset  County, 
where  he  and  his  wife  both  died  when  quite  aged. 
They  were  members  of  the  Lutheran  Church,  and 
were  estimable  people.  Charles  Uhl,  the  grandfa- 
ther of  our  subject,  was  one  of  a  family  of  three 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


sons  and  one  daughter,  and  when  sixteen  years  of 
age  enlisted  in  the  Revolutionary  Army,  and 
served  during  the  last  year  of  that  struggle.  Af- 
ter his  marriage  in  Pennsylvania  to  a  lady  of  Gor- 
man birth,  they  settled  on  a  new  farm  in  Allegany 
County,  Md.,  and  there  lived  and  died  when  abont 
sixty  years  old.  They  were  worthy  members  of  the 
Lutheran  Church.  Their  large  family  consisted  of 
twelve  sons  and  three  daughters,  of  whom  Peter 
was  one  of  the  elder  ones.  All  are  now  deceased, 
most  of  them  having  lived  to  maturity,  and  be- 
coming heads  of  families. 

Peter  Uhl,  when  a  young  man,  learned  the  trade  : 
of  a  hatter  under  Mr.  Johnson,  in  Berlin,  Somerset 
County,  Pa.,  following  that  business  until  in  the  i 
'40s,  when  trade  becoming  dull,  he  quit  the  busi- 
ness and  became  a  farmer,  following  that  occupa- 
tion until  1852,  when  he  left  the  East  and' came 
with  his  wife  and  family  to  Illinois,  locating  on  » 
farm  in  South  Dixon  Township,  and  there  lived  j 
until  his  death  in  1871,  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
eight  years.  He  was  originally  a  Whig,  and  later 
a  Republican  in  politics,  and  was  a  good  and 
worth}'  citizen,  making  many  friends  in  the  com- 
munity where  he  resided.  He  was  for  many  years 
n  Justice  of  the  Peace,  and  held  other  local  offices. 
His  wife  died  in  1876.  She  was  born  in  Balti- 
more County,  Md.,  in  1791,  her  maiden  name  be- 
ing Hager.  Her  parents  were  born  in  this  coun- 
try, and  were  of  German  and  Scotch  ancestry. 
Both  she  and  her  husband  were  members  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

Henry  Uhl,  our  subject,  is  the  youngest  but  one 
In  a  family  of  five  children.  One  son,  Samuel  11., 
was  a  soldier  in  the  War  of  the  Rebellion,  and  died 
as  a  result  of  his  services  in  that  struggle.  Our 
subject  and  a  sister,  Mrs.  Susan  Beall,now  of  Alle- 
gany County,  Md.,  are  all  the  children  now  living. 
Mr.  Uhl  was  married  in  his  native  county  to  Miss 
Susan  Wilhelm,  who  was  born  in  Somerset  County, 
1'a.  Her  father  died  when  she  was  quite  young, 
and  her  mother  spent  her  last  years  in  Marion, 
where  she  died  in  1872,  at  a  ripe  old  age.  They 
were  the  parents  of  three  sons  and  three  daughters. 

Mr.  Uhl  is  a  prominent  man  in  his  community, 
being  much  interested  in  politics,  and  is  a  stanch 
member  of  the  Republican  party.  He  has  held  a 


number  of  local  offices,  is  well-informed  on  all  the 
issues  of  the  day,  and  takes  a  lively  interest  in 
everything  pertaining  to  the  growth  and  welfare 
of  this  county. 


eHARLKS  TRAINER.  All  honor  is  due  to 
the  brave  veterans  of  the  late  war,  who 
have  since  done  good  service  in  peaceful 
pursuits  in  various  walks  of  life,  and  have  helped 
to  increase  the  wealth  and  prosperity  of  the  coun- 
try saved  by  their  valor.  Our  subject  was  one  of 
that  great  and  glorious  army  that  preserved  the 
Union,  devoting  some  of  the  best  years  of  his 
early  manhood  to  fighting  for  the  Government 
under  whose  Hag  lie  has  spent  the  most  of  his  life. 
He  is  a  farmer  by  occupation,  and  has  a  farm  on 
section  '22,  Ash  ton  Township,  that  compares  in  all 
respects  with  the  best  in  its  vicinity. 

Mr.  Trainer  was  born  in  Lower  Canada,  July  4, 
1839,  a  son  of  John  Trainer,  who  was  a  native  of 
Ireland.  After  coming  to  this  country,  he  had  set- 
tled in  that  part  of  Canada  where  his  son  was 
bora,  and  he  subsequently  started  for  California  in 
the  days  of  the  excitement  over  the  discovery  of 
gold,  and  it  is  supposed  that  he  died  on  the  way, 
as  he  was  never  heard  from  again.  His  wife, 
whose  maiden  name  was  Ann  Hagan,  and  who  was 
also  of  Irish  birth,  died  in  Brandon,  Vt. 

Our  subject  passed  his  boyhood  in  his  Canadian 
home,  whence  in  1856  he  crossed  the  border  into 
New  York,  and  when  the  Civil  War  broke  out  he 
was  living  in  St.  Lawrence  County.  In  October 
of  that  year  he  offered  his  services  to  his  adopted 
country,  enlisting  in  Company  II,  Sixtieth  New 
York  Infantry,  and  he  served  with  credit  through- 
out the  remainder  of  the  strife,  a  period  of  nearly 
four  long  and  weary  years.  His  efficiency  as  a 
soldier  and  his  courage  were  put  to  the  test  in  the 
big  battles  of  Gettysburg  and  Chancellorsville,  in 
many  skirmishes  with  the  enemy,  and  in  the  num- 
erous engagements  in  Gen.  Sherman's  famous 
"March  to  the  Sea."  He  was  often  on  detached 
service  in  the  brigade  pioneers,  and  from  Atlanta 
to  the  sea  was  a  brigade  forager. 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


After  his  experience  of  life  on  Southern  battle- 
fields. .Mr.  Trainer  returned  to  St.  Lawrence  County, 
X.  Y.,  and  after  remaining  there  a  few  months, 
came  to  Ogle  County,  111.,  in  the  spring  of  •  18(56. 
A  year  later  he  removed  to  Lee  County,  and  has 
since  been  a  resident  of  Ashton  Township,  with 
the  exception  of  four  years  spent  in  Ogle  County. 
His  life-work  has  always  been  farming,  and  he  has 
made  a  success  of  it.  He  has  two  hundred  and 
forty  acres  of  excellent  land,  which  is  in  a  fine  con- 
dition as  to  tillage,  and  is  amply  provided  with 
suitable  buildings,  and  all  the  conveniences  for 
carrying  on  agriculture.  He  is  a  busy  man,  is  pro- 
ficient in  his  calling,  is  a  good  manager,  and  stands 
well  in  his  township  as  to  his  credit  in  money  mat- 
ters and  his  reputation  in  general.  He  has  taken 
an  active  part  in  political  affairs  since  he  came 
here  to  make  his  home,  and  has  thrown  his  in- 
fluence on  the  side  of  the  Republican  party.  His 
war  record  is  commemorated  by  his  connection 
with  the  Gen.  Hewitt  Post,  G.  A.  R.,  of  Franklin 
Grove,  as  one  of  its  most  respected  members.  He 
has  taken  part  in  the  management  of  local  affairs 
;is  Highway  Commissioner  of  Ashton  Township. 

During  his  residence  in  Ogle  County,  it  was  Mr. 
Trainer's  good  fortune  to  secure  a  most  excellent 
wife  by  his  marriage  with  Miss  Emily  L.  Plantz,  a 
native  of  Nashua  Township,  Light  House  Point, 
Ogle  County,  111.,  and  a  daughter  of  one  of  its 
pioneer  families.  These  five  children  have  been 
born  of  their  pleasant  wedded  life:  John  E.,  Ruth 
!•',..  Frank  (who  died  when  about  three  years  old), 
Minnie  A.  and  Nellie  A. 


JOHN  W.  WINGERT   is    one  of  the  enter- 
prising  and     well-known    farmers    of  the 
county.     His  home  is  on  section   29,  Nach- 
usa  Township,   where  he  owns  a  valuable 
farm  of  two  hundred  acres    under   a  high  state  of 
cultivation,   well-watered  by  Franklin  Creek    and 
complete  in  all  its  appointments.     There  is  a  good 
residence,  (view  of  which  will  be  noticed  on  another 


page)  as  well  MS  the  necessary  outbuildings,  and  the 
farm  is  well  stocked  with  horses,  cattle  and  hogs. 
It  has  been  the  property  of  our  subject  since  1*77, 
but  his  residence  in  the  county  covers  a  much 
longer  period,  the  date  of  his  arrival  being  Octo- 
ber 1,  1-832. 

Mr.  Wingert  was  born  in  Greencastle,  Pa.,  July 
19,  1831.  Record  says  that  the  family  was  of  Ger- 
man origin  and  its  members  were  early  settlers  of 
Franklin  County,  Pa.  Jacob  Wingert,  the  grand- 
father of  our  subject,  was  there  reared  to  man- 
hood upon  a  farm  and  spent  his  entire  life  near 
Greencastle,  dying  at  the  ripe  old  age  of  eighty- 
seven  years.  He  is  one  of  nature's  noblemen  and 
the  upright  life  which  he  lived  won  him  the  es- 
teem of  all.  He  was  long  a  minister  of  the  l"nited 
Brethren  Church,  with  which  his  wife  was  also 
connected  as  a  faithful  member.  They  had  a  fam- 
.ily  of  eleven  children,  nearly  all  of  whom  reached 
mature  years,  were  married  and  left  families.  Only 
one  yet  survives — Daniel,  who  is  now  living  in 
Iowa  at  the  age  of  seventy-five  years. 

The  father  of  our  subject,  Henry  Wingert,  a 
native  of  Franklin  County,  Pa.,  learned  the  tan- 
ner's trade  in  his  youth.  In  the  Keystone  State  he 
married  Anna  Bentz,  who  was  also  born  in  that 
locality,  her  parents  being  natives  of  Pennsylvania, 
of  German  lineage.  After  the  birth  of  three  chil- 
dren, Henry  Wingert  emigrated  with  his  family  to 
Preble  County,  Ohio,  where  for  five  years  he  car- 
ried on  a  tannery.  He  then  purchased  eighty 
acres  of  land,  upon  which  he  made  his  home  until 
1852,  when  selling  out  he  emigrated  to  Illinois, 
and  cast  his  lot  with  the  early  settlers  of  Lee 
County,  where  he  arrived  on  the  1st  of  October. 
Upon  a  farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  which 
he  soon  afterward  purchased  they  began  life  in  the 
West  and  continued  to  reside  there  until  called  to 
their  final  home.  Mr.  Wingert,  who  was  born  Fel>- 
ruary  23,  1804,  died  on  the  24th  of  August,  1891. 
His  wife  had  previously  been  called  home,  dying 
suddenly  December  24,  1877.  Her  birth  occurred 
May  1.  18(1.").  For  year.- they  have  been  members 
of  the  Methodist  Church  and  in  politics,  Mr.  Win- 
gert was  M  stalwart  licpuhlican.  In  their  family 
were  fifteen  children,  nine  of  whom  arc  yet  living 
and  all  are  married  with  the  exception  of  one 


RESIDENCE  OF  JOHN   W.  Wl  NGERT,  SEC?  28.&2S.,  NACHUSA  TP.(LEE  CO.,  I  LL 


RESIDENCE  OF   WILLIAM    LAN  D  AU  ,  5EC.6.,LEE  CENTER  TP,  LEE  CO.,  ILL. 


IHE  IIBHAB! 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


307 


daughter.  SHI cc>s  IIMS  attended  them  in  life  and 
they  are  now  well-to-do  people. 

John  Wingert  was  the  third  of  the  family.  In 
his  youth  he  was  inured  to  hard  labor  and  his  edu- 
cational advantages  were  those  of  the  common 
schools.  After  coming  to  Illinois  he  became  ac- 
quainted with  Miss  Hannah  M.  Hittleand  they  were 
married  in  Nachusa  Township,  January  28,  1869. 
The  lady  is  a  native  of  Columbia  County,  Pa.,  and 
in  1842, when  a  young  maiden,  accompanied  her  par- 
ents to  Illinois,the  family  settling  in  Nachusa  Town- 
ship upon  a  new  farm.  Her  father,  Jacob  Ilittle,  died 
at  the  age  of  sixty-nine  yeais, and  his  wife,  whose 
maiden  name  was  Nancy  C'ulp,  departed  this  life 
when  seventy  years  of  age.  He  was  a  member  of 
the  Christian  Church  and  his  wife  held  the  religi- 
ous views  of  the  Dunkards. 

After  the  breaking  out  of  the  late  war,  Mr.  Win- 
gert responded  to  the  country's  call  for  troops,  en- 
listing on  the  13th  of  August,  1862,  as  a  member 
of  Company  ft,  Seventy-fifth-  Illinois  Infantry, 
under  Capt.  Williams.  Col.  Ryan  commanded  the 
regiment,  which  was  assigned  to  the  Army  of  the 
Tennessee  and  was  first  under  fire  at  the  battle  of 
Prairieville,  October  8,  1862.  In  January,  1863, 
the  troops  participated  in  the  battle  of  Stone  River, 
where  the  Seventy-fifth  sustained  heavy  losses; 
later  were  in  the  battles  of  Lookout  Mountain  and 
luka,  and  in  many  other  engagements  followed 
the  stars  and  stripes.  Mr.  Wingert  was  honorably 
discharged  from  the  service  at  the  close  of  the  war 
June  28,  186o.  He  went  to  Washington  and  at- 
tended the  theatre  on  the  night  that  President 
Lincoln  was  assassinated  and  saw  the  shot  fired. 
II  is  health  was  seriously  impaired  from  exposure 
during  the  service  and  the  hardships  of  army  life. 

Returning  to  the  North,  Mr.  Wingert  resumed 
farming  to  which  he  has  since  devoted  his  energies. 
Six  children  have  been  born  to  him  and  his  estim- 
able wife,  five  yet  Hying— William  R,  Fred  A., 
Adelbert  ft.  and  Burton  P>.  and  Hertha  15..  twins. 
They  lost  one  son.  Charles  II.  .Mr.  and  Mrs.  Win- 
gert are  members  of  the  Methodist  Church,  contri- 
bute liberally  to  its  support  and  in  its  work  take 
nn  active  interest.  In  politics,  he  is  a  Republican, 
hut  has  never  sought  public  office.  lie  is  a  mem- 
ber of  fteorge  W.  Hewitt  I'ost.  No.  :!'.I8.  ft.  A.  R., 
14 


of  Franklin  ftrove.  Throughout  the  community 
he  is  recognized  as  a  successful  farmer  and  an  in- 
fluential citizen  who  is  true  to  every  duty  as  he 
was  to  the  country  in  her  hour  of  peril. 


ILLIAM  LANDAF.  The  German-born 
citizens  of  our  country  are  always  in  the 
front  ranks  of  progress  and  enterprise, 
loyal  to  their  adopted  land  and  forming  an  intelli- 
gent an  industrious  class  in  every  community  in 
which  they  make  their  homes.  Among  this  class 
may  be  mentioned  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  who 
is  a  farmer  residing  on  section  6,  Lee  Center 
Township. 

Mr.  Landau  was  born  in  the  northern  part  of 
Germany  January  4,  1836.  He  was  reared  to 
manhood  in  his  native  country  remaining  there 
until  twenty-five  years  old.  lie  then  emigrated  to 
America  landing  in  New  York  City  and  at  once 
came  to  Illinois,  settling  in  Sterling  where  he  re- 
mained six  weeks.  He  then  came  to  Lee  County, 
where  he  worked  out  by  the  month  for  one  year  in 
C'hina  Township,  then  removing  to  Lee  Center 
Township  where  he-  worked  as  a  day  laborer  for 
some  four  or  five  years.  Afterward  he  rented 
land  in  Lee  Center  Township  for  two  years  and 
having  saved  sufficient  money;  became  the  owner 
of  a  farm  where  he  lived  some  twenty  years.  At 
the  expiration  of  that  time,  having  been  prosper- 
ous in  his  worldly  affairs,  he  purchased  his  present 
place  on  section  6,  where  he  has  since  resided. 
That  he  has  been  energetic,  industrious  and  per- 
severing, is  evinced  by  the  fact  that  from  a  very 
small  beginning  he  has  acquired  his  present  large 
.property  of. seven  hundred  and  sixteen  and  a  half 
acres,  where  he  is  carrying  on  fanning  and  stock- 
raising  to  a  large  extent. 

July  16,  1861.  Mr.  Landau  was  married  in  China 
Township,  I,ee  County,  to  Martha  K.  Moller.  Mrs. 
Landau  was  bom  in  ftermany  March  30,  1838, and 
departed  this  life  ;it  her  residence  in  Lee  Center 
Township.  March  25.  18!t(l.  To  this  couple  were 
bom  a  large  family  comprising  eleven  children, 
as  follows:  Christena,  deceased;  John;  Christena; 


308 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


Katie;  Anna;  Henry;  William;  Lizzie,  Mary, Chris- 
tie,  .Minnie. 

In  politics  Mr.  Landau  is  a  Republican,  but  lias 
been  too  much  occupied  in  his  own  affairs  to  become 
an  office  seeker.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Reformed 
Church  to  which  his  wife  also  belonged.  The  fam- 
ily are  well  and  favorably  known.  They  occupy 
a  comfortable  residence,  a  view  of  which  with  its 
rural  surroundings  is  presented  on  another  page. 


§ENJAMIN  F.  SHAW,  the  well-known  edi- 
tor and  proprietor  of  the  Telegraph,  the 
leading  Republican  organ  of  Lee  County 
and  one  of  its  best  newspapers  in  every- 
way, has  long  exercised  a  marked  influence  on  the 
affairs  of  this  section  of  the  county,  not  only  pro- 
fessionally but  as  a  citizen  of  progressive  views 
and  notable  public  spirit,  who  has  the  dearest  in- 
terest of  his  country  at  heart,  is  influential  in  its 
political  life  and  in  all  that  tends  to  promote  the 
social,  moral  and  educational  condition  of  his  com- 
munity. In  connection  with  the  weekly  newspaper 
is  the  evening  Telegraphy  leading  daily  newspaper 
of  this  section  of  the  State. 

Mr.  Shaw  was  born  in  Waverly,N.  Y.,  March  31, 
1831.  His  father,  Alanson  B.  Shaw,  was  born  in 
Bradford  County,  Pa.,  in  1801,  and  was  of  Scotch 
blood,  his  father  being  one  of  four  brothers  who 
came  to  this  country  from  their  native  Scotland  in 
the  days  before  the  Revolution  and  one  of  the 
brothers,  for  whom  our  subject  was  named,  fought 
in  that  great  struggle  of  the  American  Colonies  for 
freedom.  The  father  of  our  subject  married  Phil- 
omela, daughUr  of  Zephon  Flower,  an  early  settler 
of  Athens,  Pa.,  going  there  from  Connecticut.  He 
was  a  Revolutionary  soldier  and  was  one  of  the 
last  on  the  Revolutionary  pension  rolls,  living  to 
the  advanced  age  of  ninety-six  years. 

When  he  started  out  in  the  world  in  his  youth- 
ful days  Benjamin  F.  Shaw  made  his  way  from  his 
native  State  to  Iowa, which  at  that  time  was  a  Ter- 
ritory. He  remained  there  for  a  period  of  two 
years,  and  then  recrossing  the  Mississippi  River  to 
Rock  Island,  he  took  the  first  steps  that  have  led 


him  to  a  high  position  in  the  editorial  profession 
by  acquiring,  in  that  then  village,  a  good  knowledge 
of  the  printing  business.  In  the  fall  of  1851  he 
came  to  Dixon  to  take  charge  of  the  printing  of- 
fice of  the  Dixon  Telegraph,  of  which  he  subse- 
quently became  the  owner  by  purchase,  and  has 
since  edited  it  with  marked  success,  devoting  his 
energies  to  making  a  newspaper  that  should  edu- 
cate its  constituency  and  be  a  potent  factor  in  the 
upbuilding  of  city  and  county.  This  he  has  ac- 
complished and  the  journal,which  owes  its  strength 
and  high  reputation  to  his  genius,  takes  the  lead 
in  advocating  whatever  will  be  for  the  highest 
good  of  the  community.  In  all  matters  pertaining 
to  the  advancement  of  society,  education  and  pol- 
itics, our  subject  takes  a  keen  and  discriminating 
interest,  and  through  the  columns  of  his  paper, 
which  has  a  wide  circulation  both  in  Dixon  and 
the  neighboring  districts,  he  has  many  times  been 
instrumental  in  securing  for  the  city  various  advan- 
tages of  a  nature  more  or  less  important.  As  be 
fore  mentioned  the  Telegraph  \s  one  of  the  accepted 
organs  of  the  Republican  party,  whose  policy  is  set 
forth  in  a  clear  and  able  manner  in  its  editorials, 
which  are  noted  for  their  vigor  and  independence, 
although  they  are  never  offensively  partisan. 

Mr.  Shaw  has  by  no  means  confined  his  talents  to 
his  profession  but  he  has  taken  a  conspicuous  part 
in  public  life,  and  has  held  various  prominent  of- 
fices with  honor  to  himself  and  to  his  constituency. 
He  has  been  a  leader  in  the  councils  of  the  Repub- 
licans of  this  section  since  the  organization  of  the 
party.  He  was  one  of  the  editors  that  met  at  De- 
catur  in  the  winter  of  1856,  to  call  the  first  Re- 
publican State  Convention,  and  on  that  occasion 
he  was  in  consultation  with  Abraham  Lincoln  on 
the  Committee  on  Resolutions.  In  1860  our  sub- 
ject was  elected  Clerk  and  Recorder  of  Lee  County 
Circuit  Coxirt,  was  re-elected  to  the  same  office  in 
1864  and  served  until  1868,  candying  the  same  en- 
ergy and  business  acumen  into  the  administration 
of  the  affairs  of  that  office  that  have  ever  charac- 
terized his  management  of  his  newspaper.  In  1876 
Gov.  Cullom  appointed  him  State  Canal  Commis- 
sioner, and  he  served  six  years  as  one  of  the 
Board  of  three  Commissioners  who  had  charge  of 
the  Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal,  the  Illinois  River 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   KKCORI). 


30!) 


Improvements  and  other  Illinois  public  works.  He- 
has  always  been  a  warm  friend  of  the  city  of 
Dixon  and  lias  been  most  earnest  and  liberal  in 
advancing  its  interests,  both  personally  and  through 
his  paper.  When  the  late  Col.  Noble  was  appointed 
one  of  the  commissioners  to  locate  a  soldier's  home 
in  Illinois  he  requested  Mr.  Shaw  to  accompany 
him  to  the  meetings  of  the  commissioners  in 
Springfield  and  Chicago  to  act  in  behalf  of  Dixon 's 
claims  as  a  suitable  site  for  the  proposed  building. 
.Mr.  Shaw  has  always  been  an  earnest  worker  in  the 
Ilennepin  Canal  enterprise,  and  was,  indeed,  the 
Secretary  of  the  first  Ilennepin  Canal  meeting  ever 
held, which  was  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century  since 
in  Rock  Island.  Unsolicited  on  his  part  he  was 
in  December,  1891,  appointed  Postmaster  at  Dixon. 


>IU^ON.  JOHN  DAWSON  CRABTREE,  Judge 
|l(j)  .of  the  Thirteenth  Judicial  Court,  has  dis 
'^^f  tinguished  himself  in  various  walks  of  life 
(>«y)  — as  a  soldier,  who  obtained  military 
honor  during  the  Civil  War;  as  a  statesman;  and 
as  a  lawyer  of  unusual  ability,  whose  legal  talents 
have  raised  him  to  an  important  position  on  the 
bench  of  this  State.  He  was  born  in  the  city  of 
Nottingham,  England,  November  19,  1837.  Ilis 
fat  her.  Jonathan  Hi-ward  Crabtree,  was  a  native  of 
the  same  city  and  was  a  son  of  Samuel  Crabtree, 
who  was  a  soKHer  in  the  British  army,  and  with 
the  exception  of  the  time  when  lu  was  with  his 
regiment  in  the  East  Indies,  he  spent  his  entire 
life  in  England.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife 
was  Howard.  She  was  born  in  Yorkshire,  and 
passed  her  last  days  in  Nottingham. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  one  of  ten  chil- 
dren, and  was  the  only  member  of  the  family  who 
came  to  America.  He  lived  in  his  native  land 
until  some  time  after  his  marriage,  and  was  en- 
gaged as  a  manufacturer  of  bone  buttons  in  the 
city  of  Nottingham.  lie  was  a  man  of  an  ambi- 
tious, progressive  spirit,  and  believing  that  he 
could  better  his  fortunes  in  the  New  World,  he 
resolved  to  emigrate  to  these  >hores.  and  January 


8,  1848,  with  his  wife  and  five  children,  he  em- 
barked at  Liverpool  in  a  sailing-vessel,  and  after 
a  voyage  of  seven  weeks  and  three  days  landed  in 
New  York  City.  The  family  remained  in  Troy 
until  November  of  that  year,  and  then  came  to 
Illinois  by  the  way  of  Erie  Canal  to  Buffalo,  and 
from  there  by  the  lakes  to  Chicago.  Mr.  Crab- 
tree  bought  a  tract  of  Government  land  nearPeca- 
tonica,  and  he  and  his  wife  and  children  occupied 
a  log  house  there  until  1860,  when  they  went  to 
Beloit,  Wis.  In  18,52  they  removed  from  that 
place  to  Rockford,  111.,  and  the  father  became  a 
contractor  on  the  Chicago  it  Galena  Railway, 
now  known  as  the  Northwestern. 

In  February,  1853,  Mr.  Crabtree  came  with  his 
family  to  Dixon  and  took  the  contract  to  grade 
the  first  three  miles  of  the  Illinois  Central  Rail- 
way, extending  north  from  the  river.  Later  he 
engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits,  and  was  an  hon- 
ored resident  of  Dixon  until  his  death  in  1884. 
j  His  faithful  wife,  who  had  accompanied  him  across 
j  the  waters  to  help  him  build  up  a  new  home  in  a 
strange  land,  had  preceded  him  to  that  "undiscov 
ered  country  from  whose  bourne  no  traveler  re- 
I  turns,"  dying  at  Dixon  in  November,  1878.  She 
was  also  a  native  of  Nottingham,  England,  and 
her  maiden  name  was  Ann  Dawson,  she  being  a 
daughter  of  John  Dawson.  She  was  the  mother  of 
these  five  children:  Eliza,  who  married  E.  IT. 
Brookner  and  is  now  deceased;  Jonathan,  who 
served  his  adopted  country  in  the  late  war  for 
three  years,  and  is  now  a  resident  of  Rogers,  Den- 
ton  County,  Ark.;  Henry,  who  resides  at  Dixon; 
and  Lucy  G.,  the  wife  of  Cyrus  Williams,  of 
Brookfield,  Mo. 

The  subject  of  this  biography  was  in  his  eleventh 
year. when  he  came  to  this  country  with  his  par- 
ents, and  still  retains  a  pleasant  recollection  of 
his  old  home  and  of  the  momentous  journey 
across  the  ocean  to  the  new  one.  He  received  his 
early  education  in  the  common  schools,  .supple- 
mented by  a  course  at  the  Dixon  High  School,  and 
finally  entered  the  office  of  J.  K.  Edsall  to  pre- 
pare himself  for  the  legal  profession.  His  studies 
were  interrupted  by  the  breaking  out  of  the  Re- 
bellion, and  tin-owing  aside  his  books,  he  was 
among  the  first  to  spring  to  the  defnist  of  the 


310 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


Union  in  response  to  the  first  call  for  troops,  and 
for  four  long  and  weary  years  lie  nobly  served  his 
adopted  country  with  all  the  fervor,  self-sacrifice 
and  patriotic  devotion  of  a  native-born  citizen, 
and  won  imperishable  laurels  on  a  many  hard- 
fought  battle-field.  His  name  was  enrolled  as  a 
private  in  Company  A,  Thirteenth  Illinois  Infan- 
try, April  17,  1861.  He  soon  began  to  make  a 
record  for  himself  as  a  valiant  and  fearless  sol- 
dier, and  September  25,  1861,  he  was  commis- 
sioned Second  Lieutenant  of  Company  1),  of 
Bowers  Battalion,  Missouri  Cavalry. 

November  5,  1862,  our  subject  was  promoted 
to  be  Captain  of  Company  IT,  Ninth  Missouri 
Cavalry,  which  company  was  afterward  transferred 
to  the  Third  Missouri  Cavalry  and  designated  as 
Company  M.  He  was  at  the  front  until  he  was 
honorably  discharged  August  16,  1864,  and  dur- 
ing that  time  had  been  brevetted  Major  for  con- 
spicuous merit.  In  the  reports  of  his  superiors  to 
the  War  Department  he  was  several  times  men- 
tioned in  complimentary  terms,  of  which  he  was 
highly  deserving,  as  his  intelligent  knowledge  of 
military  tactics,  his  firmness  in  maintaining  dis- 
cipline among  his  men,  whom  he  inspired  to  fol- 
low wherever  he  led,  and  his  promptness  and 
efficiency  in  obeying  orders  made  him  a  valuable 
officer.  After  lie  gave  up  his  command  on  the 
field  the  Major's  services  were  required  at  Spring- 
field, 111.,  in  the  mustering  in  of  troops  and  de- 
spatching them  to  the  front,  and  he  remained  on 
duty  there  until  the  last  of  October,  1865. 

Returning  to  Dtxon  at  the  close  of  his  military 
career,  our  subject  allowed  only  a  few  days  to 
elapse  before  he  resumed  his  studies,  November  3, 
in  the  office  of  Mr.  Edsall.  He  was  admitted  to 
the  bar  in  September,  1866,  well  equipped  for  his 
work,  and  the  following  October  formed  a  part- 
nership with  Mr.  Edsall,  with  whom  he  continued 
to  practice  until  1869.  In  that  year  so  rapid  was 
his  rise  in  his  profession,  he  was  elected  County 
Judge,  was  re-elected  in  1873,  and  served  until 
1877,  when  he  refused  the  reuomination.  In  1878 
he  entered  the  land  office  of  the  Chicago  &  North- 
western Railroad  Company,  at  Chicago,  as  Assist- 
ant Land  Commissioner,  and  filled  that  position 
very  acceptably  one  year.  Returning  to  Dixon 


again,  he  resinned  his  law  practice,  and  only  gave 
it  up  to  accept  the  office  of  Circuit  Judge  to  suc- 
ceed Judge  Bailey  in  1888,  the  latter  having  been 
elected  to  the  Supreme  Bench. 

Our  subject  was  re-elected  to  his  high  position 
on  the  bench  in  June,  1891,  without  opposition, 
so  valuable  were  his  services  considered  in  the  ad- 
ministration of  justice,  and  so  popular  is  he 
throughout  the  county  and  district,  and,  in  fact, 
wherever  known,  as  he  possesses  in  a  rare  degree 
those  pleasing  personal  traits  and  fine  attributes 
of  character  that  inspire  confidence  and  friend- 
ship. He  is  fully  equal  to  the  weighty  responsi- 
bilities that  devolve  upon  him,  his  whole  genius 
and  character  fitting  him  for  his  work.  He  has  a 
generous,  even  temper,  is  tolerant  and  fair-minded, 
and  yet  is  firm  and  decided  when  necessary,  hav- 
ing the  courage  of  his  convictions.  His  rulings 
are  sound,  sensible  and  marked  by  a  thorough 
comprehension  of  the  great  fundamental  princi- 
ples of  the  law  as  applicable  to  all  cases  coming 
under  his  jurisdiction.  His  charges  to  the  jury 
are  put  in  plain,  forcible  and  concise  language, 
and  there  is  never  a  question  as  to  the  equity  and 
wisdom  of  his  decisions.  The  Judge  is  a  fine  con- 
versationalist, and  as  a  lawyer  when  practicing  be- 
fore the  bar  his  eloquence,  ready  wit  and  logical 
arguments  won  him  many  a  case. 

Judge  Crabtree  was  first  married  March  4,  1863, 
to  Miss  Mary  C.  Huntington.  She  died  in  1872, 
leaving  two  children — Harry  Huntington  and 
Edwin  Howard.  September  28,  1875,  the  Judge 
was  again  married,  taking  as  his  wife  Miss  Anna 
M.  Fargo,  a  native  of  Rockford,  111.  They  have 
five  children— John  B.,  Charles  D.,  Mary  C., 
Phwbe  M.  and  Ruth  I. 

Politically  the  Jndge  is  an  uncompromising  Re- 
publican, and  has  been  the  recipient  of  office  at 
the  hands  of  his  party,  who  honored  him  and 
themselves  by  electing  him,  in  1888,  State  Sena- 
ator  in  the  Thirty-fifth  General  Assembly  for  a 
term  of  four  years,  but  he  resigned  the  position 
the  same  year  on  being  elected  to  the  bench. 
While  in  the  Senate  he  voted  for  C.  B.  Farwell 
for  Tinted  States  Senator,  being  one  of  his  most 
steadfast  champions.  Our  subject  is  prominent 
socially  as  a  member  of  Friendship  Lodge  N.  7, 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


311 


A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  of  which  he  is  Past  Master;  as  a 
member  of  Nachusa  Chapter,  No.  56,  R.  A.  M.; 
as  Past  Commamler  of  Dixon  Commandery,  No. 
21,  K.  T.;  and  as  a  member  of  Dixon  Post,  No. 
299,  G.  A.  R.;  and  of  the  Illinois  Commandery  of 
the  Loyal  Legion. 


JOHN  B.  FELKER,  M.  D.     The  medical  pro- 
fession has  at  all  times  attracted  to  its  prac- 
tice  men  of  broad  knowledge  and  excep- 
tional abilities.     Within  it  they  have  found 
a  splendid  field  for  experimental   research  as  well 
as  an   opportunity  for  relieving  the  ills  to  which 
all   humanity  is    heir.     The   city  of   Am  boy  has 
been  the   home   of   many  able    practitioners    and 
skillful  surgeons,  among  whom  none  are  remem- 
bered with  greater  affection    than    the  gentleman 
whose  name  introduces  these  paragraphs  and  who 
passed  from  the  scenes  of  his  former  usefulness  to 
enter  upon  his  final  rest,  in  May,  1888. 

Not  alone  in  the  city  which  had  been  his  home 
for  years  prior  to  his  demise,  but  also  in  the  sur- 
rounding country,  Dr.  Felker  was  extensively 
known  and  universally  esteemed.  His  genial  dis- 
position as  well  as  his  ability  to  quickly  relieve 
suffering,  endeared  him  to  his  patients,  while  in 
social  and  business  life  he  was  a  pleasing  compan- 
ion and  a  prominent  citizen.  At  the  time  of  his 
decease  he  was  still  in  life's  prime,  having  been 
born  in  1838,  in  Maryland.  The  surroundings  of 
his  youth  were  such  as  were  common  to  the  lads  of 
that  day  and  he  passed  his  boyhood  days  in  a  com- 
paratively uneventful  manner,  alternating  attend- 
ance at  school  with  the  discharge  of  duties  at 
home. 

In  1867  Dr.  Felker  was  united  in  marriage  with 
Miss  Eliza  Jane  Miller,  a  native  of  Franklin 
County,  and  the  daughter  of  Henry  and  Eliza 
Miller,  who  were  likewise  born  in  Frankklin 
County,  but  are  now  deceased,  their  deatli  having 
occurred  in  Greencastle,  that  county.  Mr.  Miller 
and  his  good  wife  were  worthy  people  and  gave 
to  the  eleven  children  of  which  they  were  parents  ' 
good  common-school  educations  and  such  training 


as  would  prepare  them  for  responsible  positions  in 
the  world.  Their  daughter  Eliza  was  fitted  by  her 
education  to  hold  a  prominent  place  in  society 
while  she  was  also  reared  to  discharge  home  duties 
efficiently.  Dr.  Felker  brought  his  bride  to  Amboy 
December  1, 1867,  and  it  remained  their  home  dur- 
ing all  their  wedded  life.  The  children  granted 
to  them  who  survive  are  May  Gertrude,  John 
B.,  Jr.,  and  Abram  II.  II.  Trusie  is  deceased. 
The  two  youngest  children  remain  at  home  with 
their  mother;  May  Gertrude  is  a  pupil  in  Rock- 
ford  Seminary,  where  she  expects  to  complete  her 
seminary  course  of  six  years,  in  June,  1892. 

The  political  views  of  Dr.  Felker  brought  him 
into  affiliation  with  the  Democratic  party,  which 
he  always  supported  with  his  ballot  and  influence. 
He  was  called  to  occupy  some  of  the  highest  offices 
within  the  power  of  his  fellow-citizens  to  bestow 
upon  him,  serving  as  Alderman  and  as  Mayor,  as 
well  as  a  member  of  the  Legislature  to  represent 
his  district.  He  also  took  a  prominent  part  in 
medical  societies,  being  identified  with  the  Amer- 
ican Medical  Association,  the  Illinois  State  Med- 
ical Society  and  some  local  medical  organizations. 
Mrs.  Felker  holds  membership  in  the  Congrega- 
tional Church  and  is  a  lady  of  benevolent  impulses, 
to  whom  the  destitute  never  appeal  for  aid  in  vain. 


ILLIAM  S.  STRAW  is  one  of  the  progres- 
sive farmers  and  well-to-do  citizens  of 
Palmyra  Township.  He  operates  two  hun- 
dred and  twenty-four  acres  of  valuable  land  on 
sections  19  and  20,  and  this  farm  is  recognized  as 
one  of  the  finest  in  the  community.  It  is  complete 
in  all  its  appointments,  its  arrangement  has  all 
been  made  with  an  eye  to  convenience  and  it  seems 
to  be  lacking  in  no  particular.  Most  of  the  im- 
provements stand  as  monuments  to  the  thrift  and 
enterprise  of  the  owner,  and  the  neat  appearance 
of  the  place  and  the  well  tilled  fields  attest  his 
careful  supervision.  The  home  is  a  commodious 
and  sul>st:mti:il  residence,  and  the  barns  and  out- 
buildings are  models  of  convenience. 

Mr.    Straw,    who    is    so    widely    and    favorably 


312 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


known  throughout  this  community,  was  horn  in 
Dauphin  County,  Pa.,  but  reared  in  Seward  Town- 
ship. Winnebago  County.  111.,  and  is  a  son  of  N.  S. 
Straw,  a  native  of  Dauphin  County,  Pa.  The  fam- 
ily was  founded  in  the  Keystone  State  in  Colonial 
days,  and  was  represented  both  in  the  Revolution- 
ary War  and  the  War  of  181 2.  The  father  of  our 
subject  l>ecame  a  farmer  and  lime  burner,  and  in 
following  those  pursuits  acquired  a  considerable 
competence.  In  Pennsylvania  he  married  Miss 
Ann  Brubaker,  who  was  born  in  the  Keystone 
State,  and  came  of  an  old  and  respected  family  of 
Dauphin  County.  In  1855,  they  turned  their  faces 
toward  the  setting  sun  and  traveled  Westward  un- 
til they  arrived  in  Illinios,  where  they  located  on 
a  large  tract  of  land  in  Seward  Township,  Winne- 
bago County.  There  Mr.  Straw  followed  farming 
for  some  years,  and  at  the  old  home  the  wife  and 
mother  died  at  the  age  of  sixty-six.  She  was  an 
attendant  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  a  lady 
of  many  excellencies  of  character.  A  few  years 
later,  in  1887,  Mr.  Straw  retired  to  Winnebago 
Village,  where  he  is  now  living,  aged  seventy-six 
years.  He  is  still  hale  and  hearty,  and  is  a  highly 
respected  citizen  of  the  community. 

Under  the  parental  roof  our  subject  spent  the 
days  of  his  childhood,  and  in  the  public  schools  of 
the  neighborhood  acquired  a  good  English  educa- 
tion, which  has  been  greatly  supplemented  in  the 
subsequent  years  by  reading  and  observation.  A 
marriage  ceremony  performed  in  McIIenry  County 
united  the  destinies  of  W.  S.  Straw  and  Miss  Car- 
rie E.  Finch,  daughter  of  John  II.  and  Eliza  .1. 
(Britton)  Finch,  who  are  well-to-do  fanning  people 
of  McIIenry  County.  Her  father  is  a  native  of 
New  York,  and  her  mother  was  born  in  New  Hamp- 
shire. In  an  early  day  they  came  to  Illinois,  and 
both  engagedin  teaching  in  Mellenn  County  before 
their  marriage.  Their  home  is  about  two  miles  cast 
of  Woodstock,  and  in  the  community  where  they  re- 
side they  are  prominent  and  influential  people.  In 
religious  lx>lief  both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Finch  are  Bap- 
tists. Their  daughter,  the  wife  of  our  subject,  was 
born  in  McIIenry  County,  and  was  educated  in 
Wheatou  College.  Du  Page  County.  She  is  a  lady 
of  intelligence  and  culture,  and  with  her  husband 
moves  in  the  best  circles  of  society.  Mr.  Straw  is 


a  Democrat  in  politics,  and  keeps  himself  well  in- 
formed on  the  questions  of  the  da}',  both  political 
and  otherwise.  Three  children  have  been  born 
unto  this  worthy  couple,  but  one  died  in  infancy. 
Verne  S.  and  Carl  C.  are  still  under  the  parental 
roof. 


STAN  WOOD  GRIFFITH,  the  popular  Super- 
visor of  Ashton   Township,    was    born     in 
New  Lisbon,  Ohio,  December  6,  1834.    His 
parents  were  Oliver   and    Mary    (Hussey) 
Griffith,  the  former  born  August  8.  1797,  in    York 
County,  Pa.,  and  the  mother  was    born   the    same 
year  and  in  the  same  county  as   was   her    honored 
husband.     The  senior  Mr.  Griffith  was  an    agricul- 
turist during  his  early  years,  but  later    in    life   be- 
came engaged  in    money    loaning.     Both   parents 
died  in  New  Lisbon,  Ohio,  and    belonged    to    that 
sect  known  as  Quakers  or  Friends. 

Our  subject  was  the  second  son  and  fifth  child 
in  his  parents'  family  of  seven  children.  He  re- 
ceived a  good  common-school  education,  and  ap- 
preciating the  value  of  a  thorough  knowledge  of 
books,  made  the  best  of  his  opportunities,  and  is 
to-day  a  man  of  culture  and  education.  He  re- 
mained under  the  parental  roof  assisting  his  father 
in  performing  the  farm  duties  until  twenty-one 
years  of  age  and  thus  received  a  thorough  training 
in  all  those  th ings  which  go  to  make  a  first-class 
agriculturist.  When  reaching  his  majority  he  left 
home  and  went  to  Upper  Sandusky.  Ohio,  where 
he  engaged  in  farming  on  his  own  account,  remain- 
ing there  until  18G4  when  he  disposed  of  his  farm 
at  a  good  profit  and  came  to  the  Prairie  State,  pur- 
chasing a  farm  in  Qgl»- County,  on  which  he  con- 
tinued to  make  his  home  and  cultivate  until  the 
spring  of  1868  when  he  came  to  Ashton  Township, 
this  county,  and  launched  out  in  the  drug  business, 
lie  was  exceedingly  successful  in  this  undertaking 
as  indeed  lie  was  in  every  branch  of  work,  and  two 
years  later  added  a  fine  stock  of  hardware,  formed 
a  partnership  with  George  li.  Charters,  and  carried 
on  a  successful  trade  in  that  line  for  the  two  sue- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


313 


cceding  years.  Our. subject  then  disposed  of  his 
interest  in  the  firm  and  engaged  in  the  lumber  busi- 
ness, which  he  prosecuted  for  the  next  seven  years. 

Me  soon  disposed  of  his  lumber  interests  and 
with  his  sons,  O.  W.  and  .1.  ('.,  again  became  a  hard- 
ware merchant,  the  firm  style  being  Griffith  ct  Sons. 
They  did  a  nourishing  business,  carrying  a  com- 
plete line  of  heavy  and  shelf  hardware  and  by 
their  square  and  fair  dealing  witli  their  customers, 
did  an  extensive  business. 

Griffith  <fe  Sons  continued  together  in  the  hard- 
ware business  for  over  five  years  when  our  subject 
disposed  of  his  interest  to  his  sons  and  has  since 
been  engaged  in  the  lumber  and  stock  business. 
He  has  been  engaged  in  the  active  operation  or 
superintendence  of  large  tracts  of  land  and  at  the 
present  writing  is  the  owner  of  five  hundred  acres 
of  beautiful  land,  lying  in  Lee  and  Ogle  Counties. 
By  a  proper  rotation  of  crops  his  land  has  been 
brought  to  a  high  degree  of  cultivation,  while  the 
various  buildings  have  been  erected  which  best 
subserve  the  purposes  of  a  first-class  agriculturist. 
His  life  has  been  characterized  by  an  uprightness 
of  purpose  and  an  integrity  of  principle  which, 
with  his  high  mental  and  moral  standing,  is  grate- 
fully recognized  by  his  fellow-men. 

Mr.  Griffith  of  this  sketch  was  married  to  Miss 
Elizabeth  Charters,  in  New  Lisbon,  Ohio,  October 
25,  1858.  Mrs.  Griffith  was  born  in  New  Lisbon 
and  is  the  daughter  of  John  and  Elizabeth  (Ran- 
kin)  Charters,  natives  of  Scotland  and  both  of 
whom  died  in  Ohio.  The  father  was  a  contractor 
and  did  an  extensive  business  in  that  line.  The 
family  of  our  subject  and  his  amiable  wife  numbered 
seven  children,  namely:  Oliver  W.,  John  C., 
Mary,  who  died  when  sixteen  years  old;  AbbeyE., 
Anna  H.,  Jennette  D.,and  Catherine. 

Mr.  Griffith  has  been  chosen  by  the  people  of 
Ashton  Township  as  Supervisor  and  is  the  present 
incumbent  of  the  office,  fulfilling  every  duty  in  an 
acceptable  and  conscientious  manner.  He  has  also 
been  Justice  of  the  Peace  and  School  Director,  be- 
ii.g  especially  interested  in  educational  matters  in 
his  section.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Village  Board 
and  in  politics  occupies  a  front  rank  in  the  Repub- 
lican party.  In  religious  affairs  he  has  always  been 
very  active  and  is  a  working  member  of  the 


Presbyterian  Church,  having  Ixjen  Superintendent 
of  the  Sunday-school  for  many  years.  His  wife  is 
also  connected  with  that  denomination.  Mr.  Grif- 
fith is  a  member  of  the  Masonic  fraternity.  He  is 
well-known  throughout  this  section  of  country  and 
the  publishers  of  this  volume  would  fail  in  their 
purpose  of  recording  lives  that  have  been  useful 
and  worthy  of  note  were  they  to  omit  mention  of 
Stanwood  Griffith,  who  is  one  of  the  leading  busi- 
ness men  of  the  county. 


H.JOHNSON.  This  gentleman, 
IW|  whose  deatli  took  place  at  his  old  home  in 
/IJ — •$  Palmyra  Township,  this  county,  August  29, 
1885.  was  one  of  the  old  pioneers  whose  history  is 
coincident  with  that  of  the  township  and  county, 
and  a  sketch  of  whose  life  will  prove  interesting, 
not  only  to  those  intimately  associated  with  him 
but  to  all  who  love  to  hear  of  the  early  times  in  the 
Prairie  State. 

Mr.  Johqson  was  born  in  Bainbridge,  Chenango 
County,  N.  Y.,  July  5,  1810.  His  parents  were 
Seth  M.and  Mary  (Hough)  Johnson  of  English  de- 
scent, who  removed  to  New  York  about  1807.  His 
parents  were  natives  of  Connecticut,  coming  of 
good  old  New  England  stock  and  of  English  ances- 
try. Seth  Johnson  was  a  farmer  in  his  native 
State  and  after  his  marriage  and  the  birth  of  two 
children,  emigrated  with  his  family  in  a  very  early 
day  to  Chenango  County,  N.  Y.,  settling  in  the 
heavy  timber  near  Hainbridge.  There  he  and 
his  wife  encountered  the  hardships  of  a  pio- 
neer life  »nd  diligently  toiled  until  they  had  im- 
proved and  cultivated  a  good  farm  on  which  they 
spent  the  remainder  of  their  days, the  father  dying 
at  the  age  of  fifty-seven,  and  his  wife  living  until 
1865,  when  she  too  passed  away  at  the  venerable 
age  of  eighty  years.  He  was  an  active  Whig  in  those 
early  days  and  both  he  and  his  wife  were  consis- 
tent members  of  the  Baptist  Church.  Their  mem- 
ory has  been  handed  down  to  their  descendants  as 
an  honored  couple  worthy  of  all  respect  and 
kindly  remembrance  which  has  been  accorded  to 
them. 


314 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


The  subject  of  this  sketch  WHS  very  young  when 
his  father  became  a  resident  of  New  York  State 
and  in  order  to  make  a  comfortable  home  in  the 
then  unbroken  wilderness  his  assistance  was  re- 
quired as  soon  as  he  was  old  enough,  to  help  his 
father  in  clearing  up  a  farm.  He  left  home  before 
attaining  his  majority,  engaging  in  various  pur- 
suits until  his  marriage,  directly  after  which  he 
came  to  the  West.  His  wife,  whose  maiden  name 
was  Sarah  Johnson,  was  born  in  Blanford,  Hampton 
County,  Mass.,  August  10, 1808.  She  was  a  daugh- 
ter of  Jonas  and  Sallie  (McCray)  Johnson.  At 
the  age  of  nine  years  she  removed  with  her  father's 
family  to  Colesville,  Broome  County,  N.  Y., 
where  she  was  engaged  in  teaching  quite  a  number 
of  years.  She  was  brought  up  in  the  Episcopal 
faith,  and  for  many  years  was  a  member  of  that 
church  at  Harpersville,  N.  Y.  She  was  a  devoted 
wife  and  a  worthy  helpmate  for  her  husband.  She 
was  upwards  of  seventy-six  years  of  age  at  the  time 
of  her  death,  which  occurred  May  15,  1885,  preced- 
ing that  of  her  husband  three  months  and  thirteen 
days.  A  short  sketch  of  her  parents  will  prove 
interesting  in  connection  with  this  sketch. 

Capt.  Jonas  Johnson  was  one  of  the  pioneers  of 
Lee  County,  arriving  in  the  fall  of  1838,  when  he 
was  near  the  age  of  seventy-six  years.  He  was 
born  near  Leominster,  Mass.  November  30,  1762. 
His  remotest  ancestor  is  traced  back  to  Ilervie  Hill. 
County  Kent,  England,  who  came  to  America  in 
163d,  settling  in  Chariest-own,  Mass.  lie  was  the 
son  of  Edward  and  Relief  (Johnson)  Johnson. 
His  first  wife  was  Sarah  Ferguson,  of  Bla-nford, 
Mass.,  who  bore  him  five  children,  b>it  one  of 
whom  is  now  living.  The  second  wife  was  Sallie 
McC'rary  of  Scotch  descent,  whose  ancestors  emi- 
grated from  Scotland  to  the  North  of  Ireland. 
They  were  both  members  of  the  Episcopal  Church. 
Mr.  Johnson  was  the  parent  of  three  children  by 
his  last  marriage,  Sarah,  William  and  Morris,  none 
of  whom  survive.  His  wife  left  him  for  the  silent 
land  three  months  and  thirteen  days  before  his 
own  summons  came.  Mr.  Johnson  died  December 
3,  1842,  having  just  celebrated  his  eightieth  birth- 
day. 

Rev.  William  Y.  Johnson,  a  brother  of  Sarah  and 
a  sou  of  Jonas  and  Sallie  Johnson,  cjnne  to  Illi- 


nois in  1837,  settling  at  Monmouth.  He  came  to 
Lee  County  in  the  fall  of  1838,  and  purchased 
Government  land  near  Sugar  Grove,  built  a  house 
and  opened  up  a  farm.  He  next;  removed  to  China 
Township,  where  he  remained  several  years,  going 
thence  to  Chicago,  where  he  was  ordained  a  min- 
ister of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  which 
service  he  continued  until  his  death.  His  wife 
was  a  daughter  of  Col.  Leman  Mason,  one  of  the 
first  settlers  of  this  county.  Three  children  were 
born  to  this  worthy  couple.  Mr.  Johnson  died  at 
Fan-field,  Iowa.  August  29,  1873,  aged  nearly  six- 
ty-four years.  He  was  buried  in  Oakwood  Ceme- 
tery. Dixon,  III. 

Jonas  Morris,  youngest  son  of  Jonas  and  Sallie 
Johnson,  came  to  Lee  County  with  his  father  in  the 
fall  of  1838.  He  settled  near  Sugar  Grove,  pur- 
chasing Government  land,  building  a  home  and 
developing  the  farm  now  occupied  by  Mrs.  J.  P. 
Goodrich,  of  whom  see  sketch  in  another  part  of 
this  volume.  His  first  wife  was  Elenora  Stratton. 
of  Nineveh,  N.  Y.,  who  bore  him  two  sons,  one 
dying  at  the  age  of  three  years.  His  wife  died 
after  a  brief  illness  October  17,  1842,  followed 
three  weeks  later  by  the  death  of  the  son.  In  1844, 
he  was  united  in  marriage  with  Calista  Mason, 
daughter  of  C'ol.  Leman  and  Elizabeth  Mason. 
Four  children  resulted  from  this  union.  About 
185-1,  Mr.  Johnson  removed  to  Dixon,  111.,  where 
he  conducted  a  hardware  store  for  some  time.  He 
went  West  during  the  Pike's  Peak  gold  excitement, 
being  one  of  the  '59ers,  and  settled  at  Golden. 
Col.,  where  he  kept  an  hotel  for  many  years,  and 
where- he  died  November  8,  1888,  aged  seventy- 
four  years.  He  was  familiarly  known  as  the"Judge" 
and  held  many  positionsof  honor  and  trust  in  the 
city  and  county,  during  a  residence  of  thirty 
years. 

Ebcnezer  II.  Johnson,  the  subject  of  this  sketch, 
came  after  his  marriage  to  this  county  in  1838,  and 
throughout  his  life  time  held  a  prominent  place  in 
its  history.  He  became  the  owner  of  a  fine  prop- 
erty and  carried  on  farming  extensively,  also  being 
much  interested  in  politics  and  taking  an  active 
part  in  all  that  related  to  the  development  and 
lirogress  of  the  county.  He  was  for  several  years 
the  Supervisor  of  his  Township  and  held  other  lo- 


(HE 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


317 


c:il  offices.  lie  was  a  stanch  Republican  and  an 
earnest  member  of  the  Mdhodist  Church.  He  and 
his  wife  were  the  parents  of  seven  children,  two  of 
whom  are  deceased,  namely:  Mary  Janettc,  who 
was  the  wife  of  William  II.  Swigart,  a  farmer  of 
this  township  and  Theodore  who  met  with  a  violent 
deatli  at  the  age  of  twenty-two,  being  assassinated 
by  a  robber  near  Aurora,  Hamilton  County,  Neb. 
The  children  now  living  are  Thomas  II.  who  mar- 
ried Eliza  M.  Rodgers,  t>f  Palmyra  Township,  this 
county,  and  is  now  a  farmer  in  Loveland,  Col.; 
Jane  A.,  who  resides  in  Dixon  with  her  brother, 
Mark,  and  who  is  the  owner  of  the  old  homestead 
in  Palmyra  Township,  which  is  well  improved  and 
over  which  she  exercises  an  intelligent  supervision. 
She  is  a  well-informed  woman  of  much  ability  and 
is  highly  esteemed  in  the  community  in  which  her 
family  have.playedsuelian  important  part;Uaipli  E., 
married  Abbie  Knox,  of  New  York  State,  and  they 
live  in  Palmyra  Township;  Howard  married  Allie 
A.  Rogers,  of  Palmyra  Township,  and  also  resides 
in  that  township;  Marcus  M.  married  Miss  Emma 
('.  Flamm  and  resides  at  Seward,  Neb.,  where  he  is 
carrying  on  a  feed-store. 


ISAAC  EDWARDS.  The  name  of  this  gentle- 
man is  a  familiar  one  to  the  resident  of  Lee 
County,  and  especially  to  the  citizens  of  Am- 
boy,  where  he  has  resided  most  of  the  time  since 
Uf53.  His  financial  ability  is  proved  by  the  fact 
that,  although  he  came  to  this  county  with  limited 
means,  he  is  now  the  owner  of  five  lurnd.red  and 
eighty  acres  of  farming  lands,  and  ten  houses  and 
lots  in  Amboy,  besides  his  livery  and  sales  stables. 
an  ice  house  and  an  hotel.  He  possesses  the  thrift 
and  perseverance  of  a  long  line  of  English  ancest- 
ors, and  to  those  qualities  adds  the  American  charac- 
t  eristics  of  push  and  enterprise,  a  combination  of 
traits  which  ensure  success  to  the  fortunate  posses- 
sor. 

Born  July  :31.  1«2«,  in  Somersetshire,  England. 
Mr.  Edwards  is  the  son  of  Marmaduke  and  Char- 
lotte (Tavener)  Edwards,  his  father  being  a  shoe- 
maker by  trade.  He  was  one  of  six  children,  of 


whom  five  grew  to  mature  years,  although  none 
but  Isaac  ever  came  to  the  United  States.  The 
mother  of  the  family  died  in  1840,  and  the  father 
married  again,  six  children  being  born  of  his  sec- 
ond union.  Two  of  our  subject's  half-brothers 
came  to  this  country — Job,  who  is  located  at  War- 
ren. 111.,  and  William,  of  Araboy.  Marmaduke 
Edwards  lived  to  an  advanced  age  passing  away 
when  eighty  years  old.  At  the  time  of  his  mo- 
ther's death,  our  subject  was  only  twelve  years  old 
and  his  subsequent  education  was  somewhat 
limited,  but  as  he  has  always  been  a  great  reader, 
he  has  become  a  well-informed  man. 

In  1850,  Mr.  Edwards  came  to  the  United  States, 
proceeding  westward  to  Illinois  and  stopping  at 
Elgin,  where  he  worked  on  the  construction  of  the 
Chicago  &  Galena  Railroad.  The  following  winter 
he  found  employment  at  similar  work  in  Indiana 
and  in  the  spring  of  the  ensuing  year  returned  to 

1  this  State,  working  first  at  Rockford  and  later  at 
Pecatonica.  He  had  three  contracts  on  the.  con- 
struction of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  and 
graded  seven  miles  of  that  road.  Next  we  find 
Mr.  Edwards  at  Forreston  whence  he  came  to  Am- 
boy and  worked  on  the  construction  of  the  Illin- 

I  ois  Central  Railroad  until  its  completion.  Before 
coming  to  this  city,  his  work  on  railroads  was 
teaming  and  lie  had  several  teams  in  constant  use. 
After  the  completion  of  the  railroad,  Mr.  Ed- 
wards engaged  in  the  livery  business,  also  in  gen- 
eral teaming,  moving  buildings,  and  as  an  ice 

;  dealer.  Subesquently,  he  had  contracts  on  the 
construction  of  the  Chicago,  Rock  Island  &  Pacific 
Railroad,  the  Kansas  City  Branch  of  the  Chicago 
<fe  Alton,  the  Chicago  &  Pacific,  the  Chicago,  Mil- 
waukee &  St.  Paul,  and  also  in  Iowa,  devoting 
some  ten  years  to  railroad  work.  During  that 
time  his  business  at  Amboy  was  continued  under 
his  supervision.  In  1879,  he  was  elected  County 
Treasurer,  but  the  Board  of  Supervisors  questioned 
the  sufficiency  of  his  bond,  although  his  bonds- 
men were  several  of  the  most  wealthy  farmers  of 
Lee  County.  On  referring  the  case  to  the  State's. 
Attorney,  he  held  that  they  could  not  accept  a 
new  bond  after  the  first  of  December  and  as  they 
had  assembled  at  the  last  moment,  no  time  was  left 
to  make  a  new  bond  and  thus  the  office  was  lost 


:!  i  s 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


In  1882,  Mr.  Edwards  was  elected  Sheriff  of  I^ee 
County  and  during  the  four  years  in  which  lie 
hold  office,  resided  in  Dixon.  In  the  meantime, 
his  son  conducted  the  livery  business  under  the 
direct  oversight  of  Mr.  Edwards,  who  at  the  expira- 
tion of  his  term  of  office  returned  to  Amboy  and 
has  resided  here  since.  A  faithful  member  of  the 
Republican  party,  he  has  always  maintained  the 
greatest  interest  in  the  welfare  of  this  country  and 
during  the  late  war  furnished  the  Government 
with  many  horses.  Since  that  time  he  has  been  an 
extensive  dealer  in  live  stock.  He  has  held  many 
of  the  highest  positions  within  the  gift  of  his  fel- 
low-citizens, has  been  Supervisor  some  ten  years, 
Collector  of  City  Taxes,  and  Mayor  of  Amboy  for 
several  terms. 

The  lady,  who  in  1853  became,  the  wife  of.  Mr. 
Edwards,  was  Miss  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Thomas 
Saul,  of  Forreston,  this  State.  Mrs.  Edwards  was 
born  in  the  North  of  Ireland  and  emigrated  to  the 
United  States  with  her  parents  when  nineteen  years 
old.  She  has  become  the  mother  of  eight  children, 
four  of  whom  died  in  childhood,  the  survivors  be- 
ing— William  .1..  John  II.,  Isaac  F.  and  James  A. 
Possessing  the  genial  and  hospitable  dispositions 
which  win  and  retain  friends,  both  Mr.  Edwards 
and  his  wife  occupy  a  high  place  in  the  regard  of 
the  people  of  Amboy  and  the  surrounding  country. 

A  lithographic  portrait  of  Mr.  Edwards  accom- 
panies this  sketch. 


/^  HRISTI  AN  B.  CLASSEN.  Many  years  have 
(ll  n  Sone  by  with  their  chances  and  changes 
^^/  since  Christian  Classen  lirst  set  foot  within 
the  boundaries  of  this  county.  He  was  then  a  jx>or 
man  who  had  come  here  with  his  young  wife  to 
build  up  a  home.  They  have  worked  long  and 
well  together  and  are  now  very  comfortably  situ- 
ated on  a  good  farm  on  section  28,  South  Dixon 
Township,  that  is  provided  with  neat  buildings 
and  all  the  necessary  improvements  for  carrying 
on  agriculture. 

Mr.  Classen  was  burn  at  Yavrr.  <  lldi-nliurjf,  Ger- 


many, October  4,  1815,  a  son  of  Clause  and  Eliza 
(Varner)  Classen,  who  were  also  natives  of  the 
same  German  village  as  himself,  which  is  situated 
near  the  shores  of  the  North  Sea.  His  parents 
were  well  along  in  years  at  the  time  of  his  birth, 
and  he  was  early  deprived  of  their  watchful  care 
by  their  death,  his  mother  dying  when  he  was  seven 
years  old,  and  his  father  departing  this  life  two 

'  years  later.  He  was  a  farm  laborer,  and  both  he 
and  his  wife  were  upright,  God-fearing  people  and 
conscientious  members  of  the  Lutheran  Church. 

Our  subject  is  the  only  survivor  of  seven  chil- 
dren. His  brother  John,  who  died  some  years  ago 
in  Palmyra  Township,  where  he  had  been  a  well- 
known  resident  for  a  long  time,  had  married  in 
Oldenburg,  and  after  the  death  of  his  wife  came 
to  this  country  with  his  two  children,  who  grew  to 
maturity  in  this  county.  His  daughter, Eliza, sub- 
sequently died  in  her  home  in  South  Dakota,  near 
Yankton.  His  son  John,  who  is  married,  lives  on 
a  farm  in  Marshall  County,  Iowa. 

He  of  whom  we  write  grew  up  in  the  town  of 
his  birth  and  in  due  time  took  unto  himself  a  wife, 
marrying  the  daughter  of  a  neighbor,  Sophia  Chris,- 

I  tians,  who  was  born  July  14,  1823,  in  Oldenburg, 
coming  of  an  old  German  family  of  that  province, 
all  of  whom  lived  and  died  there  except  herself. 
A  short  time  after  marriage  Mr.  Classen  and  his 
bride  decided  to  try  their  fate  in  the  United  States 
of  America,  whither  so  many  of  their  compatriots 
had  betaken  themselves  for  the  betterment  of  their 
fortunes  from  time  immemorial.  June  23,  1852, 
they  embarked  on  a  sailing-vessel  at  Bremer 
Haven,  and  on  the  1 1th  of  August  landed  at  New 
York  City.  They  came  thence  to  this  State,where 

i    they  have  since    lived.     He  had  but  little  means 

I  with  which  to  begin  life  in  a  strange  land,  but  he 
and  his  wife  had  health  and  strength  on  their  side, 
and  patiently  and  courageously  bore  the  hardships 

!  that  fell  to  their  lot,  and  which  were  shared  by 
the  pioneers  in  many  cases.  For  some  years  they 
lived  at  Sugar  Grove,  Palmyra  Township,  and 
then  for  four  years  Mr.  Classen  was  engaged  in 
farming  in  Whiteside  County.  Returning  to  this 
county  he  purchased  his  present  farm  in  South 
Dixon  Township  in  1869,  and  now  has  it  in  excel- 
lent condition,  everything  about  the  place  in  good 


PORTRAIT  AM)   BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


319 


order  and  betokening  the  best  of  care.  The  fields 
arc  under  good  tillage  and  the  pastures  give  sup- 
port to  stock  of  approved  grades. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Classen  are  people  of  true  piety, 
consistent  members  of  the  Lutheran  Church,  with 
which  they  have  been  connected  from  tlieir  earliest 
daysand  tlieir  Christianity  enters  into  tlieir  every- 
day lives,  enabling  them  to  bear  trouble  when  it  has 
come  to  them,  and  making  them  kind,  neighborly 
and  obliging  to  all.  Mr.  Classen  was  formerly  a 
Republican,  but  has  transferred  his  allegiance  to 
the  Democratic  party,  believing  its  principles  l>est 
for  the  guidance  of  the  country  of  his  adoption,  to 
which  he  is  sincerely  attached. 

Death  early  took  from  our  subject  and  his  wife 
their  three  children,  but  they  were  sustained  and 
soothed  in  their  sorrow  by  their  firm  belief  in  the 
life  immortal  when  they  shall  all  be  gathered  to- 
gether in  one  household  never  to  be  separated  again. 
Herman  died  at  the  age  of  eight  months;  Eliza, 
aged  nine  months  and  Lena  when  six  years  old. 


(JL  UGH  FIT/PATRICK.  May  Township  is 
jjfji)  settled  principally  by  people  who  were 
^yg  born  on  the  Emerald  Isle,  and  when  the 
(jjjj)  question  is  asked,  who  is  their  leading 
citizen,  the  answer  invariably  is,  Hugh  Fitz- 
patrick.  And  verily  this  is  so.  He  is  not  only 
one  of  its  foremost  farmers  and  stock-raisers,  but 
he  is  first  among  its  office-holders  as  its  represen- 
tative on  the  Lee  County  Board  of  Supervisors. 

Mr.  Kit/. patrick  was  Iwrn  in  County  Cavan,  Ire- 
land, in  the  month  of  April,  1823.  His  parents 
were  James  and  Mary '  (McBride)  Fitzpatrick. 
Both  were  life-long  residents  of  their  native  land, 
the  former  dying  in  1848,  and  the  latter  in  183;"). 
There  were  three  children  in  the  family,  and  all 
came  to  the  United  States.  Bernard  enlisted  dur- 
iny  the  War  to  tight  for  the  stars  and  stripes  in 
the  Sixteenth  New  York  Heavy  Artillery,  and 
yielded  up  his  life  for  his  adopted  country  while 
in  the  service.  Ann  came  to  America  in  184T>  and 
was  married  in  [lollidaysburg.  Pa.,  to  .John  Keefer. 
She  is  now  a  widow  and  resides  in  Chicago. 


Our  subject  is  the  oldest  of  the  family.  He  was 
reared  to  the  life  of  a  farmer  on  his  native  soil, 
and  in  the  opening  years  of  his  manhood  sailed 
away  from  the  Old  Country  to  try  life  in  the  New 
World.  He  landed  at  New  Orleans  after  a  voyage 
of  several  weeks  and  made  a  stay  of  four  months 

I    in   the  Crescent  City.     lie   subsequently  wended 

i  his  way  to  Brooine  County,  N.  Y.,  and  for  some 
years  thereafter  was  connected  with  the  construc- 

I   tion   of   railways  in  various   capacities.     He  was 

i  first  employed  on  the  New  York  and  Erie  Railway 
when  that  was  being  built,  and  later  was  engaged 
on  the  Pennsylvania  Central  Railway  as  foreman 

'   of  a  construction  gang. 

Nearly  ten  years  of  his  life  was  given  to  that 
kind  of  work,  and  then  Mr.  Fitzpatrick  joined  the 
pioneer  farmers  on  the  prairies  of  Northern  Illi- 
nois, coming  to  Lee  County  in  1857  and  locating 

[  in  May  Township  upon  the  place  where  he"  still 
resides.  lie  at  first  purchased  only  eighty  acres  of 

!  land,  but  is  now  the  owner  of  the  south  half  of 
section  29,  and  has  become  one  of  the  leading 
stock-raisers  of  this  section,  his  rich  pastures  afford- 
ing sustenance  for  fine  herds  of  cattle  and  horses 
of  the  best  grades. 

Mr.  Fitzpatrick  was  happily  married  in  1850  to 
Miss  Ann  DeLacy,  and  for  more  than  forty  years 
thev  have  been  together  through  the  sunshine  and 
shadows  of  a  wedded  life,  that  has  brought  them, 
much  joy.  Grief  has  also  fallen  to  their  lot  in  the 
death  of  their  two  children — James,  who  was  born 
in  October,  1850,  and  died  in  1889  in  Montana; 
and  Bernard,  who  was  born  in  January,  1852,  and 
died  in  infancy.  Mrs.  Fitzpatrick  is  also,  like  her 
husband,  a  native  of  County  Cavan,  Ireland.  She 
came  to  this  country  when  a  young  woman,  brav- 
ing the  dangers  of  the  ocean  alone. 

Our  subject  is  a  good  example  of  our  so-called 
self-made  men,  as  he  began  life  in  this  country 
under  circumstances  that  would  have  been  de- 
pressing to  any  of  a  less  buoyant  and  self-reliant 
nature.  When  he  landed  at  New  Orleans  two 
cents  was  all  the  money  that  he  had  in  his  posses- 
sion. But  lie  had 'tetter  capital  in  his  strength. 
courage  Mini  brain,  and  has  made  his  way  success- 
fully to  a  competency.  His  active,  enterprising 
spirit,  his  good  sense  and  native  ability,  together 


320 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


with  his  ready  tact  and  his  geniality,  early  elicited 
the  favor  of  his  fellow-townsmen,  who  have  re- 
peatedly called  him  to  fill  local  offices,  and  lie  has 
held  some  of  them  twenty  years.  He  has  been  a 
member  of  the  County  Hoard  of  Supervisors  no 
less  than  ten  years,  and  in  that  position  as  in  all 
others,  has  nobly  fulfilled  his  duties  as  a  public- 
spirited  citizen.  Religiously  he  is  a  Roman  Cath- 
olic and  is  an  exemplary  member  of  his  church. 


w.  HITLBEKT.    Although  death 

has  laid  its  chill  hand  upon  our  subject  and 
has  stilled  his  pulse,  there  is  still  an  ema- 
nation of  his  spirit  breathing  out  remembrances  of 
the  good  that  he  has  done,  and  examples  that 
might  well  be  emulated  by  the  young.  Mr.  IIul- 
bert  was  born  in  Bradford  County,  Pa.,  January 
24,  183(5,  and  was  six  years  of  age  when  he  was 
brought  by  his  parents,  Elias  and  Hannah  Ilulbert 
to  this  county.  He  grew  to  manhood  in  Bradford 
Township  where  the  father  located  on  coming  to  the 
county  and  engaged  in  cultivating  the  soil  as  his 
life  occupation.  He  devoted  his  time  and  atten- 
tion to  that  pursuit  very  successfully  until  his  death 
which  occurred  .Ian nary  5, 1888.  Mr.  Ilulbert  was 
married  in  Dixon,  September  29,  185D,  the  lady  of 
his  choice  being  Miss  Loraine  L.  Evitts.  She  was 
the  daughter  of  Ralph  B.  and  Elizabeth  (Bosworth) 
Evitts,  the  father  a  native  of  Pennsylvania  and 
the  mother  born  in  New  York.  Her  parents  came 
to  this  county  from  New  York  and  settled  in 
Bradford  Township,  where  they  made  their  home 
until  their  death.  They  were  the  parents  of  five 
children,  three  daughters  and  two  sons,  of  whom 
Mrs.  Ilulbert  was  the  second  in  order  of  birth. 

The  wife  of  our  subject  was  born  near  Buffalo, 
N.  Y.,  July  28,  1836,  and  was  only  six  years  of 
age  at  the  timelier  parents  removed  to  this  county, 
where  she  received  a  good  knowledge  of  books  and 
grew  to  a  useful  womanhood.  She  made  her  home 
under  the  parental  roof,  where  she  received  a  care- 
ful training  by  her  most  excellent  mother,  until 
her  marriage  with  our  subject.  To  them  were  born 
three  children:  Harvey  1)..  who  married  Ilattie, 


Ilegart;  Charles  M.  married  Sarah  Hegart,  and 
|  Mattie  .1.,  who  is  Hie  wife  of  Frank  E.  Frost,  well 
j  known  in  this  section. 

Mr.  Hulbert,  of  this  sketch,  was  honored  by  his 
fellow-townsmen  with  many  positions  of  responsi- 
bility and  trust,  and  in  all  of  them  gave  the  utmost 
satisfaction.  Among  them  we  mention  that  of 
Assessor,  Collector  of  his  township,  etc.  In  politics 
he  was  a  lirm  adherent  of  Republican  principles 
and  hence  always  cast  his  vote  in  favor  of  that 
party's  candidates.  Since  the  death  of  her  hus- 
band Mrs.  Hulbert  has  conducted  the  estate  which 
fell  to  her  and  has  thus  proved  her  efficiency  and 
ability  to  manage  a  farm  and  build  up  a  business 
which  is  both  profitable  and  pleasant.  The  farm 
numbers  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  and  is  cul- 
tivated in  such  a  manner  as  to  be  exceedingly  pro- 
ductive. Prior  to  his  death  our  subject  introduced 
the  Bradford  Mutual  Insurance  Company  in  Lee 
County'and  acted  as  its  Treasurer  and  agent,  hav- 
ing built  up  a  thriving  business  in  that  line. 


FAHRAND,  County  Judge  of 
County,  has  risen  to  his  present  dis- 
tinguished position  as  a  member  of  the 
judiciary  of  this  State  while  yet  a  compara- 
tively young  man,  by  the  force  of  an  invincible 
will,  a  strong  character,  and  untiring  devotion  to 
his  profession,  and  through  rare  personal  merit. 
He  was  born  in  St.  Joseph  Township,  Allen  County, 
I  nd.,  October  1,  1852.  His  father,  who  bears  the 
same  name  as  himself,  is  a  native  of  Oneida  County, 
N.  Y.  When  a  young  man  he  left  his  early  home 
an(J  cast  his  lot  with  the  pioneers  of  Indiana.  He 
bought  a  tract  of  partly  improved  land  in  St. 
Joseph  Township,  and  lived  there  some  years.  He 
then  sold  that  place  and  bought  property  in  Perry 
Township,  of  which  he  is  still  a  resident.  In  1888 
he  was  bereft  of  the  companionship  of  his  wife  by 
her  death.  She  was  also  a  native  of  Oneida 
County,  N.  Y..  and  her  maiden  name  was  Delilah 
Cook. 

He  of  whom  we  write,  left  the  parental  home  at 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


321 


the  early  age  of  eleven  years,  and  from  that  time 
earned  his  own  living,  displaying  an  independence 
of  character  and  a  reliance  upon  self  far  beyond 
his  years.  He  worked  on  the  farm  by  the  month 
in  the  summer  season,  and  in  winter  did  chores 
for  his  board  while  he  attended  school  and  devoted 
all  his  spare  time  to  his  books,  as  he  was  ambitions 
to  secure  an  education  that  would  enable  him  to 
win  a  name  and  a  place  for  himself  in  the  world. 
He  remained  in  his  native  county  until  lie  was 
fifteen  years  old,  and  he  then  came  to  this  State, 
and  has  ever  since  been  a  resident  of  Lee  County. 
He  continued  his  old  employment  as  a  farm  laborer 
in  the  summer  seasons,  and  devoted  his  winters  to 
attending  school  until  he  was  eighteen  years  old. 
At  that  age  he  began  teaching  in  Viola  Township, 
and  taught  school  seven  years.  In  1877  he  was 
called  to  public  life  by  his  appointment  as  Deputy 
Sheriff  by  J.  N.  Hill.  He  came  to  Dixon  to  assume 
the  duties  of  his  position,  and  soon  commenced 
the  study  of  law  with  A.  C.  Bard  well.  He  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  in  1879,  and  formed  a  partner- 
ship with  Mr.  Bardwell,  with  whom  he  practiced 
until  1882.  He  rose  rapidly  in  his  profession  be- 
coming in  a  few  years  a  leading  lawyer  of  this 
section  of  the  State,  and  in  1882  he  was  elected 
County  Judge,  was  re-elected  in  1886,  and  again 
in  1890,  and  is  now  serving  his  third  term  in  that 
office.  He  was  selected  for  this  high  position,  as  a 
lawyer  possessing  an  accurate  knowledge  of  the 
common  law,  and  as  being  richly  endowed  with 
those  elements  of  character  that  peculiarly  fit  him 
to  preside  over  a  court  of  justice.  And  thus 
when  he  was  scarcely  thirty  years  of  age  he  had 
won  his  way  to  the  bench,  and  has  since  gained 
recognition  as  one  of  our  ablest  judges.  Other 
honors  have  been  conferred  upon  him.  and  at  one 
time  he  was  elected  Mayor  of  Dixon.  Politically, 
he  is  a  Republican.  In  his  social  relations  he  is  a 
member  of  Brooklyn  Lodge,  A.  F.  <fe  A.  M.;  of 
Nachusa  Chapter,  No.  56,  R.  A.  M.:  Lodge  No.  137, 
A.O.U.  W.;  and  of  Camp  No.  56,  M.  W.  A. 

Judge  Farrand  and  Miss  C.  J.  Marsh  were  united 
in  marriage  in  1873.  They  have  an  attractive 
home  wherein  they  dispense  a  charming  hospitality 
with  true  courtesy  and  a  kindly  consideration  for 
others  that  mark  their  intercourse  with  all,  whether 


friend  or  stranger.  They  have  one  son  living, 
Ernest  W.  Their  son,  Wilbur  A.,  died  at  the  age 
of  ten  years.  Mrs.  Farrand  is,  like  her  husband,  a 
native  of  Indiana,  and  she  is  the  daughter  of 
Harry  Marsh. 


JONATHAN  DEPUY.  This  well-known  and 
highly  respected  citizen  of  Nachusa  Town- 
ship died  at  his  pleasant  home  on  section  36, 
June  16,  1891.  lie  made  this  county  his 
home  in  1844,  hence  was  oile  of  the  ve^  earliest 
settlers  and  has  witnessed  the  marvelous  growth 
of  the  country  from  a  vast  wilderness  into  beauti- 
ful and  productive  farms  and  thriving  villages. 
He  has  improved  two  good  farms  and  was  a  hard- 
working and  intelligent  farmer. 

Mr.  Depuy  was  born  October  2, 1816,  in  Delaware, 
and  accompanied  .his  parents  on  their  removal  to 
Lux.erne  County,  Pa.,  being  at  that  time  only  four 
years  of  age.  The  father  engaged  in  agricultural 
pursuits  and  with  his  wife,  passed  his  last  days  in 
the  Keystone  State,  dying  at  an  advanced  age, 
greatly  respected  by  all  who  knew  him. 

Our  subject  was  reared  to  the  life  of  a  farmer 
and  educated  in  the  common  schools  of  his  neigh- 
borhood. When  establishing  a  home  of  his  own; 
he  was  married  in  July,  1837,  to  Miss  Sallie  A. 
Klintop,  a  native  of  Luzerne  County,  Pa.  Mrs. 
|  Depuy  was  of  German  ancestry  but  of  American 
parents,  and  received  a  good  education  in  Penn- 
sylvania. She  became  the  mother  of  eight  children. 
On  their  removal  to  I  llinois  they  settled  in  Nachusa, 
this  county,  where  they  labored  industriously  until 
November  30,  1866,  when  Mrs.  Depuy  was  called 
to  her  long  home.  She  was  born  January  19,  1816, 
and  during  her  life  was  an  active  worker  in  the 
Lutheran  Church. 

Jonathan  Depuy  was  a  second  time  married, 
December  12, 1867,  to  Miss  Tena  Bauman,  who  was 
Horn  in  Somerset  County,  Pa.,  May  9,  1826.  Their 
marriage  was  celebrated  in  Nachusa  Township, 
where  they  still  make  their  home.  Mrs.  Depuy 
was  the  daughter  of  Daniel  and  Katie  (Poorbaugh) 
Bauman,  natives  of  the  Keystone  State  and  of 


PORTRAIT  AND  T.IOOKU  HIC'AL   RECORD. 


German  ancestry.  They  followed  the  life  of  far- 
mers in  Luzerne  County,  Pa.,  and  died  in  Somerset 
County,  near  Berlin,  when  past  three-score  and 
ten  years.  In  their  religious  connection  they  were 
members  of  the  German  Reformed  Church.  Mr. 
Hauman  was  a  patriot  in  the  War  of  1812,  and  in 
his  death  the  county  lost  one  of  her  best  citizens. 

Mrs.  TenaDepuy  was  the  ninth  in  order  of  birth 
in  a  family  of  twelve  children  born  to  her  parents, 
all  of  whom  are  living  with  the  exception  of  four, 
and  most  of  them  make  their  homes  in  Somerset 
County,  Pa.  Our  subject's  wife  remained  at  home 
until  her  marriage  with  Mr.  Depuy,  in  the  mean- 
time receiving  a  good  education  and  being  trained 
in  all  those  duties  which  go  to  make  a  first-class 
housekeeper.  Since  the  death  of  her  husband  she 
has  come  into  possession  of  the  beautiful  estate  of 
eighty  acres  where  she  makes  her  home.  She  is  a 
member  of  the  Lutheran  Church  as  was  also  her 
husband. 

By  his  former  marriage  our  subject  became  the 
father  of  eight  children,  four  of  whom  were  born 
prior  to  their  removal  to  Illinois.  Three  are  now 
deceased,  two  dying  in  infancy  unnamed.  We 
make  the  following  mention  of  those  living:  Alex 
makes  his  home  in  Dixon,  where  he  is  janitor  of 
the  courthouse  and  Presbyterian  Church.  He  mar- 
ried Mary  Bittner.  a  native  of  Somerset  County, 
Pa.;  Rosanna  is  the  wife  of  John  Heller,  a  farmer 
of  Henson  County,  S.  Dak.;  Fidelia  is  Mrs.  Robinson, 
and  makes  her  home  in  Chicago;  Jane  is  the  wife 
of  Fred  Eggert,  and  they  reside  on  a  farm  in  Mis- 
souri; Miriam  is  the  wife  of  Charles  Hess,  and  they 
reside  in  Pennsylvania. 


EDWARD  B.  KNIGHT,  JR.,  has  made  himself 
a  thorough  master  of  his  calling  as  a  farmer, 
conducts  his  farming  interests  in  a  system- 
atic and  business  like  way,  and  his  farm  on  sections 
15  and  22,  South  Dixon  Township,  compares  favor- 
ably   with    other    fine    farms    in    its  vicinity.     In 
him  we  have  a  representative  of  the  vigorous  New 
England  stock  that  has    done   such  conspicuous 
service  in  reclaiming  the  \Vestern  wilds.   Mis  ances- 


tors were  among  the  colonists  of  Massachusetts 
and  Connecticut,  and  the  city  of  Worcester,  in  the 
old  Bay  State,  is  his  birthplace,  December  21, 1850, 
being  the  date  of  his  birth. 

Our  subject's  father,  who  bears  the  same  name 
as  himself,  was  horn  in  Worcester  County,  Mass., 
and  is  a  son  of  John  Knight,  who  was  also  a  native 
of  that  State,  and  for  many  years  was  a  prominent 
citizen  of  Worcester,  where  he  held  a  position  as 
secretary  and  clerk  of  a  railway  company,  and  he 
died  in  that  city  at  an  advanced  age.  Edward  B. 
Knight.  Sr.,  grew  up  in  the  city  of  Worcester, 
where  he  was  given  good  educational  advantages. 
He  was  married  in  Woodstock,  Conn.,  to  Miss 
Mary  A.  Stone,  who  is  a  native  of  that  State,  of 
which  her  parents  were  life-long  residents,and  she 
also  traces  her  ancestry  back  to  some  of  the  old 
Colonial  families  of  New  England.  After  the 
birth  of  their  only  two  children — our  subject  and 
his  sister,  Clara  J.,  widow  of  Joseph  B.  Peacock, 
now  residing  at  Dixon — Mr.,  and  Mrs.  Knight 
came  to  this  county  from  their  old  home  in  Wor- 
cester in  1854,  and  after  a  short  residence  in  Am- 
boy  Township,  located  in  the  township  of  South 
Dixon.  Later  they  removed  to  Dixon,  where  they 
are  still  living  an  active  life,  and  are  well  known 
and  honored  for  their  sterling  merits.  They  are 
members  in  high  standing  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  and  their  names  are  associated  with  all 
who  are  an  influence  for  good  in  their  community. 

The  first  five  years  of  the  life  of  our  subject 
were  spent  in  his  native  city,  and  in  its  public 
schools  he  laid  the  foundation  of  a  practical  edu- 
cation. After  the  family  came  to  this  county  he 
acquired  that  knowledge  of  farming  and  that  true 
interest  in  agriculture  that  led  him  to  adopt  it 
for  his  life-work.  In  1884  he  bought  the  farm  in 
South  Dixon  Township  upon  which  he  has  since 
lived.  It  has  an  area  of  one  hundred  and  thirty 
acres  of  soil  that  is  very  fertile,  and  produces 
abundantly  all  the  crops  that  are  commonly 
raised  in  this  climate,  besides  affording  pasturage 
fora  goodly  amount  of  stock,  and  its  improve- 
ments are  first-class. 

To  the  lady  who  presides  over  liis  home,  for- 
merly Miss  Emma  B.  Woodruff,  Mr.  Knight  was 
married  in  this  township.  Mrs.  Knight  was  born 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


in  Grant  County,  Wis.,  January  18,  1855,  and  is  a 
(laughter  of  E.  J.  and  Adaline  (Doty)  Woodruff, 
who  are  highly  respected  residents  of  Dixon.  Mr. 
Woodruff  is  a  native  of  New  York,  born  of  Massa- 
chusetts parentage,  and  is  a  lineal  descendant 
of  Pilgrims  of  the  "Mayflower."  He  and  his  wife 
were  married  in  Wisconsin,  whence  they  came  to 
Illinois  in  1865.  They  lived  in  Lee  County  until 
1883,  and  then  spent  a  few  years  in  South  Dakota. 
Returning  to  this  county  they  have  since  made 
their  home  in  Dixon,  where  they  are  serenely  pass- 
ing their  old  age.  Mr.  Woodruff  is  a  farmer.  He 
holds  to  the  Republican  party  in  politics,  as  does 
his  son-in-law,  of  whom  we  write. 

The  pleasant  home  circle  of  our  subject  'and  his 
wife  has  not  been  exempt  from  the  sorrows  that 
falls  to  the  lot  of  all,  as  death  has  taken  from  them 
two  of  their  children,  Frank  L.,  :md  Georgia  L. 
Three  children  still  gladden  their  household  by  their 
presence  —  Lucy  E.,  Laura  E.,  and  Olive  A. 


JOHN  F.  STAGER.     It  is  sometimes  thought 
by  superficial  people  who  know  nothing  of 
agriculture,  that  no  special  intelligence  is 
required  to  till  the  soil,  and   indeed,  if  the 
mechanical  work   were  all   that    is  necessary  this 
would  be  so,  but,  as  in  every  branch   of  industry, 
the  thoughtful  and  logical  carry  out  theories  that 
have  been  proved  by  experiment  and  science  to  l>e 
advantageous  and  to  the  profit  of  the  farmer.     He 
of  whom  we  write  is  of  the  class  who  believes  in 
progress  and  advancement.     He  is  the  owner  of 
a  fine  farm  of   three  hundred  and  sixteen  acres, 
on  section    22,    Palmyra   Township,    where  he   is 
living  a  retired  life  from  the  active  duties  of  farm 
work. 

The  estate  of  Mr.  Stager  is  supplied  with  all 
needful  farm  buildings  which  are  the  work  of  his 
own  hands,  he  being  a  mechanic  as  well  as  a 
farmer.  He  began  his  active  life  as  an  agricultur- 
ist in  Palmyra  Township  in  18<>1  or  18(52,  and 
since  that  time  has  been  wonderfully  successful, 
having  started  for  himself  a  poor  man,  and  his 
possessions  are  the  direct  result  of  his  good  man- 


agement and  perseverance.  He  came  to  Dixon  in 
1856,  and  to  the  State  in  1852,  locating  first  at 
Cedarville,  Stephenson  County,  where  he  learned 
the  trade  of  a  carpenter.  He  worked  at  his  trade 
there  until  1855,  when  he  went  to  Iowa,  but  only 
remained  there  a  few  months,  however,  when 
he  returned  to  this  State  and  located  in  Lee 
County. 

Our  subject  was  born  in  Lebanon  County,  Pa., 
in  1833,  and  is  the  son  of  John  and  Sarah  (Fensler) 
Stager,  also  natives  of  the  Keystone  State,  the  for- 
mer tracing  his  ancestry  back  to  Switzerland  and 
the  mother  to  England.  The  parents  were  far- 
mers by  occupation,  in  Lebanon  County, and  lived 
and  died  in  Shaffertown,  Heidleburg  Township,  at 
the  respective  ages  of  eighty-three  and  seventy- 
five  years.  They  were  active  members  of  the 
German  Reformed  Church,  and  were  highly  es- 
teemed by  all  who  knew  them. 

Ten  children  were  included  in  the  parental 
family,  of  whom  John  F.  was  the  fourth  in  order 
of  birth.  He  was  married  in  Palmyra  Township, 
this  County,  in  1859,  on  the  farm  he  now  owns, 
the  lady  of  his  choice  being  Miss  Harriet  Seavey. 
Mrs.  Stager  was  born  in  Sandwich  Township  in 
1839,  and  was  brought  by  her  parents,  Jesse  and 
Sarah  (Norris)  Seavey,  to  this  county  early  in  the 
'40s,  where  they  located  on  an  unbroken  tract  of 
land  which  had  been  taken  up  from  the  Govern- 
ment, and  which  the  father  brought  to  a  good 
state  of  cultivation.  They  made  that  their  home 
until  1862,  when  the  father  died  in  middle  life. 
The  mother  is  still  living  at  the  advanced  age 
of  seventy-eight  years,  and  makes  her  home  in 
Cedar  Rapids,  Iowa,  with  a  daughter,  Mrs.  Joseph 
Renchin. 

Mrs.  Harriet  Stager  passed  from  this  life  Decem- 
ber 1,  1887,  at  Pasadena,  Cal.,  whither  she  had 
gone  hoping  to  regain  her  health.  Mr.  Stager 
realizes  that  he  owes  much  of  his  success  in  life 
to  the  good  management  and  advice  of  his  faith- 
ful wife.  She  had  become  the  mother  of  four 
children,  only  one  of  whom  is  living  at  the  present 
time.  Lillian  became  Mrs.  E.  B.  Smith,  and  died 
when  young;  John  died  when  sixteen  years  of  age; 
Lloyd  when  two  years.  Hattie  LI,  who  was  born 
.January  3(1.  1884,  is  residing  with  her  father. 


324 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


In  politics,  Mr.  Stager  is  a  true-blue  Republic-Mil, 
and  his  influence  for  good  is  felt  in  the  commun- 
ity, where  he  is  respected  for  his  sterling  character 
and  true  kindness. 


|IL  ENRY  SANDERS  is  one  of  the  pioneers  of 
IjJ)  Lee  County, -whose  wise  forethought,  active 
Isffis  enterprise  and  practical  skill  in  conducting 
(l|p  the  business  of  farming  and  stock-raising 
made  him  a  valuable  agent  in  developing  the  rich 
agricultural  resources  of  this  part  of  Illinois.  He 
is  now  living  in  honorable  retirement  at  Franklin 
Grove,  although  he  still  retains  large  landed  in- 
terests. 

Mr.  Sanders  was  born  in  Adams  County,  Pa., 
March  6, 1826,  to  Henry  and  Mary  (Buck)  Sanders. 
who  were  also  natives  of  the  Keystone  State  and 
were  of  German  ancestry.  His  paternal  grand- 
father was  wealthy,  but  his  estate  was  squandered 
by  administrators,  and  the  father  of  our  subject 
was  left  a  poor  orphan  to  struggle  with  adversity 
as  best  he  might.  While  yet  in  the  prime  of  life 
his  useful  career  was  cut  short  by  his  death  in 
Adams  County,  May  24,  1834.  He  was  the  father 
of  five  children,  as  follows:  Peter,  who  died  in 
this  county;  Frank,  who  resides  in  Harrisburg, 
Pa.;  Henry;  Elizabeth,  wife  of  James  Toper,  of 
Adams  County,  Pa.,  and  Christina,  wife  of  Mr. 
Hodeyschell,  of  Adams  County,  111.  The  mother 
of  our  subject  married  a  second  time,  becoming 
the  wife  of  Jesse  P.  Toper,  and  she  died  in  Penn- 
sylvania May  24,  1874.  She  had  two  children  by 
her  second  marriage — Mary  A.,  wife  of  Joseph 
Smith,  of  Adams  County,  Pa.,  and  Kate,  wife  of 
Frank  Ackenrode,  of  Adams  County,  Pa. 

Our  subject  was  reared  on  a  farm  in  his  native 
State.  At  the  age  of  nineteen  years  he  set  out  in 
the  world  to  try  life  on  his  own  account,  being 
well-equipped  to  make  his  own  way,  as  he  was 
Mi-live,  independent,  frugal  and  prudent,  and  pos- 
sessed, withal,  an  enterprising  spirit,  seconded  by 
good  habits  and  a  capacity  to  do  well  whatever  he 
undertook.  It  was  at  that  time,  in  the  year  1845, 


tliMt  he  paid  his  first  visit  to  this  State  and  county. 
He  staid  here  a  year,  and  then  returned  to  Penn- 
sylvania whence  he  went  to  Washington  County. 
Md.,  where  he  worked  for  a  time.  Coming  back- 
to  Lee  County  in  the  spring  of  1848  he  took  up 
his  residence  in  a  cabin  at  Franklin  Grove,  and 
when  the  land  came  into  market  in  1852,  he  pur- 
chased a  quarter  of  section  29,  Ashton  Township, 
of  which  he  thus  became  an  early  settler,  and  he 
played  an  important  part  in  its  upbuilding.  He 
assiduously  tilled  the  soil  and  raised  stock  exten- 
sively for  manj'  years.  As  the  years  passed  by  his 
property  increased  both  in  amount  and  value, 
and  he  became  one  of  the  wealthy  men  of  his 
township.  In  November,  1888,  he  abandoned  farm- 
ing to  spend  his  remaining  years  in  well-earned 
retirement  in  the  enjoyment  of  a  handsome  income, 
and  since  then  has  made  his  home  in  his  substan- 
tial, well-appointed  residence  in  the  town  of  Frank- 
lin Grove.  During  his  active  business  life  he  in- 
vested his  money  judiciously,  and  still  owns  over 
six  hundred  acres  of  land  on  which  he  has  made 
good  improvements. 

When  lie  was  married  in  1851  to  Rachel  ('. 
Morgan,  it  was  our  subject's  good  fortune  to  secure 
one  of  life's  choicest  blessings,  a  true  wife,  who 
has  been  to  him  a  faithful  helpmate.  She  is  an 
exemplary  Christian,  and  for  thirty  years  has  been 
a  consistent  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church.  Her  marriage  with  Mr.  Sanders  has 
brought  them  six  children,  of  whom  the  following 
is  the  record:  Winfield  B.,  born  August  27,  1852, 
is  a  resident  of  Ida  County,  Iowa;  Joseph  was  born 
March  9,  1855;  Alice,  born  October  3,  1856,  mar- 
ried Wilton  Buck,  and  died  August  26,  1879; 
Milton  J.,  born  November  11,  1857,  died  December 
31,  1880;  Samantha  J.,  born  November  16,  1859, 
is  the  wife  of  Cornelius  Sanders;  John  was  born 
July  4,1861;  Edward,  July  27,  1867.  and  Luoy 
MM.V  29.  1870. 

Mrs.  Sanders  comes  of  one  of  the  old  pioneer 
families  of  Illinois,  and  is  a  native  of  the  State, 
born  in  Vermilion  County  March  12.  18:55.  Her 
parents,  Edward  and  Nancy  (Stull)  Morgan,  were 
early  settlers  of  that  county,  where  they  located 
in  1829,  coming  to  this  State  from  Ohio,  of  which 
they  were  natives*.  In  IK.'H!  they  removed  to  Lee 


' 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


County  and  were  pioneers  of  Franklin  Grove, 
where  Mr.  Morgan  improved  a  choice  farm.  I  It- 
was  yet  in  life's  prime  when  lie  died  November 
2,  1847,  at  the  age  of  forty-two  years.  His  wife 
survived  him  until  April  10,  186:5,  and  then  passed 
away  at  the  age  of  fifty-eight 'years.  Of  their  nine 
children,  these  six  are  living — Williomine,  Martin, 
Rachel  ('.,  John  W.,Mary  E.  and  Sarah  J. 

All  honor  is  due  to  our  subject  as  a  self-made 
man,  who  can  point  with  true  pride  to  what  lie  has 
accomplished,  and  it  gives  us  pleasure  to  place 
this  brief  record  of  his  life  on  these  pages,  as  it 
should  be  preserved  for  the  benefit  of  his  children 
and  children's  children  unto  the  latest  generation. 
He  was  but  a  boy  when  he  began  to  earn  his  own 
living,  and  though  his  wages  were  only  #7  a  month 
by  the  time  he  was  twenty  years  old  he  had 
saved  $200.  He  attained  success  in  his  chosen 
career  by  fair  means,  and  during  his  many  yeais' 
residence  in  this  county  has  always  shown  himself 
to  be  entirely  worthy  of  the  high  estimation  in 
which  he  is  held  by  his  many  friends  and  acquain- 
tances. Mr.  Sanders  is  possessed  of  an  abundance 
of  sturdy  common  sense,  his  judgment  is  sound 
and  clear,  and  he  is  perfectly  able  to  form  opinions 
of  his  own  on  all  subjects  with  which  he  is  conver- 
sant. He  was  formerly  a  Republican  as  regards  his 
politics,  but  he  is  now  independent,  giving  his 
support  to  whichever  party  or  candidate  for  office 
that  he  deems  best.  lie  is  public-spirited,  and  is 
always  heartily  in  favor  of  whatever  scheme  is  ad- 
vanced to  promote  the  interests  of  his  adopted 
country. 


ATIIANIEL  G.  II.  MOHRI  LL.  This  name 
is  widely  known  and  honored  throughout 
Lee  and  adjoining  counties  as  that  of  a 
prominent  pioneer  of  this  part  of  Illinois,  who  was 
long  and  intimately  associated  with  the  rise  and 
growth  of  Dixon.  For  nearly  half  a  century 
lie  made  this  city  his  home,  and  was  a  conspic- 
uous figure  in  the  annals  of  the  city  from  that  day, 
far  back  in  its  past  hiMory.  when  first  he  settled 
within  its  borders,  until  death  stayed  his  busv 

15 


hands  and  stilled  his  active  brain,  while  nature  all 
around  him  was  awakening  into  renewed  life  that 
seemed  to  whisper  in  every  spring  breeze  of  the 
life  immortal,  in  which  he  had  such  abiding  faith. 
Mr.  Morrill  was  born  October  6,  1808,  in  Massa- 
chusetts, a  son  of  Joseph  Morrill,  who  is  supposed 
to  have  been  a  native  of  the  old  Bay  State.  He 
was  there  married,  and  when  our  subject  was  in 
his  childhood  removed  with  his  family  to  Contoo- 
cook,  N.  II.,  where  he  and  his  wife  passed  his  re- 
maining days  on  a  farm,  and  died  when  full  of 
years.  Our  subject  grew  to  manhood  on  that 
pleasant  New  England  farm  set  among  the  eternal 
hills  of  the  Granite  State.  He  early  displayed  a 

i  mechanical  genius,  which  was  cultivated,  and  he 
became  very  skilful  in  that  line.  He  was  in  due 

:  time  married,  but  having  the  misfortune  to  lose 
his  wife  after  a  brief  wedded  life  of  a  few.  years' 
duration,  the  year  following  her  death  he  decided 
to  try  life  on  the  frontier,  and  in  1838  came  to 
Illinois,  which  was  then  regarded  as  in  the  far  West, 
being  accompanied  on  his  journey  by  his  younger 
brother,  Jacob,  and  by  the  families  of  John  Lord, 
S.  S.  Crowell  and  Gilbert  Messer. 

Dixon  was  then  scarcely  more  than  a  hamlet, 
and  in  the  years  that  followed,  Mr.  Morrill  became 
prominent  as  a  mechanic  and  contractor  who  was 
very  active  in  the  upbuilding  of  the  city,  and  there 
are  many  buildings  still  standing  within  the  pre- 
cincts that  attest  to  his  skill  and  ability.  The  old 
stone  schoolhouse  wherein  a  generation  now  pass- 
ing off  the  stage  of  action,  received  the  rudiments 
of  an  English  education  forty  years  ago,  was  the 
joint  handiwork  of  himself  and  John  Brown;  and 
nearly  all  the  old  residences  and  public  buildings 
in  the  city  bear  evidence  to  his  craft.  He  built 
the  first  bridge  across  the  river  at  this  point,  and 
did  efficient  work  in  the  construction  of  the 
dam. 

A  fine  stroke  of  policy  prompted  Mr.  Morrill  to 
build  at  his  own  expense  a  wagon  bridge  connect- 
ing that  part  of  Dixon  with  the  rich  agricultural 
districts  of  Palmyra  Township.  The  bridge  is  now 
defunct,  but  for  a  time  it  secured  the  trade  of  that 
section  for  that  part  of  the  city.  One  of  his  me- 
morials is  that  portion  of  Dixon  known  as  Morrill- 
town,  which  he  laid  out  when  the  Illinois  Central 


330 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


Railway  was  constructed  through  there.  He  also 
built  the  large  hotel  on  Water  Street,  which  lias 
been  used  for  other  purposes  for  a  good  many 
years.  In  connection  with  his  extensive  business 
as  a  contractor,  he  ran  the  North  Side  saw-mill  for 
a  number  of  years,  it  being  the  only  one  then  in 
operation  in  his  section  of  the  country. 

For  some  years  in  the  early  history  of  Dixon, 
Mr.  Morrill  was  Constable,  an  office  that  was  by  no 
means  a  sinecure  in  those  days,  and  he  vigorously 
aided  in  bringing  outlaws  to  justice.  He  was  the 
means  of  suppressing  much  counterfeiting  in  this 
section  of  the  country  when  it  was  new,  and  also 
helped  run  down  several  noted  horse  thieves,  in- 
cluding the  famous  trio,  Fox,  Baker  and  Rogers. 

Not  ulone  with  the  material  welfare  of  his 
adopted  city  did  our  subject  concern  himself,  but 
he  was  deeply  solicitious  to  advance  its  moral,  ed- 
ucational, and  religious  status,  and  was  a  promoter 
of  all  schemes  that  tended  to  the  spiritual  uplifting 
of  the  people.  He  was  generous  almost  to  a  fault, 
his  benevolent  principles  being  vital  with  him,  and 
his  unostentatious  benefactions  were  scattered 
far  and  wide.  His  features  are  said  to  have  borne 
a  remarkable  semblance  to  the  rugged  but  benevo- 
lent face  of  old  John  Brown,  of  Harper's  Ferry 
fame. 

For  many  years  Mr.  Morrill  held  strongly  to  the 
Universalist  faith,  and  was  the  prime  mover  in  the 
construction  of  the  church  of  that  denomination, 
which  is  one  of  the  large  public  edifices  of  the 
city,  and  giving  liberally  of  his  money  toward  its 
erection.  He  afterward,  however,  renounced  Uni- 
versalism,  finding  himself  more  in  sympathy  with 
the  doctrines  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
with  which  he  connected  himself  for  a  time.  But 
that  change  did  not  satisfy  his  religious  nature, 
and  he  shortly  after  embraced  the  Spiritual  philos- 
ophy, and  to  that  he  clung  with  all  the  fervor  of 
his  being  until  death  drew  aside  for  him  the  vail 
that  separates  the  visible  from  the  invisible  world, 
and  he  stepped  across  the  border  May  12,  1886, 
into  "his  Father's  house,  where  there  are  many 
mansions." 

Mr.  Morrill  was  twice  married.  His  first  marri- 
age, which  took  place  before  lie  left  New  Hamp- 
shire, was  with  Miss  Eliza  Giles,  who  was  born 


and  reared  in  that  State,  as  were  her  parents  also. 
Their  wedded  life  was  terminated  by  the  untimely 
death  of  the  young  wife  in  1837.  She  left  two 
children,  one  a  babe  that  soon  followed  her.  The 
other  is  Susan,  wife  of  Dr.  McKinney,  of  Dead  wood, 
N.  Dak. 

The  maiden  name  of  our  subject's  second  wife, 
to  whom  he  was  married  in  Dixon,  and  who  sur- 
vives him,  was  Caroline  Meyers.  She  was  to  him 
all  that  a  true  wife  can  be.  She  assisted  and  en- 
couraged him  in  his  work,  and  sympathized  with 
him  in  his  religious  views,  finding  strength  and 
consolation  in  Spiritualism,  and  accepting  that  faith 
with  him  while  he  wa.s  in  the  earth  life.  Since  his 
death  she  has  conducted  the  business  that  he  left 
with  remarkable  success,  displaying  a  genuine  talent 
for  managing  affairs.  In  1888  she  moved  to  the  farm 
on  section  1 7,  South  Dixon  Township,  which  com- 
prises a  quarter-section  of  well-improved  land,  and 
which  came  into  Mr.  Mornll's  possession  before  his 
death. 

Mrs.  Morrill  was  born  in  the  Kingdom  of  Han- 
over, Germany,  December  26,  1818.  Her  father, 
Christian  Meyers,  was  also  a  Hanoverian  by  birth, 
and  was  of  German  parentage.  He  was  preparing 
to  come  to  America  wlien  death  terminated  his 
career,  when  he  was  only  about  thirty  years  of  age. 
He  was  an  active  young  farmer.  He  had  married 
Miss  Dorothea  Dunkelmeyer,  who  was  of  German 
antecedents,  and  five  children  had  been  born  to 
them.  After  the  sad  death  of  the  father,  the  mother 
came  to  the  United  States  with  four  of  her  children 
in  1832,  and  settled  in  Chicago  before  the  comple- 
tion of  the  old  Lake  House,  when  the  World's  Fair 
City  was  a  mere  hamlet  lying  in  the  mud  and 
swamps  of  the  early  years  of  its  settlement.  She  re- 
moved with  her  family  to  Dixon  in  June,  1838, 
j  and  here  died  April  15,  1872,  when  nearly  eighty- 
•  four  years  old.-  She  was  a  devoted  Christian,  and 
all  her  life  was  connected  with  the  Lutheran  Church, 
in  which  her  husband  also  held  membership  while 
he  lived. 

Mrs.  Morrill  is  the  mother  of  seven  children,  of 
whom  these  five  are  now  dead:  Joseph,  who  married 
Miss  Lydia  Hayes,  and  died  leaving  one  child,  who 
is  with  her  in  Dixon;  Mary,  who  married  Harry 
Meyers,  and  both  died  in  Leadville,  leaving  one 


PORTRAIT  ANT)  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


881 


child,  Charles  M.,  who  now  lives  in  New  Mexico; 
Lucy;  Jacob,  and  an  infant,  all  of  whom  died  young. 
The  two  children  remaining  to  Mrs.  Merrill  are 
Elizabeth  and  Eliza.  The  former  married  Seth 
Thomas,  a  fanner  near  Dixon,  and  they  have  six 
children.  Eliza  married  Everett  Post,  and  they 
live  on  and  manage  a  farm  belonging  to  her  mother. 
They  have  seven  children.  The  reader  will  notice 
elsewhere  in  this  volume  lithographic  portraits  of 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Morrill. 


W.  BRl'NEK.  The  farming  in- 
terests  of  this  county  are  conducted  by  an 
intelligent  set  of  men,  who  have  a  full  un- 
derstanding of  their  business,  employ  the  most 
approved  methods  of  carrying  it  on,  and  are  ex- 
cellent financiers.  George  W.  Bruner  is  one  of 
these.  He  is  engaged  in  general  farming  on  sec- 
tion 13,  South  Dixon  Township,  where  he  owns  a 
very  good  farm  of  seventy  acres,  that  is  finely 
improved,  and  he  also  has  eighty  acres  of  land  on 
section  23,  of  the  same  township,  which  is  likewise 
under  admirable  cultivation  and  improvement. 

Mr.  Bruner  was  born  in  the  township  of  Jeff- 
erson, Somerset  County,  April  23,  1849,  the  sixth 
of  a  family  of  eight  children,  four  sons  and  four 
daughters,  five  of  whom  are  living,  all  married 
but  one,  and  four  of  them  residents  of  Illinois. 
His  parents  were  Joseph  and  Mary  A.  (Mull) 
Bruner,  who  were  natives  of  the  same  county  as 
himself.  His  father  was  a  son  of  John  Bruner, 
who  was  born  in  Pennsylvania,  and  passed  the 
most  of  his  life  in  Somerset  County,  where  he  died 
at  the  age  of  sixty-six.  He  was  of  German  antece- 
dents. He  married  a  lady  of  German  extraction, 
who  lived  and  died  in  Somerset  Countv.  The 
maternal  grandfather  of  our  subject  was  George 
Mull  who  was  of  Pennsylvania  birth  and  German 
descent,  and  died  in  Somerset  County  at  the 
advanced  age  of  ninety-eight  years.  His  wife, 
who  was  also  a  Pennsylvanian,  lived  to  be  very  old 
too.  Joseph  Bruner  and  wife  came  to  Illinois  with 
their  family  in  1865.  They  began  their  new  life 
on  the  prairies  of  Illinois  on  a  farm  at  Franklin 


Grove,  China  Township,  but  after  some  years  re- 
moved to  another  farm  of  one  hundred  twenty 
acres  that  lay  around  the  village  of  Eldena.  Mr. 
Bruner  died  April  14,  1887,  when  nearly  seventy 
years  old.  His  wife  had  preceded  him  in  death, 
dying  May  23,  1885,  at  the  age  of  nearly  sixty- 
five  years.  Both  were  nearly  all  their  lives  mem- 
bers of  the  Lutheran  Church,  and  were  consistent 
Christians.  Mr.  Bruner  was  a  life  long  Democrat. 
The  subject  of  this  biography  was  sixteeen 
years  old  when  he  accompanied  the  family  in 
March,  1865  in  their  exodus  from  the  State  which 
had  been  the  home  of  themselves  and  their  ances- 
tors for  many  years.  He  afforded  .them  valuable 
assistance  in  establishing  the  new  home  at  Frank- 
lin Grove,  and  he  remained  with  them  until 
twenty-five,  becoming  their  stay  and  support  in 
their  declining  years.  He  acquired  skill  as  a  far- 
mer, and  in  1876  purchased  his  homestead  farm  in 
South  Dixon  Township,  which  he  has  made  a  fine 
piece  of  property,  and  he  has  since  invested  in 
another  choice  tract  of  land,  as  before  mentioned. 
Besides  attending  to  the  management  of  his  farm, 
he  has  for  several  years  been  engaged  profitably 
as  a  thresher  of  wheat,  etc.  He  has  manifested 
considerable  enterprise  in  the  conducting  of  his 
business,  and  ts  deservedly  prospering.  He  is  a 
man  of  true  piety,  who  carries  his  religion  into 
his  every-day  life,  and  is  strictly  honorable  and 
upright  in  his  conduct.  lie  has  a  strong  mind, 
and  his  decided  opinions  are  shown  in  his  political 
sentiments,  he  being  a  straightforward  Democrat. 
He  is  one  of  the  leading  Lutherans  of  this  section, 
and  is  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the 
Lutheran  Assembly  at  Dixon. 

Our  subject  was  married  in  the  city  of 
Dixon  to  Miss  Clara  E.  Mosely.  Their  mar- 
riage is  an  example  of  a  true  wedded  life,  and  has 
been  blessed  to  them  by  two  children.  Their 
daughter  Hazel  E.  died  at  the  age  of  two  and  one 
half  years.  Their  daughter  Maude  M.,  eleven 
years  old,  is  the  sunshine  of  their  home.  Mrs. 
Brunei-  was  born  at  Ftica,  N.  Y.,  October  3.  1855, 
to  William  and  Jane  (Dunlap)  Mosely,  natives 
respectively  of  Leicester  England  and  New  York. 
Mr.  Mosely  came  from  his  native  isle  to  America 
when  a  young  man.  and  in  the  State  of  New  York 


332 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


he  found  hu  wife,  who  was  of  Scotch  extraction. 
They  lived  in  her  native  State  some  years,  Mr. 
Mosely  following  his  trade  as  a  miller.  In  1858 
they  migrated  with  their  family  to  Illinois,  and 
located  at  Binghampton,  in  this  county,  where 
Mr.  Mosely  was  head  miller  for  Bagger  Bros,  for 
some  years.  His  health  failing,  he  went  to  farm- 
ing near  that  village,  and  is  living  there  still,  at 
the  age  of  nearly  three-score  and  ten.  He  is  very 
well  known  in  the  southern  part  of  the  county 
where  lie  has  spent  so  many  years  and  to  know  him 
is  but  to  respect  him.  His  wife  died  in  Binghnmp- 
ton  in  1876,  at  the  age  of  forty-six  years.  She 
was  a  sincere  Christian  and  a  member  of  the  Ad- 
vent Chinch.  Mrs.  Biuner  was  only  six  months 
old  when  brought  to  this  county,  and  here  she  was 
reared  to  a  true  womanhood,  and  is  a  valued 
member  of  the  same  church  to  which  her  husband 
belongs. 


«pj  LFRED  P.  PORTER,  who  is  actively  en- 
@/u|  gaged  in  farming  in  Harmon  Township, 

jni  is  a  native  of  Lee  County,  born  in  the  city 
<(jj)  of  Dixon  April  16,  1858.  He  is  a  son  of 
.lames  Porter,  Jr.,  who  was  a  pioneer  of  the  county, 
and  for  many  years  a  prominent  citizen  of  Harmon 
Township.  He  was  a  native  of  the  Empire  State, 
his  birthplace  being  near  the  city  of  Buffalo.  He 
was  reared  on  a  farm,  and  early  in  manhood  was 
married  to  Miss  Paulina  Bowman,  who  was  born  in 
the  same  neighborhood. 

In  1845  the  parents  of  our  subject  emigrated 
to  Milwaukee,  Wis.,  which  was  then  a  small  village, 
and  the  following  year  they  came  from  there  to 
Lee  County  and  located  at  Dixon,  where  Mr.  Porter 
was  engaged  in  the  construction  of  railroads  and 
in  other  work  as  a  contractor,  employing  several 
men  and  teams,  and  doing  a  good  business.  In 
February,  1859,  he  removed  to  Harmon  Township 
and  turned  his  attention  to  farming.  He  located 
on  section  25.  purchasing  two  hundred  acres  of 
good  farming  land  thereon,  which  he  improved  and 
occupied  until  February,  1880,  when  he  took  up 


his  residence  :it  Harmon  Station.  He  did  not  live 
to  enjoy  his  new  home  long,  as  his  death  occurred 
the  following  July.  His  wife  survives  him,  and 
still  resides  at  Harmon.  They  reared  a  family  of 
seven  children,  namely:  Salena,  who  married  Al- 
bert Sanborn,  and  died  in  Minnesota;  George  M., 
a  grocer  in  Chicago;  Cytha  M.;  Gulia  E.,  wife  of 
George  W.  Hill,  of  Harmon;  Lane,  who  was  acci- 
dentally shot;  Gertrude,  who  died  in  childhood; 
Alfred  P.;  and  Arthur,  who  died  at  the  age  of 
eleven  years.  Mr.  Porter  was  a  stanch  Republican 
in  politics,  and  he  figured  in  public  life  as  Super- 
visor of  Harmon  Township  and  in  numerous  minor 
ollices,  and  always  displayed  commendable  public 
spirit  on  all  occasions  where  his  assistance  was 
needed  in  carrying  out  any  scheme  for  civic  im- 
provement. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  educated  in  the 
common  schools.  He  was  reared  to  agricultural 
pursuits,  and  when  he  arrived  at  years  of  discre- 
tion he  chose  farming  as  his  calling,  and  has  be- 
come an  excellent  farmer,  keeping  his  harvest 
fields  well  tilled,  taking  good  care  of  his  stock, 
and  having  everything  about  his  place  in  good 
order. 

Mr.  Porter  still  resides  on  the  old  homestead 
where  his  boyhood  days  were  passed.  To  the  lady 
who  presides  over  his  home  he  was  married  Febru- 
ary 4,  1880.  Four  children  complete  their  house- 
hold, of  whom  the  following  is  the  record:  Ferris 
was  born  May  13,1882;  Lula,  October  8,  1883; 
Wayne  H.,  February  4,  1886;  and  Erma  Z.,  Janu- 
ary 5,  1890. 

|  Mrs.  Porter's  name  in  her  maiden  days  was 
Jemima  D.  Keith.  She  is  also,  like  her  husband,  a 
native  of  Illinois,  born  at  Rockford, November  14, 
1860,  to  George  and  Ann  (Eddy)  Keith.  Her 
parents  were  natives  of  Aberdeenshire,  Scotland, 
whence  they  emigrated  to  Nova  Scotia,  and  subse- 
quently came  from  there  to  this  State,  and  were 
early  settlers  of  Winnebago  County.  They  after- 
ward removed  from  there  to  this  county  and  set- 
tled in  Marion  Township,  where  the  mother  died 
in  1877.  Mr.  Keith  is  still  living.  Mrs.  Porter  is 
:iii  active  working  member  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church,  and  is  a  sincere  Christian. 

Our  subject   follows  in  hi*  father's  footsteps  in 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL    RKCORI). 


politics  and  gives  his  allegiance  to  the  Republican 
party.  He  has  been  School  Director,  and  in  1890 
he  took  the  census  of  Harmon  and  Nelson  Town- 
ships. He  is  a  young  man  of  sound  principles, 
bears  a  good  reputation  among  his  associates  for 
fairness  and  strict  honesty  in  money  matters,  and 
is  in  every  way  worthy  of  the  citizenship  of  his 
native  county. 


ISAAC  EARL.     This  prominent  business  man  is 
a  popular  grocer  in    Ashton,     where,    by    his 
honest  and  courteous  treatment  of  his  custo-   : 
mers  he  is  carrying  on  a  thriving  business,  keeping 
in  his  splendid  store  a  full  line  of  staple  and  fancy 
groceries   and   all  table    delicacies  in  their  season.   ] 
He  is  ambitious  and  industrious  and   is    bound    to 
succeed  in  all  his  undertakings. 

Isaac  Earl  was  born  May  20,  1830,  in  Oanville   | 
County,  Canada,  where  he  grew   to  manhood,  re-   j 
ceiving  a  good  education   and   when  starting  out 
to  battle  with  the  world  for  himself  at  the  age  of 
twenty-one,  he  was  well  qualified  to   bear  bravely 
with  the    discouragements    and    hardships    which 
were  sure  to  befall  him  in  a   strange    and    thinly- 
settled  region.       He  came  to  Ogle  Count3'  in  1851 
and  engaged  to-work  out  on  a  farm  by  the  month, 
having   nothing    with    which    to    begin    life    but 
strong  and  willing  hands  and  a  determination   to 
succeed.     He  continued  as  a  farm  laborer  for  two  I 
years,  when  learning  the  trade  of  a  stone  mason,   i 
he  worked  industriously  at  that  occupation  in  Lee 
and  Ogle  Counties  for  a  number  of  years. 

Our  subject  resided  in  Ogle  County  for  some  -I 
fifteen  years,  at  the  end  of  that  time  coming  to 
Lee  County  where  he  followed  his  trade  in  Ashton. 
A  few  years  later  he  started  in  the  coal  and  salt 
business,  continuing  to  give  his  time  and  attention 
to  that  occupation  for  a  twelvemonth,  then,  in 
1872,  he  started  his  grocery,  and  is  numbered 
among  the  prosperous  merchants  of  Ashlon. 

Miss  Cynthia  Hitchcock  became  the  wife  of  "our 
subject,  the  marriage  taking  place  in  Ogle  County. 
Mrs.  Earl  was  born  in  the  Buckeye  State,  and  was 
a  lady  greatly  esteemed  in  her  neighborhood  for 


her  many  excellent  traits  of  character.  She  be- 
came the  mother  of  two  children — Francis  A.,  and 
Alice  M.,  who  is  the  wife  of  Charles  Crum.  Mrs. 
Cynthia  Earl  passed  from  this  life  in  Ogle  County. 
Our  subject  was  a  second  time  married,  the  lady  of 
this  occasion  being  Sarah  A.  Worthington,  also  a 
native  of  Ohio,  where  she  was  born.  This  worthy 
couple  make  their  home  in  a  comfortable  residence 
which  indicates  that  its  inmates  are  people  of  re- 
finement and  education.  They  have  a  large  circle 
of  acquaintances  and  have  the  goodwill  of  all  who 
know  them.  In  politics  Mr.  Earl  is  a  stanch  Re- 
publican, hence  always  votes  for  the  candidates  of 
that  body.  He  has  served  acceptably  in  the  office 
of  Township  Treasurer  and  is  an  active  member  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  All  in  all  he  is 
well  worthy  of  the  estimation  in  which  he  is  held 
by  his  fellow-townsmen  and  by  his  honest  and 
upright  life  is  destined  to  become  even  more  pop- 
ular than  he  is. 


JEREMIAH     HETLEK.      The     enterprising 
farmer  and   good   citizen    whose  name  we 
now  give  is  a  native  of  this  county,  having 
been   born  in  Dixon  Township,  October  4, 
1843.     He  is  engaged  in  cultivating  his  beautiful 
tract  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres,  which  he 
has  well    improved    and  embellished  with  all  the 
necessary  farm  buildings.     He  has  his  place  well 
stocked  with  cattle  of  good  breeds  and  in  addition 
to  his  farming  interests  is  carrying  on  a  thriving 
dairy  trade.     Mr.  Hetler    located    on    his    present 
purchase    in  1873,    having   previous  to  that    time 
been    engaged   in  farming   in  another  portion  of 
Dixon  Township. 

Our  subject  is  a  son  of  Nathan  Hetler,  a  native 
of  Pennsylvania,  who  had  come  overland  to  Illi- 
nois some  time  in  the  '40s,  and  on  making  Lee 
County  his  home,  purchased  Government  land  in 
what  is  now  Nachusa  Township  which  he  improved 
and  resided  upon  for  a  number  of  years.  Later 
lie  removed  to  another  portion  of  the  township 
where  he  spent  his  last  days,  his  decease  occurring 
in  .Tune.  1X77.  when  sixty-three  years  of  age.  At 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


the  time  of  his  death  he  left  four  hundred  acres 
of  excellent  land  which  he  had  accumulated  by 
his  industry  and  good  management.  For  a  fuller 
history  of  Nathan  Hetler  the  reader  is  referred  to 
the  sketch  of  Hiram  Metier  to  be  found  elsewhere 
in  this  volume. 

The  gentleman  of  whom  we  write  was  the  fourth 
in  order  of  birth  of  a  family  of  seven  children, 
of  whom  four  sons  and  two  daughters  are  yet  liv- 
ing and  who  are  farmers  by  occupation.  Our  sub- 
ject received  a  good  education  in  the  common 
schools  and  remained  at  home  assisting  his  father 
on  the  farm  until  five  or  six  years  after  reaching 
his  majority.  He  thus  received  thorough  training 
in  farm  duties  which  is  perhaps  the  secret  of  his 
subsequent  success  in  life, 

Jeremiah  Iletler  was  united  in  marriage  in  Nel- 
son Township  to  Miss  Mary  E.  McCleary,  the  cere- 
mony being  solemnized  December  25,  1872.  Mrs. 
Iletler  was  born  in  Pennsylvania,  March  4,  1844, 
and  is  the  daughter  of  William  McCleary,  also  a 
native  of  the  Keystone  State,  who  came  to  Illinois 
in  1866  and  located  in  Nelson  Township,  where  he 
resided  until  his  death,  being  one  of  the  promi- 
nent and  influential  citizens  of  the  county.  A 
fuller  history  of  Mr.  McCleary  will  be  found  in 
the  sketch  of  George  McCleary  on  another  page 
in  this  volume. 

Mrs.  Mary  Hetler  received  a  thorough  education 
in  the  English  branches  in  Pennsylvania  and  ac- 
companied her  parents  to  the  Prairie  State  when  a 
young  woman.  She  is  the  only  one  living  in  a 
family  of  five  sons  and  one  daughter  born  to  her 
parents  and  by  her  marriage  with  our  subject  has 
become  the  mother  of  four  children,  one  of  whom 
is  deceased,  and  who  bore  the  name  of  Nettie  S., 
dying  when  fifteen  years  of  age.  Those  living  are 
Grace  M.,  and  Kittie  M.,  both  of  whom  are  gradu- 
ates of  the  city  schools  at  Dixon,  the  former 
taking  a  course  in  the  Business  College  at  Dixon; 
and  Florence  A.  The  three  daughters  still  remain 
under  the  parental  roof  where  they  are  receiving 
that  training  which  will  make  them  good  and  use- 
ful homekeepers.  Religiously  our  subject  and  his 
excellent  wife  are  members  in  good  standing  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  are  respected  members  of 
society  in  this  part  of  the  county  and  are  worthy 


of  the  esteem  which  is  granted  them.  The  politi- 
cal views  of  Mr.  Hetler  have  brought  him  into 
active  co-operation  with  the  Republican  partly,  in 
which  he  has  great  confidence  and  for  which  he  is 
glad  to  cast  his  vote. 


<|7  AUREN  T.  HERRI  AM.  This  gentleman. 
I  (©)  who  is  the  proprietor  of  the  City  Sieam 
;|'-A\  Laundry,  one  of  the  leading  enterprises  of 
Dixon.  has  had  a  varied  experience  in  life,  and 
that  he  has  succeeded  in  building  up  such  a  lucra- 
tive business  after  the  many  ups  and  downs  of 
fortune  to  which  he  has  been  subjected,  does 
credit  not  only  to  his  good  judgment  but  speaks 
well  for  his  enterprise  and  perseverance. 

Hr.  Herriam  was  born  in  Connecticut  June  22, 
1822,  was  there  reared  and  educated,  and  in  early 
life  engaged  in  the  manufacturing  business,  at 
which  he  acquired  a  comfortable  fortune  He 
then  came  West,  hoping  to  still  increase  his  gains 
and  at  one  time  was  interested  in  three  different 
banks,  one  in  Connecticut  and  two  in  Indiana, 
["nfortunately  his  partner  in  whom  he  had  placed 
great  confidence,  proved  dishonest,  subjecting  him 
to  heavy  losses,  lie  afterward  owned  and  ran  a 
large  store  in  Chicago  in  1856.  Mr.  Merriam 
rememhers  being  in  Chicago  before  any  railroad 
was  built  from  that  place,  and  of  taking  a  trip  to 
St.  Louis  by  way  of  the  canal  and  river  which 
occupied  five  days'  time.  For  seventeen  years  he 
followed  the  occupation  of  a  commercial  traveler, 
being  for  the  most  of  that  time  employed  by  II. 
II.  Shufeldt.and  also  for  Samuel  Meyers,  extensive 
liquor  dealers,  selling  spirituous  liquors  during 
the  whole  of  that  time,  but  seldom  if  ever,  allow- 
ing himself  to  touch  intoxicating  beverages. 

On  coming  to  Dixon,  of  which  city  he  has  hroi 
a  resident  for  twenty  years,  Mr.  Merriam  opened 
up  liis  present  business  in  a  very  small  way.  It, 
however,  increased  rapidly  and  in  1888  he  felt 
himself  warranted  in  erecting  a  fine  two-story 
brick  building,  60x24  feet  in  size,  a  portion  of 
which  he  uses  as  a  residence.  The  ground  floor 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


335 


and  basement  are  fitted  up  especially  for  laundry 
work,  with  every  necessary  appliance  and  modern 
improvement  in  that  line.  Here  he  turns  out 
first-class  work  and  enjoys  the  patronage  of  the 
best  people  in  the  town  and  surrounding  country. 
As  an  example  of  the  growth  of  his  business  it 
may  be  stated  that  the  amount  of  work  done  in 
one  month  at  present  equals  that  done  in  a  whole 
year  when  it  was  first  established.  He  employs 
from  eight  to  ten  assistants  and  is  kept  constantly 
busy. 

Mr.  Merriam  was  married  in  Connecticut,  his 
wife  being  Miss  Susan  Hubbard,  who  was  born 
and  reared  in  that  State.  She  has  been  a  true  help- 
mate to  her  hard-working  husband  and  a  devoted 
mother  to  her  children,  of  whom  she  has  had  four. 
Of  these  one,  Frank  H.,  lived  to  reach  the  interest- 
ing age  of  seventeen  years'  and  his  death  was  a 
severe  blow  to  his  parents.  Of  the  remaining 
children,  Jennie  became  the  wife  of  Richard  South- 
gate,  and  they  resided  in  Silver  Cliff,  Col.;  Edgar 
H.  married  Miss  Benjamin,  and  is  manager  in  a 
large  warehouse  at  Council  Bluffs,  Iowa.  Lauren 
.B.  married  Leona  Mead,  and  resides  in  Dixon. 
He  is  the  civil  engineer  for  the  Northwestern 
Railroad  and  has  been  eminently  successful  in  his 
calling,  having  accomplished  many  signal  achieve- 
ments in  that  line,  possessing  unusual  abilities  for 
a  man  of  his  years.  In  politics  Mr.  Merriam  is  a 
stanch  Democrat.  Mrs.  Merriam  is  a  member  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  the  family  is  highly 
respected  and  esteemed. 


§ERTIUS   A.  LYMAN.     We  are    pleased  to 
present  to  the  consideration  of  our  readers 
an    old    settler   of   China    Township,  who 
stands  high  in  the  estimation  of  his  neighbors  and 
is  justly  considered  one  of  the  prominent  men  in 
the  county.     He  is  a  progressive  and  successful 
farmer  whose  beautiful   estate   of  sixty-four  and 
one-half  acres  on   section  35,  is  exceedingly  pro- 
ductive and  most  thoroughly  cultivated. 

Tliis  gentleman  was   born   in  Winchester,  Ches- 
shire  County,  N.  II.,  March    13,  1812.     He    made 


that  place  his  home  until  1846,  when  with  his  fam- 
ily he  came  to  Illinois  and  made  location  in  Lee 
County,  wherein  Bradford  Township  he  purchased 
a  tract  of  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres.  He 
continued  to  live  there  and  cultivate  his  land  in  a 
most  satisfactory  manner  until  1869,  when  he 
came  to  China  Township  where  he  has  since  made 
his  home. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  married  in  Win- 
chester, N.  H.,  t6  Miss  Sarah  P.  Codding,  the  date 
thereof  being  March  13,  1834.  Mrs.  Lyman  was 
a  native  of  the  county  in  which  she  was  married, 
her  birth  occurring  October  19,  1809.  She  received 
a  good  education  and  has  been  a  helpmate  in  the 
truest  sense  of  the  word  to  her  worthy  husband,  for 
his  removal  West  was  at  a  time  when  the  country 
was  but  thinly  populated  and  hardships  were  every- 
day occurrences.  She  bore  them  all  bravely,  doing 
what  she  could  to  make  the  home  bright  and  com- 
fortable, and  now  in  her  later  years  can  look  back 
with  pride  to  what  has  been  accomplished  by  her 
aid. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lyman  have  become  the  parents 
of  five  children,  of  whom  we  make  the  following 
mention:  Sarah  A.  is  the  wife  of  Charles  Wilber; 
George  A.  married  Miss  Mary  E.  Jones  and  is  a 
very  intellent  young  man  and  is  at  present  edit- 
ing the  Amboy  Journal;  Levi  H.  married  Miss  Sa- 
rah F.  Bruce  and  is  residing  on  a  Bne  farm  in 
China  Township;  Cyrus  O.,who  married  Miss  Jane 
Evitts,  met  his  death  at  Dubuque,  Iowa,  while  in 
a  sail  boat  on  the  Mississippi  River;  at  the  time  of 
his  death  he  was  thirty-one  years  old;  Clymea  O. 
died  in  infancy. 

In  political  matters  the  gentleman  of  whom  we 
write  is  independent,  reserving  the  right  to  vote 
for  the  man  whom  he  thinks  will  best  fill  the  office 
rather  than  for  party  principles.  He  has  always 
taken  an  interest  in  local  affairs  and  is  liberal  in 
his  contribution  to  all  good  works.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Lyman  are  conscientious  and  influential  members 
of  the  Congregational  Church,  having  identified 
themselves  with  that  religious  denomination  when 
twenty  years  of  age. 

When  fifteen  years  old  our  subject,  in  choosing 
nn  occupation  for  himself,  learned  the  trade  of  a 
CMI  iiciitcr.  working  successfully  at  that  calling  for 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   KECOED. 


a  number  of  years  in  New  Hampshire  and  wielded 
the  hammer  and  saw  for  two  years  after  coming  to 
the  Prairie  State.  But  after  locating  here,  feeling 
that  he  was  better  fitted  to  pursue  the  life  of  a 
farmer  and  the  duties  of  that  occupation  agreeing 
in  every  way  with  his  tastes,  he  gave  up  the  car- 
penter trade  and  became  an  agriculturist.  That 
he  chose  wisely  and  well  can  not  be  doubted  by 
those  who  have  the  opportunity  to  view  his  beau- 
tiful farm,  for  in  every  department  is  displayed 
the  thrift  and  enterprise  of  the  owner.  He  1ms 
placed  upon  it  good  and  substantial  buildings  of 
every  description  which  are  necessary  for  the  suc- 
cessful prosecution  of  a  first-class  estate  and  is  en- 
abled to  live  comfortably  and  well  in  his  later 
years.  He  is  well  known  in  Lee  County  and  is 
universally  esteemed  and  honored. 


JACOB  BETZ,  Jr.  one  of  thebest  known  citi- 
zens of  Brooklyn  Township,  where   he  re- 
sides on  his  well  appointed  farm  on  section 
25.  is  a  man  whose  native  force  of  character, 
far-seeing    enterprise    and    practical    ability   have 
placed  him  among  the  foremost  farmers  and  stock- 
raisers  of  Lee  County,  where  he  has  acquired   ex- 
tensive farming  interests,  and  become   prominent 
in  its  public  and  political  life.      He  was  born    in 
Wayne  County,  N.  Y.,. I uly  11,   1841.     His    father 
Jacob  Betz,  an   honored  pioneer  of  Northern    Ill- 
inois, has  been  associated  for  nearly  half  a  century 
with  the  rise  and  growth    of  Bureau  County,    of 
which  he  is  still  a  resident. 

The  father  of  our  subject  is  :i  native  of  the  town 
of  Mentz,  Hesse-Darmstadt,  Germany  and  a  son  of 
Adam  Betz,  who  was  also  of  German  birth  and 
antecedents.  The  latter  served  in  the  army  eight 
years,  and  was  witli  Napoleon  in  his  raid  on  Mos- 
cow, suffering  all  the  terrible  hardships  and  pri- 
vations of  the  retreat  through  the  winter  snows 
from  that  Russian  city.  He  came  to  America  in 
1843,  and  spent  his  last  days  in  Bureau  County. 
These  six  of  his  children  also  came  to  this  country: 
Jacob,  John,  Mary,  George,  Josephine  and  Cath- 


Our  subject's  father  grew  to 


V  eMate  ill  lh( 


land  of  his  nativity,  and  was  there  united  in  mar- 
riage with  Gedrich  Faubel,  who  was  also  a  Ger- 
man. Ambitious  to  make  the  most  of  his  life,  and 
thinking  that  the  New  World  offered  better  oppr- 
tunities  of  success  than  the  old,  he  resolved  to 
emigrate  to  these  shores,  and  in  1840  came  hither 
with  liis  wife.  He  resided  in  New  York  until  1843, 
and  after  coming  here  he  had  the  misfortune  to  be 
bereft  of  his  companion  and  helpmate,  who  had 
cheerfully  left  the  Fatherland  to  cross  the  waters 
with  him  and  assist  in  founding  a  new  home  in  a 
strange  country.  In  1843  Mr.  Betz  came  to  Illi- 
nois, travelling  by  the  way  of  the  Lakes  to  Chi- 
cago. From  that  city  he  went  with  a  team  to 
Bureau  County,  where  he  found  a  sparsely  inhab- 
ited region, with  but  few  settlements,  as  at  that  time 
the  northern  part  of  the  state  was  almost  in  its 
original  wildness,  and  the  greater  part  of  the  land 
was  in  the  hands  of  the  Government.  He  entered 
a  tract  and  also  bought  another  partly  improved 
in  Clarion  Township.  For  some  years  there  were 
no  railroads  in  the  vicinity,  and  he  had  to  draw 
all  his  grain  to  Chicago,  more  than  a  hundred  miles 
distant.  In  the  course  of  years  he  improved  a 
fine  farm,  and  has  thus  contributed  materially  to 
the  development  of  his  adopted  county,  of  which 
he  has  been  a  witness  almost  from  the  beginning. 
The  subject  of  this  biography  was  only  two  years 
old  when  his  mother  died,  and  after  the  death  of 
the  mother  the  father  married  a  sister  of  his  first 
wife  Elizabeth  Faubel.  He  was  two  years  old 
when  his  father  brought  him  to  this  State,  and 
here  he  was  reared  and  educated.  He  attended 
the  pioneer  schools  of  Bureau  County,  which  weic 
taught  in  log  houses,  and  had  seats  made  of  slabs 
without  desks  or  hacks.  Holes  were  bored  in  tin- 
logs,  in  which  were  inserted  wooden  pins  and  the 
board  laid  on  them  served  as  a  writing  desk  for 
the  older  scholars.  As  soon  as  Jacob  was  large 
enough  he  had  to  do  chores  and  make  himself 
generally  useful  on  the  farm,  and  when  he  began 
his  independent  career  as  a  fanner  and  a  stock- 
raiser  he  had  had  a  good  experience  in  farming  to 
serve  as  the  foundation  of  his  furure  success.  lie 
ivm.-iined  with  his  father  until  1865.  affording  him 
valuable  aid  in  the  management  of  his  farm,  and 
then  >ettlcd  in  Wyoming  Township  on  a  farm 


i 


IHE  LIBRARt 

OF  IKE 


PORTRAIT  AND  III.  M  iRAPIIICAL   RECORD. 


339 


which  he  still  owns.  In- 1875  he  removed  to  the 
farm  on  which  he  now  resides,  which  is  finely 
located  on  section  25,  Brooklyn  Township.  Tie 
now  has  four  hundred  seventy  acres  of  well-im- 
proved land,  amply  supplied  with  well-ordered 
and  conveniently  arranged  buildings  for  every  pur- 
pose, and  well-stocked  with  horses,  cattle  and  hogs 
of  the  best  breeds.  A  view  of  the  homestead  is 
shown  elsewhere  in  this  volume. 

Mr.  Betz  has  been  twice  married.  In  1865  he 
wedded  Margaret  Kessler,  a  native  of  Germany, 
and  a  daughter  of  Andrew  Kessler.  Less  than  two 
years  of  wedded  hapiness  was  vouchsafed  to  them 
ere  her  death  February  '28,  1867.  She  left  one 
son,  Ezra.  The  second  marriage  of  our  subject 
was  to  Miss  Margaret  Pope,  a  native  of  Germany, 
and  a  daughter  of  Jacob  Pope.  Their  union  has 
been  blessed  by  the  birth  of  a  son,  J.  Fred. 

A  stalwart  Republican  in  politics,  Mr.  Betz  uses 
his  influence  to  promote  party  interests.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  Evangelical  Association,  and  earn- 
estly supports  all  things  that  tend  to  the  moral 
and  religious  elevation  of  the  community.  His 
eminent  fitness  for  public  office  has  been  recog- 
nized by  his  fellow-citizens,  and  when  elected  to  a 
position  of  trust  he  has  given  his  best  efforts  to 
discharge  the  duties  thus  imposed  upon  him.  He 
has  served  five  terms  as  a  member  of  the  County 
Board  of  Supervisors,  and  his  township  never  had 
a  better  representative,  or  one  who  more  zealously 
guarded  his  interests,  while  at  the  same  time  seek- 
ing to  promote  the  general  welfare  of  the  county. 


SINGLETON  W.  RIEGLE,  one  of  the  lead- 
ing citizens  of  China  Township,  has  been 
closely  connected  with  the  material   inter- 
ests of  Lee  County  as  a  practical,  sagacious 
agriculturist  for  more    than  thirty  years,    and    is 
the  fortunate  proprietor  of  one  of  the  well  appoin- 
ted farms  for  which'  this  region  is  celebrated. 

Mr.  Riegle  is  a  native  of  the  State  of  Mary  hind. 
his  birthplace  in  Carroll  County,  and  November 
11,  1835,  the  date  of  his  birth.  His  father,  Peter 
Riegle,  is  thought  to  have  been  born  in  tluit  com- 


monwealth also.  He  married  Elizabeth  Wilt,  who 
was  born  in  Maryland  near  the  Pennsylvania  line, 
and  during  some  period  of  their  wedded  life  they 
settled  in  Adams  County,  in  the  latter  State,  where 
they  died  in  the  fullness  of  time. 

The  parents  of  our  subject  had  a  family  of  seven 
children,  of  whom  he  was  the  fourth  in  point  of 
birth.  He  was  three  years  old  when  they 
sought  a  new  home  in  Adams  County,  Pa.,  in  1838, 
and  there  his  years  were  passed  until  he  attained 
the  age  of  twenty-four.  He  was  reared  on  a  farm, 
and  besides  being  well  trained  in  agricultural  .pur- 
suits, gained  an  excellent  education  in  the  common 
schools  and  High  School  Acadamy  of  York,  Pa. 
At  the  age  of  eighteen  he  commenced  to  teach 
school,  and  followed  that  profession  during  the 
school  terms  for  eight  years.  In  the  spring  of 
1859  he  visited  Illinois,  and  remained  in  Lee 
Count}'  through  the  following  summer.  Return- 
ing to  Adams  County,  Pa.,  he  taught  school  there 
through  the  ensuing  winter,  and  it  was  at  that 
time  he  took  upon  himself  the  solemn  obligations 
of  married  life. 

Mr.  Riegle  had  teen  very  favorably  impressed  with 
this  part  of  the  country  during  his  sojourn  here, 
and  in  the  spring  of  1860  he  came  to  Lee  County 
with  his  bride,  $75  in  gold,  and  plenty  of  ambition 
as  a  germ  upon  which  to  build  a  future  home; 
by  economy  and  industrious  perseverance  he  suc- 
ceeded fairly  well.  He  commenced  farming  first 
on  shares  among  strangers  (but  good,  true  friends) 
on  section  13,  China  Township,  owned  by  B.  F. 
Dysart,  who  had  volunteered  and  enlisted  in  Com- 
pany C,  Thirty-fourth  Illinois  Infantry,  and  served 
faithfully  until  peace  was  declared  in  1865.  In 
1866-67  he  traveled  all  over  the  West  and  South- 
west in  search  of  a  better  location,  which  he 
failed  to  find.  In  1867  he  purchased  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  acres  in  section  10,  China  Town- 
ship, to  which  in  1876  he  added  forty  acres  on 
section  16,  Nfichusa  Township,  and  in  1891  forty 
acres  more  on  section  10,  China  Township. 

In  the  years  that  have  since  followed  he  has 
spared  neither  time,  labor  or  expense  in  making 
his  farm  of  two  hundred  acres  of  land  of  surpass- 
ing fertility,  into  one  of  the  best  in  its  cultiva- 
tion  of  any  in  the  neighborhood.  His  fields 


340 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


are  neatly  fenced  and  admirably  tilled;  he  has 
erected  a  commodious  and  conveniently  arranged 
set  of  farm  buildings,  of  a  tasteful  style  of  archi- 
tecture, has  good  accommodations  for  his  well-kept, 
finely  graded  stock,  and  K  conducting  his  opera- 
tions with  financial  success,  the  true  test  of  a  prac- 
tical, systematic  skillful  farmer. 

Our  subject  and  Miss  Caroline  Matilda  Ilermon 
were  united  in  marriage  December  29,  1859.  Mrs. 
Riegle  was  born  in  Adams  County,  Pa..  November 
6,  1838  and  was  the  only  daughter  of  David  and 
Anna  M.  (Moritz)  Hermon,  who  were  the  parents 
of  five  children.  They  were  also  natives  of  Adams 
County,  Pa.  The  mother  is  still  living  but  the 
father  died  in  1885,  in  Newton  County,  Mo.,  in 
which  they  had  located  in  1866.  Ten  children 
were  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Riegle:  Stella  Maggie, 
Willis  Luther,  Charlie  Peter,  Paul  Singleton,  Vir- 
gie  Caroline,  Hcrmione  Elizabeth,  and  Bertram 
Leroy  are  still  living,  Herman  Elmer,  Mary  Lilia 
and  David  Rudolph  died  in  their  youth. 

June  15,  1891,  the  beloved  wife  of  oursubject 
died  very  suddenly  at  Table  Rock,  Adams  County, 
Pa.,  while  on  a  visit  witli  her  husband  to  old  friends 
near  the  scenes  of  her  early  home,  her  death 
being,  caused  by  apoplexy.  The  locality  of 
her  birth,  the  place  of  her  marriage,  and  the 
scene  of  her  death  were  all  within  five  miles 
of  each  other.  Her  wedded  life,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  a  few  months,  was  passed  in  China  Town- 
ship where  she  had  come  as  a  bride,  and  in  the 
thirty  j'ears  that  she  lived  here  she  made  many 
warm  friends,  who  were  attracted  to  her  by  her 
many  pleasing  attributes  and  strong  personal 
worth.  She  was  a  devoted  wife  and  a  tender  moth- 
er, and  her  household  reverently  cherish  her  mem- 
ory. She  was  a  true  ''home  maker",  and  mayhap 
beyond  "that  soundless,  sailless,  solemn  sea"  over 
which  she  has  voyaged  to  some  fairer  land,  she  is 
waiting  to  welcome  the  loved  ones  still  on  this  side, 
to  a  home  not  made  with  hands,  where  there  shall 
be  no  more  parting.  Mr.  Riegle  is  a  man  whose  rec- 
titude of  purpose  and  actions,  firmness  of  character, 
obliging  disposition,  and  helpfulness  in  time  of 
need,  commend  him  to  his  fellow-citizens  from 
the  first,  and  these  traits,  together  with  others  of  a 
more  practical  nature,  have  made  his  services  of 


value  in  the  various  civic  capacities  in  which  he 
has  acted  since  he  became  a  resident  of  this  town- 
ship. He  has  been  Justice  of  the  Peace  for  several 
years,  has  served  as  Assessor,  and  has  been  School 
Director  for  twenty  years.  His  political  views 
find  expression  in  the  principles  promulgated  by 
the  Republican  party.  Religiously,  he  is  a  believer 
in  the  tenets  of  the  Lutheran  Church,  in  which  he 
was  reared. 


ERD1NAND  W.  HEGERT,  whose  death 
occurred  in  Dixon,  February  27,  1883,  was 
born  in  Prussia,  April  12,  1848.  He  came 
of  German  stock  and  parentage,  and  had  the  mis- 
fortune to  lose  his  mother  when  fifteen  years  of 
age,  she  dying  when  scarcely  past  middle  life.  He 
was  sixteen  years  old  when  his  father,  Carl 
Ilegert,  with  the  remainder  of  his  family  emi- 
grated to  the  United  States,  settling  in  Amboy. 
this  State,  to  which  place  some  of  the  older  sons 
had  come  some  time  previously.  Here  the  father 
died  in  1882,  when  about  sixty-seven  years  old, 
having  been  remarkably  hale  and  healthy  up  to  the 
time  of  his  death.  He  was  a  consistent  member  of 
the  German  Lutheran  Church. 

After  coming  to  this  country  our  subject  ac- 
quired a  knowledge  of  the  English  language  in  the 
public  schools  and  then  entered  the  drug  store  of 
Phinney  &  Sanger,of  Amboy  and  was  there  engaged 
as  head  clerk  for  some  years.  Later  he  came  to 
Dixon  and  formed  a  partnership  with  Constant 
Wild,  a  well-known  druggist.  Upon  the  death  of 
Mr.  Wild,  Mr.  Hegert  continued  the  business  in 
which  he  was  very  successful  and  accumulated  a 
good  property.  He  was  married  in  Amboy  in  1873, 
to  Miss  Wilhelmina  Molly.  She  was  born  in  New 
York  City  in  1852,  and  was  the  daughter  of 
Charles  and  Wilhelmina  (Blackman)  Molly,  who 
were  natives  of  Germany,  coming  of  Rhinish- 
Prussian  parentage.  Her  parents  emigrated  to 
this  country  and  after  living  forsome  time  in  New 
York  City,  removed  to  Amboy  in  1853,  where  they 


PORTRAIT  AND  TilOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


341 


:ire  still  living,  Mr.  Molly    having    retired  from 

Mrs.  Hegert  was  carefully  .reared  and  given  an 
excellent  education  and  is  a  woman  of  great  in- 
telligence and  ability  and  a  devoted  wife  and 
mother.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hegert  are  the  parents  of 
four  children,  one  of  whom,  Fred,  died  when  a 
child.  The  others— Emma  M.,  Charles  F.  W.  and 
Ina  W.  H.  are  at  home.  Mrs.  Hegert  and  all  her 
children  are  members  of  the  Lutheran  Church,  in 
which  she  is  prominent  in  all  good  works.  The 
family  occupy  a  prominent  position  in  society 
and  are  deserving  of  the  esteem  in  which  they  arc 
held. 

Mr.  Hegert  during  his  life  was  a  constant  at- 
tendant of  the  Lutheran  Church.  In  politics,  he 
was  a  Republican,  and  was  an  honorary  member  of 
the  Fire  Department  at  Dixon.  He  was  prominent 
in  the  order  of  Odd  Fellows  of  that  city,  and  his 
loss  was  greatly  felt  in  both  business  and  social 
circles. 


|IL_  1RAM  B.  BATES.  We  are  gratified  to  be 
ifjV  able  to  place  in  the  hands  of  our  readers  a 
uLjr  sketch  of  Mr.  Bates,  who  is  well  known 
(^)  throughout  Amboy  Township  and  Lee 
County,  and  who  is  most  highly  esteemed  per- 
sonally, as  is  also  his  family.  He  is  at  present 
residing  on  his  fine  tract  of  land,  located  on  sec- 
tion 11,  Amboy  Township,  and  which  is  improved 
with  every  needful  building  that  will  facilitate  his 
active  operations  as  an  agriculturist. 

Mr.  Bates  is  a  native  of  the  Green  Mountain 
State,  having  been  born  in  Westford,  Chittenden 
County.  October  28,  1828,  and  in  which  place  he 
received  his  education  and  grew  to  manhood,  re- 
maining there  until  185;"),  when,  with  his  wife  and 
one  child,  he  came  West  and  located  in  Pierce 
County,  Wis.,  opening  up  a  farm,  and  residing 
there  for  the  succeeding  twelve  years.  In  Novem- 
ber, 1868,  however,  our  subject  disposed  of  his 
property  in  Wisconsin,  having  been  encouraged 
to  make  Li>c  County  his  home,  and  on  coming 
hither  lived  for  two  years  in  China  Township. 


Later  he  purchased  the  beautiful  tract  on  section 
11,  where  he  makes  his  home  at  the  present  time. 
He  has  put  his  land  under  a  thorough  course  of 
cultivation,  and  the  result  is  that  he  is  the  pro- 
prietor of  one  of  the  finest  estates  in  the  town- 
ship, and  he  has  the  satisfaction  of  knowing  that 
it  has  been  brought  about  by  his  own  untiring  in- 
dustry and  perseverance. 

This  gentleman  established  a  hearthstone  of  his 
own  before  he  came  West,  having  been  united  in 
marriage  May  13,  1851,  to  Miss  Marion  E.Brackett, 
the  ceremony  taking  place  in  Orange  County,  Vt. 
Mrs.  Bates  was  bom  in  Braintree,  Orange  County, 
Vt.,  May  26,  1828,  and  by  her  union  with  our 
subject  has  become  the  mother  of  four  children, 
of  whom  we  make  the  following  mention:  Ar- 
mina  H.  died  at  the  interesting  age  of  twelve 
years;  Ida  J.  is  the  wife  of  Jarvin  Leake;  Charles 

|  A.  died  when  a  lad  of  five  years,  and  George  D. 
married  Miss  Eftie  Evitts. 

Mr.  Bates  has  been  keenly  alive  to  all  measures 

I   that  would  in    any  way  benefit   his   community. 

i   and   is  looked    upon    as  being   one    of  the    most 

j  public-spirited  men  in  the  county.  He  invariably 
gives  of  his  times  and  means  to  promote  all  good 

j  works  and  will  be  greatly  missed  in  this  section 
when  he  shall  have  passed  from  earth.  He  has 
been  especially  interested  in  educational  matters, 
and  served  his  fellow-townsmen  most  satisfactorily 
as  a  member  of  the  School  Board.  While  a  resi- 
dent of  Wisconsin  his  good  qualities  as  a  public 
servant  were  recognized,  and  he  became  Super- 
visor of  his  township,  and  while  in  that  office 
studied  how  to  best  promote  the  welfare  of  his 
townsmen.  Mrs.  Bates  is  a  devoted  member  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  in  which  society 
she  is  active  in  all  good  works. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  Hosea  B.  Bates, 
who  was  bom  in  Westford,  Vt.  His  mother  was 
Mrs.  Han nali  (Bowman)  Bates,  also  a  native  of 
the  same  town  and  State  as  her  husband.  They 
lived  honored  and  useful  lives,  and  when  called 
from  this  life  were  residing  at  River  Falls,  Wis., 
whither  they  had  removed  in  1850.  The  father 
of  Mrs.  Bates  bore  the  name  of  Charles  Brack- 
et t  :ind  claimed  Vermont  as  his  native  State, 
his  birth  taking  place  in  Braintree.  Her 


342 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


mother  was  Armenia  Parrish,  who  was  born  in 
Brinkfield,  Vt.;  she  died  in  Brain  tree,  same  State, 
in  1843.  The  father,  however,  came  to  Lee 
County  in  185;"),  and  died  in  China  Township  in 
1881. 

Mr.  Bates  owns  eighty  acres  of  land  and  is 
numbered  among  the  prominent  and  successful 
farmers  of  Amboy  Township.  Mrs.  Bates  is  a  very 
capable  and  intelligent  lady  and  is  noted  for  her 
skill  as  a  housewife  and  caretaker. 


JONAS  BURGER  is  one  of  the  most  success- 
ful   farmers    in    Palmyra    Township.       He 
owns  a  very  attractive  and  productive  farm 
of  one  hundred  and  ten  acres  on   sections 
16  and  17  of  the  above-named  township,  every  foot 
of  which  is  under  the  most  excellent   cultivation. 
He  came  to  this  county  in   1854  and    landed  in 
Dixon  with  $110  in  his  pocket  and  a  wife  and  one 
child  to  care  for.     They  thus  began  at  the  bottom 
of  the   ladder,   erecting  on  their    purchase  a  log 
cabin,  which   has  since  been    supplemented    by  a 
comfortable  and  convenient  frame  dwelling. 

Mr.  Burger  removed  to  Crawford  County,  Mo., 
in  1858,  but  two  years  later  returned  to  Lee  County, 
and  has  since  made  this  county  his  abiding  place. 
He  was  bora  in  Columbia  County,  Pa.,  June  1, 
1824,  and  is  the  son  of  Abraham  Burger,  also  a  na- 
tive of  Columbia  County,  Pa.,  and  of  German  an- 
cestry. His  mother  was  Miss  Mary  Hower,  a  native 
of  the  same  county  and  State  as  was  her  husband. 
After  their  marriage  the  parents  located  on  a  farm 
in  Columbia  County,  where  they  lived  good  honest 
lives  and  died,  the  father  when  seventy-nine  years 
of  age  and  the  mother  two  years  younger.  They 
were  active  and  influential  members  of  the  Presby. 
terian  and  Lutheran  Churches,  respectively.  Mr. 
Burger  was  a  believer  in  Democratic  principles  and 
always  cast  his  vote  and  influence  in  favor  of  the 
candidates  of  that  party. 

The  parental  family  of  our  subject  numbered 
twelve  children,  five  sons  and  seven  daughters  of 
whom  our  subject  was  the  youngest  but  one  in  the 
order  of  birth  and  the  only  son  now  living.  Mr. 


Burger  has  three  sisters  living,  two  making  their 
home  in  Pennsylvania  and  one  in  Nebraska.  He 
was  reared  to  man's  estate  in  his  native  county  and 
received  a  good  education  in  the  common  schools. 
He  was  married  November  23,  1848  to  Miss  Rebecca 
Loreman,  who  was  born  in  Columbia  County,  Pa., 
January  15,  1830,  where  she  was  reared  and  was 
given  an  excellent  education. 

Mrs.  Burger  was  the  daughter,  of  Jacob  and  Lydia 
(Drumm)  Loreman,  both  of  whom  were  natives 
of  Franklin  Township,  Columbia  County.  They 
were  well-to-do  people  and  died  at  the  respective 
ages  of  seventy-nine  and  seventy-two  years.  They 
were  of  Pennsylvania  Dutch  stock  and  very  promi 
nent  in  the  work  of  the  Lutheran  Church,  of  which 
denomination  they  were  members.  Mr.  Loreman 
was  a  believer  in  Democracy  and  took  a  lively  in- 
terest in  local  politics. 

Mrs.  Burger,  the  wife  of  our  subject,  was  the 
eldest  child  of  three  sons  and  four  daughters  born 
to  her  parents  and  besides  a  sister  and  brother,  is 
the  only  one  now  living.  Her  union  with  our 
subject  has  been  productive  of  eight  children,  two 
of  whom  are  deceased:  Lydia  A.  and  Anna  M. 
Those  living  are  Alice,  who  is  the  wife  of  Abraham 
Cliets,  and  makes  her  home  in  Mills  County,  Iowa, 
on  a  farm;  Amanda  M.,  the  wife  of  Jacob  Kline, 
now  resides  in  Jordan  Township,Whiteside  County, 
111.;  William,  who  took  to  wife  Miss  Barbara  Wol- 
ford,  and  who  lives  on  a  farm  in  Ogle  County, 
this  State;  Sarah,  the  wife  of  Erastus  A.  Covert, 
she  resides  on  a  farm  in  this  township;  Ida  M.,  wife 
of  Samuel  McGaffy,  also  making  Palmyra  Town- 
ship their  home;  Eldora  makes  her  home  under 
the  parental  roof.  Our  subject  and  his  wife  are 
conscientious  members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
and  in  politics  Mr.Burger  votes  with  the  Democratic 
party. 


APT.  WILLIAM  S.  FROST.  This  gentle- 
man, who  is  an  extensive  landowner,  and 
')  also  largely  engaged  in  farming  and  stock- 
raising,  is  well  known  throughout  the  county,  not 
only  as  an  intelligent,  enterprising  business  man, 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


343 


but  as  au  old  soldier  who  fought  bravely  during 
the  War  of  the  Rebellion,  and  who  carries  with 
him  the  marks  of  wounds  received  in  the  service. 
He  resides  on  section  28,  Bradford  Township.  Lee 
County,  which  he  has  made  his  home  for  many 
years. 

Capt.  Frost  was  born  in  Windsor,  near  Augusta, 
Me.,  October  7,  1832.  When  five  years  of  age  he 
was  brought  by  his  parents  to  Illinois,  spending 
the  first  winter  in  Morgan  County,  and  in  the 
spring  of  1838  coming  to  Lee  County  and  settling 
in  what  is  now  Amboy  Township,  near  Lee  Center. 
He  remained  at  home  until  he  was  eighteen  years 
of  age,  when  he  went  to  Mt.  Morris,  and  was  for 
two  years  a  student  in  the  seminary  at  that  place. 
After  finishing  his  schooling  lie  went  to  California 
by  way  of  the  Isthmus,  and  was  there  engaged  in 
mining  and  also  in  hotel  keeping  for  the  next  six 
years,  when  he  returned  to  Lee  County.  A  short 
time  afterward  he  purchased  a  lot  of  stock,  and  in 
1859  drove  them  across  the  plains  to  California, 
there  disposing  of  them  to  good  advantage,  and 
returning  in  the  fall  of  1861  to  Lee  County. 

When  the  Civil  War  broke  out,  Capt.  Frost  en- 
tered the  service  of  his  country,  and  in  the  spring 
of  1862  enlisted  in  Company  E,  Seventy-fifth  Illi- 
nois Regiment,  of  which  he  was  commissioned 
Captain.  He  was  mustered  in,  June  14.  1862,  anil 
continued  in  command  of  the  company,  until  July 
23,  1864,  when  he  was  severely  wounded  it  At- 
lanta by  a  minie  ball,  after  which  he  was  unable  to 
do  active  service.  He  was  mustered  out  January 
23,  186,5.  Capt.  Frost  took  part  in  the  following 
engagements:  Perryville,  Stone  River,  Chicka- 
mauga,  Resaca,  Lookout  Mountain  and  Kenesaw 
Mountain.  He  was  wounded  at  Perryville  by  a 
minie  ball  which  passed  through  his  thigh,  and 
was  confined  in  the  hospital  for  two  months.  His 
record  through  the  war  was  that  of  a  brave  soldier 
and  one  which  he  can  look  back  upon  with  pride.- 
After  his  discharge  from  the  army  he  returned  to 
Lee  County,  and  engaged  in  farming,  also  feeding 
and  shipping  live  stock,  and  has  since  followed 
that  business.  He  owns  a  large  and  finely  improved 
farm,  on  which  he  has  a  fine  residence  and  excel- 
lent buildings. 

Capt.  Frost  was   married  in  Lee  Center,  October 


25,  1865,  to  Miss  Sophia  E.  Shaw.  This  lady  was 
a  daughter  of  the  late  Sherman  Shaw,  who  with  his 
wife,  whose  maiden  name  was  Melinda  DeWolf, 
was  among  the  first  settlers  of  Lee  County.  The 
father  died  April  25,  1891,  and  the  mother  is  still 
living.  Mrs.  Frost  was  born  in  Niles,  Mich.,  March 
31,  1837,  and  was  but  five  months  old  when  her 
parents  came  to  Lee  County,  where  she  grew  to 
womanhood.  Our  subject  and  his  wife  are  the 
parents  of  five  children,  namely:  Frank  Eels,  who 
married  Martha  Hurlbert;  Melinda  S.,  who  is  the 
wife  of  Andrew  Aschenbrenner;  S.  Donald;  Will- 
iam S.,  Jr..  and  Mary  A. 

Capt.  Frost  is  a  stanch  Republican,  and  has  al- 
ways taken  an  active  part  in  political  affairs.  His 
good  counsel  and  judgment  have  been  appreciated 
by  his  fellow  citizens,  who  have  bestowed  some  im- 
portant local  offices  upon  him.  He  has  been  Su- 
pervisor for  Bradford  Township  for  some  fourteen 
or  fifteen  years,  and  for  some  time  has  held  the 
office  of  Commissioner  of  Internal  Improvement  of 
the  Drainage  District.  The  commission  has  spent 
about  $100,000  in  draining  that  section.  He  is  one 
of  the  prominent  and  influential  men  of  his  town- 
ship, and  liis  many  friends  will  take  pleasure  in 
reading  this  brief  sketch  of  his  life. 


*pj|;  RTHl'R  PHILLIPS,  a  well-known  stock- 
(@/J[l  breedei  and  farmer,  who  conducts  an  ex- 
ill  (B  tensive  business  in  his  line  on  section  17, 
^j  Nelson  Township,  has  here  a  valuable  and 
well  arranged  stock  farm,  beautifully  located  on 
the  banks  of  the  Rock  River.  Mr.  Phillips  was 
born  in  Warren  County,  Ohio,  February  18,  1822, 
coming  of  the  sturdy  pioneer  stock  of  that  State, 
of  which  his  father,  John  Phillips,  was  also  a 
native.  He  in  turn  was  a  son  of  Virginia  parents 
who  had  settled  in  Ohio  in  an  early  day,  and  died 
in  Warren  County.  He  was  reared  in  that  county 
near  the  town  of  Franklin,  and  when  young 
learned  the  trade  of  a  carpenter,  which  he  followed 
some  years.  He  then  abandoned  that  calling  in 
favor  of  farming,  which  he  pursued  in  his  native 


344 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


county  until  his  life  was  rounded  out  by  his 
death  at  the  age  of  seventy  years.  He  was  a  man 
of  remarkable  physique,  being  very  stout,  hardy 
and  rugged,  and  in  personal  character  he  was 
alx>ve  reproach.  He  married  Miss  Elizabeth  How- 
ard, who  was  also  a  daughter  of  pioneer  parents, 
who  died  in  the  Buckeye  State  when  very  old. 
She  was  born  and  reared  in  Warren  Count}',  and 
her  death  occurred  there  about  ten  years  before 
that  of  her  husband. 

( )ur  subject  is  one  of  seven  children,  five  sons 
and  two  daughters,  he  being  the  fourth  in  order  of 
birth,  and  one  son  and  one  daughter  are  now 
dead.  Arthur  is  the  only  one  living  in  Illinois. 
His  brothers,  John  T.,  and  George,  are  residents  of 
Ft.  Wayne,  Ind.,  and  his  brother  Lewis,  is  a  farmer 
in  Marshall  County,  Iowa.  A  sister,  Mrs.  Mary 
G rimes,  lives  at  Dayton,  Ohio. 

Mr.  Phillips,  although  not  one  of  the  earliest 
settlers  of  this  county,  may  well  be  denominated 
one  of  its  pioneers,  as  he  has  been  such  an  active 
factor  in  redeeming  the  land  from  the  wilderness. 
He  came  to  this  county  in  1852,  and  first  located 
in  China  Township,  where  he  improved  a  small 
farm.  In  1865,  he  sold  that  place  at  a  good  price 
and  purchased  his  present  homestead  in  Nelson 
Township.  This  comprises  two  hundred  and 
eighty  acres  of  rich  alluvium,  well  watered  by  the 
beautiful  stream  that  flows  by,  and  admirably 
adapted  to  stock-raising  purposes.  The  buildings 
are  of  a  good  style  of  architecture,  and  every  con- 
venience is  to  be  found  on  the  place  for  the  nu- 
merous cattle,  horses  and  swine  raised  here,  Mr. 
Phillips  making  a  specialty  of  Short-Horns,  be- 
sides having  cattle  of  other  grades.  All  of  the  im- 
provements in  the  way  of  buildings,  etc.,  have 
been  put  upon  the  place  by  him  since  it  came  into 
his  possession. 

The  marriage  of  Mr.  Phillips  with  Miss  Louisa 
Wingert,  took  place  at  Winchester,  Ohio.  Mrs. 
Phillips  was  born  in  Pennsylvania,  and  was  young 
when  her  parents,  Henry  and  Anna  (Bentz) 
Wingert,  removed  to  Ohio,  and  settled  near  Win- 
chester, whence  in  1852  they  came  to  this  county 
with  their  daughter.  Mrs.  Phillips,  of  this  notice, 
and  located  at  Franklin  Grove,  China  Township, 
and  is  now  nearly  eighty-seven  years  old.  He  lias 


been  a  hard-working  man  and  a  good  citizen,  and 
none  know  him  but  to  respect  him.  Five  children 
have  been  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Phillips,  of  whom 
all  are  living  but  Anna,  who  died  at  the  age  of 
fourteen  years.  The  surviving  children  are  Mary, 
wife  of  Harry  Williams,  a  farmer  of  Woosung  in 
Ogle  County;  Laura,  wife  of  George  Mooers,  of 
Belle  Plaine,  Iowa,  who  is  engaged  as  a  railway 
conductor;  Wilbur,  who  now  resides  at  home,  hav- 
ing married  Miss  Zula  Williams,  of  Walnut, 
Bureau  County,  111.;  Henry,  the  youngest  son,  still 
remains  with  his  parents. 

Mr.  Phillips  is  highly  regarded  as  one  of  out- 
most upright,  fair-dealing  and  conscientious  citi- 
zens although  no  church  claims  him  as  a  member, 
lie  has  an  evenly  balanced  mind,  is  independent  in 
his  opinions,  especially  so  in  regard  to  politics,  be- 
ing a  strong  Democrat,  and  his  successful  manage- 
ment of  his  affairs  has  placed  him  among  the 
substantial  and  well-to-do  farmers  of  his  township. 


ATI  IAN  A.  PETRIE  is  a  member  of  the 
banking  firm  of  Mills  it  Petrie,  and  is  a 
gentleman  who  enjoys  the  confidence  of 
the  business  community,  where  his  word  is  con- 
sidered as  good  as  his  bond.  Character  must 
always  tell  in  its  effect  upon  those  who  meet  it, 
and  there  is  no  such  argument  for  intelligence  and 
uprightness  as  an  intelligent  and  upright  life. 

Nathan  A.  Petrie  was  born  in  Parish,  Oswego 
County,  N.  Y.,  November  14,  1843,  and  is  the  son 
of  Rudolph  and  Elizabeth  (Vrooman)  Petrie,  the 
former  being  born  in  Herkimer  County  and  the 
mother  in  Schoharie  County,  N.  Y.  Mr.  Rudolph 
Petrie  was  an  agriculturist  by  calling  and  culti- 
vated his  estate  in  such  a  manner  as  to  bring  him 
a  handsome  income.  They  both  passed  from  this 
life  in  Parish,  N.  Y.,  after  having  become  the 
parents  of  seven  children,  five  sons  and  two 
daughters.  . 

Our  subject  was  the  youngest  member  of  the 
household,  and  remained  under  the  parental  roof 
until  reaching  his  nineteenth  year,  in  the  mean- 
time receiving  :i  good  education  in  the  schools  of 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


345 


his  neighborhood,  and  the  knowledge  of  books 
gained  therein  has  been  supplemented  by  thorough 
and  systematic  reading  until  to-day  he  is  a  man 
of  culture  and  education.  When  starting  out  in 
the  world  to  battle  with  life  for  himself  he  was 
only  nineteen  years  of  age,  but  thinking  that  the 
advantages  offered  a  _young  man  in  his  circum- 
stances were  better  in  the  Prairie  State  than  in 
New  York,  he  came  West  to  Lee  County.  For 
the  two  years  succeeding  his  advent  into  this 
county  our  young  hero  was  in  the  employ  of  S.  I1'. 
Mills  in  Ashton  engaged  in  his  grain  elevator  and 
lumber  yard,  doing  all  the  work' given  him  to  per- 
form in  such  an  admirable  and  conscientious  man- 
ner that  in  a  short  time  Mr.  Mills  took  him  in  as 
his  partner  and  they  have  since  continued  to- 
gether in  their  various  changes  of  business  to  the 
present  time.  That  one  fact  alone  speaks  volumes 
for  the  character  of  our  subject. 

In  1865  the  firm  of  Mills  &  Petrie  engaged  in 
the  mercantile  business  in  Ashton,  carrying  a 
complete  stock  of  goods  well  fitted  to  supply  the 
needs  of  the  village  and  country  household,  and 
by  their  honest  and  courteous  treatment  of  their 
customers  did  an  extensive  business.  They  con- 
tinued as  merchants  in  Ashton  for  four  years, 
when  in  1869,  they  sold  out  their  store  and  en- 
gaged in  the  banking  business,  the  bank  being 
known  throughout  the  State  as  the  Ashton  Hank, 
and  which  receives  a  flattering  degree  of  patronage 
from  the  people  of  this  section.  The  firm  owns 
two  farms  in  addition  to  their  bank,  which  they 
rent. 

Mr.  Petrie  of  this  sketch  has  been  Supervisor  of 
Ashton  Township  for  two  years,  and  was  Notary 
Public  for  sixteen  years.  We  are  thus  gratified 
to  be  able  to  place  in  the  hands  of  our  readers  a 
sketch  of  Mr.  Petrie,  who  is  so  well  known  and 
highly  esteemed  personal iy.  In  politics  he  is  a 
stanch  Democrat,  always  casting  his  vote  and 
influence  to  the  support  of  that  body. 

Miss  Sarah  E.  Howard  became  Mrs.  Petrie  in 
1880,  their  marriage  being  solemnized  in  Ashton. 
She  was  born  in  Port  Clinton,  Ohio,  and  was  the 
daughter  of  William  and  Mary  Howard,  the  latter 
of  whom  died  in  Jefferson  County.  Nob.;  the 
father  is  residing  in  that  county.  Mrs.  Petrie  is 


an  estimable  lady  and  is  beloved  by  every  one 
who  has  the  pleasure  of  her  acquaintance.  She 
is  well  fitted  to  be  the  wife  of  a  gentleman  who  is 
so  thoroughly  esteemed  as  is  her  worthy  husband 
ai.d  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 


E.  SMITH,  a  well-known  railroad 
engineer,  is  now  retired  from  active  life, 
residing  just  outside  the  city  limits  of 
Dixon,  where  he  has  a  comfortable  home  of  five 
acres.  His  place  is  supplied  with  good  buildings 
and  in  1890  he  erected  a  pleasant  dwelling.  Our 
subject  has  been  enterprising  and  industrious  and 
when  only  fifteen  years  of  age  possessed  property 
of  his  own.  He  has  ever  since  continued  to  be  a 
landowner. 

Mr.  Smith,  of  this  sketch,  is  prominent  in  rail- 
road circles,  having  been  connected  with  the  Wa- 
bash  Railroad  for  thirty  years  and  was  in  the  em- 
ploy of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  for  one  year. 
He  began  life  for  himself  when  fifteen  years  of 
age  by  working  in  the  railroads  shop  of  the  Boston 
«fr  Lowell  Road  in  the  cities  of  Boston  and  Lowell, 
Mass.  He  remained  with  them  until  reaching  his 
majority  when  he  was  given  charge  of  an  engine 
in  the  yards  at  Cambridge,  Mass.,  and  so  efficiently 
did  he  perform  his  duties  as  engineer  that  he  was 
soon  given  charge  of  an  engine  in  regular  service. 

In  1855  our  subject  came  West  and  located  in 
Springfield,  111.,  where  he  was  given  charge  of  an 
engine  on  the  Great  Western  Railroad,  running 
between  Springfield  and  Naples,  a  distance  of 
about  fifty-five  miles.  That  road  was  later  merged 
into  what  is  now  the  Wabash  and  our  subject  re- 
mained in  their  employ  for  thirty  years,  or  until 
he  retired  in  1890.  He  has  passed  through  all  the 
various  stages  of  an  engineer's  life  and  during  the 
entire  period  of  his  service  he  has  never  had  an 
accident  which  resulted  seriously  to  his  passengers. 
During  seven  years  of  that  time  he  never  even  had 
a  wheel  off  the  track  and  in  recognition  of  that 
fact  he  was  highly  complimented  by  the  then 
acting  Passenger  Superintendent,  Robert  Andrews. 


346 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


He  claims  that  the  people  at  large  are  responsible 
to  a  great  extent  for  the  many  accidents  on  rail- 
roads as  they  ask  and  expect  trains  to  be  run  at 
such  an  enormous  speed. 

Mr.  Smith  looks  back  with  much  pleasure  to  the 
time  when  he  was  in  active  service  on  the  road 
and  numbers  some  of  his  best  friends  among  the 
highest  officials  of  the  company.  Beginning  at 
an  early  age  the  serious  business  of  caring  for  him- 
self, Mr.  Smith  has  continued  through  life  to  be 
prudent  and  industrious  and  in  his  old  age  is  able 
to  retire  with  a  comfortable  competency  that 
insures  him  immunity  from  want  or  care,  and 
Dixon  may  feel  proud  to  have  so  honorable  a 
gentleman  among  her  citizens. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  born  at  Lowell, 
Mass.,  December  9,  1833  and  was  the  son  of  John 
L.  Smith,  a  native  of  New  Hampshire.  The  father 
made  his  home  for  a  number  of  years  at  Lowell, 
but  passed  from  this  life  at  Dixon,  Lee  County, 
when  sixty-two  years  of  age.  Our  subject  came 
honestly  by  his  love  for  railroad  life,  as  his  father 
was  employed  for  a  number  of  years  by  the  Boston 
it  Lowell  Railroad.  The  maiden  name  of  Mrs. 
Smith  was  Miss  Alvira  Perkins,  also  a  native  of 
the  Granite  State,  who  died  at  Dixon,  aged  seventy- 
two  years,  having  come  West  a  number  of  years 
before  her  decease.  Religiously  she  was  a  con- 
sistent member  of  the  Baptist  Church,  and  a  kind 
and  loving  wife  and  mother. 

The  gentleman  of  whom  we  write  was  educated 
in  the  public  schools  in  Boston,  Mass.,  and  after  he 
became  of  age  was  married  in  Cambridge  to  Miss 
Eliza  Underwood,  the  date  of  the  ceremony  being 
1854.  Mrs.  Smith  was  the  daughter  of  Isaac  Un- 
derwood, a  native  of  Massachusetts,  who  lived  and 
died  at  Cambridge,  his  decease  occurring  when  he 
was  seventy-six  years  of  age.  He  followed  the 
trade  of  a  carpenter  and  was  fairly  successful  in 
that  calling.  The  mother  of  Mrs.  Smith  was  Miss 
Rebecca  Slocum  and  was  the  first  white  child  born 
in  East  Cambridge  then  known  as  Craig's  Point; 
she  died  in  1875  when  nearly  sixty-two  years  old. 
The  parents  were  members  of  the  Universalist 
Church  and  were  greatly  esteemed  in  their  com- 
munit3'  for  their  upright  and  honest  lives. 

Mrs.  Eliza  Smith,  wife  of  our  subject  received  a 


good  education  in  her  native  town  and  by  her  mar- 
riage with  our  subject  has  become  the  mother  of 
two  children,  only  one  of  whom  is  living  at  the 
present  time,  Martha,  who  remains  under  the  par- 
ental roof.  Ella  died  when  fourteen  years  of  age.  In 
politics  he  is  a  believer  in  Republican  principles 
and  hence  always  casts  his  vote  and  influence  in 
favor  of  the  candidates  of  that  party. 


NDREW  VENTLER  is  another  of  the 
well-to-do  citizens  of  Bradford  Township, 
who  were  born  in  the  Fatherland.  His 
industry  and  frugality  have  enabled  him 
to  take  a  place  in  the  front  rank  among  the  far- 
mers who  have  made  a  success  of  their  calling.  He 
was  born  in  Germany,  May  11,  1830  and  received 
his  education  in  the  model  schools  of  his  native 
land,  where  he  learned  the  principles,  which  put 
into  practice,  have  made  him  an  intelligent  agri- 
culturist. 

Our  subject  remained  in  Germany  until  1853, 
when,  hearing  such  glowing  accounts  of  the  good 
fortune  to  be  met  with  in  the  New  World,  he  em- 
barked from  his  native  country  and  landed  in  New 
York  in  August  of  the  above  named  year.  He 
came  directly  West  and  resided  for  two  months  in 
Wisconsin  being  engaged  on  a  railroad.  He  later 
came  to  Lee  County  and  was  emploj7ed  by  the 
Northwestern  Railroad  for  the  succeeding  four 
months,  at  the  end  of  which  time  he  began  to  work 
out  on  a  farm  as  a  laborer,  being  thus  engaged 
for  about  four  years. 

Mr.  Ventler  whose  name  stands  at  the  head  of 
this  sketch  was  married  April  21,  1860,  the  lady  of 
his  choice  being  Miss  Elizabeth  Ginnterman,  also  a 
native  of  Germany,  having  been  born  De- 
cember 15,  1836.  Our  subject  began  life  as  a 
farmer  by  renting  a  tract  of  laud  situated  between 
Franklin  and  Dixon,  which  he  continued  to  cul- 
tivate for  some  three  years,  when  by  his  economy 
and  frugality  he  was  enabled  to  save  a  sufficient 
sum  with  which  to  purchase  eighty  acres.  That 
tract  was  located  on  section  14,  Bradford  Town 
ship,  and  which  is  included  among  his  possessions. 


OF  THS 
RUYERSIir 


UlHs 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


.'Mil 


Mr.  Yen  tier  is  now  the  proud  possessor  of  six  hun- 
dred and  eighty  acres  of  excellent  land  which  his 
intelligence  and  good  judgment  enables  him  1<> 
cultivate  in  a  very  profitable  manner  and  is  thus 
numbered  among  the  wealthy  and  prominent  far- 
mers of  Lee  County.  A  stranger  i7i  the  county, 
not  acquainted  with  Mr.  Yen  tier,  would  know 
thathis  estate  was  under  the  supervision  of  an  in- 
dustrious, ambitious  gentleman,  as  it  everywhere 
bears  the  marks  of  the  care  and  expense  which  has 
been  lavished  upon  it. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ventler  have  been  granted  a  fam- 
ily of  nine  children,  seven  are  yet  living  and  bear 
the  respective  names  of  Mary,  Marcus,  Conrad, 
John,  Anna,  William  and  Katie.  Two  children 
died  when  young.  In  politics  our  subject  is  a 
stanch  Democrat  and,  with  his  excellent  wife, 
is  an  active  member  of  the  Lutheran  Church.  Mrs. 
Yen  tier  is  a  very  intelligent  and  capable  lady  and 
noted  for  her  skill  as  a  housewife  and  caretaker. 


E.  PADDOCK.  This  gentle- 
man is  a  resident  of  Ashton,  which  he  has 
made  his  home  for  a  number  of  years,  and 
is  highly  esteemed  as  a  public-spirited  and  enter- 
prising citizen.  He  comes  of  an  excellent  family 
and  a  short  sketch  of  his  father,  the  late  lliley 
Paddock,  whose  portrait  is  presented  on  the  oppo- 
site page,  will  not  be  out  of  place  in  this 
connection. 

Riley  Paddock  was  bom  in  Clarke  County, 
Ohio,  February  8,  1810.  AVhen  he  was  nine  years 
old  he  went  with  his  father,  Col.  Ebenezer  Pad- 
dock, to  Vigo  County,  Ind.,  where  he  was  reared 
to  manhood  on  a  farm.  When  he  was  about 
twenty-one  years  old,  he  engaged  in  the  mercan- 
tile business  in  Middletown,  that  county,  which  he 
pursued  for  some  five  or  six  years,  being  the  only 
merchant  at  that  time  in  that  section  of  country, 
lie  was  obliged  to  haul  most  of  his  goods  from 
Louisville,  Ky.,  there  being  no  public  means  of 
transportation. 

In  1X37  Mr.  Paddock  sold  out  his  stock,  and 
16 


removing  to  Washington  Grove,  Ogle  County, 
111.,  there  purchased  a  tract  of  land,  comprising 
some  five  hundred  acres.  He  devoted  himself  to 
farming  on  this  place  until  186(>  when  he  removed 
to  Ashton  and  lived  retired,  not  being  actively 
engaged  in  any  business  from  that  time  until  his 
death  which  occurred  April  28, 1887.  He  was  a  man 
who  took  an  active  interest  in  public  affairs,  being 
a  warm  advocate  of  education  and  the  promotion  of 
churches  and  schools.  He  was  for  two  years  Pres- 
ident of  what  is  now  the  First  National  Bank  of 
Rochelle.  lie  was  an  active  member  of  the  Chris- 
tian Church,  of  which  he  was  a  liberal  supporter, 
and  also  contributed  most  generously  toward  the 
erection  of  churches  and  the  seminaries  at  Mt. 
Morris  and  at  Wheaton.  His  influence  was  east 
for  good  wherever  he  resided,  and  his  memory 
will  long  be  cherished  by  his  fellow-townsmen  and 
associates. 

The  wife  of  Riley  Paddock,  to  whom  he  was 
married  in  Vigo  County,  Ind.,  March  8,  1836,  was 
Miss  Eliza  Snoddy,  who  was  born  in  Bourbon 
County,  Ky.,  August  31,  1810.  Her  parents  were 
Fergus  and  Elizabeth  (McNeal)  Snoddy,  the  latter 
of  whom  was  born  in  Virginia  of  Scotch  paren- 
tage. They  died  in  Yigo  County,  Ind.,  where 
they  settled  on  coming  from  Kentucky  in  1825. 
Mrs.  Paddock  was  an  intelligent  and  refined 
woman  and  a  devoted  wife  and  mother.  Mr. 
Paddock,  at  the  time  of  his  death,  was  the  owner 
of  one-half  section  of  well-improved  land  in  Cher- 
okee County,  Iowa,  and  two  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  in  this  county. 

To  this  worthy  couple  were  born  four  children 
as  follows:  Burella,  who  is  the  wife  of  Moses  D. 
Martin;  Mary  E.",  widow  of  the  late  J.  B.  Williams; 
Victoria  X.,  the  wife  of  Capt.  W.  S.  Miller,  and 
Wilbourne  E.  our  subject,  whose  birth  took  place 
in  Ogle  County,  November  X,  1842.  From  18(55 
until  1XX2  Mr.  Paddock  wa-s  engaged  in  the  mer- 
cantile business  in  Ashton,  being  in  partnership 
during  that  time  with  the  late  . I.  B.  Williams,  with 
the  exception  of  the  last  five  years  when  he  con- 
ducted the  business  alone.  lie  deals  in  general 
merchandise,  and  is  looked  upon  as  an  enterpris- 
ing and  successful  business  man.  He  owns  seven 
hundred  acres  of  land  in  Cherokee  and  Lyon 


350 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


Counties,  Iowa,  all  of  which  is  well  improved. 
He  has  a  comfortable  residence  in  Ashton,  and  is 
highly  respected  by  his  fellow-citizens. 


yiLLIAM  H.  VAN  EPPS  is  numbered 
among  the  former  merchants  and  farmers 
of  Dixon,  but  at  present  is  not  engaged  in 
any  special  line  of  business.  He  was  born  in  East 
Bethany,  Genesee  County,  N.  Y.,  December  18, 
1842.  He  is  descended  from  early  Holland  ances- 
try who  settled  in  the  Empire  State  in  Colonial 
times.  His  grandparents,  John  A.  and  Deborah 
(Hotisman)  Van  Epps,  removed  to  Western  New 
York  in  1813,  going  to  their  pioneer  home  in  Gene- 
see  County  with  teams.  Grandlather  Van  Epps 
•was  a  valiant  soldier  in  the  War  of  1812  and  for 
his  services  received  a  pension  until  his  death  in 
1816. 

Hon.  AVilliam  H.  Van  Epps,  father  of  our  subject, 
was  born  in  Schenectady  County,  N.  Y.,  August 
12,  1812,  and  passed  the  early  years  of  his  life  in 
Genesee  and  Monroe  Counties.  He  had  an  active, 
intelligent  mind  and  made  the  best  of  his  op- 
portunities for  obtaining  an  education,  which  was 
completed  by  a  course  at  Wyoming  Academy. 
Thus  well  equipped  for  his  struggle  with  life,  at 
the  age  of  eighteen  he  embarked  in  the  mercantile 
business  at  Brockport,  a  fine  situation  for  business 
purposes,  as  it  was  located  on  the  banks  of  Erie 
Canal,  then  the  great  highway  of  travel  for  West- 
ern-bound emigrants. 

Later  Mr.  Van  Epps,  Sr.  was  engaged  in  busi- 
ness at  Caryville,  where  his  store  was  burned.  He 
then  settled  in  East  Bethany  of  which  he  was  the 
principal  merchant  for  several  years.  In  1837,  he 
came  to  Illinois,  and  was  a  pioneer  of  Fulton 
County,  engaging  in  business  at  Bcrnadotte  and  as 
there  were  no  railroads  in  that  part  of  the  country 
then,  his  goods  had  to  be  shipped  to  him  by  rivers. 
Some  years  later  he  returned  to  New  York  on  ac- 
count of  his  wife's  failing  health,  and  resided  in 
Bethany  until  1854. 

In  the  year  above-mentioned,  Mr.  Van  Epps 
once  more  became  a  resident  of  the  Prairie  State, 


and  for  twenty  years  was  a  prominent  merchant  of 
Dixon,  where  he  kept  a  general  store  and  aided  in 
building  up  the  business  interests  of  city  and 
county.  When  he  first  settled  here,  Rochelle  was 
the  nearest  railroad  station,  Dixon  was  but  a  vil- 
lage and  the  surrounding  country  was  not  very 
thickly  settled.  He  lived  to  see  the  wonderful 
development  of  the  county  and  bore  an  honorable 
part  in  bringing  it  about.  He  died  October  8, 
1877. 

The  maiden  name  of  the  mother  of  our  subject 
was  Charlotte  R.  Churchill.  She  was  born  in 
Genesee  County,  N.  Y..  in  1813  and  died  at  East 
Bethany  in  1848.  Afterward  Mr.  Van  Epps  was 
again  married  in  1850,  taking  as  his  wife,  Mary  A. 
Peck,  a  native  of  East  Bethany,  who  survived  him 
ten  years,  her  death  occurring  December  27,  1887. 
William  H.  was  the  youngest  of  four  children  by 
the  first  marriage,  the  others  being  Marion  and 
Ellen,  who  died  in  Fulton  County,  111.,  and  Adelia, 
who  died  in  New  York.  Of  the  second  marriage 
there  were  two  daughters — Louise  P.  (Mrs.  George 
Steel),  and  Katie,  who  died  March  7,  1862,  when 
five  years  old. 

The  maternal  grandparents  of  our  subject,  Josiah 
and  Charlotte  (Rumsey)  Churchill,  were  natives  of 
Vermont  and  pioneers  of  Genesee  County,  N.  Y. 
The  Churchills  and  Rumseys  went  from  their  na- 
tive Connecticut  to  Vermont  before  the  Revolution 
and  were  residing  at  Hubbardton  when  the  battle 
was  fought  there.  Afterward  members  of  the 
families  made  their  way  back  to  Vermont  or  Mas- 
sachusetts. In  1783-84,  some  of  them  with  other 
families  returned  to  the  Green  Mountain  State, 
and  from  there  the  grandparents  of  our  subject 
finally  removed  to  the  State  of  New  York.  Grand- 
father Josiah  Churchill  was  in  the  small  force  of 
the  American  Army  which  attacked  the  British 
at  Queenstown  Heights  near  Niagara,  in  October, 
1812,  and  was  wounded. 

William  Henri  Van  Epps  laid  the  foundation  of 
his  education  in  the  public  school  of  his  native 
town.  In  1854,  he  came  to  Fulton  County,  111., 
and  resided  with  an  uncle,  James  Churchill  there 
for  one  year.  Later  he  attended  school  in  Dixon 
under  William  Barge  and  the  Gow  Brothers, 
eventually  concluding  his  education  in  the  Chi- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


351 


cago  University.  In  the  intervals  of  attending 
school  he  was  acquiring  excellent  business  habits 
as  a  clerk  in  his  father's  store. 

In  1861,  our  subject  attended  the  first  war  meet- 
ing held  at  the  Court  House  and  his  name  was  the 
eighteenth  on  the  roll  of   volunteers,   who   after-   j 
ward  became  Company  A,  Thirteenth    Illinois  In- 
fantry.    For  two  weeks  he  was  with  the  company 
every  day,  drilling  under  Capt.  A.  B.  Gorgas,  but 
he  was  persuaded  by  relatives  and  friends  to  leave 
the  company,  a  decision  which  he  afterward   had 
good  cause  for  regretting.     His  father  then  gave 
him  an  interest  in  a  dry-goods  store  at  Morrison, 
III.,  with  J.  R.  Ashley  as  a  partner.     He  remained    I 
in  that  village  until  August,  1862,  and  then  came   j 
home  to  join  the  Express  Battery,  a  company  of   j 
which  William  Snyder  was  Captain. 

Upon  going  to  Chicago  and  finding  the  regi-  j 
ment  already  filled,  Mr.  Van  Epps  and  thirteen 
others  enlisted  August  12,  1862  in  Company  B, 
First  New  York  Marine  Artillery.  In  September 
of  the  same  year  he  went  South  witli  his  regiment, 
by  way  of  Ft.  Hatteras  and  Newbern  to  Roanoke 
Island,  and  was  stationed  there  on  the  gunboat 
"Sentinel"  until  December  1.  During  that  time, 
there  was  much  sickness  in  that  unhealthy  locality 
and  fifty  or  one-fifth  of  the  men  died.  On  the  1st 
of  December,  our  subject  and  twenty-five  others 
were  detailed  to  go  on  an  expedition  up  the  Neuse 
River  on  the  gunboat  "Seymour."  The  most  that 
the  "Seymour"  accomplished  was  in  helping  to 
save  the  gunboat  "Lockwood"  from  falling  into 
the  hands  of  the  enemy  below  Kinston,  where  the 
battle  was  fought. 

Returning  on  the  sick  list,  Mr.  Van  Epps  was 
sent  to  the  hospital  in  Newbern  for  treatment. 
The  same  month  he  received  a  medical  director's 
discharge,  which  was  later  supplemented  by  his 
regular  discharge  on  account  of  disability.  Ever 
since  that  ten  days  trip  he  has  been  troubled  with 
deafness.  After  his  return  from  the  South  at  the 
close  of  his  military  experience  and  as  soon  as  his 
health  permitted,  Mr.  Van  Epps  entered  into  the 
mercantile  business  with  A.  J.  Brubakerand  Albert 
S.  Ferguson,  under  the  firm  name  of  Brubaker,  Van 
Epps  iV  Ferguson,  succeeding  his  father.  Upon 
the  withdrawal  of  Mr.  Ferguson,  the  title  of  the 


firm  was  changed  to    William  H.  Van  Epps  &   Co. 

Until  1870  Mr.  Van  Epps  devoted  himself  ex- 
clusive^' to  his  business  affairs,  and  then  went  to 
California,  spending  one  year  there  and  in  Oregon. 
Returning  to'Dixon,  he  sold  out  his  interests  in 
the  mercantile  business  and  afterward  carried  on 
general  farming  and  stock-raising,  making  a 
specialty  successively  of  Devon  cattle,  Merino 
sheep  and  pure-bred  Short-horn  cattle.  In  1876, 
he  bought  a  lot  and  built  a  store  in  Yank  ton, 
Dak.  and  the  following  year  erected  the  double 
house  on  the  corner  of  Galena  Avenue  and  Third 
Street,  Dixon.  In  1878,  he  built  the  two-story 
brick  store,  No.  17  Main  Street,  and  in  the  summer 
of  1888  erected  the  fine  three-story  brick  block, 
comer  of  Galena  Avenue  and  Main  Street.  In 
1886,  he  sold  part  of  his  farm,  retaining  sixty- 
seven  acres.  During  the  thirty-seven  years  in 
which  he  has  resided  at  Dixon  he  has  been  closely 
occupied  with  his  business  interests  and  in  many 
ways  has  contributed  to  the  advancement  of  the 
city. 

In  December,  1877,  Mr.  Van  Epps  was  married 
to  Miss  Leah,  daughter  of  Jacob  and  Lena  Emery, 
and  a  native  of  Bedford  County.  Pa.  One  daugh- 
ter has  blest  their  wedded  life— Charlotte  Isabel. 
They  have  a  home  replete  with  those  comforts 
which  add  to  the  pleasure  of  living,  and  made 
pleasant  by  its  tasteful  arrangements,  and  whoever 
crosses  its  threshold  is  sure  of  a  cordial  reception 
from  genial  host  and  gracious  hostess. 


§HEODORE  RUST,  who  is  engaged  in  the 
jewelry  business  on  First  Street  in  Dixon 
was  born  at  Helgelen,  an  island  in  the 
North  Sea.  His  father,  Charles  Rust,  was  bora  in 
Bavaria,  Germany,  and  was  a  son  of  Dr.  Peter  Van 
Rust,  a  prominent  physician  and  minister  of  the 
Lutheran  Church.  By  the  members  of  the  family 
who  have  come  to  America  the  title  part  of  the 
name,  Van,  has  been  dropped.  The  Doctor  was 
the  medical  attendant  and  also  the  spiritual  ad- 
viser and  secretary  of  the  Queen  of  Bavaria.  He 


352 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


lived  during  an  important  epoch  in  the  history  of 
that  country  and  his  counsel  was  much  sought  by 
the  Queen  who  renounced  the  Catholic  religion 
and  accepted  the  Lutheran  faith.  Dr.  Van  Rust 
spent  his  entire  life  in  Munich,  as  one  of  its  most 
prominent  citizens,  and  died  at  the  age  of  sixty 
years. 

Charles  or  Carl  Van  Rust,  father  of  our  subject, 
was  his  only  son.  He  was  educated  for  the  Luth- 
eran ministry,  but  not  wishing  to  enter  that  pro- 
fession, he  went  to  England  and  became  a  lieuten- 
ant in  the  British  Army.  He  fought  for  seven 
years  in  the  German  Wars  against  Denmark  and 
Sweden  and  throughout  his  life  followed  a  military 
career.  In  England  he  was  stationed  at  a  garrison 
and  during  that  time  married  Eliza  Rimus,  who 
was  born  on  the  island  where  our  subject's  birth 
occurred.  Some  years  afterward  at  about  the 
time  the  late  war  broke  out,  Mr.  Rust  came  with 
his  family  to  the  United  States  and  aided  Gen. 
Black  in  organizing  the  cavalry  troops  of  Rhode 
Island.  With  the  cavalry  he  then  went  to  the 
South  and  afterward  was  made  Quartermaster 
General  with  headquarters  in  New  York  City  and 
Washington.  He  served  in  the  regular  army  for 
some  time  and  died  from  sickness  and  the  effects 
of  a  wound  in  New  Orleans,  at  the  age  of  forty- 
two  years.  His  widow,  who  is  now  sixty-five 
years  of  age  resides  in  New  York,  where  four  of 
her  children  also  make  their  homes,  namely:  Peter, 
a  book-keeper;  Anna  and  Charles  who  are  living 
with  their  mother;  and  Emma,  wife  of  George 
Stekewaldt. 

Theodore  Rust,  the  member  of  the  family  in 
whom  the  citizens  of  Lee  County  are  most  inter- 
ested, crossed  the  Atlantic  with  his  parents  and  in 
1863  came  to  the  West,  locating  in  Dixon.  He 
afterward  returned,  however,  to  New  York,  and 
thence  went  to  Hamburg,  Germany,  where  he 
learned  the  jewelry  trade.  After  mastering  the 
business  he  returned  to  this  country  and  for  some 
time  worked  as  a  jeweler  in  Detroit,  Mich.,  St.  Paul, 
Minn.,  Denver,  Col.  and  New  York.  He  made  a 
permanent  location  in  Dixon  in  1879,  and  in  the 
years  which  have  since  come  and  gone  has  built  up 
an  excellent  trade.  On  the  10th  of  August,  1886, 
he  bought  out  E.  J.  Hobart  and  now  has  a  fine 


store,  occupying  the  east  half  of  a  large  room,  22x 
72  feet.  He  does  all  kind  of  general  repairing  in 
the  jewelry  line  and  carries  a  large  and  complete 
stock. 

In  Geneseo,  N.  Y.,  Mr.  Rust  led  to  the  marriage 
altar  Miss  Alice  Williams,  a  native  of  the  Empire 
State,  born  of  Scotch  parentage.  When  she  was  a 
young  maiden  her  parents  removed  to  Baltimore, 
where  she  was  educated,  becoming  a  cultured  lady. 
She  holds  membership  with  the  Episcopal  Church, 
and  has  a  host  of  warm  friends  throughout  the 
community.  Her  home  is  the  abode  of  hospitality 
and  all  who  know  her  esteem  her  highly.  Mr. 
Rust  takes  considerable  interest  in  civic  societies. 
He  is  a  Knight  Templar  Mason  and  belongs  to  the 
Modern  Woodmen  and  the  Independent  Order  of 
Red  Men,  of  which  he  is  Past  Great  Prophet.  With 
the  determination  to  succeed  he  entered  upon  his 
life  work  and  as  the  result  of  his  industry,  good 
management  and  by  the  exercise  of  correct  busi- 
ness principles  he  has  worked  his  way  upward  to  a 
position  of  affluence. 


JOSEPH  SHULTZ,  who  is  a  retired  farmer, 
now  living  in  North  Dixon  has  made   this 
his  place  of  residence  since  the  winter  of 
1880,  at  which  time  he  came   from  South 
Dixon  Township,  where  he  had  been  engaged  for 
some  years  as  a  successful  farmer.     He  became  a 
resident  of  the  latter   place'  in  the    fall   of    1864, 
coming  there  from  Somerset  County,  Pa.,  in  which 
county  he  was   born,   May    30,   1819.     He   lived 
there  until  forty-five  years  of  age,  when  he  came 
to  Illinois. 

The  father  of  onr  subject,  Conrad  Shultz,  was 
also  a  native  of  Somerset  County,  and  came  of 
German  parentage  on  his  father's  side,  his  mother 
being  of  English  descent.  His  paternal  grand- 
father, John  Shultz,  came  from  Germany  when 
young,  settling  in  Somerset  County,  Pa.,  in  an 
early  day  before  the  Revolutionary  War,  in  which 
he  served  as  a  soldier.  He  followed  the  occupa- 
tion of  a  farmer  and  died  at  a  good  old  age.  He 
was  a  Lutheran  in  his  religious  belief.  The  grand- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


353 


mother,  of  our  subject,  whose  maiden  name  was 
Mary  Sample,  was  a  native  of  England,  emigrat- 
ing when  young  to  America  and  settling  in  Dela- 
ware and  from  there  to  Somerset  County,  Pa., 
where  she  spent  the  remainder  of  her  life,  surviv- 
ing her  husband  for  some  years  and  dying  at  the 
advanced  age  of  eighty-five.  She  also  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Lutheran  Church. 

Conrad  Shultz  was  one  of  a  family  of  four  sons 
and  two  daughters.  He  was  born  in  1780,  and 
followed  the  calling  of  a  farmer  in  his  native 
county,  where  he  spent  his  entire  life,  and  died 
when  about  seventy-three  years  of  age.  He  was 
married  in  Somerset  County  to  Miss  Catherine 
Kooser,  who  was  born  and  reared  in  that  county, 
her  parents  being  of  German  descent.  She  died 
when  seventy-six  years  of  age.  She  and  her  hus- 
band were  members  of  the  Lutheran  Church  from 
their  early  childhood.  Of  the  family  of  this 
worthy  couple  but  two  children  survive — our  sub- 
ject and  his  sister,  Mrs.  Henrietta  Thaler,  who  re- 
sides in  Somerset  County,  Pa. 

Joseph  Shultz  was  reared  to  manhood  in  his 
native  county  and  was  there  married  to  Miss 
Catherine  Hannah,  who  was  born  and  reared  in 
that  county,  where  she  died  at  the  age  of  forty- 
two  years.  She  left  a  family  of  thirteen  children, 
four  of  whom  are  living.  One  daughter,  Minerva, 
died  after  her  marriage  to  Augustus  Dorsey,  and 
the  birth  of  a  family  of  children,  while  a  resident 
of  Nebraska;  her  husband  is  now  living  in  Kansas. 
David  married  Miss  Fannie  Bagley  and  they  reside 
in  Mills  County,  Iowa;  Norman,  whose  wife  was 
Miss  Addie  McPherron,  is  a  farmer,  in  Fremont 
County,  Iowa;  George  married  Miss  Addic  Fritz 
and  is  a  hardware  dealer  iii  Imogene,  Fremont 
County,  Iowa;  Mary  E.,  who  became  the  wife  of 
James  Kingston,  resides  on  a  farm  in  York  County, 
Neb.  The  mother  of  these  children  was  a  most 
estimable  woman  and  a  worthy  member  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

Our  subject  was  again  united  in  marriage  to 
Miss  Maria  McCloskey,  who  was  born  in  Elk  Lick 
Township,  Somerset  County,  Pa.,  April  10,  1840, 
Mini  was  the  daughter  of  Thomas  and  Alice  (John- 
son) McCloskey.  Her  father  was  born  in  the 
North  of  Ireland  and  came  of  sturdy  Scotch-Irish 


stock.  His  wife  was  of  American  birth  and  of 
Scotch  ancestry  and  their  marriage  took  place  in 
Pennsylvania.  He  was  a  fuller  by  trade  and  died 
in  Somerset  County,  at  the  age  of  seventy-one 
years.  His  wife,  who  was  many  years  younger 
than  himself,  departed  this  life  when  sixty-eight 
years  old.  She  was  a  member  of  the  Methodist 
Church. 

The  present  wife  of  our  subject  is  one  of  six 
children,  who  are  all  that  survive  of  a  large  family. 
She  was  carefully  reared  by  her  parents  and  given 
a  good  home  training  and  an  excellent  education. 
She  was  the  mother  of  three  children,  two  of  whom 
are  deceased,  Richard  dying  at  the  age  of  fourteen 
years  and  William  when  six  years  old.  The  daugh- 
ter, Sarah  Alice,  is  the  wife  of  Marion  Sneed.  They 
reside  in  Dixon,  and  are  tlie  parents  of  one  child, 
named  Kathleen  L.  Mr.  Shultz  and  his  family 
are  members  of  the  Evangelical  Associatian.  In 
politics  he  is  a  stanch  Republican  and  has  for  a 
number  of  years  held  the  office  of  Justice  of  the 
Peace. 


&m  NDREW  J.  MYERS,  who  is  engaged  in 
(@//JJ  farming  and  stock-raising  on  section 

Jflil  27,  Palmyra  Township,  has  the  honor  of 
(jjjj  being  one  of  the  native-born  citizens  of 
the  county.  He  first  opened  his  eyes  to  the  light  of 
day  on  the  farm  which  is  still  his  home,  March  11, 
1842,  being  a  son  of  William  Myers,  an  honored 
pioneer  of  this  community. 

The  family  is  of  German  origin  and  was  estab- 
lished in  America  by  John  Myers,  the  grandfather 
of  our  subject,  who  was  born  in  the  Fatherland  and 
when  a  young  man  crossed  the  briny  deep  to  Amer- 
ica. In  Ohio,  he  married  and  subsequently  re- 
sided in  the  Keystone  State  until  he  came  with  his 
family  to  Illinois.  Both  he  and  his  wife  died  at  a 
ripe  old  age  in  Marshall  County,  this  State. 

William  Myers,  the  father  of  our  subject,  was 
born  in  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  where  his  childhood  was 
passed.  When  a  young  man  he  came  to  the  West 
and  in  Polo,  Ogle  County,  led  to  the  marriage  al- 
tar Miss  Phoebe  Hull,  a  native  of  the  Empire 


354 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


State,  and  a  daughter  of  Stephen  Hull,  who  was 
born  in  England.  Her  father  was  married  after 
coining  to  the  United  .States  and  in  the  '30s  cast 
his  lot  with  the  early  settlers  of  Ogle  County,  111. 
Both  he  and  his  wife  spent  their  last  days  in  Polo, 
and  died  when  well  advanced  in  years 

A  few  months  after  their  marriage,  William 
Myers  and  his  bride  settled  upon  a  new  farm  in 
Palmyra  Township,  Lee  County,  which  he  had 
purchased  about  a  year  previous.  They  were  then 
in  limited  circumstances  but  by  their  united  ef- 
forts they  won  prosperity  and  the  once  wild  land 
was  made  to  bloom  and  blossom  as  the  rose.  The 
wife  and  mother  died  October  26,  1863,  in  middle 
life  and  Mr.  Myers  passed  away  February  17,  1889, 
when  nearly  eighty  years  of  age.  He  had  obtained 
an  excellent  education,  possessed  superior  intel- 
lectual ability  and  ever  continued  to  be  a  close 
student.  He  became  a  Methodist  minister  and 
studied  hard  to  fit  himself  for  that  work.  His  pecu- 
liar insight  into  the  future  won  him  the  title  of 
"the  prophet."  Near  his  home  he  made  a  miniature 
garden  of  Eden,  typical  of  that  mentioned  in  the 
Bible  and  his  plaster  casts  of  the  various  Bible 
figures  were  remarkable  for  their  accuracy  and 
attracted  people  for  miles  around  who  came  to  see 
the  work  of  Mr.  Myers'  genius.  Respected  by  all 
who  knew  him,  his  friends  were  many  and  his 
enemies  few  indeed.  In  business  affairs  he  posses- 
sed excellent  judgment  and  was  quite  successful 
in  his  transactions. 

Andrew  Myers  is  the  third  in  order  of  birth  in 
a  family  of  eight  children,  all  of  whom  are  now 
married  and  winning  for  themselves  success  in 
life.  He  too  followed  the  example  of  his  brothers 
and  sisters  and  chose  as  a  companion  Julia  E. 
Kentner,  their  union  being  celebrated  in  Palmyra 
Township,  December  24,  1864.  Mrs.  Myers  was 
born  in  Pennsylvania  November  21,  1847  and  was 
quite  young  when  brought  to  Lee  County  by  her 
parents,  William  and  Susannah  (Heller)  Kentner. 
Her  father,  who  was  born  September  6, 1802,  died 
December  30,  1856;  her  mother,  who  was  born 
September  30,  1805,  was  married  a  second  time  and 
is  now  living  in  Nebraska,  at  the  age  of  eighty- 
live  years. 

Liberal  educational  advantages  were  afforded  to 


Mrs.  Myers  in  her  maidenhood  and  she  is  a  lady 
of  culture  and  refinement,  who  presides  with  grace 
over  her  home.  In  her  religious  connections,  she 
is  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Church.  The  fam- 
ily circle  numbers  three  daughters.  Minnie  B., 
born  December  12,  1867,  was  educated  in  the  Dix- 
on  schools,  and  at  the  college  in  that  city  met 
Charles  F.  Weatherby,  formerly  of  Indiana.  They 
were  married  March  20,  1889,  and  are  now  living 
at  Friend,  Neb.  Phoebe,  born  December  1,  1870, 
is  attending  college,  and  Harriet  B.,  born  June  8, 
1876,  is  at  home. 

The  entire  life  of  Mr.  Myers  has  been  passed  on 
the  farm  which  he  yet  occupies.  There  he  spent 
the  days  of  his  boyhood  under  the  sheltering  roof 
of  his  parents'  home  and  since  he  has  arrived  at 
man's  estate  has  engaged  in  the  cultivation  of 
the  old  farm.  It  has  been  his  property  since  1872 
and  comprises  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of 
improved  land  that  yields  a  golden  tribute  to  his 
care  and  cultivation.  In  all  business  affairs  his 
dealings  have  been  upright  and  honorable,  and 
thereby  he  has  secured  the  confidence  of  his  fel- 
low-men. In  politics  he  is  a  supporter  of  Demo- 
cratic principles  and  keeps  himself  well  informed 
on  the  issues  of  the  day. 


~71  DAM  KOKHLKK  is  a  prominent  represent- 
Cy  I  alive  of  the  foreign- born  population  of 

IK  Is  Lee  County,  which  has  been  his  home 
Ifjjj  since  his  early  childhood  when  his 
father  located  here  in  pioneer  times,  and  he  has 
risen  to  be  one  of  the  most  prosperous  farmers  and 
stock  raiser  of  Sublette  Township,  where  he  has  two 
good  sized,  substantially  improved  farms. 

Our  subject  was  born  in  Hesse-Darmstadt,  Ger- 
many, November  7,  1847,  being  a  son  of  Franz 
Adam  and  Sophi  Koehler.  His  parents  emigrated 
to  the  United  States  in  1851,  and  at  once  came 
to  Illinois,  and  took  up  their  residence  in  Lee 
County,  although  the  father  began  his  farming  op- 
eration* after  his  arrival  in  this  State  in  the  ad- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


355 


joining  county  of  La  Salle,  renting  land  there  the 
ensiling  two  years.  After  some  eight  or  nine 
years  he  purchased  eighty  acres  of  land  in  this 
county,  which  was  but  little  improved,  and  in- 
dustriously devoted  himself  to  its  development, 
making  it  his  home  until  his  death  in  1890,  at  the 
venerable  age  of  eighty-one  years.  His  township 
was  thus  deprived  of  a  good  citizen,  who  had  con- 
tributed to  the  advancment  of  its  agricultural 
interests.  His  wife  had  preceded  him  in  death, 
dying  in  1882,  at  the  age  of  sixty-six  years.  They 
were  the  parents  of  four  children,  one  of  whom 
died  in  Germany,  and  the  others  came  with  them 
to  the  United  States.  Their  son  Jacob  is  a  resi- 
dent of  Odebolt,  Sac  County,  Iowa.  Their  son 
Adam  is  oursubject;  and  their  daughter  Kate  is  the 
wife  of  Fred  Conrad,  of  Ohio  Station,  Illinois. 

Adam  Koehler  passed  his  boyhood  on  a  farm, 
and  was  early  inured  to  agricultural  labors.  Af- 
ter he  attained  manhood  and  became  an  indepen- 
dent farmer,  he  carried  on  his  work  with  untiring 
perseverance,  with  accurate  judgement,  was  econ- 
omical where  economy  was  wise,  spent  money 
when  needful  in  carrying  out  his  plans,  and  made 
his  improvements  on  a  solid  basis,  so  that  to-day 
his  farms  are  among  the  best  in  this  part  of  the 
county,  both  being  supplied  with  a  good  class  of 
buildings  and  prime  tanning  machinery,  including 
a  steam  threshing  machine  and  corn  shelter.  His 
homestead  is  on  section  23,  Sublette  Township, 
and  his  two  farms  comprise  four  hundred  and 
seventy-five  acres  of  land. 

Mr.  Koehler  has  by  no  means  become  so  pro- 
sperous without  the  help  afforded  by  a  good  wife, 
as  he  was  married  in  1871  to  Miss  Josephine, 
daughter  of  Jacob  Baker,  of  May  Township,  who 
is,  like  himself,  a  native  of  Germany.  Nine  chil- 
dren have  blessed  their  marriage  to  them,  whom 
they  have  named  Jacob,  John,  Fred,  William,  K;ite, 
Peter,  Adam,  George  and  Tcna. 

This  brief  life-record  of  our  subject  is  sufficient 
testimony  to  his  ability  as  a  farmer,  to  his  value  as 
a  citizen,  and  to  his  worth  as  a  man,  without  fur- 
ther comment  on  the  part  of  the  biographer.  We 
will  simply  add  that  he  has  served  his  township 
well  in  the  diverse  capacities  of  Highway  Commis- 
sioner and  School  Director;  that  in  his  politics,  lie 


is  a  Democrat  sound  and  true;  and  religiously, 
adheres  to  the  faith  of  his  fathers,  who  were  stanch 
supporters  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church. 


|HS|ALPH  E.  JOHNSON.  Our  subject  who  is 
L^fP  a  general  farmer  and  dairyman,  is  the  owner 
<jb  \V  of  one  hundred  and  forty  acres  of  land  on 
*  section  22,  Palmyra  Township,  which  he 
cultivates  to  such  good  purpose  that  it  yields  him 
a  very  comfortable  income.  He  keeps  from  one 
hundred  and  twenty  to  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  cows  and  is  doing  an  immense  business  as  a 
dairyman. 

Mr.  Johnson  was  born  on  the  old  homestead  of 
which  he  is  the  present  owner,  January  22,  1847, 
and  which  has  always  been  his  home.  He  is  the 
son  of  Ebenezer  II.  Johnson,  a  native  of  Chenango 
County,  N.  Y.  and  of  New  England  parentage. 
The  grandparents  of  our  subject  were  natives  of 
Connecticut,  but  later  went  to  New  York  where 
they  were  among  the  early  settlers  in  Chenango 
County  .and  where  they  passed  their  last  days. 
Ebenezer  Johnson  received  a  good  education  in 
his  native  county  and  there  married  the 
mother  of  our  subject,  who  was  a  native  of 
the  same  county  and  State  as  was  her  husband 
and  soon  after  their  marriage  in  company 
with  a  number  of  other  families  came  West  to  Ill- 
inois by  the  overland  route,  settling  on  a  "squat- 
ter's" claim  on  section  22,  Palmyra  Township,  this 
county,  the  same  tract  on  which  our  subject  makes 
his  home.  Their  removal  here  was  made  in  1835 
and  the  young  couple  at  once  set  about  improving 
their  place  and  at  the  time  of  his  death  Mr.  John- 
son left  a  beautiful  farm.  He  died  on  the  old 
homestead,  August  29,  1885,  after  having  reached 
the  advanced  age  of  seventy-five  years.  He  was 
a  prominent  man  in  his  township  and  one  of  the 
earliest  pioneers.  He  always  took  an  active  inter- 
est in  politics  and  at  one  time  served  as  Township 
Supervisor,  holding  the  office  for  a  number  of 
years.  He  favored  the  platform  of  the  Republi- 
can party  and  was  loyal  to  its  principles. 
In  religious  matters  he  was  a  member  of 


356 


PORTRAIT  AND  BI'MIKAPIIICAL   RECORD. 


the  Presbyterian  Church  to  the  support  of  which 
tody  he  always  gave  liberally  and  cheerfully. 
The  wife  of  Mr.  E.  II.  Johnson  died  in  Palmyra 
Township,  May  15,  1885,when  seventy  six  years  of 
age.  She  was  a  member  of  the  Episcopal  Church. 

Ralph  E. 'Johnson  established  a  hearthstone  of  his 
own  March  10th,  1875,  at  which  date  he  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Abbie  M.  Knox,  the  ceremony  being 
solemnized  in  Broome  County  N.  Y.,  which  was 
her  native  State  and  where  she  was  reared  to 
womanhood.  Her  parents,  George  and  Jerusha 
(Brown)  Knox,  and  are  well-to-do  and  are  residing 
im  Broome  County  N.  Y.,  retired  from  the  active 
duties  of  life.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Johnson  are  the  parents 
Of  three  children,  all  of  whom  are  yet  under  the 
parental  roof.  They  bear  the  names  respectively 
of  Anna  G.,  Rena  E.  and  Myra. 

In  politics,  the  Republican  party  claim  our  sub- 
ject as  one  of  its  most  efficient  workers.  He  is 
liberal  and  broad-minded  and  with  his  estimable 
wife  is  highly  prized  in  his  community. 


JOHN    HETLER,    who   carries    on    general 
farming   on    sections    15    and    22,    Dixon 
Township,  has  the  honor  of  being  a  native- 
born  citizen  of  Lee  County,  his  birth  hav- 
ing occurred  in  this  township,  November  25, 1847. 
He  is  descended  from  an  old  Pennsylvania!!   fam- 
ily of  German  origin  that  was  founded  in  America 
at  an  early  day.     His  paternal  grandparents  lived 
and  died  in  Luzerne  County,  Pa.,  where  his  father, 
Nathan  Hetler,  was  born,     In  the   Keystone  State, 
he    married    Catherine    Culp.    also   a  native    of 
Pennsylvania,  and  some  years  later  they  started 
with  their  three  children  for  Illinois,  making  the 
trip  in  a  covered  wagon. 

On  the  13th  of  June,  1837,  they  arrived  in 
Dixon  Township,  Lee  County,  and  Mr.  Hetler  se- 
cured a  piece  of  raw  prairie  land  on  which  he  built 
a  log  cabin.  The  family  began  life  in  the  West  in- 
true  pioneer  style  and  the  hardships  Mini  tritils  of 
the  frontier  were  not  unknown  to  them.  However, 
as  the  years  passed,  and  financial  resources  were 
increased,  Mr.  Hetler  was  enabled  to  supply  his 


home  with  the  comforts  of  life  and  extend  the 
boundaries  of  his  farm  until  it  comprised  four 
hundred  acres.  He  was  an  industrious  and  hard 
working  man  who  labored  untiringly  in  the  inter- 
ests of  his  family.  He  died  on  the  old  homestead, 

i  where  our  subject  now  icsides.  May  27,  1877.  at 
the  age  of  sixty-nine  years  and  his  loss  was  deeply 
regretted  by  many  friends.  His  wife  is  yet  living 
and  makes  her  home  with  her  son,  John.  She  is 
now  eighty-nine  years  of  age  but  is  yet  hale  and 
hearty,  except  that  for  the  past  ten  years  she  has 
suffered  the  complete  loss  of  her  eye-sight.  She  is 
a  member  of  the  Lutheran  Church  to  which  Mr. 
Hetler  also  belonged.  In  politics  he  was  first  a 

|  Whig  and  afterward  a  Republican  and  held  a 
number  of  local  offices,  the  duties  of  which  he  dis- 
charged with  promptness  and  fidelity. 

Our  subject  is  one  of  six  children.     In  the  dis- 

I    trict  schools    of  the   neighborhood   his    education 

:  was  acquired  and  in  the  days  of  his  boyhood  and 
youth  he  worked  upon  his  father's  farm  through- 
out the  summer  months.  When  it  became  time 
for  him  to  engage  in  business  for  himself  he 
determined  to  follow  the  occupation  to  which  he 

I  was  reared  and  is  now  recognized  as  one  of  the 
successful  farmers  of  the  community.  He  owns 

•  three  hundred  and  forty-three  acres  of  valuable 
land,  which  have  been  his  property  for  twelve  years 
and  the  farm  is  pleasantly  and  conveniently  situ- 
ated four  miles  from  Dixon.  A  view  of  the  home- 
stead is  shown  on  another  page.  All  the  necessary 
buildings  are  there  found,  together  with  the  latest 
improved  machinery  and  other  accessories  and  the 
place  is  well  stocked,  having  on  hand  twenty-five 
milch  cows.  Mr.  Hetler  is  a  man  of  good  business 
ability  with  a  degree  of  carefulness  that  insures 
success. 

A    marriage    ceremony    performed    in    Dixon 

.  Township,  united  the  destinies  of  Miss  Lasetta  Mil- 
ler and  Mr.  Hetler.  Tha  lady  was  born  in  Frank- 
lin County,  Pa.,  and  in  1866,  came  to  Illinois  with 
her  parent*,  Samuel  and  Mary  (Munn)  Miller, 
who  located  in  Nachusa  Township,  Lee  County, 
where  they  afterward  lived.  Mr.  Miller  died  at 
the  age  of  seventy-eight  years  in  1X88.  His  wife 
is  still  living  in  Nachusa  Township  and  is  l>eloved 
by  all  know  her. 


RESIDENCE  OF  MRS.  JUDITH    H  I  LL  ,  5EC.I9..SOUTH    DIXON   TP.,LEF-  CO., ILL 


RESIDENCE  OF  JOHN    HETLER,5EC.I5.,QIXOW  §  LEE    CO.,  ILL. 


THE  LIBRARY 
BBttEBSIllf  OFWJWW 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


359 


By  the  union  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Iletlcr  were  boru 
six  children  but  only  two  are  now  living — Delia 
and  Harry.  They  have  lost  four — Shelby,  Mary, 
Grant  and  Nora.  The  parents  are  quite  prominent 
people  in  Dixon  Township  and  move  in  the  best 
circles  of  society.  Their  own  home  is  a  hospitable 
one  where  their  friends  are  warmly  welcomed  and 
entertained.  Mr.  Hetler  exercises  his  right  of 
franchise  in  support  of  Republican  principles  and 
keeps  himself  well  informed  on  the  issues  of  the 
day.  Throughout  long  years  he  has  witnessed  the 
growth  and  development  of  his  native  county,  has 
taken  a  just  pride  in  its  progress  and  has  ever 
borne  his  part  in  the  promotion  of  those  enter- 
prises calculated  to  advance  the  general  welfare. 


DATHAN  HILL  was  during  his  life  closely 
connected  with  the  leading  interests  of 
South  Dixon  Township  as  an  extensive 
farmer  and  land-holder,  and  as  one  of  its  wealthy 
citizens  and  in  his  death  this  section  of  the  county 
met  with  a  serious  loss.  He  was  born  in  Luzerne 
County,  Pa.,  July  3, 1818,  and  was  a  son  of  Jacob 
Hill,  who  was  also  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  and 
passed  the  most  of  his  life  as  a  farmer  in  Luzerne 
County.  He  married  Miss  Catherine  Haight,  who 
was  born  and  reared  in  the  Keystone  State,  and  in 
after  life  they  abandoned  their  farm  in  that  sec- 
tion of  the  county  and  came  to  Illinois  in  1854 
with  their  children,  including  our  subject  and  his 
wife.  The  father  died  in  this  country  when  past 
seventy  years  old,  and  the  mother  was  over  eighty 
years  of  age  when  she  died  in  Dixon  in  1880. 
Both  were  members  of  the  Lutheran  Church. 

Nathan  Hill  received  his  education  in  the  schools 
of  his  native  county,  and  was  carefully  instructed 
in  all  kinds  of  agricultural  work  on  the  farm  where 
his  boyhood  days  were  profitably  and  pleasantly 
spent.  Some  years  after  marriage  he  came  here 
with  other  members  of  his  father's  family  to  estab- 
lish a  new  home  on  the  virgin  soil  of  Lee  County, 
greatly  aided  in  his  work  by  his  devoted  helpmate. 
He  had  many  difficulties  1<>  contend  with  in  his 


pioneer  life,  but  a  strong  will,  a  good  capacity  for 
hard  and  persistent  labor,  and  excellent  business 
tact  enabled  him  to  surmount  all  obstacles,  and  in 
time  he  became  prominent  as  a  farmer  and  large 
land-owner.  He  had  passed  the  meridian  of  life 
but  by  no  means  was  an  old  man  when  death  came 
to  him  June  10,  1876.  in  the  pleasant  home  on  sec- 
tion 19,  South  Dixon  Township,  that  was  the  re- 
sult of  the  joint  labors  of  himself  and  wife.  Thus 
was  brought  to  a  close  an  honorable  career  that 
had  been  beneficial  to  his  adopted  county,  as  he 
had  added  to  its  wealth  by  every  acre  of  his  landed 
possessions  he  had  placed  under  cultivation,  nad  he 
was  valued  as  a  citizen.  He  was  a  man  of  strict 
moral  integrity,  who  never  willfully  wronged 
another,  and  was  conscientious  in  the  discharge 
of  his  duties  as  a  husband,  father,  neighbor  and 
friend,  and  none  knew  him  but  to  trust  and  esteem 
him.  In  politics,  he  was  a  straight  forward  Demo- 
crat. 

Our  subject  was  eminently  happy  in  his  domes- 
tic life  with  his  wife  and  children.  He  was  mar- 
ried in  his  native  county  to  Miss  Judith  Billhei- 
mer,  who  was  also  born  in  that  part  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, her  birthplace  being  in  Salem  Township, 
and  the  da te'of  her  birth  October  14,  1818.  Her 
parents,  Christian  and  Catherine  (Hoover)  Bill- 
heimer,  were  born  in  Northampton  County,  Pa.; 
but  were  reared,  married  and  died  in  Luzerne 
County,  her  father  being  past  three-score  years 
and  ten  when  death  summoned  him,  and  her 
mother  more  than  eighty -four  years  old  when  she 
died.  They  were  stanch  and  true  in  their  alle- 
giance to  the  religious  faith  in  'which  they  were 
bred,  that  of  the  Lutheran  Church,  of  which  they 
were  members.  Mrs.  Hill  is  the  only  survivor  of 
the  children  born  to  her  parents.  She  attended 
the  public  school  of  her  native  county,  and  was 
well  drilled  at  home  in  all  that  goes  to  make  a 
good  housekeeper.  Since  the  death  of  her  hus- 
band she  has  owned  in  her  own  right  a  valuable 
farm  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  acres,  and  is 
managing  it  in  a  manner  that  shows  that  she  is 
sagacious,  thrifty  and  far-sighted,  and  is  perfectly 
capable  of  conducting  her  affairs  in  a  business- 
like way.  and  so  as  to  make  the  best  of  everything. 
She  is  a  motherly,  large-hearted  woman,  and  her 


360 


POETRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


neighbors  find  in  her  a  true  friend.  She  is  a  ten- 
der mother,  and  her  children,  of  whom  she  has 
eleven,  hold  her  in  the  warmest  regard.  They  are 
named  Esther.  Christian,  William  Henry,  Thomas 
,L,  John  L.,  Reuben  A.,  Mary  C.,  Anna  M.,  Andrew 
.1.,  Jacob  S.  and  Lydia  E.  Mrs.  Hill  is  a  devoted 
member  of  the  Lutheran  Church,  with  which  she 
has  been  connected  all  her  life. 

The  attractive  residence  in  which  this  hospitable 
family  entertain  their  many  friends,  is  among  the 
most  pleasant  in  the  community  and  we  are  pleased 
to  present  a  view  of  the  homestead  on  another 
page. 


^ALTER  F.  PRESTON,  (or  as  he  is  famil- 
iarly known,  Frank  Preston)  Assistant 
United  States  Attorney  at  Chicago  and 
Special  Agent  of  the  Inter-State  Commerce  Com- 
mission, is  a  talented  and  distinguished  member  of 
the  bar  of  Lee  County.  A  leader  in  local  politics, 
he  has  been  the  recipient  of  many  honors  both 
public  and  professional.  His  aptitude  for  business 
is  by  no  means  restricted  to  the  performance  of 
legal  and  official  duties,  but  he  has  also  acquired 
prominence  as  a  practical  farmer  and  successful 
breeder  of  Hereford  stock.  He  carries  on  his  agri- 
cultural operations  in  connection  with  his  father, 
and  for  several  years  has  had  control  of  the  latter's 
farm  on  which  he  makes  his  home,  which  is  finely 
located  on  sections  14  and  15,  South  Dixon  Town- 
ship. 

Of  New  England  birth,  the  blood  of  some  of  the 
first  families  of  the  Colonial  and  Revolutionary 
period  runs  in  the  veins  of  our  subject,  and  some 
of  his  ancestors  figured  extensively  in  the  history 
of  the  early  settlement  of  that  part  of  the  country. 
The  Preston  family  originated  in  England,  their 
ancestral  home  being  in  the  village  of  Preston, 
and  since  1640  they  have  been  represented  in 
America.  Samuel  Preston,  born  in  Lexington, 
Mass.,  had  a  son  James,  whose  son  Isaac  was  the 
great-grandfather  of  our  subject.  Isaac  Preston 
was  a  Minute  Man  and  came  from  his  home  in  New 
Hampshire  to  aid  in  driving  away  the  red-coats 
from  Lexington,  where  that  "first  shot  was  fired, 


heard  round  the  world,"  in  the  opening  battle  of 
that  great  and  glorious  struggle  for  freedom  from 
the  oppression  of  British  rule,  and  he  served  hon- 
orably throughout  the  Revolution  under  Gen. 
Washington.  The  family  were  among  the  early 
settlers  of  New  Hampshire  and  were  active  in  its 
public  life. 

Jeremiah  Preston,  Sr.,  grandfather  of  our  sub- 
ject, was  born  in  New  Ipswich,  N.  H.,  and  grew  to 
manhood  in  his  native  place.  He  became  promi- 
nently identified  with  the  city  of  Manchester  as 
one  of  its  leading  business  men  and  manufacturers 
and  was  potent  in  making  it  a  wealthy  manufac- 
turing center.  He  retired  in  1868  from  the  suc- 
cessful business  that  he  had  conducted  for  so  many 
years,  and  removing  to  Cambridgeport,  Mass., 
passed  the  remaining  years  of  his  life  quietly  in  the 
home  of  his  daughter,  Mrs.  John  S.  Verity,  dying 
in  1879,  at  the  venerable  age  of  eighty-eight  years. 

The  maiden  name  of  the  grandmother  of  our 
subject  was  Ann  Proctor,  her  family  being  promi- 
nent in  New  England  during  its  early  settlement. 
She  was  born  and  reared  in  Hollis,  N.  H.,  and  sur- 
vived her  husband  only  one  year,  dying  at  the  age 
of  eighty-six  years.  Both  husband  and  wife  were 
liberal  in  their  religious  views  and  were  identified 
with  the  Unitarian  Church.  In  politics  he  was  a.n 
old-line  Whig  in  early  life,  but  after  the  formation 
of  the  Republican  party  became  one  of  its  stanch 
supporters  and  remained  true  to  his  allegiance  to 
the  day  of  his  death. 

In  New  Ipswich,  N.  H.,  where  he  was  born,  Jere- 
miah Preston,  Jr.,  father  of  our  subject,  passed  his 
boyhood,  though  he  was  still  quite  young  when  he 
removed  to  Mason  Village  and  thence  to  Manches- 
ter. Very  early  in  life  he  manifested  a  rare  genius 
for  mechanics  and  when  only  ten  years  of  age 
began  his  training  as  a  machinist.  In  his  youth 
he  helped  to  build  the  first  steam  fire  engine  made 
in  this  country,  and  also  the  first  power  loom  made 
in  the  United  States.  lie  was  identified  with  the 
political  history  of  New  Hampshire  and  during  the 
war  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  guns  for  the 
Government.  lie  has  since  been  connected  with 
various  railroads  in  the  country  in  the  mechanical 
department  and  was  master  mechanic  for  the 
Northwestern  Railway  Company.  An  expert  in 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


361 


his  line,  his  wide  experience  and  thorough  knowl- 
edge of  the  principles  of  mechanics  make  his  ser- 
vices  of   inestimable  value,  and  they  are  held  in    j 
high  appreciation  by  the  officials  of  the  company. 

Mi.  Preston  resides  on  his  homestead  in  South 
Dixon  Township,  where,  in  company  with  his  son, 
he    devotes   his   leisure   to   raising    high    graded 
stock.     He  purchased  that  place  in   1868   when   it   ] 
was  in  a  wild  condition,  it  being  the  last  piece   of 
prairie  land  to  be  bought  in  this  county,  and  with   ! 
characteristic  prescience   he   saw  its   possibilities. 
His  investment  proved  a  wise  one  and  to-day  he  is   ] 
the  owner  of  one  of  the  choicest  farms  of   its  size 
in  this  section  of  Illinois.     Aided  by  his   son,  he   j 
has  brought  it  to  a  fine  state,  supplying   it  with   ' 
the  best  modern  improvements,  including  a  hand- 
some set  of  buildings  of  a  pleasing  style  of  archi-   | 
tecture  and  conveniently  arranged  for  its  various 
purposes.     Its  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres   of 
land  are  situated  on  section  15,  and  are  under  ex- 
cellent cultivation. 

The  marriage  of  Jeremiah  Preston  in  Manches- 
ter, N.  IL,  united  him  with  Miss  Lucretia  M.  Han- 
naford,  who  was  born  at  Alton  Bay,  on  the  shores 
of  that  beautiful  lake,  which,  lying  amid  the 
rock-ribbed  and  everlasting  hills,  is  one  of  the 
picturesque  features  of  the  scenery  for  which  the 
old  Granite  State  is  noted.  Mrs.  Preston  is  of 
English  extraction  and  a  descendant  of  some  of 
the  old  Colonial  stock  of  New  England,  number- 
ing among  her  ancestors  the  Tilton  family  that 
came  to  America  in  1640.  She  inherited  fine  men- 
tal endowments  and  is  a  woman  of  superior  char- 
acter and  intelligence. 

Every  advantage  for  a  liberal  education  was 
afforded  Walter  F.  Preston,  in  his  native  city — 
Manchester,  and  he  afterward  pursued  his  studies 
in  Chicago.  To  a  young  man  of  his  astute,  logical 
and  comprehensive  mind  the  legal  profession  pre- 
sented many  attractions,  and  he  devoted  his  whole 
energies  to  fitting  himself  for  the  bar,  to  which  he 
was  admitted  in  due  time,  with  promise  of  a  bril- 
liant career  before  him,  which  has  been  more  than 
fulfilled.  He  was  for  some  time  in  the  law  office 
of  Judge  Farrand,  County  Judge  of  Lee  County, 
whose  sketch  appears  elsewhere  in  this  volume. 

After  his    admission    to  the    bar,    Mr.    1'reston 


easily  worked  his  way  to  the  front.  He  has  been 
Official  Reporter  of  the  Circuit  Court  for  several 
terms  and  has  often  been  honored  by  high  posi- 
tions. He  is  now  Assistant  United  States  Attorney 
at  Chicago  as  well  as  one  of  the  special  agents  of 
the  Inter-State  Commerce  Commission,  with  head- 
quarters at  Room  40,  Government  Building,  hav- 
ing been  connected  with  the  commission  since 
1890.  During  the  last  session  of  the  Fiftieth  Con- 
gress he  was  private  secretary  to  Senator  Cullom. 
He  is  a  prominent  politician  of  the  best  type,  who 
while  working  hard  for  his  party  is  guided  by  pa- 
triotic motives  and  has  the'dearest  interests  of  his 
country  at  heart.  He  takes  an  active  part  in  local 
and  State  politics,  is  prominently  identified  with 
the  progress  of  the  Republican  party  in  this  sec- 
tion, and  has  been  delegate  to  State  Conventions. 
The  marriage  of  our  subject  to  Miss  Ettie  Smith 
was  solemnized  in  South  Dixon  Township  and 
their  pleasant  wedded  life  has  been  passed  on  the 
paternal  homestead  on  section  15,  Mr.  Preston 
having  had  control  of  the  farm  since  1875.  The 
three  children  born  unto  them  complete  their 
household,  namely:  Lelia  F.,  Clarence  G.  and 
Ethel  M.  Mrs.  Preston  is  a  bright  and  preposses- 
sing lady  and  was  born  in  South  Dixon  Township, 
being  a  daughter  of  one  of  its  early  pioneers, 
Joseph  E.  Smith,  a  native  of  Germany.  Her 
mother  was  born  in  Frostburg,  Md.,  whence  after 
her  marriage  she  removed  with  her  husband  to 
Lee  County  in  1838,  coming  among  the  first  set- 
tlers of  South  Dixon  Township.  They  arc  now 
living  in  retirement  in  the  village  of  Nachusa, 
where  they  are  serenely  passing  the  twilight  of 
useful  and  honorable  lives. 


OHN  A.  ANDRUS,  attorney-at-law  at  Ash- 
ton,  was  born  in  Stephentown,  Rensselaer 
County,  N.  Y.,  November  30,  1833.  He  is 
^^  descended  from  patriotic  ancestors,  his 
grandfather.  Benjamin  Andrus,  having  served 
during'  the  Revolutionary  War  as  a  member  of  a 
Green  Mountain  regiment.  Grandfather  Andrus, 


362 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


who  was  born  in  Wallingford,  Conn.,  was  married 
to  Miss  Annies  Case,  a  native  of  Hartford,  the  same 
State. 

In  the  family  of  Benjamin  and  Annies  Andrus 
was  a  son,  Klam  Tilden,  (named  for  the  father  of 
Samuel  .1.  Tilden),  who  was  born  in  New  Lebanon, 
Columbia  County,  N.  Y.  He  grew  to  manhood  in 
in  the  Empire  State  and  in  his  youth  learned  the 
trade  of  a  tanner  and  currier,  but  followed  farming 
pursuits  during  most  of  his  life.  His  marriage 
united  him  with  Miss  Angeline  Moonev,  who  was 
born  in  Stephentown,  Rensselaer  County,  N.  Y., 
and  ten  children  were  born  unto  them,  of  whom 
our  subject  was  the  eldest.  The  wife  and  mother 
passed  away  at  her  home  near  Clarendon,  Orleans 
County,  N.  Y.,  in  1885,  her  death  resulting  from 
the  accidental  breaking  of  one  of  her  limbs.  Elam 
T.  Andrus  died  of  la  grippe  January  20,  1892,  at 
the  family  homestead.  Having  united  with  the 
Presbyterian  Church  at  the  age  of  nineteen  he  had 
been  a  faithful,  consistent  member  of  it  for  sixty- 
nine  years  Until  his  death. 

The  early  years  of  John  A.  Andrus  were  passed 
in  his  native  county,  where  he  gained  a  good  com- 
mon-school education.  In  1852  he  removed  with 
the  family  to  Orleans  County,  attending  school  at 
Brockport, Holly  and  Albion  Academies,  and  teach- 
ing at  Pine  Hill,  Sweden  Centre,  Clarendon  and 
near  Brockport.  In  the  fall  of  1856  he  came  West 
to  Michigan,  where  for  two  terms  he  followed  the 
profession  of  a  teacher  near  Marshall.  At  the 
close  of  his  first  term  he  returned  to  New  York 
and  attended  college  at  Buffalo,  graduating  in  the 
fall  of  1857.  The  same  fall  found  him  once  more 
in  Marshall,  where  he  taught  another  term  of 
school  and  continued  the  reading  of  law  com- 
menced in  New  York. 

From  Michigan  Mr.  Andrus  came  to  this  State, 
securing  employment  first  in  Chicago  and  proceed- 
ing from  there  to  Rochelle,  where  he  accidentally 
found  a  relative.  Purchasing  a  yoke  of  oxen,  he 
engaged  in  farming  to  some  extent  for  a  few 
months,  but  after  the  harvest  was  gathered  in  he 
sold  his  wheat  and  oxen  and  engaged  for  one  term 
as  a  teacher  in  the  city.  In  the  fall  of  1858  he 
came  to  Ash  ton  where  he  taught  school  the  follow- 
ing winter.  In  the  .•spring  of  1859  he  formed  a 


partnership  with  E.  B.  Clark  in  the  grocery  busi- 
ness, but  at  the  expiration  of  one  year  purchased 
his  partner's  interest  and  continued  the  business 
alone.  After  conducting  the  establishment  until 
1864  he  sold  out  and  engaged  for  some  time  in 
Iniying  and  selling  cattle. 

In  the  fall  of  1866  Mr.  Andrus  commenced 
building  a  store,  and  the  following  spring  opened 
up  a  good  stock  of  general  merchandise,  continuing 
thus  engaged  until  November,  1870,  when  he  sold 
out,  but  was  unfortunate  in  losing  heavily  by  the 
parties  to  whom  he  sold.  Next  he  went  West  to 
Colorado,  there  buying  cattle,  but  not  meeting 
with  success  in  the  enterprise  it  was  abandoned. 
Between  the  years  of  1871  and  1873  he  was  in 
partnership  with  Henry  Bly  in  the  grocery  busi- 
ness in  Ashton,  the  firm  name  being  Bly  &  Andrus. 
He  had  read  law  both  in  New  York  and  Michigan 
and  had  been  admitted  to  the  bar  to  practice  law 
both  in  Michigan  and  Indiana,  and  at  the  expira- 
tion of  his  four  years'  term  of  service  as  Police 
Magistrate  in  the  fall  of  1878,  he  was  admitted  to 
practice  law  at  the  bar  of  Illinois.  His  standing 
at  his  examination  was  high  as  he  answered  per- 
fectly eighty-five  out  of  one  hundred  questions. 

Since  his  admission  to  the  bar  Mr.  Andrus  has 
practiced  law  continuously,with  the  exception  of  the 
three  years  he  was  in  South  Dakota.  He  went  there 
in  the  spring  of  1883  and  engaged  chiefly  in  farm- 
ing, lie  was  defeated  as  candidate  (being  a  Dem- 
ocrat) for  County  Judge  in  1885  and  for  the  Leg- 
islature in  1886,  in  the  fall  of  which  year  he 
returned  to  Ashton.  February  18,  1890,  he  met 
with  great  misfortune  by  fire.  His  office  with  all 
the  furniture,  all  public  and  private  papers,  and 
eighty-five  volumes  of  his  law  library  and  l\v<> 
large  two-story  store  buildings  were  totally  de- 
stroyed, entailing  a  net  loss  of  at  least  $5,000  to 
Mr.  Andrus. 

Mr.  Andrus  has  one  of  the  most  pleasant  homes 
in  the  village,  presided  over  by  a  lady  whose 
maiden  name  was  Rhoda  A.  Seipel.  Mrs.  Andrus 
was  born  in  Delaware  County,  Ohio,  and  is  the 
daughter  of  .John  and  Harriet  (Cox)  Seipel.  The 
union  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Andrns,  which  occurred  in 
Ashton,  has  brought  them  two  daughters — Dora 
A..  :i  graduate  of  the  Universit.y  of  Illinois,  of  the 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


363 


Class   of.  '82,  the   wife   of   John    C.  Griffith,  and 
Bessie  B.,  a  bright  school  girl. 

In  his  political  belief  Mr.  Andrus  is,  like  his 
forefathers,  in  hearty  sympathy  with  the  principles 
of  the  Democratic  party,  and  is  interested  in  local 
politics.  Socially,  he  is  a  member  of  the  Masonic 
fraternity,  and  in  his  religious  views  is  liberal, 
while  his  wife  and  daughter  are  members  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church.  As  he  is  thoroughly  prac- 
tical, Mr.  Andrus  is  in  touch  with  the  people  of 
Ashton,  working  for  their  welfare  with  all  his 
energies  and  sounding  the  depths  of  human  exper- 
ience in  his  varied  labors  on  their  behalf. 


J  WESLEY  HYDE.  No  class  of  men  lias 
contributed  more  to  the  substantial  pros- 
perity of  Lee  County  than  its  farmers  and 
stock  men,  among  whom  the  subject  of 
this  brief  life  record  is  well  worthy  of  mention. 
He  is  conducting  his  agricultural  operations  in 
Willow  Creek  Township,  on  section  19,  which  is 
the  location  of  his  finely-tilled  and  well-stocked 
farm. 

Mr.  Hyde  was  born  eleven  miles  from  Mansfield, 
Richland  County,  Ohio,  January  14,  1835.  Ben- 
jamin Hyde  was  his  father,  a  native  of  New  Jersey, 
and  he  was  the  son  of  another  Benjamin  Hyde,  who 
is  supposed  to  have  l>een  a  native  of  the  same  State, 
and  was  of  English  descent.  He  was  a  farmer,  and 
always  carried  on  his  occupation  in  New  .Jersey, 
where  he  died  in  the  fullness  of  time.  The  father 
of  our  subject  was  reared  and  educated  in  his  native 
State  and  when  a  young  man  went  from  there  to 
Ohio  in  the  pioneer  days  of  the  settlement  of  that 
State  and  was  engaged  in  his  trade  as  a  cooper  in 
Hichland  County,  where  lie  lived  until  1853.  The 
remainder  of  his  life  was  passed  in  Michigan. 

The  maiden  name  of  Mrs.  Hyde  was  Mary  Folks. 
She  was  born  in  Pennsylvania,  and  died  in  this 
State,  in  Lee  County.  She  was  the  mother  of  nine 
children  that  grew  to  maturity,  as  follows:  Saloina, 
wife  of  O.  H.  Perry,  of  Des  Moines,  Iowa;  Margaret, 
wife  of  John  Hough,  of  Chicago;  J.  W.;  Jonathan, 
a  gallant  soldier,  who  served  in  the  Sevenlv-fit'tli 


Illinois  Infantry  during  the  war,  and  spent  his  last 
years  in  Dixon ;  Barbara  E.  wife  of  William  Daw- 
son,  of  Leavenworth,  Kan.;  Theodore,  a  resident 
of  Lee  County,  who  served  in  the  war  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Thirteenth  Illinois  Infantry;  Francis, 
who  was  a  member  of  an  Illinois  infantry  regiment 
during  the  war,  and  now  lives  at  Harvey,  111.; 
Rhoda,  who  resides  in  Milwaukee;  and  Samuel  Me 
Clure,  a  resident  of  Malugin's  Grove,  who  was  in 
the  Fifteenth  Illinois  Infantry  during  the  war.  As 
will  be  seen  by  the  foregoing,  the  family  was  well 
represented  in  the  army  when  the  great  conflict 
between  the  North  and  South  was  being  waged, 
and  proved  the  value  of  their  citizenship  by  their 
loyalty  and  devotion  to  the  cause  on  many  a  bloody 
battle-field.  Our  subject  was  one  of  the  five  sons 
that  his  parents  thus  sent  forth  to  fight  for  their 
country.  lie  enlisted  March  2,  1865.  in  Company 
I,  Fifteenth  Illinois  Infantry,  and  was  honorably 
discharged  the  following  September,  on  the  17th 
of  the  month,  with  a  good  record  as  a  faithful  and 
efficient  soldier. 

Our  subject's  boyhood  days  were  passed  in  his 
native  State.  He  was  .quite  young  when  he  com- 
menced to  earn  his  own  living,  but  he  was  inde- 
pendent and  very  capable  for  his  years.  He  began 
life  working  on  a  farm  by  the  day  or  month  in 
the  county  where  he  was  born,  and  continued  thus 
occupied  until  1853,  when  he  turned  his  attention 
to  the  cooper's  trade  and  worked  at  that  two  years. 
In  1857  he  took  an  important  step  in  life  which 
resulted  greatly  to  his  benefit,  as  he  then  came  to 
Lee  County  to  cast  in  his  fortunes  with  its  pioneers, 
and  years  of  toil  have  brought  him  prosperity,  He 
worked  by  the  month  one  summer  after  his  arrival 
in  these  parts,  and  then  bought  a  tract  of  land  in 
Brooklyn  Township.  He  erected  necessary  build- 
ings, placed  his  land  under  good  tillage  and  re- 
sided there  ten  years.  It  was  during  that  time 
that  he  was  mail  carrier  from  Mendota  to  Malugin's 
Grove  for  a  period  of  three  years,  and  his  exper- 
ience of  life  as  a  soldier  occurred  while  he  was  a 
resident  of  that  farm. 

In  1867  Mr.  Hyde  sold  his  first  farm,  and  for  a 
year  worked  out  by  the  month.  He  then  bought 
a  farm  of  one  hundred  and  fifty-five  acres  of  land 
in  company  with  his  brother.  After  living  on  it 


Sfi-1 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHIC! AL  RECORD. 


seven  years  he  sold  his  share  of  the  place  and 
bought  the  farm  that  he  now  owns  and  occupies 
on  section  19,  Willow  Creek  Township.  Its  fields 
are  under  admirable  cultivation,  its  pastures- are 
rich  and  its  improvements  of  a  good  class.  Mr. 
Hyde  devotes  it  to  general  farming  and  stock- 
raising,  and  has  cattle,  horses  and  hogs  of  fine 
grades.  Our  subject  is  a  man  of  sterling  principles 
and  sensible  views,  is  kindly  and  helpful  in  his 
relations  with  his  neighbors  and  others  of  the 
community,  and  is  deserving  of  the  fellowship  and 
good  wishes  of  all  about  him.  His  interest  in  pol- 
itics centers  in  the  Republican  party,  of  which  he 
has  been  a  stanch  advocate  since  he  cast  his  first 
Prsidential  vote  for  Gen.  Fremont,  its  first  candi- 
date for  the  Chief  Magistracy  of  the  United  States. 
Mr.  Hyde  was  first  married  in  1858,  to  Miss 
Mary  Hough,  a  native  of  Lee  County,  and  a  daugh- 
ter of  William  and  Hannah  Hough,  who  were 
among  the  early  settlers  of  the  county.  She  died 
in  1867,  leaving  two  children — Harvey  and  Minnie. 
Minnie  married  Albert  Pettys,  and  they  have  two 
children,  Mamie  and  Robert 


JAMES  BLISS  has  developed  a  fine  farm  from 
the  wild  prairies  of  Alta  Township,  placing 
it  under  substantial  improvement,  and  has 
thus  materially  contributed  to  the  wealth  of 
Lee  County.  He  was  born  in  the  town  of  Exeter, 
Otsego  County,  N.  Y.,  June  28,  1812.  His  father, 
whose  name  was  Palatire  Bliss,  was  a  native  of 
Connecticut,  and  was  reared  and  married  in  that 
State,  Elizabeth  Lathrop,  also  a  native  of  that 
commonwealth,  becoming  his  wife.  He  was  a 
cooper  by  trade,  and  after  his  removal  in  1795  to 
Otsego  County,  N.  Y.,  of  which  he  was  a  pioneer, 
he  also  gave  his  attention  to  farming,  working  at 
his  trade  only  in  the  winter  seasons  and  the  re- 
mainder of  the  year  clearing  his  land  and  tilling 
the  soil.  He  bought  a  tract  of  heavily  timbered 
land  in  what  is  now  the  town  of  Exeter,  and  his 
first  work  was  to  build  a  log  house,  which  was  the 
birthplace  of  the  son  of  whom  we  write.  There 


were  no  railways  or  canals  in  that  part  of  the 
country  for  many  years,  and  Albany,  eighty  miles 
distant,  was  the  nearest  market.  Mr.  Bliss  lived 
and  labored  there  for  more  than'  half  a  century, 
and  there  death  found  him  in  1853  at  a  ripe  old 
age  on  the  farm  that  he  had  hewed  from  the 
wilderness,  and  his  wife,  the  mother  of  our  subject, 
also  died  there.  Seven  children  were  born  of  their 
wedded  life.  He  was  three  times  married  and 
reared  two  other  children. 

James  Bliss,  of  this  biography,  was  reared  amid 
the  pioneer  scenes  of  his  birth,  and  was  educated 
in  the  local  schools.  He  commenced  when  very 
young  to  help  his  father  on  the  farm,  and  was 
thoroughly  drilled  in  agricultural  pursuits.  He 
remained  an  inmate  of  the  parental  household  un- 
til he  married,  and  after  that  he  gave  his  time  to 
learn  the  trade  of  a  cooper.  He  lived  in  his 
native  county  until  1848,  and  then  bought  a  home 
in  the  village  of  Nineveh,  Chenango  County, 
where  he  manufactured  barrels,  etc.,  for  some 
years.  In  1856,  he  disposed  of  his  possessions  in 
New  York,  as  he  had  decided  to  try  the  calling  to 
which  he  had  been  bred  on  the  prairies  of  Illinois. 
He  settled  among  the  pioneers  of  De  Kalb  County, 
buying  one  hundred  and  ten  acres  of  land  in 
Somanauk  Township,  at  $12  an  acre.  It  was  a 
tract  of  wild  prairie,  and  he  went  to  work  with  a 
good  will  to  develop  it.  He  placed  the  land 
under  good  tillage,  erected  good  suitable  buildings, 
and  so  increased  its  value  that  he  was  enabled 
to  sell  the  place  in  1869  at  $35  an  an  acre.  He 
then  came  to  Lee  County,  and  bought  his  present 
form  at  $17  dollars  an  acre.  At  the  time  of  pur- 
chase it  was  merely  a  tract  of  wild,  uncultivated 
prairie,  with  never  a  furrow  turned.  To-day  he 
reaps  from  its  well  tilled  soil  abundant  harvests, 
and  has  the  place  in  a  fine  condition.  The  land  is 
fenced  and  cross  fenced  into  convenient  fields, 
choice  fruit,  shade  and  ornamental  trees  have  been 
planted,  and  a  good  set  of  frame  buildings  has 
been  erected,  everything  indicating  thrift  and 
prosperity. 

By  his  marriage  more  than  fifty  years  ago,  in 
the  year  1839,  Mr.  Bliss  was  so  fortunate  as  to 
secure  for  a  life-companion  a  woman  who  has  been 
to  him  a  true  helpmate,  and  lias  done  her  share  in 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


365 


the  upuilding  of  their  comfortable  home.  Mrs. 
Rliss  who  bore  the  maiden  name  of  Roxie  C.  Rose, 
was  born  on  Block  Island,  in  Long  Island  Sound. 
Her  married  life  with  our  subject  has  been  blessed 
with  these  three  children — James  A.,  John  Adel- 
bert  and  Ella.  Mr.  Bliss  was  formerly  a  Whig, 
but  when  the  Republican  party  was  organized  he 
fell  into  line,  and  has  ever  since  been  firm  in  his 
support  of  its  principles.  He  is  in  all  respects  a 
good  citizen  and  a  most  estimable  man.  whose  life- 
record  is  honorable  and  worthy  of  emulation. 


limits  for  what  they  have  done  in  various 
walks  of  life  to  help  forward  its  varied 
interests.  Our  subject  is  a  native  of  that  far-away 
country,  although  for  many  long  years,  forty  in 
number,  he  has  teen  a  loyal  citizen  of  this,  and  has 
made  his  home  in  Illinois  since  he  landed  on  these 
shores.  When  he  came  he  was  poor  in  pocket,  but 
rich  in  those  qualities  that  go  to  the  making  of  an 
honest,  capable  man,  and  by  using  his  faculties  in 
a  practical  manner  he  has  become  one  of  the  sub- 
stantial farmers  of  Willow  Creek  Township,  and 
owns  as  good  a  farm  as  is  to  be  found  within  its 
bounds. 

Mr.  Nelson  was  born  in  Bergensteft,  Norway, 
August  29,  1823.  His  father,  Nels  Hillison,  was 
also  born  in  that  localit}'.,  and  spent  his  entire  life 
in  the  land  of  his  birth,  his  occupation  being  that 
of  a  farmer. 

Our  subject  was  an  only  son,  and  he  grew  up 
under  good  home  influences.  As  soon  as  large 
enough  he  began  to  assist  his  father  and  in  time 
became  very  useful  in  helping  to  cany  on  the 
farm.  He  remained  with  his  parents  until  1851, 
and  then  ambitious  to  see  more  of  the  world,  and 
try  life  in  the  United  States  of  America,  where  he 
felt  sure  lie  could  get  better  returns  for  his  labor, 
he  embarked  at  Stilauga  in  the  month  of  April,  on 
the  sailing  vessel  "Ebenezer,"  and  five  weeks  later 
found  himself  in  the  metropolis  of  the  New  World, 
with  but  $50  in  his  pocket  with  which  to  begin 


his  new  life.  He  immediately  started  for  Illinois, 
leaving  New  York  on  a  steamer  bound  for  Albany, 
from  there  going  on  the  canal  to  Buffalo,  whence 
he  went  by  the  Great  Lakes  to  Chicago,  from  that 
city  to  Peru  on  the  canal,  and  then  by  team  to 
Sublette,  Lee  County,  his  final  destination.  A 
man  of  his  capability  and  trustworthiness  is  always 
in  demand  among  the  farmers,  and  he  had  no  diffi- 
culty in  securing  work  as  a  farm  hand,  being  em- 
ployed by  the  day  or  month  in  that  township  for 
the  ensuing  year.  After  that  he  went  to  Lee 
Center,  where  he  was  similarly  engaged  by  the 
month  for  two  seasons.  By  that  time  he  had  laid 
by  money  enough  to  become  more  independent, 
and  he  bought  a  tract  of  land  in  Bradford  Town- 
ship, for  which  he  paid  $2  an  acre.  He  built  on  the 
place  and  commenced  at  once  to  develop  its  soil, 
and  had  placed  it  in  a  very  good  condition  when 
lie  sold  it  in  1865,  having  so  increased  its  original 
value,  that  he  obtained  $30  an  acre  for  it.  He 
then  came  Willow  Creek  Township,  and  invested 
in  two  hundred  and  thirty  acres  of  excellent  farm- 
ing which  forms  his  present  farm.  When  it  came 
into  his  possession  only  a  part  of  the  land  was  im- 
proved, and  there  were  no  buildings  on  it.  It  now 
presents  a  very  different  appearance,  with  its  neatly 
fenced,  well  tilled  fields,  with  its  abundance  of  fruit 
and  shade  trees,  planted  by  Mr.  Nelson,  and  .a 
comfortable  dwelling  and  substantial  out-houses 
adorn  the  place. 

In  January,  1868,  our  subject  was  married  to 
Martha  Christopher,  who  is  a  native  of  the  same 
Norwegian  town  that  is  his  place  of  birth.  In  her 
he  has  found  a  valuable  helpmate,  and  a  devoted 
companion.  They  have  four  children  living — 
Helga,  Annie,  Nellie  and  Christopher.  Julia  N., 
their  second  daughter,  who  was  married,  died  in 
February,  1889,  leaving  two  children,  who  are 
being  tenderly  cared  for  by  their  grandparents. 


•  ILLIAM    WINFIELD     HARDEN.       The 
highly  improved  and    prosperous  condi- 
dition  of  Lee  County  is  in  a  large  degree 
due  to    its   farming    population,  which  is  for  the 


366 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


most  part  composed  of  men  who  are  strong  in 
character,  energetic  in  disposition,  keen  of  vision, 
discriminate  and  sensible  in  judgment  and  prompt 
to  take  advantage  of  whatsoever  will  acme  to 
their  benefit.  It  is  of  one  of  this  class,  of 
whom  we  write.  His  homestead  farm,  comprising  a 
quarter  of  section  23,  Nelson  Township,  is  one  of 
the  finest  in  this  region,  with  its  farm  buildings  of 
a  modern  style  of  architecture,  its  rich  harvest 
fields,  and  its  pastures  devoted  to  the  support  of 
sleek  and  well-kept  cattle,  horses  and  swine  of  the 
most  approved  breeds,  best  adapted  to  this  part  of 
the  country.  He  also  has  eighty  acres  of  land  on 
section  27,  of  the  same  township,  which  is  under 
admirable  cultivation  and  is  well  improved. 

Mr.  Harden  comes  of  Pennsylvania  stock  and  is 
himself  a  native  of  that  commonwealth,  born  in  i 
the  county  of  Somerset,  October  19,  1852.  His 
father,  Solomon  Harden,  also  had  his  birth  in  that 
county,  he  being  a  son  of  a  Pennsylvania  farmer, 
named  George  Harden.  Solomon  grew  up  in  his 
native  place  and  when  he  began  to  think  of  mar- 
riage he  selected  Miss  Susan  Uhl  to  share  his  for- 
tunes with  him,  and  their  union  took  place 
in  the  town  of  Somerset,  in  Somerset  County, 
where  she  was  born  and  had  been  reared  and  edu- 
cated. She  came  of  the  old  Pennsylvania  Dutch 
stock,  and  her  ancestors  were  farmers  by  occupa- 
tion and  strict  Lutherans  in  religion. 

After  the  birth  of  two  children,  Pierce  and  our 
subject,  the  Hardens  emigrated  from  their  old 
Pennsylvania  home  to  Illinois  in  1853  and  began 
life  again  on  the  homestead  now  owned  and  accu- 
pied  by  their  son  of  whom  we  write.  The  land 
composing  it  was  bought  of  the  Government  and 
has  never  been  out  of  the  family.  When  Mr.  Har- 
den purchased  it  it  was  in  a  wild  condition,  with 
never  a  furrow  of  its  sod  turned.  He  immediately 
entered  upon  the  hard  pioneer  task  of  changing  it 
into  a  well-cultivated,  nicely-improved  farm,  and 
labored  patiently  and  with  good  results  until  death 
stayed  his  hand  forever  from  his  work  May  17, 
1865.  His  demise  was  felt  to  be  a  sad  loss  not 
only  to  his  family  and  friends  but  to  the  com- 
munity at  large,  as  during  his  twelve  years'  resi- 
dence here  he  had  been  associated  with  everything 
good  and  progressive  in  the  way  of  advancing 


the  material  and  moral  interests  of  the  township. 
He  was  a  sincere  Christian  and  a  member  of  the 
Lutl.eran  Church.  In  politics  he  was  a  sturdy 
Democrat.  His  wife  now  makes  her  home  on  South 
Galena  Street  in  the  city  of  Dixon.  She  is  sixty 
years  of  age  and  is  in  the  full  vigor  and  energy  of 
all  her  faculties.  She  worships  at  the  Lutheran 
Church,  of  which  she  is  a  devoted  member. 

Our  subject  is  one  of  five  brothers  yet  living. 
The  others  are:  Pierce,  a  farmer  in  York  County. 
Neb.;  Edward  E.,a  banker  at  Liberty,  Gage  County, 
Neb.;  John  T.,  also  a  banker  at  Liberty  with  his 
brothers,  including  another  brother.  Hiram  Albert 
and  our  subject,  the  latter  being  a  director  in  the 
bank,  as  is  John;  Edward  is  President  of  the  bank, 
while  Hiram  is  cashier. 

William  Harden  was  reared  to  the  life  of  a 
farmer  on  the  old  homestead  that  has  since  come 
into  his  hands.  He  earl}'  manifested  an  aptitude 
for  agricultural  pursuits,  and  brings  to  his  work  a 
good  equipment  of  brain, skill  in  management  and 
practical  experience.  He  is  a  man  of  sterling  merit, 
conscientious  and  straightforward  in  his  dealings, 
and  his  credit  is  high,  for  he  is  prompt  in  his  pay- 
ments, always  does  as  he  agrees  to  do  in  all  his 
transactions,  and  the  township  where  the  most  of 

i   his  life  has  been   passed  holds  him  as  one  of  her 

j  best  citizens.  He  is  its  present  Highway  Commis- 
sioner, and  he  always  enters  heartily  into  any 
plans  for  public  improvement.  In  politics  he  is  a 

,  Republican  of  no  uncertain  type.  The  religion 
that  was  the  comfort  and  stay  of  his  f  orefathers  in 

i  the 'days  of  its  founder,  Martin  Luther,  finds  in 
him  a  faithful  supporter,  and  he  and  his  wife  are 
among  the  most  active  members  of  the  church  of 
that  denomination  in  the  township,  a  half-mile 
distant. 

Mr.  Harden  was  married  in  this  township  to 
Miss  Margaret  (iruver.  a  native  of  this  county, 
horn  in  South  Dixou  Township,  January  6.  1*57. 
She  received  an  excellent  education,  which  was 
completed  at  the  Dixon  High  School.  She  is  a 
daughter  of  I'riah  and  Catherine  (Wright)  (iruver, 
a  native  of  Pennsylvania  and  a  descendant  of 
some  of  the  old  Dutch  families  of  that  State.  He- 
came  to  Illinois  after  his  first  marriage,  and  his 
wife  dying  he  was  married,  a  second  time,  to  Miss 


OF 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


Kli/al  eth  Kelley.  He  is  now  living  retired  in  Dixon. 
He  occupies  an  honorable  place  among  the  pioneers 
of  the  county,  and  is  highly  esteemed  by  his  many 
acquaintances  and  friends.  He  and  his  present 
wife  are  respected  members  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal  Church.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hardin,  of  this  sketch, 
are  very  pleasantly  situated  in  an  attractive  home, 
and  their  peaceful  married  life  lias  brought  to  them 
three  children — Florence  E.,  Minnie  S.  and  Wal- 
ter G. 


ERASTUS  ANDERSON.  Prominent  in  the 
annals  of  Lee  County  as  the  first  settler  of 
Ashton  Township  is  the  gentleman  whose 
portrait  appears  on  the  opposite  page.  He  owns 
a  farm  situated  on  section  23,  that  he  has  placed 
under  substantial  improvement,  but  makes  his 
home  in  the  village  of  Ashton.  He  is  a  son  of  John 
II.  Anderson,  who  was  a  pioneer  of  the  afore- 
mentioned township,  and  was  for  many  years  one 
of  its  most  respected  citizens  until  death  called 
him  hence.  He  was  bom  in  New  Brunswick,  and 
it  is  thought  that  1793  was  the  year  of  his  birth, 
lie  married  Martha  Martin,  who  was  born  in 
Lower  Canada,  near  the  town  of  Prescott,  in  1802, 
and  after  marriage  they  settled  in  the  township  of 
Bayam,  Upper  Canada,  in  1819.  He  took  part  in 
the  War  of  1812,  and  was  present  at  the  famous 
battle  of  Lundy's  Lane. 

A  farmer  by  occupation,  Mr.  Anderson  carried 
on  his  calling  in  Upper  Canada  until  1844.  when 
he  became  a  pioneer  of  Lapeer  County,  Mich. 
Two  years  later,  in  the  month  of  October,  1846,  he 
came  with  his  family  to  Illinois,  and  resided  in 
Nachusa  Township,  Ogle  County,  until  December, 
1849,  when  they  removed  to  Lee  County  and  cast 
in  their  lot  with  the  pioneers  of  Ashton  Township 
who  had  preceded  them.  They  located  on  sec- 
tion 23,  and  here  the  good  old  father  and  mother 
tranquilly  passed  their  remaining  days,  and  at 
length  departed  this  life  full  of  years,  his  death 
occurring  August  26.  1868,  and  here  in  November, 
1872.  During  the  greater  part 'of  their  lives  they 
17 


were  active  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church.  They  had  ten  children,  all  sons,  one  of 
whom  died  at  the  age  of  nineteen,  and  another 
when  ten  years  old,  the  others  growing  to  man- 
hood. 

Our  subject,  who  was  the  third  child  of  the 
family,  was  born  in  the  township  of  Bayam,  Can- 
ada, May  19,  1824.  Being  one  of  the  older 
members  of  the  household  he  assisted  his  parents 
in  the  support  of  the  family,  and  in  bringing  up 
his  younger  brothers.  He  continued  to  live  in 
Canada  some  six  months  after  the  removal  of  his 
parents  to  Michigan,  and  then  joining  them,  re- 
mained with  them  until  the  spring  of  1846,  when 
he  came  to  Illinois.  He  first  located  in  Ogle 
County,  engaging  in  farming  there,  but  in 
March,  1849,  came  to  Lee  County  with  his  wife, 
whom  he  had  married  in  Ogle  County  the 
previous  fall.  He  was  the  first  one  to  settle  in 
Ashton  Township,  and  has  been  an  honored 
resident  of  this  locality  since  that  time,  with  the 
exception  of  two  years,  when  he  was  engaged 
in  a  mill  in  Oregon.  Farming  has  been  his  chief 
occupation  in  life,  and  he  has  a  choice  farm  of 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  as  the  result  of  his 
patient  and  well-directed  labors.  He  has  his  land 
under  fine  tillage,  and  his  fertile  fields  produce 
abundant  harvests,  and  neat  and  conveniently 
arranged  buildings  adorn  the  place. 

Mr.  Anderson  has  filled  the  office  of  School 
Director  for  a  quarter  of  a  century,  and  has  in 
various  other  ways  faithfully  fulfilled  his  obliga- 
!  tions  as  a  true  citizen  who  has  the  dearest  interests 
of  his  community  at  heart.  He  is  a  solid  Repub- 
lican, and  has  stood  firmly  by  his  party  these 
many  years  of  its  existence  as  a  political  organiza- 
tion. He  is  known  of  all  men  as  moral  and  up- 
right in  his  character,  and  truly  religious,  not 
only  in  profession,  but  in  conduct,  and  for  half  a 
i  century  he  has  been  a  valued  member  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

The  first  marriage  of  our  subject  occurred  in 
Ogle  County,  November  13,  1848,  and  was  with 
Miss  Mary  Halverd,  a  native  of  Norway.  Their 
pleasant  wedded  life  was  brought  to  a  close  by 
the  death  of  his  faithful  wife  December  11,  1888. 
She  was  a  sincere  Christian,  and  a  worthy  meinlw 


370 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  aiid  in  dying 
left  behind  her  the  record  of  a  life  well  spent. 
Three  children  were  born  of  that  union — Hhoda 
A.,  who  is  the  wife  of  William  F.  Clark;  John  H., 
who  married  Miss  Elsie  Kaufman;  and  Mary  A., 
who  died  in  infancy. 

Mr.  Anderson  was  married  a  second  time  in 
Ashton  Township  September  9,  1889,  Mrs.  Mary 
J.  Lundy,  nee  Vosburg,  widow  of  Alfred  Lundy, 
becoming  his  wife.  Mrs.  Anderson  was  born  in 
Susquehanna  County,  Pa.,  November,  17,  1836. 
She  was  married  in  early  womanhood  to  Alfred 
Luudy,  who  died  at  Standing  Stone,  Bradford 
County,  Pa.  She  is  a  very  intelligent,  efficient 
woman,  an  excellent  housewife,  and  looks  well  to 
the  ways  of  her  household.  She  belongs  to  the 
same  church  of  which  her  -husband  has  so  long 
been  a  member,  and  is  one  of  its  most  zealous 
workers. 


JASON  C.  AYRES,  President  of  the  Dixon 
National  Bank,  capitalist,  and  one  of  the 
largest  dealers  in   real  estate    in   northern 
Illinois,  has  long  been  one  of  Lee  County's 
ablest     business     men     and     financiers,     who    is 
widely  known  and    honored    for    his    high    per- 
sonal  standing,  for   the    value    of  his  citizenship 
and  for  the  generous,  progressive  and  far-seeing 
public  spirit  that  has  exercised  such  a  powerful  in- 
fluence in  the  making  of  his  adopted  city. 

Our  subject  was  born  in  St.  Lawrence  County, 
N.  Y.,  August  22,  1835.  He  is  a  descendant  of 
some  of  the  old  families  of  New  England,  his  fore- 
fathers being  among  the  Colonial  settlers  of  that 
part  of  the  country.  The  following  facts  concern- 
ing his  ancestry  are  taken  from  the  "History  of  the 
Ayres  Family,"  written  by  William  Henry  Whit- 
more.  His  father,  Col.  Sylvanus  Ayres,  was  born 
in  April,  1780,  in  New  Braintree,  Mass.,  and  was 
a  son  of  Jabez  and  Persia  (Stewart)  Ayres.  Jabez 
Ayres  was  born  in  Newbury,  Mass.,  April  26, 1737, 
and  was  a  son  of  Jabez  and  Rebecca  (Kimball) 
Ayres,  who  were  also  natives  of  that  town.  The 
great-grandfather  of  our  subject  was  born  December 


27,  16!M),  and  was  a  son  of  Samuel  and  Abigail 
(Follows)  Ayres.  Samuel  Ayres  was  the  second 
son  of  Captain  John  and  Susanna  (Sirnonds)  Ayres. 
Captain  Ayres  was  born  in  England,  and  was  one 
of  three  brothers  who  came  to  America  as  Colonists 
in  the  early  years  of  the  settlement  of  New  Eng- 
land. He  went  with  others  to  the  present  location 
of  Brookfield,  Mass.,  where  he  secured  a  tract  of 
land  and  set  about  building  a  home  in  the  wilder- 
ness. That  section  of  the  country  was  inhabited 
by  a  tribe  of  hostile  Indians,  and  he  was  killed  by 
them  August  3,  1675.  His  family  and  the  re- 
maining settlers  then  returned  to  I  pswich,  Mass. 
Samuel  Ayres  was  married  in  that  old  New  Eng- 
land town  April  16,  1677.  He  departed  this  life 
in  1717,  at  a  ripe  old  age.  Jabez  Ayres,  the  great- 
grandfather of  our  subject,  was  married  December  8, 
1 7 1 8,  to  Rebecca,  daughter  of  Henry  Kimball.  He 
removed  from  Ipswich  to  New  Braintree,  in  the 
same  State,  in  June,  1721.  His  son  Jabez,  grand- 
father of  subject,  served  in  the  French  and  Indian 
War  and  in  the  War  of  the  Revolution.  He  re- 
moved from  New  Braintree  to  Salisbury,  Herkimer 
County,  N.  Y.,  in  1792,  and  thence  to  Manheim  in 
the  same  county,  where  he  died  February  24, 
1824.  His  widow  died  there  in  1833,  aged  sixty- 
eight  years. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  a  lad  of  twelve  years 
when  he  went  with  his  parents  to  Herkimer  County, 
N.  Y.,  where  he  continued  to  live  until  a  short 
time  after  his  marriage,  when  he  went  to  Mont- 
gomery County  and  thence  to  St.  Lawrence  County, 
in  the  same  State.  He  became  one  of  the  leading 
citizens  of  his  community.  After  serving  in  the 
War  of  1812  he  joined  the  New  York  Militia,  and 
June  13,  1814,  Daniel  D.  Tompkins,  then  Gover- 
nor of  New  York,  commissioned  him  Captain  of  a 
company  of  the  Eighth  New  York  Infantry.  In 
May,  1818,  he  received  a  commission  as  Major  of 
the  regiment  from  Governor  DeWitt  Clinton,  and 
in  April,  1821,  Governor  Clinton  commissioned 
him  Lieutenant-Colonel  of  the  same  regiment.  In 
the  year  1839  Col.  Ayres  migrated  with  his  family 
to  Indiana  and  took  up  his  residence  in  the  prime- 
val wilds  of  Allen  County,  going  to  his  destina- 
tion by  lake  to  Toledo,  Ohio,  from  there  up  the 
Maumee  River  to  the  head  of  navigation,  and 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


371 


thence  with  a  team  to  the  end  of  his  journey.  He 
was  not  destined  to  en  joy  his  new  home  very  long, 
as,  ere  the  year  was  closed,  he  was  numbered  among 
the  dead. 

The  maiden  name  of  the  mother  of  our  subject  was 
Anna  Bean.  She  was  a  native  of  Saratoga  County, 
X.  Y.,  and  was  a  daughter  of  William  Bean,  who 
was  a  native  of  Boston.  He  was  the  son  of  an 
Englishman,  who  carne  to  this  country  in  Colonial 
times  and  settled  in  or  near  Boston.  He  met  his 
death  at  the  hands  of  the  Indians,  being  shot  by 
them  and  mortally  wounded,  and  dying  shortly  af- 
ter in  his  home.  The  maternal  grandfather  of  our 
subject  was  the  youngest  of  six  children.  When  the 
Revolutionary  War  broke  out  he  entered  the  Con- 
tinental army,  fought  at  the  Battle  of  Bunker 
Hill  and  served  with  devoted  patriotism  through- 
out the  entire  struggle  for  freedom.  Previous  to 
going  into  the  army  he  had  worked  in  a  shipyard, 
but  after  the  war  he  turned  his  attention  to  farm- 
ing, and  was  thus  engaged  in  his  native  State  for 
a  time.  He  then  resided  in  Vermont  a  few  years, 
and  from  there  went  to  Xew  York.  He  first  lo- 
cated in  Saratoga  County,  but  subsequentlj'  re- 
moved to  Montgomery  County,  and  buying  a  farm 
near  Johnstown,  spent  his  remaining  days  there. 
The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  Lydia  Xutting. 
and  she  was  born  in  Salem,  Mass.  Her  mother,  the 
great-grandmother  of  subject,  was  a  Severance. 
She  was  very  young  when  her  father  died,  and  she 
was  reared  by  an  aunt  in  Fitchburg.  She  died  on 
the  home  farm  in  Montgomery  County.  The  mother 
of  our  subject  was  reared  in  New  York.  After 
the  death  of  her  husband  in  their  newly  founded 
home  in  Indiana  she  returned  to  the  East  with  six 
of  her  eight  children,  and  taking  up  her  residence 
in  Buffalo,  devoted  herself  to  rearing  and  educat- 
ing her  children.  She  came  to  Dixon  with  her 
son,  of  whom  we  write,  and  was  a  beloved  inmate 
of  his  home  until  her  death  February  20,  1884,  in 
her  ninetieth  year. 

Jason  C.  Ay  res  was  but  four  years  old  when  his 
father  died.  He  was  principally  reared  in  the  city 
of  Buffalo  and  educated  in  her  public  schools.  In 
the  spring  of  1854,  a  youth  of  eighteen  years,  he 
came  to  Illinois  and  began  life  in  this  State  as  a 
clerk  in  a  store  in  Chicago.  In  December  of  that 


year  he  paid  his  first  visit  to  Dixon,  coining  by 
rail  as  far  as  Rochelle,  which  was  then  the  terminus 
of  the  railway,  and  from  there  to  this  city  with  a 
team.  He  was  much  impressed  with  the  beautiful 
site  of  Dixon,  and  the  many  advantages  it  offered 
to  a  wide-awake  enterprising  man  of  business,  and 
in  the  spring  of  1855  he  made  a  permanent  settle- 
ment here,  establishing  himself  in  the  mercantile 
business,  which  he  conducted  for  a  time.  In  1857 
he  formed  a  partnership  with  Joseph  Crawford  and 
Milton  Santce,  and  opened  a  land  agency  office. 
The  firm  did  a  very  large  business  in  the  line  of 
surveying  and  entering  Government  lands  in  the 
Western  States,  and  the  gentlemen  composing  it 
continued  together  until  1863.  Since  that  time 
Mr.  Ayres  has  conducted  the  business  alone  in  the 
same  office,  looking  carefully  after  his  extensive 
landed  interests  and  the  management  of  his  other 
property.  He  has  dealt  in  lands  in  Illinois,  Wis- 
consin, Minnesota,  Kansas,  Iowa  and  Nebraska, 
and  for  many  years  invested  money  for  Eastern 
capitalists.  When  it  became  necessary  to  select  a 
new  president  for  the  Dixon  National  Bank,  one 
of  the  substantial  monetary  institutions  of  North- 
ern Illinois,  Mr.  Ayres  was  chosen  on  account  of 
his  extensive  acquaintance  with  men  and  affairs, 
his  wide  experience  in  business,  his  accurate  knowl- 
edge of  financial  matters,  and  the  sound  and  sa- 
gacious policy  by  which  he  has  always  managed 
his  own  interest*  and  those  of  other  people  en- 
trusted to  him.  Under  his  careful  and  skillful 
guidance  the  bank  maintains  its  old-time  reputa- 
tion, its  prosperity  resting  on  a  firm  and  healthy 
basis  and,  as  of  yore,  it  enjoys  the  entire  confi- 
dence of  its  depositors  and  all  who  have  dealings 
with  it. 

May  7,  1861,  our  subject  entered  into  a  happy 
and  congenial  marriage  with  Miss  Lavina,  daugh- 
ter of  Dr.  John  S.  Crawford,  of  Williamsport,  Pa. 
They  have  a  home  made  beautiful  with  all  that 
goes  to  make  life  worth  living,  and  their  pleasant 
household  circle  is  completed  by  their  one  daugh- 
ter. Anna  B.  Their  only  son,  (Jeorgc  N..  died 
when  twelve  years  old. 

Mr.  Ayres  is  ;i  thoughtful,  scholarly  man,  of  fine 
address,  and  in  all  things  conforms  strictly  to  the 
highest  principles  of  honor,  fairness  and  courtesy. 


372 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


His  strong  business  qualifications,  aptitude  for  af- 
fairs and  executive  talent,  combined  with  his  per- 
sonal attributes  have  given  him  prominence  in  this 
city,  with  whose  growth  he  has  been  so  intimately 
associated  for  the  past  thirty -six  years.  For  many 
years  he  held  two  of  the  most  important  civic  of- 
fices within  the  gift  of  his  fellow  citizens,  serving 
as  City  Treasurer  upwards  of  twenty  years,  and  as 
City  Clerk  for  twenty-three  years.  In  politics  he 
is  first,  last  and  always  a  Republican.  In  his  so- 
cial relations  he  is  a  member  of  Friendship  Lodge, 
No.  7,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.;  Nachusa  Chapter,  No.  56, 
R.  A.  M.;  Dixon  Council,  No.  21,  R.  &  S.  M.;  and 
of  Dixon  Commandery,  No.  21,  K.  T.  He  has  al- 
ways been  generous  in  the  use  of  his  money  for 
public  enterprises  and  charitable  purposes.  He  is 
broad  and  catholic  in  his  religious  views,  an  at- 
tendant of  the  'Methodist  Episcopal  Church  for 
many  years,  but  not  a  member  of  any  religious  de- 
nomination. 


)MAS  HOWELL  has,  since  the  spring  of 
1869,  lived  on  section  19,  Dixon  Township, 
rhere  he  owns  a  valuable  farm  of  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  acres.  The  fields  are  well  tilled,  the 
pjace  is  well  stocked  and  the  improvements,  which 
are  many,  are  in  keeping  with  a  model  farm  of  the 
nineteenth  century.  As  our  subject  is  well  and 
favorably  known  throughout  this  community' we 
feel  assured  that  a  record  of  his  life  will  prove  of 
interest  to  many  of  our  readers. 

Mr.  Howell  was  born  in  Herefordshire,  England, 
on  the  9.th  of  January,  1809,  and  was  the  eldest  of 
six  children.  His  parents  were  Thomas  and  Sarah 
(Davis)  Howell,  natives  of  Ludlow,  Shropshire, 
England.  In  1836,  accompanied  by  their  family, 
the  parents  crossed  the  briny  .deep  to  America, 
sailing  from  Liverpool  on  the  "City  of  Washing- 
ton," which  dropped  anchor  in  the  harbor  of  New- 
York  after  a  voyage  of  three  weeks  and  three 
days,  the  quickest  and  the  last  trip  ever  made  by 
that  boat  and  one  of  the  fastest  sails  across  the 
ocean  which  had  been  made  at  that  time.  In  the 
city  of  Buffalo  the  family  located,  and  there  the 


parents  spent  the  remainder  of  their  lives.  In 
their  native  land  they  had  been  members  of  the 
Church  of  England  but  in  this  country  united 
with  the  Methodist  Church,  in  the  growth  and 
upbuilding  of  which  the}'  took  an  active  interest. 

Our  subject  is  the  only  one  of  the  family  now 
living.  .  The  others  were  generally  successful  in 
their  business  affairs  and  became  quite  well-to-do. 
In  the  usual  manner  of  farmer  lads,  Thomas  spent 
the  days  of  his  boyhood  and  youth  in  his  native 
county  and  after  he  had  arrived  at  man's  estate 
was  joined  in  wedlock,  in  Shropshire,  with  Miss 
Mary  A.  Adams,  a  native  of  that  county,  born  on 
the  28th  of  November,  1818.  Her  parents  were 
William  and  Elizabeth  (Page)  Adams,  also  natives 
of  Shropshire,  where  they  spent  their  entire  lives. 
Her  father's  death  occurred  in  his  eightieth  year, 
and  his  wife  passed  away  at  the  age  of  eighty-two. 
They  were  members  of  the  Episcopal  Church  and 
both  came  of  old  and  respected  English  families. 

After  coming  to  this  country,  Mr.  Howell  and 
his  wife  took  up  their  residence  in  Buffalo,  N.  Y., 
where  they  made  their  home  for  eighteen  years,dur- 
ing  a  greater  part  of  which  time  he  had  a  street 
sprinkler  and  engaged  in  watering  the  streets; 
also  while  in  New  York  State  he  followed  farm- 
ing and  cheese  making.  On  the  expiration  of  that 
period  they  came  West  and  the  attention  of  Mr. 
Howell  was  turned  to  farming,  which  he  has  since 
followed.  For  more  than  half  a  century  he  and 
his  estimable  wife  have  lived  and  labored  to- 
gether, and  their  united  efforts  have  been  crowned 
with  success.  The}'  are  now  in  comfortable  cir- 
cumstances, having  acquired  a  competence  which 
supplies  them  with  all  the  necessities  and  many 
of  the  luxuries  of  life.  With  the  Methodist 
Church  of  Dixon  they  hold  membership,  and  their 
lives  are  spent  in  harmony  with  their  professions. 

The  union  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Howell  was  blessed 
with  a  family  of  eight  children,  all  of  whom  are 
yet  living.  Sarah,  the  eldest,  is  now  the  wife  of 
Andrew  Hatch,  a  farmer  of  Dixon  Township; 
William  II.  R.,  who  wedded  Libby  Hatch,  is  en- 
gaged in  farming  in  Erie  County,  N.  Y.;  Albert, 
who  wedded  Mary  Bernhart,  follows  the  same 
pursuit  near  Wales  Center,  N.  Y.;  Elizabeth  D.  is 
the  wife  of  Frank  J.  Parsons,  a  real-estate  agent 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


373 


of  Omaha,  Neb.;  John  II.,  who  married  Amanda 
Woodruff,  makes  his  home  in  Dixou;  James  D., 
who  married  Minnie  Wernick,  is  a  resident  fanner 
of  Dixon  Township;  Carrie  is  the  wife  of  George 
W.  Spencer,  of  Chicago,  who  is  employed  as  an 
ornamental  painter  by  Frank  Parmelee,  who  runs 
an  extensive  'bus  and  transfer  line  in  that  city; 
Susie  A.,  the  youngest  of  the  family,  is  yet  at 
home. 


W  SAAC  MEANS,  a  dealer  in  coal,  lime,  cement, 
||  salt,  etc.,  is  distinguished  in  the  history  of  Lee 
|ll  County,  as  one  of  the  oldest  established  busi- 
ness men  of  Dixon,  who  has  been  closely  connected 
with  its  ii.terests,  and  has  had  a  hand  in  its  up- 
building for  over  half  a  century,  and  no  name  is 
more  deservedly  held  in  honor  by  the  citizens  of 
this  city  than  his. 

Mr.  Means  was  born  October  14,  1814,  in  County 
Tyrone,  Ireland.  His  father,  John  Means,  was 
also  a  native  of  that  county,  while  his  sire,  who 
bore  the  same  name  as  our  subject,  was  of  Scotch 
birth.  In  early  manhood  he  left  his  native  heath 
in  Scotland,  to  engage  in  farming  on  the  rich  soil 
of  the  Emerald  Isle,  and  the  remainder  of  his  life 
was  passed  in  County  Tyrone. 

John  Means  was  reared  to  the  life  of  a  farmer  in 
the  place  of  his  birth,  and  in  due  time  was  married 
taking  as  his  wife  Margie  Taylor,  who  was  likewise 
a  native  of  County  Tyrone.  In  1848  the  family 
came  to  America,  and  the  good  old  father  and 
mother  spent  the  remainder  of  their  days  at  Dixon. 
They  reared  fourteen  children,  of  whom  seven  are 
still  living. 

The  subject  of  this  biographical  review  passed 
his  youth  in  the  county  of  his  nativity,  where  he 
grew  to  a  hale  and  self-reliant  manhood.  In  the 
year  1840,  when  in  the  prime  and  vigor  of  life,  he 
set  forth  from  his  old  home  into  the  wide  world 
to  see  if  in  far-away  America  fortune  would  bless 
his  efforts  to  acquire  a  competence.  He  embarked 
on  :\  sailing-vessel  at  Liverpool,  and  twenty-one 
days  later  landed  at  New  York.  From  there  Lie 


went  to  Boston,  but  after  a  visit  of  a  few  weeks  in 
that  city  returned  to  the  metropolis,  and  from 
there  started  Westward  by  the  way  of  the  Hudson 
River  to  Troy,  from  there  by  the  Erie  Canal  to 
Buffalo,  thence  by  lakes  to  Chicago,  where  he  se- 
cured a  ride  to  Dixon,  his  final  destination,  which 
he  found  to  be  a  small  town,  with  a  population  of 
about  two  hundred  people.  The  surrounding  coun- 
try was  still  in  the  hands  of  the  pioneers,  and  was 
but  thinly  inhabited,  the  land  being  mostly  owned 
by  the  Government,  and  deer,  wolves  and  various 
other  kinds  of  animals  roamed  where  are  now 
beautiful  farms,  happy  homes  and  busy  towns. 

After  his  arrival  in  Dixon,  Mr.  Means  invested 
in  village  property,  and  then  set  himself  to  work 
with  cliaracteristic  energy  to  learn  the  trade  of  a 
stone,  brick  and  piaster  mason  with  a  Mr.  Austin. 
A  year  later,  he  having  acquired  a  thorough  knowl- 
edge of  his  trade  and  much  skill  in  carrying  it  on, 
that  gentleman  took  him  into  partnership,  and 
they  engaged  in  contracting  and  building  together 
some  ten  years.  At  the  end  of  that  time,  our  sub- 
ject went  into  the  lumber  trade,  and  later  into  the 
mercantile  business  as  a  dealer  in  coal,  lime,  cement, 
salt,  etc.,  and  has  been  prosperously  and  exten- 
sively engaged  in  that  line  ever  since.  His  busi- 
ness has  increased  with  the  growth  of  the  city,  was 
long  since  established  on  a  firm  foundation,  and  is 
known  as  one  of  the  oldest  concerns  in  Dixou. 

When  he  came  to  Dixon  fifty  or  more  years  ago, 
Mr.  Means  was  unmarried,  but  life  had  in  store  for 
him  a  better  fate  than  to  go  to  the  end  of  the 
journey  in  single  blessedness,  and  in  this  city  he 
met  and  wedded  Mrs.  Mary  A.  Clay.  Her  father 
was  a  captain  in  the  British  army,  and  she  was 
born  on  the  ocean  when  her  parents  were  en  route 
to  America. 

In  all  his  transactions  Mr.  Means  has  always  dis- 
played a  scrupulous  regard  for  the  rights  of  others, 
has  never  been  known  to  wilfully  wrong  or  de- 
fraud  another,  and  his  reputation  is  unspotted  in 
financial  circles.  He  has  witnessed  with  pride  the 
growth  of  the  city  with  which  he  so  early  identi- 
fied himself,  and  has  manifested  tv,uc  public  spirit 
by  doing  whatsoever  he  could  to  advance  its  wel- 
fare, materially,  socially  and  morally.  He  is  prom- 
inent in  social  circles  as  a  Mason  of  forty-seven 


374 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


years'  standing,  and  is  the  oldest  member  of 
Friendship  Lodge,  No.  7.  A  man  of  broad  out- 
look, in  his  religious  views  he  is  cheerful  and  opti- 
mistic, and  is  a  consistent  and  valued  member  of 
the  Universalist  Church. 


fll!  DAM  MILLER,  who  now  lives  in  retire. 
C@Oi  ment  in  the  pleasant  village  of  Steward, 

IJ  11  was  for  many  years  actively  engaged  in 
<^jl  farming,  and  is  still  identified  with  the 
agricultural  interests  of  the  county  as  the  proprie- 
tor of  a  farm  in  Willow  Creek  Township,  whose 
substantial  improvements  are  the  works  of  his  own 
hand,  as  it  was  a  tract  of  wild  prairie  when  it  came 
into  his  possession. 

The  birthplace  of  our  subject  is  in  that  part  of 
what  was  once  Northampton  Countj',  now  included 
in  Pocono  Township,  Monioe  County,  Pa.,  and 
there  he  was  born  amidst  primeval  surroundings 
August  19,  1816.  Frederick  Miller,  his  father, 
was  a  native  of  the  same  State,  and  was  a  son  of 
another  Frederick  Miller,  who  was  a  farmer  of 
Hamilton  Township,  Northampton  County,  where 
he  died  in  the  course  of  time.  The  father  of  our 
subject  was  reared  in  Pennsylvania  to  the  life  of  a 
farmer,  and  also  engaged  in  lumbering.  He  was  a 
pioneer  of  Pocono  Township,  settling  there  in  the 
primeval  forest,  from  which  he  cleared  a  good 
farm,  which  he  occupied  a  number  of  years,  but  his 
last  days  were  spent  in  the  home  of  a  daughter  at 
Chestnut  Hill.  For  some  years  after  his  settlement 
on  his  land,  deer,  bear  and  other  kinds  of  wild 
game  were  plentiful,  and  there  were  but  few  signs 
of  approaching  civilization.  Easton,  Allentown 
and  Bethlehem  were  the  nearest  markets,  and  as 
there  were  then  no  railways,  all  transportation  be- 
tween those  points  and  Philadelphia,  eighty-seven 
miles  distant,  was  by  teams.  The  maiden  name  of 
the  mother  of  our  subject  was  Catherine  Brown; 
it  is  thought  that  she  was  a  Pennsylvanian  by 
birth,  and  she  was  a  daughter  of  Sebastian  Brown. 
She  died  on  the  home  farm. 

Our  subject  is  the  only  survivor  of  a  family  of 
seven  children,  and  the  names  of  his  brothers  and 


sisters  are  as  follows — Elizabeth,  Frederick,  Peter, 
Barbara,  Catherine  and  Sarah. 

Adam  Miller  grew  to  manhood  and  was  edu- 
cated in  his  native  county.  He  attended  the  pio- 
neer schools  of  his  day  that  were  taught  on  the 
subscription  plan.  As  soon  as  large  enough  to  be 
of  any  use  he  was  set  to  work  on  the  farm,  and 
also  helped  his  father  in  the  lumber  business.  He 
remained  with  his  parents  until  he  was  eighteen 
years  old  and  then  commenced  life  for  himself  by 
working  on  a  farm.  He  was  thus  employed  a  few 
years  and  then  engaged  in  milling.  He  worked 
for  a  man  in  that  business  one  year,  and  at  the  end 
of  that  time  rented  a  mill  in  Lackawanna  Town- 
ship, Luzerne  County,  which  he  operated  success- 
fully for  some  years.  In  March,  1857.  he  aban- 
doned milling  in  Pennsylvania,  and  coming  to  Lee 
County,  turned  his  energies  to  tilling  the  soil.  He 
bought  eighty  acres  of  wild  prairie,  of  which  never 
a  sod  had  been  turned,  which  was  located  in  what 
is  now  Willow  Creek  Township.  As  there  were  no 
improvements  on  the  place,  he  rented  for  three 
years,  and  then  erected  suitable  buildings,  and  re- 
sided on  his  farm  until  1883,  when  he  came  to 
Steward,  where  he  has  since  lived  retired,  having 
an  income  ample  for  all  his  wants.  During  his 
residence  on  his  farm  he  put  it  into  good  shape, 
placed  the  land  under  excellent  tillage  and  added 
another  eighty  acres  to  the  original  acreage,  so  that 
lie  now  has  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  well- 
improved,  arable  land. 

For  more  than  half  a  century  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mil- 
ler have  enjoyed  life  together,  their  marriage  tak- 
ing place  January  20,  1839.  They  have  been 
blessed  with  the  following  children — Merritt,  a 
resident  of  Steward,  of  whom  a  sketch  appears 
elsewhere  in  this  book;  William  and  Seldon.  who 
are  residents  of  McPherson  County,  Kan.;  Ilolden, 
who  lives  at  Forreston,  111.;  Charles,  who  is  on  the 
home  farm;  and  Leonora, the  wife  of  Edgar  E.  Mor- 
gan, of  Greene  County,  Ind. 

Mrs.  Miller  was  Mary  Neyhart  prior  to  her  mar- 
ri.-i-v.  and  she  was  born  October  10,  18 18,  in  Hamil- 
ton Township,  which  then  formed  a  part  of  North- 
ampton County,  but  is  now  included  in  Monroe 
County,  P:i.  Her  father,  Peter  Neyliart.  was  also 
;(  Pennsylvania)!  by  birth  and  was  of  (ierman  de- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


375 


scent.  He  followed  the  trade  of  a  tailor  in  Hamil- 
ton Township  until  within  a  few  years  of  his  death, 
and  then  removed  to  Pocono  Township,  where  he 
passed  the  remainder  of  his  life.  The  maiden 
name  of  his  wife  was  Mary  Kester.  She  survived 
her  husband  some  years  and  died  at  the  home  of  a 
daughter  in  Pittston  Township,  Luzerne  County. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Miller  joined  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Church  in  their  younger  days  and  were  con- 
nected with  that  church  for  many  years.  They 
are  conscientious  Christians,  kindly  and  charitable 
in  their  dispositions,  and  are  held  in  universal 
esteem  throughout  the  neighborhood. 


S7  AIS  L.  RISETTER  is  a  line  type  of  the 
I  (j@>  Scandinavian  race  that  has  done  so  much 
/iL=afc..  for  Lee  County  in  promoting  its  industries, 
its  growth  in  various  directions,  and  its  welfare 
generally.  He  is  one  of  its  pioneer  farmers,  and 
has  acquired  moderate  means  by  the  successful 
management  of  his  extensive  farming  interests  in 
Willow  Creek  Township,  of  which  he  is  an  old 
and  honored  resident. 

Mr.  Risetter  was  born  in  Bergensteft,  Hardanger, 
Norway,  March  30,  1826.  He  grew  to  manhood 
amid  the  pleasant  scenes  of  his  birth,  and  was  very 
well  educated  in  the  local  schools.  He  early  ac- 
quired a  knowledge  of  farming  on  his  father's 
farm,  and  continued  to  live  in  the  old  home  until 
1847.  The  20th  of  April,  that  year,  was  an  im- 
portant date  in  his  young  life,  as  he  then  bade  a 
long  farewell  to  his  old  friends  and  the  familiar 
places  of  his  youth,  and  set  his  face  toward  America 
as  the  goal  of  his  hopes  and  ambitions.  He  sailed 
from  Bergen,  and  after  a  voyage  of  a  month  on 
the  Atlantic  ocean,  he  landed  at  New  York  on  the 
20th  of  May.  He  came  directly  to  Illinois  from 
that  city,  journeying  up  the  Hudson  River  to  Al- 
bany, from  there  by  rail  to  Buffalo,  and  thence  by 
the  lakes  to  Chicago,  where  he  secured  a  ride  with 
a  farmer  to  the  Fox  River  settlement,  and  from 
there  came  with  a  hired  team  to  Lee  Center.  He 
found  himself  a  stranger  in  a  strange  land,  without 
money,  and  unable  to  speak  the  English  language, 


and.  what  was  worse  than  all,  sick  with  ague  and 
from  the  effects  of  his  long  and  tiresome  journey 
of  many  thousand  miles,  his  situation  seemed 
serious  for  awhile.  But  a  young  man  of  his  reso- 
lution, fortitude  and  strength  of  character  who 
had  traveled  so  far  in  search  of  a  future  home, 
was  not  to  be  defeated  at  the  outset,  and  as  soon 
as  he  was  able  he  sought  employment  at  whatso- 
ever his  hands  could  find  to  do  and  obtained  a 
place  to  work  on  a  farm  by  the  month.  His  pros- 
pects were  not  bright,  as  he  was  sickly,  but  he  was 
found  to  be  a  ready  and  willing  worker,  habitually 
industrious,  quick  and  capable,  and  although  not 
strong  and  robust  he  commanded  the  usual  wages 
paid  to  a  workman  in  those  days.  He  prudently 
saved  his  money,  and  finally  for  the  sum  of  f  63 
secured  a  land  warrant  entitling  him  to  eighty 
acres  of  land  in  Sublette  Township.  It  was  a  part 
of  the  wild  prairie,  which  at  that  time  was  unset- 
tled in  this  county,  and  deer,  wolves  and  other 
wild  animals  were  frequently  seen  where  are  now 
rich  farms  and  flourishing  villages.  The  settle- 
ments had  been  made  mostly  in  the  timber,  as  the 
value  of  the  prairie  land  for  farming  purposes 
had  not  been  realized.  There  were  no  railways  in 
the  State,  and  communication  with  the  outside 
world  was  by  the  way  of  rough  roads  or  over  the 
trackless  prairies.  As  a  pioneer  of  Northern  Illi- 
nois Mr.  Risetter  has  been  an  interested  witness  of 
the  Liany  wonderful  changes  that  the  years  have 
brought,  and  he  has  been  a  potent  factor  in  devel- 
oping this  section  from  the  wilderness. 

Our  subject's  first  needed  work  was,  after  he 
came  into  possession  of  his  land,  to  build  a 
log  house  after  the  pioneer  fashion.  He  obtained 
the  logs  by  felling  trees  that  stood  on  his  place, 
and  then,  as  was  the  custom  in  those  days  of  mu- 
tual helpfulness,  invited  his  neighbors  to  the  "mis- 
ing,"  and  in  one  day  by  their  united  labors  the 
dwelling  was  completed  ready  for  occupancy,  and 
Mr.  Risetter  then  devoted  his  energies  to  the  im- 
provement of  his  home  and  land.  He  sold  that 
place  in  1856  for  much  more  than  its  original 
price,  as  its  value  had  been  much  increased  by  the 
time  and  Inbor  lie  had  expended  in  its  develop- 
ment. He  then  bought  a  tract  of  land  in  Willow 
Creek  Township,  same  county,  and  has  resided  here 


370 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


continuously  ever  since,  being  to-day  one  of  its 
best-known  citizens.  He  has  met  with  ordinary 
success  in  the  pursuit  of  his  calling,  has  a  home 
replete  with  comfort,  a  finely  equipped  farm,  amply 
supplied  with  modern  machinery  for  carrying  on 
the  various  farming  operations  in  which  he  was 
engaged,  and  at  one  time  he  owned  upwards  of 
nine  hundred  acres  of  choice  land,  but  is  now  re- 
tired from  farming  and  has  divided  the  farm  be- 
tween his  sons. 

December  19,  1847,  Mr.  Risetter  celebrated  his 
marriage  with  Miss  Gertrude  Hillison,  and  the 
wedded  life  thus  entered  upon  that  far  away 
Christmas  more  than  forty  years  ago  has  been  one 
of  true  happiness.  Mrs.  Risetter  was  also  born  in 
Bergensteft,  Norway,  and  she  came  across  the 
waters  to  a  new  home  in  this  country  in  the  same 
ship  with  her  future  husband.  Their  marriage  has 
been  blessed  to  them  by  the  birth  of  five  children, 
of  whom  three  survive:  Annie,  wife  of  the 
Rev.  A.  C.  Olsen,  Lewis  and  Holden.  Our  subject 
gives  intelligent  heed  to  politics,  and  has  mostly 
voted  the  Republican  ticket.  He  and  his  wife 
are  earnest  Christians,  and  in  the  Lutheran 
Church  find  true  teachings  according  to  the  Word 
of  God  revealed  in  the  Holy  Scriptures. 


eOMLEY  P.  WILLIAMS.  In  presenting  a 
sketch  of  this  gentleman  to  our  readers  we 
record  the  life  work  of  one  of  tho  most  en- 
terprising farmers  and  extensive  and  successful 
stock-raisers  of  Lee  County.  For  the  past  six 
years  lie  has  resided  on  section  27,  Palmyra  Town- 
ship, where  he  owns  one  hundred  and  eight  acres  of 
valuable  land  under  a  high  state  of  cultivation.  Its 
improvements,  which  are  many,  are  both  useful  and 
ornamental.  The  dwelling,  a  view  of  which  appears 
on  another  page,  is  an  elegant  and  conveniently 
arranged  two-story  frame  structure,  situated  in  the 
midst  of  a  beautiful  lawn,  adorned  with  flowering 
shrubs  and  shade  trees.  In  the  past  year  was 
erected  a  large  barn  62x40  feet,  with  an  ell  20x44 
feet,  and  the  other  outbuildings  arc  also  in  keep- 
ing with  this  structure.  Twent3'  head  of  fine 


thorough-bred  Holstein  cattle  may  there  be  seen, 
among  which  is  the  well-known  animal, ''Nether- 
land  Helmer."  We  have  thus  taken  a  brief  survey 
of  one  of  the  finest  farms  of  the  county,  and  will 
now  turn  to  the  histoiy  of  its  owner. 

A  native  of  Pennsylvania,  Mr.  Williams  was 
born  in  Columbia  County,  December  15,  1850,  and 
is  a  son  of  Osborn  and  Martha  (John)  Williams, 
also  natives  of  that  county,  where  they  were 
married.  The  father  was  a  carpenter  and  cabinet 
|  maker  by  trade  and  followed  those  pursuits  for 
some  time,  after  which  he  engaged  in  merchandis- 
ing with  excellent  success.  Severing  his  business 
relations  in  the  East,  he  came  to  Illinois  with  his 
family  in  1857,  and  spent  one  year  in  Ogle  County. 
The  following  year  he  removed  to  Jordan  Town- 
ship, Whiteside  County,  where  he  followed  farm- 
ing until  his  death  July  8th,  1884.  He  was  born 
October  20,  1823.  His  life  was  a  busy  and  useful 
one,  and  though  he  started  out  in  the  world  empty 
handed,  at  the  time  of  his  death  he  owned  three 
farms,  all  free  from  debt  and  well  improved.  He 
was  also  enabled  in  his  latter  years  to  lay  aside 
many  of  the  cares  of  business  life  and  enjoy  the 
fruits  of  his  former  toil.  In  politics  he  was  a  Re- 
publican and  took  quite  an  active  interest  in  the 
success  of  his  party.  Mrs.  Williams,  who  was 
boru  March  12,  1823,  is  still  living  on  the  old 
homestead  in  Whiteside  County.  Under  the 
auspices  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  she  was  reared, 
as  was  also  her  husband,  and  her  life  has  been  con- 
sistent with  its  teachings. 

Accompanying  his  parents  to  the  West,  C.  P. 
Williams  was  reared  to  manhood  in  Whiteside 
County,  where  his  education  was  also  acquired  in 
the  district  schools  of  the  neighborhood.  After 
attaining  to  mature  years  he  led  to  the  marriage 
alter  Miss  Catherine  Hey,  who  was  born  in  New 
York,  June  5,  1852.  Her  parents,  Henry  and 
Catherine  (Petleon)  Hey,  were  also  natives  of  the 
Empire  State  and  were  of  German  descent.  In  an 
early  day  they  cast  their  lot  with  the  pioneer 
settlers  of  Whiteside  County,  where  in  the  pursuit 
of  his  business  Mr.  Hey  accumulated  a  large  prop- 
erty. His  death  occurred  March  18.  1884.  The 
political  views  which  he  advocated  were  those  of 
the  Republican  party,  and  religiously  he  was  a 


1 


fHE  U3SAEY 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


.17!) 


Lutheran.  Mrs.  Hey  is  still  living  on  the  old 
homestead  and  is  now  about  sixty-two  years  of 
age.  She  also  holds  membership  with  the  Lutheran 
Church.  The  family  of  this  worthy  couple 
numbered  four  children,  of  whom  Mrs.  Williams  is 
the  eldest. 

Unto  our  subject  and  his  wife   were  born  three 
children,  but  Osborn  H.,  who  was  born  October  20, 
1881,  is  the  only  one  now  living.     Florence  E., 
who  was  born  July  13,  1874,  died  March  14,  1877;   ; 
and  an  infant  son  died  February  3,  .1886. 

In  connection  with  his  home  farm,  Mr.  Williams 
owns  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  acres  of  land 
elsewhere  in  Palmyra  Township,  upon  which  he 
resided  for  twelve  years  previous  to  locating  on 
the  farm  which  is  now  his  home.  He  is  a  man  of 
good  business  ability,  sagacious  and  far-sighted, 
and  by  the  exercise  of  correct  business  principles 
has  achieved  success,  working  his  way  upward  to  a 
position  of  wealth  and  affluence.  In  his  political 
views  he  is  a  Republican  and  for  some  3rears  filled 
the  office  of  Justice  of  the  Peace  with  credit  to 
himself  and  satisfaction  to  his  constituents.  Him- 
self and  wife  are  prominent  people  of  Palmyra 
Township,  moving  in  the  best  circles  of  society 
and  it  is  with  pleasure  that  we  present  this  sketch 
of  their  lives  to  our  readers. 


JAMES  W.  SEYBERT  stands  among  the  fore- 
most of  the  farmers. and  dairymen  of  South 
Dixon  Township,  and  his  well  stocked  farm 
on   sections    16  and   21   is  a  beautiful  and 
valuable  piece  of  property,  with   commodious  and 
handsome  buildings  of  modern  architecture,  and 
all  the  conveniences  for  agricultural  pursuits. 

The  name  of  Seybert  is  familiar  in  this  county 
as  belonging  to  a  family  who  have  been  closely 
connected  with  its  interests  for  many  years.  The 
parents  of  our  subject,  Wallace  and  Desire  (Hill) 
Seybert,  came  to  this  section  of  the  State  more 
than  thirty  years  ago,  locating  in  South  Dixon 
Township,  where  they  gathered  together  a  large  , 
property,  including  about  a  thousand  acres  of  land,  j 


and  they  are  now  living  in  retirement  in  Dixon, 
in  the  quiet  enjoyment  of  their  wealth.  Further 
mention  of  their  life  and  work  is  made  in  another 
part  of  this  volume. 

Our  subject  was  born  in  Luzerne  County,  Pa., 
May  1,  1851,  and  was  ten  years  old  the  year  the 
family  migrated  from  the  Keystone  State  to  this. 
The  education  begun  in  the  schools  of  his  native 
county  was  completed  in  the  public  schools  of  Lee 
County,  and  his  experience  of  farming  was  first 
obtained  under  the  instruction  of  his  father.  He 
was  thus  well  fitted  to  pursue  agriculture  when  he 
began  to  conduct  farming  on  his  own  account. 
The  farm  to  which  he  holds  the  title,  and  which 
has  been  in  his  possession  six  years,  was  one  of  the 
several  that  formerly  belonged  to  his  father.  He 
is  constantly  adding  improvements,  and  the  fine 
buildings  that  adorn  the  place  have  been  chiefly 
erected  by  himself.  The  substantial  residence  is 
tastefully  and  well  built,  and  nicely  fitted  up  out- 
side and  in,  and  the  other  buildings  correspond. 
The  Seyberts  are  noted  for  having  large  barns,  and 
our  subject  has  one  of  the  largest  in  the  county, 
which  was  erected  under  his  supervision  in  1889. 
Its  dimensions  are  48x96  feet,  with  twenty  feet 
posts,  and  it  has  a  roomy  basement  capable  of  ac- 
commodating sixty-five  head  of  cattle  and  nineteen 
horses;  while  the  upper  part  of  the  barn  is  well  ar- 
ranged for  the  storage  of  hay  and  grain.  The 
farm  has  an  area  of  two  hundred  and  seventy-seven 
acres,  of  which  nearly  the  whole  is  under  admir- 
able tillage,  and  good  breeds  of  stock  range  the 
pastures.  Besides  carrying  on  a  profitable  business 
in  general  farming,  our  subject  has  been  interested 
in  the  milk  business  for  two  years  and  a  half, 
starting  in  when  the  condensed  milk  factory,  to 
which  he  disposes  of  the  milk  of  fifty  milch  cows, 
was  established.  He  is  both  practical  and  pro- 
gressive in  the  conduct  of  his  business,  plans  his 
work  thoughtfully  and  systematically,  and  keeps 
himself  well  informed  in  all  that  pertains  to  agri- 
culture. In  his  political  views  he  is  a  Democrat 
of  the  purest  water,  but  does  not  seek  office,  and  is 
not  a  politician. 

Mr.  Seybert  was  married  in  this  township  to 
Miss  Laura  Hill,  who  presides  over  their  home  with 
true  grace,  and  cordially  unites  witli  him  in  exten- 


380 


PORTRAIT  AM)  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


ding  its  hospitalities  to  their  numerous  friends,  or 
to  whomsoever  crosses  its  threshold.  Mrs.  Seybert 
is  a  native  of  this  township,  born  June  15,  1862, 
and  she  was  reared  and  educated  here.  She  is  de- 
voted to  her  husband's  interests,  and  encourages 
and  assists  him  in  his  work.  They  have  a  child — 
Eva  Pearl,  born  September  7,  1891,  and  a  foster- 
child,  named  George,  for  whom  they  care  tenderly, 
and  who  is  being  reared  by  them  as  carefully  as  if 
he  were  of  their  own  blood. 


©SBORN  BEDIENT,  who  resides  on  section 
33,  Lee  Center  Township,  is  an  old  settler  of 
this  county,  being  the  second  man  to  settle 
here  outside  of  Dixon.  He  has  acquired  an  envi- 
able reputation  as  an  upright,  honest  man  who  has 
accomplished  a  success  in  life  by  his  industry  and 
economy.  He  was  born  in  Otsego  County,  N.  Y., 
at  Gilbertsville,  April  27,  1832,  where  he  passed 
the  first  twelve  years  of  his  life.  At  that  time  his 
father  removed  to  Broome  County,  in  the  same 
State,  residing  there  until  1854,  when  he  came  in 
the  fall  of  that  year  with  his  wife  and  two  children 
to  Amboy,  this  State.  He  lived  there  for-  two  or 
three  years,  being  employed  on  the  Illinois  Cen- 
tral Railroad  and  in  other  occupations.  He  then 
purchased  a  tract  of  land  in  Marion  Township, 
this  county,  on  which  he  settled  and  lived  for  one 
year  when  he  returned  to  Amboy,  there  spending 
the  following  three  years.  At  the  end  of  this 
time  he  rented  a  farm  in  Amboy  Township  for 
four  years,  afterward  removing  to  Sublette  Town- 
ship, renting  a  farm  there  for  one  year,  lie  after- 
ward rented  the  farm  which  he  now  owns,  and 
which  he  purchased  at  the  end  of  the  second  year. 
On  this  he  has  erected  a  fine  set  of  buildings  and 
has  also  built  a  residence,  second  to  none  in  the 
county.  His  farm  comprises  two  hundred  and 
sixty  acres  and  is  under  a  high  state  of  cultiva- 
tion. 

Mr.  Bedient  was  married  in  Windsor,  Broome 
County,  N.  Y.,  March  22,  1851  to  Miss  Hannah  J. 
Marshall,  who  was  a  native  of  that  place,  born  Sep- 
tember 27,  1830.  They  arc  the  parents  of  twelve 


children,  as  follows:  Lewis  A.  and  Edwin  M.,  are 
farmers  both  living  in  York  County,  Neb.;  Mary 
A.,  (Mrs.  Daniel  Craig);  Carrie  A.,  (Mrs.  A.  J. 
Rogers);  Eugene  D.,  is  a  farmer  and  resides  at 
home;  Frank  L.  and  Charlie  also  reside  in  York 
County,  Neb.,  where  they  are  cariTing  on  farming; 
Addieis  the  wife  of  Jordan  Tewell;  Edith  M.  mar- 
ried William  Fell;  Fred  is  farming  in  Sublette; 
Grace  A.;  and  Sarah,  who  died  in  infancy. 

Mr.  Bedient  has  spent  almost  his  entire  life  in 
farming  and  stock  raising,  in  which  he  has  been 
remarkably  successful.  He  is  a  public-spirited,  en- 
ergetic man,  who  thoroughly  enjoys  life  and  will 
therefore  live  to  a  good  old  age.  He  is  a  thorough- 
going Republican  and  has  always  taken  tin  active 
part  in  political  affairs.  His  wife  is  a  most  estim- 
able woman  who  has  greatly  aided  her  husband  by 
her  counsel  and  wifely  devotion  in  acquiring  the 
competence  which  they  are  now  enjoying  together, 
and  has  been  a  devoted  mother  to  her  large  family 
of  children,  whom  she  has  had  the  happiness  of 
seeing  well  established  in  life.  The  family  stands 
high  in  the  estimation  of  their  fellow-citizens  and 
they  are  deserving  of  the  good  fortune  which  has 
been  theirs. 


P —"LETCHER  MUTTON,  deceased,  is  numbered 
among  the  honored  pioneers  of  Lee  County, 
and  the  history  of  this  community  would 
be  incomplete  if  this  record  of  his  life  was  omitted. 
His  father,  William  Ilutton,  was  a  native  of  Ber- 
wick, Columbia  County,  Pa.,  and  was  of  English 
descent.  He  married  Elizabeth  Bowman,  who  was 
also  a  native  of  Columbia  County.  Unto  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Ilutton  were  born  four  sons  and  two  daugh- 
ters. He  was  a  second  time  married  his  wife  being 
Mrs.  Sarah  (Bowman)  Bacon,  who  had  two 
children  by  her  first  marriage.  In  1839  they  came 
to  Illinois.  They  traveled  overland  with  teams, 
camping  out  along  the  wayside  at  night  and  at 
length  located  at  what  is  now  Gap  Grove  in  Pal- 
myra Township.  For  several  months  after  their 
arrival  they  lived  in  a  log  cabin,  which  was  the 
home  and  shelter  of  four  families.  As  m&y  besur- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


mised  their  quarters  were  not  the  most  commodious 
hut  they  managed  ta  get  along  until  other  provis- 
ions could  be  made  for  a  home.  In  1840,  William 
Hutton  pre-empted  a  claim  not  far  from  Gap  Grove 
and  purchased  the  same  from  the  Government  when 
the  land  came  into  market.  It  continued  to  be  his 
property  until  his  death,  but  in  the  meantime 
he  retired  from  farm  labor.  He  was  a  man  of  great 
energy  and  enterprise  and  by  his  perseverance  and 
industry  acquired  a  handsome  property  so  that,  in 
1 855,  he  determined  to  live  a  retired  life  and  remov- 
ed to  Sterling.  He  owned  a  fine  residence  in  that 
place  and  continued  to  make  it  his  home  until  his 
death,which  occurred  August  20,  1864,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-three  years.  His  wife  subsequently  went  to 
Iowa  and  died  near  State  Center,  in  1889,  at  the 
ripe  old  age  of  ninety  years.  They  were  both  mem- 
bers of  the  Methodist  Church  and  active  workers 
in  the  Master's  vineyard.  Some  one  said  of  Mrs. 
Hutton  that  she  could  do  as  much  work  as  two 
ministers.  However  that  was,  it  is  certain  that  she 
labored  untiringly  in  the  interests  of  her  church 
and  lived  a  consistent  Christian  life. 

The  childhood  days  of  our  subject  were  chiefly 
spent  in  Pennsylvania,  he  being  nineteen  years  of 
age  when  the  family  came  West.  In  the  experi- 
ences and  hardships  of  pioneer  life  he  bore  his  share 
and  aided  in  the  arduous  task  of  developing  a  farm. 
Throughout  his  life  he  followed  agricultiual 
pursuits  and  so  successful  was  he  in  his  business 
dealings  that  he  became  the  owner  of  over  six 
hundred  acres  of  fine  land.  In  Lee  County, 
he  wedded  Mrs.  Sarah  Hutton,  who  was  born 
on  the  21st  of  April,  1839,  in  the  Province  of 
Ontario,  Canada,  and  was  a  daughter  of  William 
and  Elizabeth  (Ferguson)  Drynan,  both  of  whom 
were  natives  of  Scotland.  Her  father  was  highly 
educated  in  the  schools  of  Edinburg  and  fitted 
himself  for  the  medical  profession,  but  after  com- 
ing to  America,  located  in  the  timbered  regions  of 
Canada,  and  devoted  his  energies  to  mechanical 
pursuits  and  farming.  In  the  midst  of  the  forest 
he  developed  a  good  home  and  there  died  in  1850, 
aged  fifty -eight  years.  Three  years  afterwards.  Mrs. 
Drynan  gave  her  hand  in  marriage  to  Rev.  W.  G. 
Johnson. a  ('on<jiv<jational  minister, and  the  follow- 
ing year  they  located  in  Lyndon,  whore  Mr.  John- 


son engaged  in  preaching  until  1856.  Subsequently 
he  filled  the  pulpits  of  the  churches  at  Gap  Grove 
and  Sterling,  and  in  the  former  place  departed 
this  life  in  1857.  Mrs.  Johnson  died  December  22, 
1890,  at  the  age  of  seventy-six  years.  She  too  was 
a  member  of  the  Congregational  Church  and  the 
father  of  Mrs.  Hutton  was  a  Presbyterian  in  religi- 
ous belief. 

Sarah  Drynan,  widow  of  our  subject,  was  first 
married  in  Palmyra  Township  to  Morris  Hutton,  on 
the  20th  of  November,  1857.  They  removed  to 
Iowa,  and  when  the  war  broke  out  the  husband 
enlisted  at  Cedar  Rapids  in  Company  G,  Twenty- 
fourth  Iowa  Infantry.  He  participated  in  eighteen 
battles,  was  several  times  slightly  wounded  and 
once  a  rebel  bullet  smashed  his  canteen.  This  how- 
ever, saved  his  life.  At  the  battle  of  Winchester, 
October  19,  1864,  he  was  captured  and  carried  to 
Richmond,  Va.,  and  later  sent  to  Helle  Isle.  He  was 
afterwards  sent  to  Andersonville  prison  where  he 
he  suffered  terribly  from  ill  treatment  and  when 
he  was  released  and  started  homeward  his  health 
had  been  so  undermined  by  ill-treatment  and 
starvation,  that  he  died  at  Ben  ton  Barracks,  March 
26,  1865.  He  was  then  in  the  prime  of  life.  He 
was  a  brave  soldier,  ever  found  at  his  post  and  his 
life  was  given  in  the  defense  of  his  country.  At 
his  death  he  left  two  children-Ernest  L.,  who  gradu- 
ated from  Rush  Medical  College  and  is  now  a  prac- 
ticing physician  of  Kansas  City,  Mo.,  married  Lil- 
lian C.  Snow  of  Chicago;  and  Albert  M.  who  wed- 
ded Lizzie  Baker  of  Whiteside  County,  111.,  is  a 
resident  farmer  of  Gap  Grove. 

1 1  was  on  the  10th  of  October,  1866,  that  the  mar- 
riage of  Fletcher  Hutton  and  his  brother's  widow  was 
celebrated.  The}'  resided  upon  the  farm  in  Palmyra 
Township  and  unto  them  were  born  six  children — 
Ethel  Adella,  Wilbur  D..  Karl  E.,  Leon  D.,  Walter 
C.  and  Lulu  M.  The  death  of  Mr.  Hutton  occurred 
at  his  home  on  the  20th  of  May,  1879,  and  was 
deeply  mourned  by  all  who  knew  him.  He  was  a 
valued  citizen  of  the  community  who  took  an  ac- 
tive interest  in  all  public  affairs  pertaining  to  the 
welfare  of  the  county  and  was  held  in  the  highest 
regard  for  his  sterling  worth.  Of  the  Methodist 
Church  lie  was  a  consistent  and  faithful  member  as 
\v.-i.-  the  first  husband  of  Mrs.  Hutton.  and  both 


382 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


the  brothers  were  stanch  Republicans  in  politics. 
Upon  the  homestead  left  her  by  her  husband,  Mrs. 
Ilutton  still  resides  and  in  its  management  displays 
considerable  executive  and  business  ability.  Her 
children  also  assist  her  in  its  care.  The  family  is 
one  that  has  a  high  social  standing  and  well  merits 
the  position.  The  mother  is  a  member  of  the  Con- 
gregational Church  and  does  all  in  her  power  to 
promote  its  welfare. 


yiLLIAM  F.  SHIPPER?  brings  to  his  work 
a  fine  equipment  of  mind  and  muscle, 
and  has  a  high  reputation  for  his  able 
management  of  his  farming  and  stock  interests. 
His  farm  comprises  a  quarter  of  section  35,  South 
Dixon  Township,  of  which  he  bought  eighty  acres 
first,  and  then  purchased  the  one  hundred  and 
twenty  acres  adjoining  his  homestead,and  the  whole 
forms  a  valuable  piece  of  property.  He  had  not 
the  wherewithal  to  pay  the  entire  amount  for  his 
original  purchase,  which  was  partly  improved,  but 
he  went  to  work  witli  a  good  will,  labored  incess- 
antly, and  in  time  not  only  discharged  his  indebt- 
edness, but  had  capital  enough  to  add  to  his  landed 
estate,  as  we  have  seen.  His  improvements  are  of 
a  high  order,  and  include  a  large  and  well-built  barn, 
44x90  feet  in  dimensions,  with  posts  twenty  feet 
in  height,  and  a  conveniently  arranged  basement 
for  the  accommodation  of  fifty  head  of  stock.  His 
residence  is  commodious  and  of  a  neat  style  of  ar- 
chitecture, and  beautiful  shade  trees  ornament  the 
grounds. 

Mr;  Shippert  was  born  in  Wurtemburg,  Germany, 
April  8,  1839,  that  kingdom  having  been  the  home 
of  his  ancestors  for  several  generations.  His  father, 
Frederick  Shippert,  was  a  farmer  there,  and  in  early 
manhood  married  Miss  Louisa  Schlipf,  who  was 
also  a  native  of  Wurtemburg.  After  the  birth  of 
their  six  children,  of  whom  our  subject  is  the  eldest, 
the  family  came  to  the  United  States  in  1852,  going 
from  Germany  to  London,  where  they  embarked 
on  a  ship  bound  for  these  shores.  They  landed  at 
New  York  City  and  from  there  made  their  way  to 
Philadelphia,  Pa.  Two  weeks  later  they  left  that 


city  to  settle  in  Luzerne  County.  There  the  father 
died  at  middle  age,  only  a  few  years  after  he  came 
to  this  country.  He  was  a  laboring  man  nearly  all 
his  life,  preferring  any  honest  work  that  he  could 
perform  to  a  life  of  idleness  and  possibly  of  want. 
He  was  industrious,  had  good,  steady  habits,  and 
his  stability  of  character  won  him  great  esteem. 
He  was  a  member  of  the'Lutheran  Church,  and  was 
faithful  in  all  things.  After  the  death  of  the 
father  the  mother  came  to  Lee  County  with  her 
family,  and  was  here  married  a  second  time  to  An- 
drew Huff,  who  is  now  deceased.  She  makes  her 
home  with  her  son  John,  and  is  nearly  seventy- 
seven  years  old.  Notwithstanding  her  advanced 
age,  she  is  still  active  for  one  of  her  years.  She  is 
a  true  Christian  and  a  Lutheran  in  religion.  All 
of  her  children  are  living,  and  five  of  them  make 
their  homes  in  Illinois. 

Our  subject  was  in  the  opening  years  of  a  stal- 
wart manhood  when  he  came  to  this  county  in  1862. 
For  three  years  lie  worked  out  and  rented  land, 
and  then  became  more  independent  by  the  purchase 
of  his  first  tract  of  hind.  '  As  we  have  seen,  he  has 
been  signally  prospered,  and  in  now  in  good  cir- 
cumstances, well  fortified  against  the  poverty  that 
was  his  lot  for  a  few  years  after  he  entered  upon 
his  new  life  in  this  region.  He  possesses  a  good 
head  for  business,  has  a  sensible,  evenly-balanced 
mind,  and  while  he  is  shrewd  in  his  dealings,  he  is 
never  over-reaching  or  unjust.  He  has  a  good 
heart,  and  all  appeals  upon  his  purse  and  sympa- 
thies meet  with  a  ready  response,  if  the  object  is  a 
worthy  one.  His  religious  sentiments  find  express- 
ion in  the  doctrines  of  the  Evangelical  Church,  of 
which  he  and  his  amiable  wife  are  members.  In 
politics  he  takes  a  broad  view  of  the  questions  of 
the  day,  and  is  a  devoted  Democrat. 

Mr.  Shippert  and  Miss  Kate  Bower  united  their 
lives  and  fortunes  in  Lee  County  in  a  marriage 
that  has  been  of  mutual  benefit.  It  has  brought 
them  four  children — Chancy,  who  died  aged  eleven 
years;  William  W.,  Carrie  and  Henry,  all  at  home. 
Mrs.  Shippert  was  born  in  Germany,  and  was  only 
a  child  of  four  years  when  her  parents,  William 
and  Christina  (Schaubert)  Bowers  came  to  the  Uni- 
ted States,  and  in  an  earl y  day  of  the  settlement  of 
Bradford  Township  located  there  on  a  new  farm. 


PORTRAIT  AN!)  BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


.'{83 


They  still  reside  there,  and  are  now  upwards  of 
three-score  years  of  age.  They  are  stanch  Lu- 
therans in  fieir  religion.  Mrs.  Shippert  is  the  el- 
dest of  their  children,  all  of  whom  are  living. 


JAMES  BENNETT  is  one  of  the  extensive 
landowners  of  the  county.     He  now  resides 
on  section  9,  Dixon  Township,  where  he  lias 
made  his  home  for  the  past  thirty  years,  but 
his  farm   is  situated  on  sections  8,  9,  16  and  17. 
His  landed  possessions  aggregate  three  hundred  and 
thirty  acres,  most   of  which    is  under  a  high  state 
of   cultivation.     The   farm    is   well    stocked   and 
watered  by  the  Rock  River  which  flows  across  its 
southwestern    boundary.     The  improvements  are 
in  keeping  with  the    enterprising  and  progressive 
spirit  of   the    owner  who    is   classed    among   the 
the  prominent  and  leading  farmers  of    the  com- 
munity. 

Mr.  Bennett  was  born  in  County  Down,  Ireland, 
about  1827,  and  is  of  Scotch-Irish  descent.  He 
was  the  third  in  order  of  birth  in  a  family  num- 
bering seven  sons  and  three  daughters,  of  whom 
four  sons  and  a  daughter  came  to  this  country, 
while  four  are  yet  living.  The  parents  were  Hugh 
and  Sarah  (Smith)  Bennett,  who  were  also  natives 
of  County  Down,  where  as  farming  people  the}' 
spent  their  entire  lives  and  passed  away  when 
well  advanced  in  years.  They  were  members  of 
the  Protestant  Church. 

Upon  his  father's  farm,  James  Bennett  spent  the 
days  of  his  boyhood  and  youth  and  the  educat- 
ional advantages  afforded  him  were  those  of  the  com- 
mon schools  of  the  neighborhood.  In  the  county 
of  his  nativity,  he  led  to  the  marriage  altar  Miss 
Martha  Barnett  who  was  born  in  County  Down 
about  seventy  years  ago.  Her  parents  were  Fran- 
cis and  Mary  (Gibson)  Barnett,  also  natives  of 
that  county,  where  their  entire  lives  were  passed. 
Her  father  died  of  sunstroke  at  the  age  of  forty- 
eight  years,  but  her  mother  reached  the  advanced 
age  of  four-score  years.  In  the  Presbyterian  Church 
they  held  membership  and  were  people  of  sterling 
worth  and  integrity.  In  their  family  were  six 
sons  and  six  daughters  but  fe*v  are  now  living. 


The  year  1844  witnessed  the  emigration  of  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Bennett  to  America.  They  took  passage  in 
a  sailing  vessel,  "John  and  Robert,"  which  weighed 
anchor  at  Belfast  and  after  a  voyage  of  forty-three 
days  landed  in  New  York.  For  ten  years  they 
made  their  home  in  that  city,  where  Mr.  Bennett 
worked  at  any  occupation  he  could  find  whereby 
he  might  earn  an  honest  dollar.  At  length  he 
determined  to  try  his  fortunes  in  the  West,  and  in 
September,  1854,  cast  his  lot  with  the  early  set- 
tlers of  Lee  County,  111.  For  seven  years  after 
his  arrival  here  he  engaged  in  brick  making  near 
Dixon  and  then  turned  his  attention  to  agricul- 
tural pursuits,  which  he  has  since  followed  with 
excellent  success. 

Unto  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bennett  have  been  born 
eight  children,  five  of  whom  are  yet  living — James 
the  eldest,  wedded  Eliza  Patton  and  resides  on  his 
father's  farm;  Francis  married  Alice  Lanver  and  is 
also  engaged  in  farming  in  Dixon  Township;  Hugh 
married  Maggie  Patton  and  is  also  a  farmer  of 
the  samt  township;  Mary  is  the  wife  of  Morris 
Leach  who  is  engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits 
in  Dixon  Township;  and  Samuel  is  a  mechanic 
and  also  helps  to  carry  on  the  home  farm.  The 
three  other  children  died  in  infancy. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bennett  are  both  members  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  and  their  lives  have  been  such 
as  to  win  them  the  confidence  of  all  with  whom 
they  come  in  contact.  He  and  his  sons  are  sup- 
porters of  Republican  principles  but  public  office 
has  had  no  attraction  for  our  subject.  Whatever 
success  he  has  achieved  in  life  is  due  to  his  own 
efforts,  having  resulted  from  his  industry,  perse- 
verance and  the  exercise  of  correct  business  princi- 
ples. 


JAMES  C.  LUCE.     Although  not  one  of  the 
early  settlers  of  this  county,   Mr.  Luce  has 
resided  here  for  so  long  a  period  that  he  is 
justly  entitled  to  the  honored  name  of  pio- 
neer.    Since  first  he   located  here  he  has  made  his 
home  on  the  fine  farm  located  on  section  11,  Am- 
boy  Township,  which  he  purchased  soon  after  his 
arrival  in  the  county,   which  was  in    1857.     The 


384 


PORTEAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


homestead  comprises  one  hundred  and  forty  acres 
and  contains  good  improvements  in  the  way  of 
barns,  granaries  and  other  important  accessories 
of  a  well-managed  farm.  To  have  obtained  this 
valuable  possession  through  unaided  exertions 
proves  the  use  of  excellent  judgment  and  unceas- 
ing energy,  and  to  those  qualities  Mr.  Luce  owes 
no  small  measure  of  his  prosperity. 

A  native  of  Hornby,  Steuben  County,  N.  Y.,Mr. 
Luce  was  born  October  16,  1828,  and  is  the  son  of 
Jacob  and  Sarah  (Covenhoven)  Luce,  natives  of 
Montgomery  County,  N.  Y.  His  parents  emi- 
grated from  the  Empire  State  to  Will  County,  this 
State,  in  1845,  being  accompanied  in  the  removal 
hither  by  their  four  children.  They  established  a 
home  in  that  county,  and  cultivated  a  farm  until 
1852,  when  they  removed  to  this  county  and  set- 
tled in  Amboy  Township,  and  there  residing  until 
their  death,  the  father  dying  November  1,  1884, 
and  the  mother  in  1857.  Six  children  blessed  their 
union,  of  whom  our  subject  was  the  eldest.  He 
passed  the  early  years  of  his  life  in  the  Empire 
State,  where  as  the  eldest  son  lie  was  compelled  to 
assist  in  supporting  the  family  at  an  early  age. 
His  school  advantages,  which  were  limited,  con- 
sisted of  such  opportunities  for  acquiring  knowl- 
edge as  were  afforded  by  the  schools  of  that  day. 

When  he  had  about  grown  to  a  stalwart,  vigor- 
ous manhood,  our  subject  accompanied  his  parents 
to  Illinois  and  located  with  them  in  Will  County, 
where  they  lived  in  Crete  Township  near  the  vil- 
lage of  Crete.  April  1,.  1856,  he  removed  from 
Crete  to  this  county,  being  accompanied  by  his 
family,  comprising  his  wife  and  an  adopted  child. 
He  settled  on  section  11,  Amboy  Township  and  at 
once  commenced  the  development  of  the  land 
which  he  had  purchased  and  which  to-day  repays 
his  indefatigable  efforts  by  bountiful  harvests.  As 
from  childhood  he  has  been  engaged  in  agricultu- 
ral pursuits,  he  is  a  practical  and  thorough  farmer, 
having  a  broad  and  extended  knowledge  of  the 
best  methods  of  conducting  farming  operations. 

Mr.  Luce  was  married  in  Bremen,  Cook  County, 
111.,  to  Miss  Mary  E.  Mynard,  and  their  union 
brought  to  them  four  children,  namely:  William, 
John  J.,  Julia  Maria  and  Georgia,  all  of  whom  died 
in  infancy.  Mrs.  Mary  Luce  died  in  Amboy  Town- 


ship, July  8,  1872.  Afterward  Mr.  Luce  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Mrs.  Margaret  Jane  (Kee- 
fer)  Jeffrey,  their  wedding  being  solemnized  in 
Marion  Township,  this  county.  Mrs.  Luce,  at  the 
time  of  her  marriage  to  our  subject,  was  the  widow 
of  George  Jeffrey,  who  died  in  Marion  Township. 
She  was  born  in  Athens  County,  Ohio,  December 
30,  1843,  and  her  union  with  Mr.  Luce  has  brought 
them  two  children — Martha  J.  and  Mary  E.,  twins. 
A  Republican  in  his  political  views,  Mr.  Luce  takes 
an  active  part  in  local  politics  and  has  held  some  of 
the  township  offices.  He  and  his  wife  are  mem- 
bers of  the  Baptist  Church  and  have  always  been 
liberal  supporters  of  the  Gospel. 


*e^  IMEON  T.  MARTIN  was  born  in  Carroll 
(^J  County,  N.  H.,  in  1813,  and  died  at  his 
llt/_Jj)  home  on  section  7,  Palmyra  Township,  on 
^^  the  llth  of  March,  1890,  respected  by  all 
who  knew  him.  His  life  was  well  and  worthily 
spent  and  should  be  represented  in  this  volume. 
In  the  county  of  his  nativity,  the  days  of  his  boy- 
hood and  youth  were  passed  and  in  its  public 
schools  his  education  was  acquired.  He  was  a 
schoolmate  of  "Long  John  Wentworth."  On  leav- 
ing his  home  to  start  out  in  life  for  himself  he  first 
went  to  Boston,  Mass.,  but  after  a  short  time  came 
to  Illinois.  He  had  been  reared  to  habits  of  in- 
dustry and  inured  to  hard  labor  from  early  boy- 
hood and  being  of  an  industrious  nature  he  worked 
untiringly  until  his  health  gave  way  under  the 
strain.  It  was  in  1836  that  he  arrived  in  Lee 
County  and  soon  afterward  he  secured  land  from 
the  Government,  which  he  developed  into  a  farm, 
although  it  was  then  entirely  destitute  of  improve- 
ment. Plowing  and  planting  the  land,  it  was  soon 
made  to  yield  to  him  abundant  harvests  and  the 
improvements  he  placed  thereon  made  his  farm 
one  of  the  best  in  the  county.  He  had  good  build- 
ings erected,  the  fields  were  well  tilled  and  the 
place  was  complete  in  all  its  appointments.  Mr. 
Martin  was  soon  recognized  as  one  of  the  leading 
and  successful  farmers  of  Lee  County  and  one  of 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


38,r> 


the  substantial  citizens.  Besides  the  home  of  three 
hundred  and  twenty  acres  he  also  owned  fortjT-two 
acres  of  timber  land  in  Palmyra  Township. 

Mr.  Martin  was  twice  married.  In  this  county 
he  wedded  Miss  Catherine  Montgomery,  of  White- 
side  County,  who  was  born  in  the  Empire  State, 
and  by  her  parents  was  brought  to  the  West  when 
a  young  maiden.  Her  father  and  mother  are  both 
now  deceased  and  her  death  occurred  at  her  home 
in  Palmyra  Township  at  the  age  of  sixt}'  years. 
Two  children  were  born  of  their  union,  Eugene 
and  May,  but  died  in  childhood.  Mr.  Martin  was 
again  married,  the  second  union  being  with  Mrs. 
Elizabeth  Semlow,  who  born  in  Hamburg,  Germany, 
November  23,  1854,  and  was  a  daughter  of  Will- 
iam and  Mattie  (Ritter)  Seams,  also  natives  of 
Hamburg.  With  their  family  they  crossed  the 
Atlantic  in  1865  on  a  sailing  vessel  and  after  some 
years  spent  in  New  York  came  to  Illinois.  They 
now  make  their  home  in  Sterling,  at  the  ages  of 
sixty-six  and  sixty-four  years  respectively.  Both 
are  members  of  the  Lutheran  Church  and  are 
highly  respected  people.  During  the  late  war  Mr. 
Seams  served  as  a  member  of  the  Forty-seventh 
New  York  Volunteer  Infantry,  which  was  assigned 
to  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  and  wore  the  blue  for 
three  years,  during  which  time  he  participated  in 
many  battles.  He  was  once  wounded  but  was 
never  captured.  A  brave  soldier,  h«  was  faithful 
to  the  cause  of  his  adopted  country  and  was  ever 
fovind  at  his  post  of  dnty.  He  also  served  in  the 
war  in  the  Old  Country  two  years. 

The  Seams  family  consisted  of  but  two  daugh- 
ters. The  sister  of  Mrs.  Martin,  Emma,  is  now  the 
wife  of  Charles  Wallace,  of  Chicago.  Mrs.  Martin 
was  educated  in  New  York  City  and  was  first  mar- 
ried to  Christian  Semlow,  a  respected  farmer,  who 
for  some  years  resided  in  the  East  but  died  in  the 
West.  They  became  parents  of  one  child,  Christian 
Laura,  now  deceased.  Unto  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Martin 
was  born  a  daughter,  Nina  May,  who  is  still  living 
with  her  mother. 

Mr.  Martin  possessed  a  high  moral  character. 
He  was  reared  under  the  auspices  of  the  Congrega- 
tional Church  and  lived  an  upright,  honorable 
life,  worthy  the  esteem  and  confidence  of  all. 
Public  spirited  and  progressive  he  was  a  valued 


citizen  of  the  community  and  took  a  commendable 
interest  in  all  that  pertained  to  its  welfare.  In 
politics,  lie  was  a  Republican  and  previous  to  the 
organization  of  that  party  was  a  Whig. 

Mrs.  Martin  still  carries  on  the  home  farm,  as- 
sited  by  W.  W.  Tilton,  Jr.,  who  gives  his  best 
efforts  to  making  it  successful.  She  is  well-known_ 
throughout  this  community  and  is  held  in  high 
esteem  for  her  social  qualities. 


AVID  PETTI  CREW,  a  prominent  farmer 
of  Amboy  Township  residing  on  section 
26,  was  born  in  Clarke  County,  Ohio,  near 
where  Dayton  now  stands,  February  22, 
1820.  His  father,  James,  was  a  native  of  Rock- 
bridge  County,  Va.,  and  his  mother,  who  was 
known  in  maidenhood  as  Elizabeth  Haines,  was 
born  in  Pennsylvania.  The  parents  moved  at  a 
very  early  day  from  Ohio  to  Cass  County,  Mich., 
and  thence  in  1837  proceeded  to  Missouri,  where 
they  became  well  known  as  worthy  pioneers. 
They  reared  a  family  of  nine  children,  who  mar- 
ried and  had  families  of  their  own;  and  at  a  good 
old  age  they  passed  quietly  to  their  final  rest, 
he  dying  near  Ft.  Scott,  Kansas,  and  she  in  Am- 
boy Township. 

The  second  child  in  the  family  is  the  subject  of 
this  biographical  notice,  who  was  only  six  years 
old  when  he  accompanied  his  parents  to  Cass 
County,  Mich.  There  the  early  years  of  his  life 
were  passed  until  he  was  seventeen  years  old  when 
he  removed  with  the  other  members  of  the  parental 
family,  to  Missouri,  where  the  ensuing  ten  years 
were  spent  in  farming  and  stock-raising.  In  1847 
he  returned  to  Cass  County,  Mich.,  and  sojouined 
in  that  place  until  1855,  the  year  that  marked  his  ar- 
rival in  this  county.  Upon  coming  hither,  he  at 
once  settled  on  section  26,  Amboy  Township, 
where  he  has  since  lived  with  the  exception  of  five 
years  spent  in  Dakota.  When  the  tide  of  emigra- 
tion was  turning  toward  Dakota,  he  was  induced 
to  rent  his  farm  and  proceed  to  that  State,  but  a 
sojourn  of  five  years  convinced  him  that  Illinois  is 
the  garden  spot  of  the  United  States  for  farmers, 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOCRAPIIICAL   RECORD. 


and  he  came  back  to  his  place  with  the  intention  of 
here  spending  his  remaining  years. 

On  July  12,  1843  Mr.  Petticrew  was  married  in 
Livingston  County,  Mo.,  to  Mrs.  Margaret  (Roof) 
Miller,  who  was  born  March  3,1823.  Of  her  first 
marriage,  one  child  was  born,  a  daughter,  Matilda, 
-who  is  the  wife  of  Henry  Somes.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Petticrew  are  parents  of  eleven  children,  namely: 
Julia  A.,  who  died  when  about  one  year  old;  Jas- 
per N.,  who  married  Miss  Runnells;  Philena,  who 
died  when  about  a  year  old;  Andrew,  whose  death 
occurred  when  he  was  ten  years  of  age;  Sylvester, 
who  married  Miss  Margaret  Iletherington;  Frank, 
was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Ida  Clark;  Mary 
F.,  who  died  in  infancy;  Olive,  the  wife  of  S.  Bar- 
low; Alice,  who  was  married  to  James  Pearsley; 
Emma  J.,  now  Mrs.  Cornelius  Maine;  Ella  E.,  who 
is  the  wife  of  Henry  Walters. 

The  political  belief  of  Mr.  Petticrew  brings  him 
into  hearty  sympathy  with  the  Republican  party,  to 
which  he  has  always  adhered.  Mrs.  Petticrew  is  a 
member  of  the  Baptist  Church  and  he  is  a  believer 
in  the  doctrines  of  Christianity,  contributing  liber- 
ally to  the  support  of  the  cause.  It  may  be  a  mat- 
ter of  just  pride  to  our  subject  and  his  excellent 
wife  that  they  have  reared  a  large  family  of  chil- 
dren, giving  them  good  educations  and  preparing 
them  for  responsible  positions  in  the  business  and 
social  world.  Their  place  in  the  community  is  a 
most  enviable  one  and  they  enjoy  the  confidence  of 
their  host  of  warm  personal  friends. 


§HOMAS  HOWARD  QUICK.  The  village  of 
Ashton  is  the  home  of  a  number  of  gentle- 
men who  operate  farms  in  the  surrounding 
country,  and  among  these  may  be  mentioned  the 
subject  of  this  biographical  notice.  From  early 
years  interested  in  agricultural  pursuits,  it  is  not 
strange  that  he  is  a  thorough-going,  practical 
farmer,  and  supervises  his  estate  with  excellent 
judgment.  He  owns  two  hundred  and  ninety  acres 
in  Ashton  Township,  and  since  he  purchased  it, 
has  placed  it  under  good  cultivation  and  erected 


a  substantial  class  of  buildings  for  the  prosecution 
of  his  work. 

The  paternal  grandfather  of  our  subject,  Thomas 
by  name,  emigrated  from  England  to  Canada  at  an 
early  day,  and  from  there  removed  in  1833  to  Ogle 
County,  111.  Afterward  he  and  his  wife  settled  in 
Grant  County,  Wis.,  where  both  passed  to  their 
final  rest  at  an  advanced  age.  When  they  emi- 
grated from  England  they  were  accompanied  by 
their  son,  James,  whose  native  home  was  in  the 
Mother  Country,  and  who  spent  his  youth  in  Can- 
ada and  Ogle  County,  this  State.  He  married  Miss 
Adelia  McMaster.  a  native  of  Ohio,  who  came  to 
Ogle  County  with  her  parents.  Alvah  and  Sarah 
(Reasoner)  McMaster,  when  she  was  quite  young. 
She  grew  to  womanhood  in  Ogle  County,  where 
her  parents  spent  their  last  years. 

After  their  marriage  the  parents  of  our  subject 
settled  in  Ogle  County,  where  James  Quick  en- 
gaged at  his  trade  of  a  mason,  and  also  operated  a? 
a  farmer.  In  1855  he  removed  from  Ogle  County 
to  Ashton,  and  here  he  sojourned  for  almost 
twenty  years.  In  1874  he  returned  to  Ogle  County, 
where  he  made  his  home  until  his  second  removal 
hither  in  February,  1891.  He  has  established  a 
pleasant  home  here,  and  shares  with  his  wife  the 
esteem  of  the  residents  of  Ashton.  Their  three 
children  are:  Thomas  Howard,  Helen  (better  known 
as  Dollie)  and  Willie.  The  eldest  of  this  family, 
our  subject,  was  born  in  Ogle  County,  September 
22,  1850,  and  spent  his  boyhood  days  in  this 
county,  assisting  his  father  as  soon  as  he  was  old 
enough  to  engage  in  manual  labor. 

Mr.  Quick  accompanied  his  parents  when  in  1874 
they  returned  to  Ogle  County,  but  returned  to 
Ashton  in  the  spring  of  1883,  and  has  since  here 
made  his  home.  He  has  always  been  engaged  in 
farming,  and  now  owns  two  hundred  and  ninety 
acres  in  Ashton  Township.  He  was  married  in 
Reynolds  Township,  this  county,  December  27, 
1882,  his  bride  being  Miss  Anna  Shippee,  daughter 
of  Silas  II.  and  Phiann  (Millard)  Shippee,  natives 
of  Vermont.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Shippee  were  married 
January  1,  1854,  and  during  the  following  year 
came  to  Kane  County,  from  which  place  they 
removed  to  this  county,  and  settled  in  Reynolds 
Township,  where  they  still  reside.  They  had  a 


OF  THE 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


389 


family  of  eight  children,  two  sons  and  six  daugh- 
tess,  Mrs.  Quick  being  the  second.  She  was  horn 
in  Reynolds  Township,  December  1,  1860,  and  was 
there  reared  to  womanhood  in  her  father's  home. 
One  child  has  blessed  the  union  of  our  subject  and 
his  excellent  wife,  a  son,  Harry  L. 

A  prominent  place  in  the  ranks  of  the  Repub- 
lican party  at  Ash  ton  is  held  by  Mr.  Quick,  who 
has  served  his  fellow-citizens  in  various  official 
capacities.  For  some  time  he  served  with  efficiency 
as  Highway  Commissioner,  and  has  also  been 
Trustee  of  the  village,  doing  all  in  his  power  while 
thus  occupied,  to  advance  the  interests  of  his  fel- 
low-townsmen. He  possesses  in  a  marked  degree 
the  characteristics  of  enterprise  and  industry,  which 
traits  together  with  the  use  of  sound  judgment  in 
his  business  affairs,  have  brought  him  success. 


JOHN    P.    VOSBURGII    has    a   home   very 
pleasantly  situated  on  section   23,  Ashton 
Township,  and   here  he  and  his   wife  are 
serenely  passing  the  declining  years  of  lives 
spent  in  usefulness  and   well-doing,  enjoying  the 
fruits  of   their   united  labors  in  former  days,  and 
meriting  and  receiving  honor  and  esteem  from  the 
entire  community. 

May  24,  1820,  is  the  date  of  the  birth  of  our 
subject  at  Johnstown,  Fulton  County,  N.  Y.  His 
father,  John  Vosburgh,  and  his  mother,  Elizatoth 
Putman  in  her  maiden  days,  were  natives  of  that 
State,  the  former  born  in  Columbia  County,  and 
the  latter  in  Montgomery  County.  They  both 
died  in  the  town  of  Mohawk,  Montgomery  County. 
Tli 63'  reared  ten  children,  of  whom  our  subject 
was  the  seventh. 

Mr.  Vosburgh  grew  to  a  vigorous  manhood  on 
his  father's  farm,  and  gained  a  thorough  knowledge 
of  farming  in  all  its  branches.  In  186,5  he  came 
to  Illinois  with  his  family  to  build  up  a  new  home, 
and  for  nineteen  years  was  a  resident  of  Lafayette 
Township.  Ogle  County.  He  has  followed  farming 
all  hi:-,  life,  and  has  a  thorough  practical  knowledge 
of  the  best  methods  to  be  used  in  every  department 
of  agriculture.  In  1884  he  moved  across  the  bor- 
18 


der  line  between  Ogle  and  Lee  Counties,  and  set- 
tled in  the  Township  of  Ashton,  of  which  he  has 
ever  since  been  a  resident. 

The  marriage  of  our  subject  with  Miss  Anna 
Putinan  took  place  in  his  native  county  Octo- 
ber 26,  1844,  and  to  her  cheerful  co-operation 
he  is  indebted  for  his  prosperity,  and  for  the  com- 
fort and  happiness  of  a  wedded  life  of  forty-seven 
years.  Mrs.  Vosburgh  was  born  in  Fulton  County, 
N.  Y.,  February  2,  1810,  the  fourth  in  the  family 
of  six  children  of  John  V.  and  Catherine  Harrison 
Putinan.  Her  parents  were  also  natives  of  the 
Empire  State,  born  in  Montgomery  County,  and 
spent  their  last  years  in  Fulton  County. 

Mr.  Vosburgh  is  a  strong  Republican  in  his  po- 
litical sentiments.  His  portrait  appears  on  an  ac- 
companying page.  He  is  a  man  of  unswerving 
integrity,  and  both  he  and  his  wife  are  firm  be- 
lievers in  the  doctrines  of  Christianity,  although 
they  are  not  identified  with  any  church  organiza- 
tion. They  are  true-hearted,  charitably  disposed 
towards  all  who  are  in  need  of  help,  always  friendly 
and  they  hold  a  warm  place  in  the  regard  of  their 
neighbors  and  all  who  know  them  well. 


DWARD  CHANCEY  LAMB  is  one  of  the 
leading  citizens  of  Viola  Township,  where 
he  is  engaged  in  the  business  of  farming 
and  stock-raising,  and  he  has  been  prominent  in 
public  life  in  various  high  official  capacities.  Water- 
town,  Delaware  County,  N:  Y.,  is  the  place  of  his 
birth,  and  July  15,  1844,  the  date  thereof.  He  is  a 
son  of  Smith  Lamb,  who  was  at  one  time  a  resi- 
dent of  this  county. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  bom  in  Jefferson 
County,  N.  Y.,  and  was  a  son  of  David  Lamb,  who 
was  a  farmer  of  that  State,  of  which  it  is  thought 
that  he  was  a  native.  lie  came  from  there  to  Illi- 
nois in  1860,  and  spent  the  last  part  of  his  life  in 
Bureau  County,  as  did  also  his  wife,  whose  maiden 
name  was  Matilda  Smith.  Smith  Lamb  lived  in 
the  Empire  State  until  184!»,  settling  in  Delaware 
County  after  his  marriage  with  Eliza  Dayton,  who 
was  likewise  a  native  of  New  York.  In  that  year 


390 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


lie  became  a  pioneer  of  Wisconsin,  whither  he  went 
by  canal  and  lakes  to  Milwaukee.  lie  settled  near 
Neosha,  lived  there  two  years,  and  at  the  end  of 
that  time  came  to  this  State.  He  bought  a  farm 
near  Lamoille,  in  Bureau  County,  where  he  resided 
until  after  the  death  of  his  wife,  in  1854.  His 
next  move  was  to  Victoria,  Knox  County,  and  on 
the  farm  that  lie  purchased  at  that  point  lie  dwelt 
the  ensuing  five  years.  He  then  sold  that  place, 
and  going  back  to  Bureau  County,  farmed  on 
rented  land  a  few  years.  In  1860  he  came  to  Lee 
County,  and  resided  in  Brooklyn  Township  until 
1870,  when  he  went  to  Minnesota,  and  buying  a. 
farm  on  Parker  Prairie,  Otter  County,  lived  there 
some  twenty -one  years.  In  1891  lie  went  to  Marble 
Reck,  Floyd  County,  and  is  making  his  home  there 
with  his  son  Charles  E. 

Our  subject,  who  is  one  of  a  family  of  twelve 
children,  was  very  young  when  his  parents  brought 
him  to  Illinois.  At  that  time  much  of  the  prairie 
land  in  this  vicinity  was  owned  by  the  Govern- 
ment, and  was  still  in  a  wild  condition,  except 
where  the  pioneers  had  reclaimed  some  of  the 
country  from  a  state  of  nature,  and  deer  and 
other  kinds  of  game,  not  now  found  here,  were 
plentiful.  Mr.  I^amb  remained  with  his  parents 
until  1864,  and  then  at  the  age  of  twenty  years, 
married  and  settled  on  the  farm  where  he  now 
resides,  which  is  pleasantly  located  in  a  fertile  and 
fruitful  farming  region  in  Viola  Township,  and 
under  his  able  management  yields  abundant  har- 
vests, while  everything  about  the  place  is  orderly, 
and  gives  evidence  that  our  subject  is  a  good  type 
of  the  intelligent  modern  farmer,  who  uses  brain 
as  well  as  muscle  in  carrying  on  agriculture. 

Mr.  Lamb  and  Miss  Mary  Little  were  united  in 
marriage  June  12,  1864.  They  have  two  children 
living:  William  J.,  and  George  Walter.  William 
married  Eliza  Kelley,  and  they  have  two  children, 
Wilber  and  Grace.  The  wife  of  our  subject  is  a 
daughter  of  Andrew  and  Charity  (Ross)  Little, 
and  the  farm  on  which  she  lives  with  her  husband 
was  her  birthplace  and  has  always  been  her  home. 
Her  parents  were  pioneers  of  the  county,  and  an 
account  of  them  is  given  in  the  biography  of  Wal- 
ter Little  on  another  page  of  this  work. 

The  principles  of  the  Republican  party  have  al- 


ways had  the  hearty  approval  and  support  of  our 
subject.  Since  becoming  a  resident  of  this  county 
he  has  mingled  in  its  public  life  as  an  incumbent 
of  important  offices,  in  which  he  showed  himself 
alive  to  the  interests  of  the  community.  He  was 
at  one  time  Deputy  Sheriff,  and  he  has  represented 
Viola  Township  as  a  member  of  the  County  Board 
of  Supervisors. 


ACOB  KLEIN.  Among  the  former  promi- 
nent business  men  of  Amboy,  who  now  in 
his  declining  years  is  living  retired  from 
active  labor  and  in  the  enjoyment  of  a  com- 
petency, is  the  gentleman  whose  name  introduces 
these  paragraphs.  Possessing  the  thrift  and  perse- 
verance which  characterize  the  German  nationality, 
he  brought  these,  qualities  to  bear  upon  his  work 
and  success  crowned  his  painstaking  efforts.  Having 
been  a  resident  of  Amboy  since  1855,  he  is  thor- 
oughly identified  with  its  progress  and  a  man  of 
influence  throughout  this  section  of  country.  Not 
only  has  he  been  an  interested  witness  of  the 
growth  of  _the  thriving  village  where  he  makes  his 
home,  but  he  has  contributed  his  quota  to  aid  in 
the  attainment  of  its  present  prosperity. 

Mr.  Klein  was  born  in  the  city  of  Sindelfingen, 
Wurtemburg,  Germany,.May  7,  1833,  and  is  the 
son  of  John  Henry  and  Christiana  (Leibfred) 
Klein,  the  former  being  a  baker  by  trade.  There 
was  another  son  in  the  family,  John  Gottleib,  who 
came  to  Amboy  many  years  ago  and  was  engaged 
in  the  restaurant  business  until  his  death  about  ten 
years  ago.  In  his  youth  our  subject  received  a 
good  common  school  education  and  learned  the 
baker's  trade  of  his  father.  In  1851  he  came  to 
the  United  States  and  first  stopped  in  Luzerne 
County.  Pa.,  where  he  worked  in  a  mine,  lint 
feeling  dissatisfied  with  that  kind  of  a  life  he 
sought  the  West  in  the  fall  of  1854  and  settling 
in  Lee  County,  this  State,  worked  as  a  farm  hand 
for  one  year. 

Upon  locating  in  Amboy  in  the  year  1855  Mr. 
Klein  embarked  in  the  bakery  and  restaurant  busi- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


Sill 


id  after  serving  as  a  clerk  for  two  months, 
i  business  for  himself  and  continued 
steadily  and  uninterruptedly  in  business  for  thirty 
years,  meeting  with  a  fair  degree  of  success  and 
Incoming  known  as  a  reliable  dealer  and  public- 
spirited  citizen.  He  was  married  in  1858  to  Miss 
Caroline,  the  daughter  of  Jacob  and  Mary  (Sthare) 
Badier,  and  a  native  of  Pennsylvania.  Six  children 
have  blessed  this  union,  viz.:  Henry,  Mary  L.,  wife 
of  John  Engel,of  Franklin  Grove;  Amelia  C  ,  who 
married  J.  W.  Gaver,  of  Chicago;  Ida,  who  became 
the  wife  of  J.  D.  Derr,  of  West  Brooklyn,  111.; 
Clara  II.,  who  is  at  home  and  a  music  teacher;  and 
Rena  F.  at  home. 

The    business    which  Mr.  Klein    carried  on  suc- 
cessfully for   thirty  years  is  now  managed  by  his 
son  Henry,  who   has  a   fine   establishment  in  the 
business  block  erected  by  his  father.     Mr.  Klein  is 
a  large   property  owner  as  besides  the  house   and 
lot  which  he  owns  in  Amboy  and  his  business  block, 
he  also  owns  tour   hundred  and    eighty  acres  of 
land    in    Cherokee   County,  Iowa.     His   religious    | 
sentiments  have   brought  him  into  affiliation  with    ! 
the  Lutheran  Church,  of  which  he  and  his  family   , 
are  consistent  members  and  he  is  an  active  worker   I 
in  all  benevolent    undertakings.     In   his   political    | 
views  he  is  a  stanch  Democrat,  but  has  never  been    i 
an  office  seeker,  preferring  to  devote   himself  en-   | 
tirely  to  his  business. 


STEELE,  Mayor  of  Dixon,  is  not 
— ,  only  the  chief  magistrate  of  this   city,   but 
y§    he  is  one  of  its    leading   citizens,  and    his 
name  is  associated  with  some  of  its  most  important 
enterprises.     He  is  a  native  of  this  State,    born    in 
the  city  of  Lockport,  Will  County,  May  10.    1842. 
lie  is  a  son  of  George  Steele, who  was  one  of  the 
early  settlers  of  Chicago,    locating  there  early   in    \ 
the  '30s,  and  may    well  be  considered  one  of  the   j 
founders  of  that  city,  and  he    was    also    for  many   j 
years    one   of    its    most    stirring   and    successful 
business    men,    and  was  the  originator   of  some  of 
the  enterprises  that  have  contributed  most  largely 
to    its    growth    and    wealth    and    have    given  it 


world-wide  fame.  He  was  torn  in  Aberdeenshire, 
Scotland,  and  came  to  this  country  when  a  young 
man.-  His  brother  Alexander  Steele  also  came  to 
America,  but  he  located  in  Montreal,  Canada,  the 
father  of  our  subject  being  the  only  member  of  the 
family  to  settle  in  the  United  States. 

Going  to  Chicago  when  it  was  scarcely  a  fron- 
tier village,  he  became  the  prime  mover  in  the  es- 
tablishment of  important  industries  that  not  only 
encouraged  the  more  rapid  upbuilding  of  the  city, 
but  greatly  aided  in  developing  the  natural  re- 
courses of  the  country  tributary  to  it.  He  it  was 
who  built  one  of  the  first  elevators  ever  erected  in 
the  city,  and  he  was  one  of  the  first  to  engage  in 
the  pork-packing  business,  which  has  since  assumed 
such-enormous  proportions.  His  energies  were  by 
no  means  confined  to  these  two  enterprises,  but 
extended  in  other  directions,  and  he  did  import- 
ant work  as  one  of  the  contractors  of  the  Illinois 
and  Michigan  Canal.  It  was  during  his  connec- 
tion with  that,  that  he  was  for  a  period  a  resident 
of  Lockport.  His  name  will  always  be  indisso- 
lubly  linked  with  the  histoiy  of  the  rise  and  pro- 
gress of  Chicago  as  one  of  the  great  commercial 
centres  of  the  world,  as  it  was  largely  due  to  his 
influence  that  the  Board  of  Trade  was  founded, 
which  is  to-da3'  one  of  the  foremost  institutions  of 
that  great  metropolis  from  a  financial '  point  of 
view.  It  was  in  his  building  that  it  was  organized, 
he  being  one  of  its  founders,  one  of  its  first  presi- 
dents, and  for  many  years  one  of  its  most  active 
and  efficient  members.  In  1866  Mr.  Steele 's  long 
and  honorable  career  was  brought  to  a  close  by 
his  death  in  the  city  for  which  he  had  done  so 
much,  and  where  so  many  busy  years  of  his  life 
were  passed.  lie  was  widely  known  and  honored 
as  a  business  man  of  the  strictest  integrity,  as  a 
citizen  of  noble  public  spirit,  and  as  a  man  whose 
character  was  above  reproach.  His  good  wife,  in 
whom  he  had  found  much  happiness,  died  before 
he  did,  her  death  occurring  in  Chicago  in  1854. 
She  was  also  a  native  of  Scotland,  and  her  maiden 
name  was  Anna  Stein  Morrison.  She  was  the  mo- 
ther of  nine  children,  eight  of  whom  grew  to  ma- 
turity. 

The  subject  of  this  biographical  sketch  was  but 
two  years  old  when  his  parents  returned  to  Chi- 


392 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


cago  after  a  brief  residence  of  a  few  years  in  Lock- 
port.  He  received  his  early  education  in  the  pub- 
lic schools  of  the  former  city,  subsequently  entered 
Racine  Academy,  and  after  pursuing  a  course  of 
instruction  there,  was  sent  to  Mt.  Pleasant  Acad- 
emy, New  York,  and  finally  returning  to  Illinois, 
became  a  student  in  Lake  Forest  University,  where 
he  completed  his  literary  studies.  After  leaving 
the  university,  he  assisted  his  father  for  a  time  in 
the  office,  and  when  twenty-one  years  of  age 
formed  a  partnership  r  ith  his  brother  James  to  do 
business  as  contractors  for  street  building,  paving, 
etc.  They  built  the  first  crib  for  the  water  works 
and  the  second  lake  tunnel,  and  had  control  of  an 
extensive  business  during  the  five  years  they  were 
together.  In  1873  Mr.  Steele  came  to  Dixon,  'and 
has  been  a  resident  here  continuously  since.  He 
has  proved  from  the  very  first  a  valuable  acquisi- 
tion to  the  citizenship  of  the  city,  for,  as  a  clear- 
sighted, far-seeing  citizen,  he  has  invested  his 
money  judiciously  in  various  enterprises  of  im- 
port that  have  greatly  benefited  the  place;  his 
open-handed  liberality  and  the  weight  of  his  in- 
fluence have  given  an  impetus  to  schemes  devised 
for  public  good;  and  in  all  the  civic  offices  that  he 
has  held  he  has  shown  himself  entirely  worthy  of 
the  confidence  of  his  fellow-men. 

Mr.  Steele  is  a  member  of  the  Building  and  Loan 
Association,  and  is  Secretary  and  Treasurer  of  the 
Dixon  Gas  &  Electric  Light  Company.  In  his 
politics,  he  is  a  Democrat,  and  is  well  known  for 
his  devotion  to  his  party.  He  has  been  an  incum- 
bent of  several  offices  of  trust.  He  has  been  a 
member  of  the  City  Council,  and  has  been  influen-' 
tial  in  the  cause  of  local  education  as  a  member  of 
the  School  Board.  In  1891  he  was  elected  Mayor 
of  the  City,  and  re-elected  in  1892,  Dixon  is  for- 
tunate in  having  at  the  head  of  its  municipal  gov- 
ernment a  man  of  such  high  standing  in  the  busi- 
ness world,  whose  sound  sense,  broad  and  practical 
views  of  civic  polity,  and  enlightened  public 
spirit  can  but  add  a  new  impulse  to  the  progress 
of  the  city,  and  it  is  the  united  testimony  of  all, 
irrespective  of  party,  that  his  administration  is  all 
that  can  be  desired. 

In  1871  Mr.  Steele  was  united  in  marriage  with 
Miss  Louise  Peck  Van  Epps,  a  native  of  East  Beth- 


any, Genesee  County,  N.  Y.,  and  a  daughter  of 
Hon.  William  and  Mary  (Beck)  Van  Epps,  of 
whom  an  account  is  given  in  the  sketch  of  Wil- 
liam II.  Van  Epps.  Our  subject  and  his  wife  oc- 
cupy a  commodious,  home-like  residence  in  a 
pleasant  quarter  of  the  city,  and  its  hospitalities 
are  marked  by  tact  and  true  courtesy  in  the  en- 
tertainment of  friend  or  stranger  who  may  enter 
its  doors.  They  had  four  children, — William  Van 
Epps,  Bella  Georgiena  and  Gladys  Catherine.  The 
second  child,  Anna  L.,  died  in  her  twelfth  year. 

?ILLIAM  B.  TALCOTT,  who  is  now  prac- 
tically living  a  retired  life  in  Dixon,  al- 
though he  still  owns  considerable  real- 
estate,  has  been  numbered  among  the  leading 
business  men  of  this  city.  A  man  of  prominence 
and  influence  he  well  deserves  representation  in 
this  volume  and  it  is  with  pleasure  that  we  present 
his  sketch  to  our  readers.  Mr.  Talcott  was  born 
in  Hartford  County,  Conn.,  May  16,  1831,  and  is 
descended  from  the  old  Talcott  family  which  was 
established  in  New  England  at  an  early  day  and 
has  figured  prominently  in  many  of  the  States  of 
the  Union. 

The  father  of  our  subject,  Asa  Talcott,  was  born 
in  Vernon,  Tolland  County,  Conn.,  and  was  in 
early  life  connected  with  the  United  States  Arsenal 
at  Springfield,  Mass.,  where  he  made  his  home  for 
seventeen  years.  At  one  time  he  owned  sixteen  acres 
of  land  on  the  hill,  which  is  now  in  the  heart  of 
the  city.  He  spent  his  last  days  in  Hartford, 
Conn.,  and  was  called  home  when  well  advanced 
in  life.  He  was  quite  prominent  in  public  affairs, 
was  a  Democrat  in  politics  and  served  as  a  member 
of  the  home  militia.  His  wife,  whose  maiden 
name  was  Delana  Russell,  was  a  native  of  Spring- 
field, Mass.,  and  came  of  a  family  of  English  origin, 
which  at  an  early  day  had  been  founded  in  the 
Bay  State.  Her  father  once  owned  all  of  the  boats 
that  plied  the  Connecticut  River  and  two  of  his 
brothers  were  drowned  in  that  stream.  Mrs.  Tal- 
cott, the  mother  of  our  subject,  died  in  Broadbrook, 
Conn.,  twelve  miles  northeast  of  Hartford.  She 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


393 


was  a  noble  lady,  a  consistent  member  and  active 
worker  in  the  Methodist  Church,  and  her  home 
was  hospitably  thrown  open  to  its  ministers.  Her 
death  was  deeply  mourned  by  many  friends  as 
well  as  her  immediate  family,  for  her  many  ex- 
cellencies of  character  had  won  her  the  esteem  of 
all. 

The  first  twenty-four  years  of  his  life  William 
Talcott  spent  in  Hartford  County,  Conn.  He  then 
determined  to  try  his  fortune  in  the  West  and  in 
Chicago  first  located,  making  his  home  in  that  city 
for  three  years.  Changing  his  place  of  residence 
he  then  came  to  Dixon,  and  during  the  greater 
part  of  the  time  which  has  since  passed,  or  for 
thirty-four  years,  was  associated  with  the  United 
States  Wind  Pump  Company.  In  his  business 
affairs  he  prospered  and  by  industry,  good  man- 
agement and  enterprise  won  a  handsome  compe- 
tence which  now  enables  him  to  live  a  retired  life. 
Although  he  has  practically  laid  aside  all  business 
cares  he  yet  owns  a  portion  of  the  Talcott  Addition 
to  West  Dixon,  which  comprises  blocks  37,  38,  39 
and  40.  This  is  now  a  valuable  property. 

A  marriage  service  performed  in  Dixon  united 
the  destinies  of  William  Talcott  and  Miss  Ellen  V. 
Barnes,  a  native  of  the  Keystone  State.  In  1845, 
she  came  with  her  father,  U.  O.  Barnes,  to  Lee 
County,  111.,  the  family  settling  on  a  farm  not  far 
from  Dixon,  where  the  death  of  Mr.  Barnes  occurred 
when  well  advanced  in  years.  He  was  a  prominent 
citizen  of  the  community,  a  successful  business 
man  and  a  leading  member  of  the  Methodist  Church 
of  Dixon,  to  the  construction  of  which  he  gave 
liberally.  Mrs.  Talcott  was  a  maiden  of  twelve 
summers  when  brought  to  Illinois,  and  under  the 
parental  roof  she  remained  until  her  marriage. 
She  is  a  lady  of  culture,  possessed  of  a  high  order 
of  intelligence  and  in  social  circles  is  a  leader.  She 
too,  holds  membership  with  the  Methodist  Church 
and  has  a  host  of  warm  friends.  In  his  political 
affiliations  Mr.  Talcott  is  a  Republican  and  keeps 
himself  well  informed  on  the  issues  of  the  day. 

Unto  this  worthy  couple  have  been  born  the 
following  children — Arthur,  who  died  at  the  age 
of  sixteen  years;  George  E.,  who  is  one  of  the 
managers  of  the  Electric  Transit  Road  of  Newark, 
N.  J.,  wedded  Miss  Mary  Olvaney,  of  that  place;  j 


E.  Z.  is  now  an  electrical  engineer  of  Chicago;  W. 
Day  left  Dixon  March  14,  for  Ft.  Collins,  Col.,  ac- 
companied by  Jacob  Armstrong,  a  native  of  this 
county,  who  was  born  in  1851,  on  the  old  Wood- 
food  farm,  but  is  now  a  resident  of  Ft.  Collins. 
Blanche,  a  young  lady  of  much  promise,  died  at 
the  age  of  twenty-three  years,  and  Star  died  when 
two  years  old. 


TEPHEN  II.  ULINE  is  one  of  the  leading 
farmers  and  stock-raisers  of  Wyoming 
Township,  who  has  done  valuable  work  in 
helping  to  redeem  Lee  County  from  its 
original  wildness.  He  was  born  at  Sand  Lake, 
Rensselaer  County,  N.  Y.,  December  15,  1829. 
His  father,  Bernhard  Uline,  was  a  native  of  that 
same  town,  while  his  grandfather  was  of  German 
birth.  lie  came  to  America  before  the  Revolution, 
and  leasing  land  from  the  Van  Rensselaer  estate, 
built  a  grist-mill,  which  he  operated  many  years, 
residing  there  until  death  terminated  his  useful 
career.  He  reared  four  sons:  Adam,  who  settled 
in  Canada;  and  Andrew,  Bernhard  and  John,  who 
remained  life-long  residents  of  Sand  Lake. 

The  father  of  our  subject  assisted  his  father  in 
the  mill,  and  also  worked  on  the  farm  during  his 
youth.  After  marriage  he  opened  a  hotel  at 
Ulinesville,  now  West  Sand  Lake,  and  managed  it 
in  connection  with  farming  several  years.  His 
whole  life  was  passed  on  the  farm  that  was  his 
birthplace,  his  death  occurring  at  the  venerable 
age  of  eighty  years.  The  maiden  name  of  his 
second  wife,  the  mother  of  our  subject,  was  Lucy 
Holmes  Doty.  It  is  thought  that  she  was  born  in 
Stephen town,Rensselaer  County,  of  which  her  father 
was  a  pioneer  farmer,  clearing  a  good  farm  from 
the  forest  wilds,  whereon  he  dwelt  until  his  demise. 
She  died  on  the  home  farm  at  Sand  Lake  at  a  ripe 
age. 

Stephen  Uline,  the  subject  of  this  life-record, 
passed  his  boyhood  on  the  old  homestead  where 
he  was  born,  and  obtained  his  education  in  the 
local  schools.  A  capable,  sturdj-,  self-reliant  lad, 


391 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


at  the  age  of  fourteen  lie  commenced  to  earn  his 
own  living  by  working  in  the  mill  owned  by  his 
uncle,  and  he  was  engaged  in  milling  until  1856, 
when  he  came  to  Illinois  to  enter  upon  his  suc- 
cessful career  as  a  farmer.  He  selected  a  suitable 
location  in  what  is  now  Wyoming  Township,  buj'- 
ing  forty  acres  of  wild  prairie  land  on  section  29, 
and  became  actively  identified  with  the  intelli- 
gent, hard-working,  energetic  pioneers  who  had 
preceded  him  to  this  region  and  were  laboring  to 
reclaim  the  rich  prairies  and  timber  lands  around 
them  from  a  state  of  nature.  His  first  work  was 
to  erect  a  small  frame  house  for  the  shelter  of  his 
family,  and  he  then  devoted  his  energies  to  devel- 
oping his  land  into  a  farm.  He  has  made  it  his 
home  ever  since,  for  a  period  of  thirty-five  years, 
and  has  prospered  exceedingly  in  his  undertak- 
ings. He  has  bought  other  land,  has  erected  a 
neat  and  commodious  set  of  frame  buildings,  and 
has  greatly  increased  the  attractiveness  of  his 
place  by  planting  with  his  own  hand  beautiful 
shade  and  fruit  trees. 

Mr.  Uline  was  married  in  1854  to  Miss  Gertrude 
Sharp,  a  native  of  Greenbush,  N.  Y.,  and  a  daugh- 
ter of  Nicholas  and  Mary  (Graver)  Sharp.  Our 
subject  has  found  in  her  a  true  wife,  whose  en- 
couragement and  constant  help  have  been  impor- 
tant factors  in  the  making  of  their  home,  where 
comfort  abides  and  a  generous  hospitality  awaits 
the  coining  and  speeds  the  parting  guest.  They 
have  five  children  all  living:  Frank  N.,  Elva, 
Mattie,  Sadie  and  Eva.  Elva  married  Philip 
Niebergall,  of  Wyoming  Township,  and  they  have 
two  children.  Glenn  and  Baby  Wayne.  Mattie 
married  B.  P.  Edwards,  of  Earlville,  and  they  have 
one  child,  Orin.  Frank,  Who  lives  in  Polk  County, 
Neb.,  married  Miss  Emma  Kirby,  and  the}'  have 
two  children,  Gertie  and  Sadie. 

Stability  of  character,  honesty  of  purpose  and 
good  business  habits  have  had  much  to  do  with 
Mr.  nine's  success  in  life,  and  have  placed  him 
among  our  best  citizens.  He  is  public-spirited,  and 
has  always  given  generous  support  to  all  schemes 
devised  for  the  good  of  the  community.  As  a 
stock-raider,  he  was,  of  course,  very  much  inter- 
ested in  the  formation  of  a  society  to  put  an  end 
to  the  depredations  of  the  horse  thieves  in  this 


part  of  the  country,  and  he  was  active  in  the  or- 
ganization of  the  Wyoming  Protective  Anti  Horse- 
Thief  Association,  being  one  of  the  original 
members.  This  society  was  thoroughly  organized 
and  did  effective  service  during  its  existence  of 
upwards  of  twenty-five  years,  as  in  that  time  not 
a  horse  was  stolen  from  its  members  that  was  not 
recovered.  In  politics,  Mr.  Uline  is  a  true  Demo- 
crat. Religiously,  he  and  his  estimable  wife  are 
members  in  high  standing  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church. 


§URGHART  ALBRECHT.     This  steady-go- 
ing   and    reliable  citizen    is    one   of  those 
forming  the  bone  and  sinew  of  the  commu- 
nity, and  who  has  assisted  in   establishing 
its   financial  prosperity  and   upholding  the  stand- 
ard  of  morality.     His   life  occupation    has  been 
that  of  a  farmer,  in  which  he   has  been  very  suc- 
cessful, accumulating  a  good  property  and  fortify- 
ing himself  against  the  days  when  by  reason  of  ad- 
vancing years  he  may  be  unfitted  for  active  labor. 
His  farm  is  one  of  the  best  'in  Bradford  Township 
and  is  pleasantly  located  on  section  20.     With  its 
well-tilled  fields,  substantial  buildings  and  general 
air  of  plenty,  the  place  is  one  of  the  most   attrac- 
tive in  the  locality. 

A  native  of  Ilessen,  Germany,  Mr.  Albrecht  was 
born  February  10,  1839.  His  childhood  days  were 
passed  in  his  native  land,  where  he  gained  a  good 
common-school  education.  When  he  was  fifteen 
years  old  he  left  Germany  and  came  to  America 
alone,  his  parents  having  previously  died  in  the 
Fatherland.  After  landing  in  New  York,  he  re- 
mained there  for  three  months,  and  then  came 
West  to  this  county,  where  for  nine  years  he  was 
in  the  employment  of  Adam  Schuchart.  Upon 
commencing  as  a  farmer  for  himself  he  rented  a 
place  for  nine  years,  and  then  careful  economy 
enabled  him  to  purchase  a  place  in  Reynolds 
Township.  After  living  there  for  six  years  ho 
sold  out  and  purchased  the  farm  where  he  now 
lives.  lie  is  the  owner  of  four  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  and  has  erected  a  good  class  of  buildings  on 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


395 


his  estate,  including  all  the  necessary  structures 
for  the  storage  of  grain  and  shelter  of  stock  and 
farm  machinery. 

The  marriage  of  Mr.  Albrecht,  in  July,  1861,  to 
Miss  Anna  M.  Karsten,  a  native  of  Germany,  was 
solemnized  in  Dixon,  this  State,  and  has  brought 
them  eleven  children,  nine  of  whom  still  survive, 
namely:  Anton,  Martha,  Kate,  Marcus,  Charles, 
Mary,  Emma,  Clara  and  George.  Two  sons  died 
in  childhood.  The  political  sympathies  of  Mr. 
Albrecht  have  brought  him  into  line  with  those 
whose  views  are  expressed  in  the  platform  of  the 
Democratic  party,  and  while  he  is  earnestly  de- 
voted to  the  success  of  that  party,  he  is  not  in 
any  sense  of  the  word  a  politician,  as  he  prefers 
the  quiet  of  home  life  and  the  vocation  of  a 
farmer  to  the  excitement  of  the  political  field. 
However,  he  has  served  in  a  few  local  offices  with 
great  ability,  having  been  Highway  Commissioner 
for  four  terms  and  also  School  Director.  In  his 
religious  convictions  he  is  a  member  of  the  Lu- 
theran Church  and  a  man  whose  reputation  for  in- 
tegrity and  probity  is  as  well  known  as  his  name. 


eALDWELL  BISHOP.  One  by  one  the  pio- 
neers of  Lee  County  are  passing  awa}^.  Af- 
ter the  struggles  of  pioneer  existence,  the 
hardships  of  frontier  life,  they  have  passed  to  their 
reward,  leaving  their  descendants  to  enjoy  the 
fruits  of  their  lives  of  toil;  "afterlife's  fitful  fever, 
they  sleep  well."  They  have  left  to  their  children 
no  memorial  but  a  world  made  better  by  their 
lives,  and  the  heritage  of  their  spotless  names  is  a 
priceless  legacy  in  the  possession  of  their  posterity. 
1 1  may  safely  be  said  of  Mr.  Bishop  that  the  world 
was  made  better  by  his  simple,  unpretentious  and 
honorable  life,  and  the  influence  of  his  upright  life 
has  not  ceased,  although  death  has  removed  him 
from  the  place  where  he  was  formerly  a  familial- 
figure.  "Though  he  rests  from  his  labors,  his  works 
do  follow  him." 

In  Dixon,  where  lie  was  a  leading  stone  and 
brick  mason  as  well  as  a  property  holder  and 
money  loaner,  Mr.  Bishop  resided  continuously 


from  his  first  removal  hither  in  1842,  until  his 
death  January  6,  1891.  A  native  of  Tioga  County, 
N.  Y.,  he  was  bom  in  1819,  and  grew  to  manhood 
in  his  native  place,  learning  the  trade  which  he 
followed  more  or  less  during  his  entire  life,  and 
acquiring  habits  of  industry  which  stood  him  in 
good  stead  throughout  his  career.  In  his  early 
manhood  he  was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss 
Esther  Huff,  a  native  of  New  York,  who  died  one 
year  after  her  marriage,  leaving  a  child,  now  also 
deceased. 

After  coming  to  this  State,  Mr.  Bishop  worked 
as  a  brick  mason  as  well  as  a  contractor,  and  in- 
vested his  earnings  in  land  near  Dixon.  In  1850 
he  was  married  in  Elgin,  111.,  to  Mrs.  Margaret  De- 
Gray,  who  was  a  native  of  the  Empire  State.  Her 
first  marriage  took  place  in  Illinois,  and  a  few 
years  after  that  event  Mr.  DeGray  was  called  away 
from  home  and  never  afterward  heard  of,  so  that 
it  is  not  known  in  what  way  he  met  his  death.  The 
widow  of  Mr.  Bishop,  who  now  survives  him,  was 
known  in  maidenhood  as  Miss  Hannah  M.  Spencer, 
and  was  born  in  Center  County,  Pa.,  where  she 
grew  to  womanhood.  She  accompanied  her  par- 
ents, David  and  Rachel  (Shivly)  Spencer,  natives 
of  Pennsylvania,  to  Illinois,  where  they  established 
a  home  at  Dixon,  111.,  in  1855.  The  ancestors  of 
Mrs.  Bishop  originally  came  from  Germany,  and 
upon  emigrating  to  America,  resided  in  Virginia. 

The  paternal  grandparents  of  Mrs.  Bishop  were 
John  and  Susanna  (Lightfoot)  Spencer,  natives  of 
Virginia,  who  at  an  early  day  removed  to  Center 
County,  Pa.;  and  there  passed  the  remaining  years 
of  their  lives.  They  were  the  first  white  people 
who  settled  in  that  county  and  consequently  much 
pioneer  work  had  to  be  accomplished  by  them  be- 
fore the  land  was  subdued  and  ready  for  cultiva- 
tion. David  Spencer  and  his  wife  remained  in 
Center  County  until  all  their  children,  of  whom 
there  were  seven,  were  born  and  then  came  to  Illi- 
nois, and  purchasing  land  near  Dixon,  devoted 
their  lives  to  its  improvement.  In  1864,  feeling 
that  he  was  too  old  to  continue  in  active  farming 
pursuits,  he  sold  his  estate,  and  coming  to  Dixon, 
here  passed  from  earth  in  1870  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
nine  years.  His  wife  survived  until  the  spring  of 
1K86,  her  death  occurring  at  the  age  of  eighty-five 


396 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


years.  Mr.  Spencer  was  a  Republican  in  polities, 
and  actively  interested  in  the  progress  of  this 
county.  He  and  his  wife  came  of  good  old  Quaker 
stock,  and  adhered  to  that  faith.  Four  of  their 
children  are  yet  living. 

At  the  time  Mrs.  Bishop  accompanied  her  par- 
ents to  Illinois,  she  had  reached  the  age  of  seven- 
teen years,  and  her  home  was  with  her  parents  un- 
til she  left  them  to  enter  a  home  prepared  for  her 
by  her  husband,  which  occurred  October  27,  1886. 
She  shows  splendid  judgment  in  the  control  and 
management  of  the  large  property  left  by  her  hus- 
band, and  while  possessing  rare  executive  ability 
and  sound  common  sense  she  also  has  those  pleas- 
ant social  qualities  which  make  her  place  in  society 
one  of  the  highest.  She  remained  a  devoted  com- 
panion to  her  husband  until  he  died,  after  an  ill- 
ness of  two  years.  In  his  religious  sentiments  he 
was  a  Universalist,  while  his  political  affiliations 
brought  him  into  the  Republican  party. 


|  OHN  STITZEL,  an  extensive  farmer  of  Nel- 
Township,  has  one  of  the  most  desirable 
and  attractive  locations  in  the  county,  his 
large  farm  on  sections  19  and  20,  lying  along 
st  bank  of  the  Rock  River,  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  streams  in  the  Northwest.  Our  subject 
was  born  in  Franklin  County,  Pa.,  July  20,  1828, 
his  parents  and  grandparents  being  also  natives  of 
the  Keystone  State,  and  of  German  blood.  His 
grandfather,  George  Stitzel,  was  born  in  Berks 
County,  and  was  a  thriving  farmer  in  his  day,  his 
life  being  prolonged  to  the  age  of  ninety  years. 
His  wife  was  also  a  Pennsylvania,  and  she  too  lived 
to  be  over  ninety  years  old.  They  were  members 
of  the  German  Reformed  Church. 

They  had  three  children,  two  sons  and  one 
daughter,  George  Stitzel,  Jr.,  father  of  our  subject, 
being  their  second  son  and  second  child.  He  was 
born  in  January,  1800,  in  Berks  County,  where  his 
parents  always  lived,  and  grew  to  man's  estate  on 
his  lather's  farm.  lie  was  wedded  to  Mis*  .Cath- 
erine Wagoner,  who  was  born  in  that  county  in 


1790,  and  was  also  of 'German  antecedents.  Soon 
after  marriage  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stitzel  removed  to 
Franklin  County,  and  lived  and  labored  on  a  farm 
in  the  township  of  Peter  until  his  death  in  187C. 
lie  was  very  successful  in  his  farming  operations, 
and  was  a  man  of  prominence  in  his  community. 
He  served  through  the  semi-annual  muster  of  the 
State  militia,  was  always  prompt  in  discharging 
his  obligations  as  a  citizen,  and  the  Democratic 
party  found  in  him  an  earnest  supporter.  Religi- 
ously, he  was  a  member  of  the  German  Reformed 
Church,  as  was  his  wife  also.  She  survived  him, 
removing  to  Michigan  after  his  death,  and  making 
her  home  in  Ypsilanti  until  her  demise,  at  the  age 

j   of  ninety-four,  in  1884. 

Our  subject  is  the  third  of  the  five  children  born 
to  his  parents,  four  sons  and  one  daughter,  all  of 

|  whom  are  living.  His  brother,  George,  is  a  doctor 
in  Nevada,  Iowa.  John  Stitzel  early  became  ac- 
quainted with  all  kinds  of  farm  work  on  the  old 
Pennsylvania  homestead,  where  he  spent  the  first 
years  of  his  life,  and  he  began  his  independent 
career  as  a  farmer  in  the  State  of  his  nativity.  In 
1865,  he  settled  up  his  affairs  there  in  order  to  take 
up  his  residence  in  Illinois.  After  his  arrival,  he 
pitehed  his  tents  in  Nachusa  Township,  but  in 
1867  he  came  to  Nelson  Township,  where  he  has 
since  lived.  He  has  made  his  home  on  his  farm 
for  fourteen  years,  and  has  everything  about  the 
place  in  a  fine  condition.  He  has  a  good  sized 
farm  of  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres,  which  is 
well  supplied  with  all  the  modern  improvements, 
its  fields  are  well-tilled  and  it  is  stocked  to  its  full 
capacity  with  cittle,  horses  and  swine. 

During  his  many  years'  residence  here,  M  r.  Stitzel 
has  not  only  displayed  large  ability  as  a  fanner, 
but  he  has  made  himself  very  useful  as  a  civic 
officer,  who,  as  an  incumbent  of  various  local 
offices,  has  been  zealous  in  promoting  internal  im- 

1  provements,  his  whole  course  in  such  cases  marking 
him  as  a  man  of  genuine  public  spirit,  who  served 
his  community  with  an  eye  single  to  its  highest 
welfare.  In  politics,  he  is  a  thorough-paced  Demo- 
crat. Religiously,  he  is  a  member  of  the  German 
Reformed  Church,  while  Mrs.  Stitzel  belongs  to  the 
Lutheran  Church. 

.Mr.  Slit/el  was  married  in  Cumberland  County, 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


399 


Pa.,  to  Miss  Agues  F.  Rhoades,  a  native  of  that 
county,  born  at  Newville,  December  3,  1833.  Her 
parents,  Hezekiah  and  Sarah  A.  (Miller)  Rhoades, 
natives  respectively  of  Berks  and  Cumberland 
Counties,  were  married  in  Dauphin  County,  in 
their  native  Pennsylvania.  •  They  settled  in  Cum- 
berland County,  and  there  Mr.  Rhoades  carried  ou 
carpentering  for  many  years,  and  he  and  his  wife 
died  near  where  they  began  their  wedded  life,  Mr. 
Rhoades  being  seventy-two  years  old  when  he  died, 
lie  was  a  son  of  George  Rhoades,  who  lived  and 
died  in  the  Keystone  State.  He  was  a  gallant 
officer  in  the  War  of  1812,  with  the  rank  of  major. 
He  was  married  in  Pennsylvania  to  Hannah  Anden, 
an  English  lady,  who  had  come  to  the  United 
States  when  young,  and  passed  the  remainder  of 
her  life  in  Pennsylvania,  dying  some  years  before 
her  husband.  They  were  Lutherans  in  religion, 
and  in  that  faith  reared  their  son,  He/.ekiah,  and 
their  other  children.  Mrs.  Stitzel's  mother  sur- 
vived her  husband  some  years,  and  died  at  the  age 
of  seventy-five.  She  too  was  a  member  of  the 
Lutheran  Church.  Mrs.  Rhoades'  father,  Ilenry 
Miller,  was  a  German  by  birth,  and  was  a  young 
man  when  he  came  to  the  United  States  and  set- 
tled in  Pennsylvania,  where  he'  met  and  married 
Agnes  Ferguson,  a  life-long  resident  of  that  State, 
dying  when  full  of  years.  Both  were  members  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  were  very  strict  in 
their  belief. 

Mrs.  Stitzel  is  the  eldest  of  a  family  of  three 
daughters  and  one  son,  all  of  whom  are  married  and 
well  settled  in  life.  She  received  a  good  education 
in  her  native  town,  where  she  grew  to  maturity.' 
She  is  a  sensible,  well-informed  woman,  and  is  the 
best  of  wives  and  mothers.  Nine  children  have 
been  born  to  her  and  our  subject,  of  whom  two 
died  young,  George  II.  and  Maliuda.  James  B.,  a 
merchant  at  Nelson,  has  been  twice  married,  Ella 
Ewell,  his  first  wife  dying  and  leaving  him  and  a 
child.  He  was  subsequently  married  to  Hattie 
Beggs,  nee  Stillman ;  Emma  L.,  is  the  wife  of 
Thomas  R.  C'allan,  a  dealer  in  hardware  and  farm- 
ing implements  at  Odell,  Neb.;  Sarah  C.,  married 
Chris  C'.  King,  a  dealer  in  stock,  residing  at  Clarks- 
ville,  I  own;  Alice  is  the  wife  of  John  Conard,  a 
niilw.-iy  conductor,  residing  at  Clinton,  Iowa;  Eva 


B.  married  Bert  llostrawse,  a  telegraph  operator  at 
Stanwood,  Iowa;  Charles  M.,  a  brakeman  on  the 
Northwestern  Railway,  makes  his  home  with  his 
parents  and  Grace  C.  also  lives  at  home.  One 
grandchild,  Harry  R.  Pearson,  is  being  reared  by 
his  grandparents. 

Elsewhere  in  this  volume  may  be  noticed  a  view 
of  Mr.  Stitzel's  beautiful  home. 


EWISG.  DURIN  is  one  of  the  wealthiest 
.and  most  successful  farmers  and  stock-raisers 
of  Lee  County,  and  is  a  fine  representative 
of  its  pioneers  who  not  only  helped  to  lay  firmly 
the  foundation  of  its  enduring  prosperity,  but  are 
still  potent  in  promoting  its  material  welfare,  as 
well  as  in  advancing  its  higher  interests.  He  has 
one  of  the  largest  and  best  equipped  farms  in  this 
part  of  Illinois,  finely  located  on  sections  5,  6,  7 
and  8,  Willow  Creek  Township,  where  he  is  con- 
ducting an  extensive  business  in  raising  stock  and 
carrying  on  general  farming.  His  birthplace  is 
among  the  hills  of  Newfane,  Windham  County,  Vt., 
where  he  was  born  March  8,  1820.  His  father, 
Ethan  Durin,  was  a  native  of  the  same  town, 
while  his  father,  whose  name  was  the  same  as  his 
own,  was  bom  in  Massachusetts.  The  latter  was 
one  of  the  first  settlers  of  Newfane,  where  he  bought 
a  tract  of  forest-covered  land,  erected  a  dwelling 
and  other  necessary  buildings,  and  in  the  course  of 
time  cleared  a  farm,  upon  which  he  lived  until 
death  terminated  his  career  in  1823.  The  maiden 
name  of  his  wife  was  Millicent  Parraenter.  She 
was  likewise  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  and  spent 
her  last  years  on  the  farm  in  Newfane. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  reared  to  the  life 
of  a  farmer  on  the  Vermont  farm  that  was  his  birth- 
place. After  marriage  he  settled  on  the  old  home- 
stead and  gave  his  attention  to  its  management. 
In  1835  he  removed  to  Franklin,  in  the  same  State, 
and  bought  a  farm  in  the  town  of  Ilighgate,  where 
he  resided  until  Irtf,;!.  Then,  selling  that  place,  he 
came  to  Illinois  to  spend  his  last  years  with  his  son, 
our  subject,  in  whose  home  he  died  in  April,  1865. 
His  wife  had  preceded  him  in  death  only  a  short 


400 


POETRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


time  tefore,  dying  at  the  home  of  our  subject  in 
February  of  the  same  year.  Her  maiden  name  was 
Mary  Gates,  a  daughter  of  Silas  Gates,  and  she  was 
born  in  the  same  county  as  her  husband.  She  was 
the  mother  of  these  seven  children — Hepsabeth, 
Ada,  Ira,  William,  Lewis  G.,  Wilson  and  Gilbert  E. 

He  of  whom  this  biography  is  written  was  fifteen 
years  old  when  the  family  removed  from  the  place 
of  his  birth  to  Franklin  County,  Vt.,  and  he  there 
grew  to  a  strong,  self-reliant  manhood  on  his 
father's  farm.  He  lived  with  his  parents  until  he 
was  twenty-one,  and  then  began  life  on  his  own 
account  as  a  farm  laborer,  at  $8  a  month.  He 
continued  his  residence  in  his  native  State  until 
1849,  and  then  he  took  an  important  step  in  life 
by  which  he  secured  fortune's  favors,  that  being 
the  year  of  his  removal  to  Illinois.  The  journey 
hither  was  made  by  team  to  St.  John's,  from  there 
by  rail  to  Montreal,  thence  by  canal  to  Ogdensburg, 
by  lake  from  that  city  to  Detroit,  where  he  took 
the  cars  to  New  Buffalo,  embarking  there  on 
a  steamer  and  crossing  the  lake  to  Waukegan,  III., 
then  by  stage  to  Rockton,  Winnebago  County,  and 
from  there  to  St.  Charles,  where  he  spent  the  sum- 
mer, and  in  the  fall  came  to  Lee  County.  At  that 
time  the  prairies  here  were  sparsely  settled,  and  a 
great  deal  of  the  land  was  still  owned  by  the  Gov- 
ernment, and  was  for  sale  at  $1.25  an  acre.  There 
were  no  railways  in  the  State,  and  the  people  here- 
abouts used  to  market  at  Peru,  and  later  at  Aurora. 

Mr.  Durin  entered  a  large  tract  of  land  on  sec- 
tions 5,  6,  7,and  8,  of  what  is  now  Willow  Creek 
Township,  and  the  following  year  made  the  first 
improvements  on  his  land,  whereupon  he  has  dwelt 
ever  since.  His  farm  is  just  one  mile  square;  is 
under  the  best  of  tillage,  its  broad  fields  yielding 
abundant  harvests,  and  its  rich  pastures  supporting 
many  cattle  and  horses  of  the  most  desirable  breeds; 
ample  buildings  -of  a  good  style  of  architecture 
adorn  the  place ;  evidences  of  the  em  ployment  of  the 
best  methods  of  husbandry,  of  systematic  work, 
and  of  a  thorough  and  economical  administration 
of  affairs  are  seen  on  every  hand.  A  view  of  this 
homestead  is  presented  on  another  page. 

A  cool,  clear-headed  calculator,  firm  of  purpose, 
and  carrying  out  his  well-laid  plans  with  prompt- 
ness and  dispatch,  showing  himself  to  be  a  111:111  of 


exceptional  activity  and  resource,  our  subject  has 
by  these  traits  made  himself  a  leading  place  among 
the  nien  of  substance  to  whom  township  and  county 
are  indebted  for  their  progress  during  the  last  forty 
years,  as  will  be  seen  by  a  perusal  of  this  brief  rec- 
ord of  his  life.  He  has  sound  and  sensible  views 
on  all  subjects  in  which  he  is  interested,  and  his 
political  opinions  are  in  accordance  with  the  prin- 
ciples promulgated  by  the  Republican  party. 

Mr.  Durin  was  married  in  1854  to  Miss  Margaret 
Rees,  a  native  of  Virginia,  and  in  her  companion- 
ship, excellent  counsel  and  capable  aid  he  has  found 
much  of  the  comfort  of  his  life  and  needed  help 
in  acquiring  his  fortune.  They  have  been  blessed 
in  their  marriage  by  the  birth  of  four  children, 
whose  names  are  Martha,  Ida  M.,  Ada,  and  Wil- 
lie G. 


JAMES  II.  JOHNSON,  a  representative  of 
one  of  the  pioneer  families  of  Northern 
Illinois,  has  passed  the  greater  part  of  his 
life  in  this  section  of  the  State,  and  has  for 
many  years  been  connected  with  the  farming  in- 
terests of  Reynolds  Township,  of  which  he  is  a 
highly  respected  resident.  May  13,  1832,  is  the 
date  of  his  birth  in  the  town  of  Centreville,  Alle- 
gany  County,  N.  Y.  Caleb  Johnson,  his  father, 
was  born  in  Vermont,  and  was  a  son  of  Hezekiah 
Johnson,  who  is  supposed  to  have  been  a  native  of 
the  same  State,  and  was  of  English  descent.  He 
removed  to  New  York  and  settled  among  the  pio- 
neers of  Centreville  Township,  buying  a  tract  of 
timber  from  the  Holland  Purchase  Company,  which 
he  developed  into  a  farm  in  the  course  of  his  many 
years  residence  at  that  point.  In  1856  he  sold  his 
property  in  that  township,  and  coming  to  Illinois, 
the  remainder  of  his  life  was  spent  at  Knox  Grove? 
in  this  county.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was 
Hannah  Kmerson.  Her  last  years  were  passed  on 
the  old  farm  in  Centreville,  N.  Y. 

Caleb  Johnson  was  but  a  boy  when  his  parents 
left  the  place  of  his  birth  among  the  hills  of  Ver- 
mont, and  founded  anew  home  in  New  York,  lie 
grew  to  maturity  in  Allegany  County,  and  took 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


401 


unto  himself  a  wife  in  the  person  of  Maria,  daugh- 
ter of  James  and  Catherine  .Johnson,  and  a  native 
of  Dutchess  County,  N.  Y.  Her  parents  were  like- 
wise Ixmi  in  the  Empire  State,  and  were  of  German 
descent.  They  came  from  New  York  to  Illinois 
and  passed  their  old  age  in  De  Ka!b  County.  Mr. 
Johnson  was  a  natural  mechanic,  and  could  turn 
his  hand  to  anything,  but  he  never  learned  any 
trade.  In  1836  he  removed  to  Michigan  with  his 
family.  An  uncle  of  our  subject  lived  at  Cold- 
water,  and  there  the  family  first  halted  after  their 
weary  journey  through  the  intervening  wilderness. 
Our  subject  relates  that  the  first  morning  after 
their  arrival  his  father  went  out  before  breakfast 
and  shot  a  deer,  thus  furnishing  venison  for  that 
meal.  At  that  time  Michigan  was  a  territory,  and 
was  scarcely  more  than  a  howling  wilderness  in 
the  interior,  where  deer,  bears  and  many  other 
kinds  of  wild  animals  made  their  home.  Mr. 
Johnson  settled  in  Kaiamazoo,  and  lived  there 
and  in  Berrien  County  six  years.  In  1842  he  again 
took  up  the  march  and  came  to  Illinois,  coming 
to  Chicago  by  Lake  Michigan,  from  that  city  made 
his  way  to  De  Kalb  County  with  a  team.  He  lo- 
cated in  the  eastern  part  of  that  county,  but  two  of 
three  years  later  he  removed  to  Knox  Grove,  and 
became  a  pioneer  farmer  of  Lee  County.  lie  pur- 
chased a  farm,  which  he  operated  until  his  un- 
timely death  in  1848  deprived  his  township  of  his 
helpful  labor  in  its  development.  His  wife,  who 
survived  him  some  years,  died  in  Reynolds  Town- 
ship. 

The  subject  of  this  biography  was  but  four  years 
old  when  his  parents  removed  to  the  Territory  of 
Michigan,  and  had  attained  the  age  of  ten  years 
when  they  came  to  Illinois  to  reside.  lie  was  a 
bright,  intelligent  Jjoy,  and  was  interested  in  the 
pioneer  life  around  him,  of  which  he  retains  vivid 
recollections.  When  the  family  settled  in  this 
part  of  the  State  it  was  still  in  its  natural  condi- 
tion for  the  most  part,  with  but  few  improvements  in 
the  scattered  settlements,  and  deer  and  other  kinds 
of  game  roamed  over  the  country  where  are  now 
thriving  towns  and  smiling  farms.  There  were  no 
railways  whatsoever,  and  Chicago  was  the  ni-nrcst 
city  to  which  the  pioneers  could  carry  their  pro- 
duce and  obtain  their  supplies.  When  Mr.  .Johnson 


was  about  twelve  years  old  he  began  to  assist  in 
the  operation  of  a  threshing  machine,  and  he  was 
thus  engaged  for  twenty-two  seasons,  each  season 
then  occupying  the  greater  part  of  the  year. 

In  1864  our  sulvject's  health  failed,  and  he  was 
reduced  in  weight  to  one  hundred  and  forty 
pounds.  He  wisely  sought  to  recuperate  by  travel- 
ing, and  started  for  California.  He  went  by  rail 
to  Grinnell,  Iowa,  which  was  then  the  western  ter- 
minus of  the  railway,  and  from  there  he  crossed 
the  plains  and  mountains  with  teams  to  Boise  City, 
Idaho,  where  he  sold  his  interest  in  the  teams.  He 
took  a  stage  from  there  for  Umatilla,  Ore.,  where 
he  embarked  on  a  steamer  for  Portland,  whence  he 
went  on  another  steamer  to  Vancouver's  Island, 
thence  to  San  Francisco.  He  made  a  stay  of  four 
days  in  the  metropolis  of  California,  and  at  the 
end  of  that  time  took  passage  on  a  steamer,  and 
proceeded  to  New  York  by  the  way  of  the  Isthmus 
of  Panama,  and  from  that  city  came  home  by  rail 
after  an  aljsence  of  eight  months.  He  had  traveled 
many  thousand  miles,  had  visited  many  interest- 
ing places,  seen  much  magnificent  scenery,  and 
besides  gleaning  much  real  enjoyment  and  a  deal 
of  useful  information,  as  he  had  kept  his  eyes  wide 
open  when  there  was  anything  worth  seeing,  and 
was  a  sharp  observer,  he  had  regained  his  health 
and  rejoiced  in  the  weight  of  two  hundred  and 
four  pounds. 

After  his  return  from  his  wanderings,  Mr.  John- 
son settled  quietly  down  to  farming,  buying  a  farm 
on  section  35,  Reynolds  Township,  which  he  oc- 
cupied a  few  years,  and  then  sold  it  and  purchased 
the  farm  upon  which  he  now  lives,  which  consists 
of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land  of  exceed- 
ly  fertility,  pleasantly  located  on  section  34,  of  the 
same  township. 

The  marriage  of  our  subject  with  Miss  Emily  J. 
Taylor,  was  celebrated  September  24,  1862,  and  to 
them  have  been  bom  six  children,  whose  names 
aro  Hattie,  Martha,  Edna,  Etrulia,  and  George 
Wesley,  deceased.  Their  oldest  son  died  when  he 
was  fifteen  years  old. 

Mrs.  Johnson  was  born  near  Port  Ber well,  Pro- 
vince of  Ontario,  Canada.  Her  father,  James 
Thomas  Taylor,  was  a  native  of  Northamptonshire, 
England,  a  son  of  James  Taylor,  who  was  also  of 


402 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


English  birth.  The  latter  came  to  America  with  his 
family,  and  settling  in  Canada,  was  one  of  the 
first  to  locate  in  the  vicinity  of  Port  Berwell.  The 
maiden  name  of  Mrs.  Johnson's  paternal  grand- 
mother was  Betsy  Hart,  who  was  likewise  a  native 
of  England,  and  spent  her  last  days  at  How  ton, 
Canada.  Mrs.  Johnson's  father  was  but  twelve 
years  old  when  he  crossed  the  water  with  his  par- 
ents to  their  Canadian  home.  He  had  a  natural  tal- 
ent for  mechanics,  and  followed  the  carpenter's  trade 
a  portion  of  his  time.  He  was  very  well  educated 
had  a  good  knowledge  of  medicine.  In  1858  he 
eame  to  Illinois,  and  settled  at  Mellugin's  Grove, 
Viola  Township,  where  lie  resided  five  years.  At 
the  end  of  that  time  he  removed  to  Reynolds 
Township,  and  spent  a  like  number  of  ye&rs  there. 
He  then  went  to  Michigan,  but  subsequently  re- 
turned to  Illinois,  and  later  went  to  Nebraska. 
He  homesteaded  a  farm  in  Saunders  County,  that 
State,  where  he  still  resides.  His  wife  bore  the 
maiden  name  of  Martha  Margraves. 

Mr.  Johnson  cast  his  first  vote  for  General  Fre- 
mont, and  the  Republican  party  has  had  nostancher 
advocate  from  the  day  of  its  organization  down 
to  the  present  time  than  he.  lie  keeps  an  intel- 
ligent run  of  the  country,  and  is  well  posted  in 
general  matters. 


ORVILLE  B.  BLACKMAN,  M.  D.,  a  successful 
physician  and  surgeon  of  the  Homeopathic 
school,  has  been  engaged  in  the  practice  of 
the  medical  profession  in  Dixon  since  1873.  He  was 
born  in  Hillsboro,  111.,  August  30,  1852,  and  traces 
his  ancestry  back  to  England.  His  great  grand . 
father,  a  native  of  that  country,  was  a  seafaring 
man  ;uid  lost  his  life  at  sea  some  years  after  James 
Blackman,  his  son,  had  come  to  the  United  States. 
The  latter  was  the  grandfather  of  our  subject.  He 
was  born  in  England,  and  after  crossing  the  Atlan- 
tic, located  in  Canton,  Mass.  Later  he  established 
in  Boston  one  of  the  first  shops  for  making  the  old 
time  clocks,  such  as  is  spoken  of  in  Longfellow's 
poem,  "The  Old  Clock  cm  the  Stall's."  Ho  possessed 


remarkable  mechanical  genius,  and  in  his  business 
dealings  was  quite  successful.  At  the  request  of 
his  son  John  he  came  to  Illinois  and  opened  a  cab- 
inet shop  in  Hillsboro,  where  he  made  his  home 
until  his  death,  at  about  the  age  of  ninety  years. 
His  wife  had  passed  away  about  three  years  prev- 
ious. She  was  a  lady  of  superior  intelligence  and 
could  hold  her  own  in  a  debate  or  argument  con- 
cerning most  any  scriptural  point,  being  well 
versed  in  theology.  Both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Blackman 
were  members  of  the  Church  of  England  in  early 
days  but  in  after  life  united  with  the  Unitarian 
Church. 

The  Doctor's  father,  George  Blackman,  was  but 
a  youth  when  he  accompanied  his  parents  to  Amer- 
ican, and  while  yet  a  young  man  he  came  to  Illi- 
nois, locating  in  Hillsboro,  where  he  married  Han- 
nah A.  Paisley,  who  was  born  in  Raleigh,  N.  C.,  and 
is  of  Scotch  descent.  She  came  to  this  State  with 
her  father,  Joseph  .Paisley,  who  located  in  Hills- 
boro, there  making  his  home  until  his  death.  Mr. 
Blackmail  was  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  that  lo- 
cality and  was  one  of  three  men  who  established 
the  old  stage  line  from  Centralia  to  Peoria.  When 
the  stages  were  driven  out  by  the  introduction  of 
railroads  he  opened  a  wagon  and  carriage  manu- 
factory in  Hillsboro,  which  he  carried  on  success- 
fully for  many  years.  He  also  made  one  of  the 
first  corn-planters  of  the  time  and  the  machine  at- 
tracted no  little  attention.  After  a  useful  and 
well-spent  life  he  was  called  to  -his  final  rest  in 
1856.  His  wife  died  in  the  home  where  her  hus- 
band had  taken  her  as  a  bride.  She  was  then  sixty 
years  of  age.  With  the  Presbyterian  Church  she 
held  membership,  and  Mr.  Blackman  belonged  to 
the  Unitarian  Church.  They  were  highly  respected 
people  and  well  known  throughout  the  community 
where  they  made  their  home. 

Dr.  Blackman  was  reared  to  manhood  under  the 
parental  roof.  After  attending  the  common  schools 
he  was  a  student  in  Hillsboro  Academy,  one  of  tin- 
oldest  institutions  of  learning  in  the  State,  and 
when  his  literary  education  was  completed  he  en 
tered  Hahnemann  Medical  College  of  Chicago, 
from  which  he  was  graduated  in  the  Class  of  '73 
Not  long  afterward  he  located  in  Dixon,  where  he 
Ims  Miice  successfully  engaged  in  practice.  His 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


office  is  now  located  in  Van  Epps  Block.  From 
the  beginning  Ms  practice  has  constantly  increased 
and  the  liberal  custom  now  attests  the  skill  and 
ability  of  our  subject.  He  is  still  a  student  of  his 
profession  and  keeps  abreast  with  every  new  dis- 
covery or  theory  connected  with  his  chosen  life 
work. 

In  his  native  county  the  Doctor  was  united  in 
marriage  with  Miss  Lucretia  S.  Cress,  who  was  born 
in  Hillsboro,  and  was  also  educated  in  the  academy 
of  that  city.  She  is  a  lady  of  intelligence  whose 
friends  are  among  the  best  citizens  of  Dixon,  and 
with  the  Doctor  she  is  a  member  of  the  Lutheran 
Church.  He  has  held  most  of  the  church  offices, 
was  also  Superintendent  of  the  Sunday-school  for 
several  years  and  is  chairman  of  the  committee  for 
the  plans,  grounds  and  buildings  of  the  Rock 
River  Lutheran  Assembly,  located  at  Dixon. 

Socialty,  our  subject  is  a  member  of  the  Odd 
Fellows  fraternity,  and  since  the  organization  of 
the  Modern  Woodmen  has  been  examiner  for  that 
society.  He  is  a  member  of  the  International  As- 
sociation of  Homeopathy,  the  American  Institute 
of  Homeopathy,  is  Vice  President  of  the  Illinois 
Association  of  Homeopath}'  and  has  been  Secretary 
of  the  Rock  River  Institute  of  Homeopathy.  Dr. 
Blackman  has  a  wide  acquaintance  among  his  pro- 
fessional brethren  throughout  the  State  and  stands 
in  the  foremost  rank. 


JAMES  QUICK,  a  mason  and  :i  farmer,  now 
residing  in  the  village  of  Ashton,  has  ac- 
quired a  handsome  property  by   the  judi- 
cious management  of  his  affairs,  and  is  num- 
bered  among  the  moneyed  men  of  Lee    County. 
Mr.  Quick  was  born  in  Devonshire,  England,  De- 
cember 11,  1828.     His  father,  whose  name  was  the 
same  as  Ids  own,  was  also  a  native  of   Devonshire. 
He  was  married  there  to  Rebecca  Hedges,  who  was 
likewise  born  in  that  English  shire,  and  in   1830 
they  came  to  Canada  with   the  children  that   had 
been  born  to  them  in   the   old   country.     In   the 
spring  of  1833  they  again  set  forth  on  another  im- 
portant journey,  which  brought  them  to  this  State, 


and  on  the  10th  of  May  they  arrived  in  Ogle 
County.  They  settled  here  in  what  is  now  Rock- 
ville  Township,  being  among  its  first  pioneers, 
and  there  they  dwelt  until  about  1850,  contribu- 
ting their  quota  to  the  growth  of  the  country.  In 
the  year  last  mentioned  they  removed  to  Hazel 
Green,  Wis.,  and  in  that-  town  their  life  was 
brought  to  a  close  at  a  venerable  age. 

Our  subject  was  the  third  of  nine  children  born 
to  his  worthy  parents.  He  was  but  a  small  child 
when  the  family  crossed  the  ocean  to  seek  a  new 
home  on  American  soil,  #nd  he  was  scarcely  five 
years  old  when  they  came  to  Illinois.  He  grew  to 
a  strong  and  active  manhood  under  the  pioneer 
influences  that  prevailed  during  his  youth  in  Ogle 
County,  and  lie  continued  to  live  there  until 
November,  1855,  when  he  settled  in  the  village  of 
Ashton,  Lee  County.  During  his  nineteen  years' 
residence  there  at  that  time,  he  was  engaged  as  a 
mason,  carrying  on  quite  an  extensive  business  in 
that  line  as  he  was  very  skillful  and  rapid  in  his 
work,  and  never  failed  to  give  full  satisfaction  on 
any  kind  of  work  that  required  durable  masonry. 
Returning  to  Ogle  County,  he  located  in  the  town- 
ship of  Lafayette  in  the  month  of  May,  1874,  and 
was  there  profitably  engaged  in  farming  several 
years,  having  always  given  considerable  attention 
to  agriculture  before  that.  In  his  younger  days 
he  began  working  out  by  the  month  and  made 
quite  a  business  of  driving  oxen  to  break  prairie. 
His  circumstances  have  greatly  improved  since 
then,  and  he  is  now  wealthy,  his  career  fully  illus- 
trating what  a  man  may  accomplish  with  plenty  of 
push  and  determination  in  his  composition,  backed 
by  industrious  habits  and  an  active  mind.  He  has 
four  hundred  and  twenty-seven  acres  of  choice 
land,  located  in  Ogle  and  Lee  Counties,  besides  his 
fine  village  property,  and  an  ample  income.  Feb 
ruary  27,  1891,  he  again  took  up  his  residence  in  the 
village  of  Ashton,  where  he  and  his  family  are 
very  pleasantly  situated. 

Mr.  Quick  was  married  in  Rockville  Township, 
Ogle  County,  to  Miss  Emily  F.  McMaster.  Unto 
them  have  been  born  three  children,  Thomas  How- 
ard, Helen  M.  and  Willie  D. 

Mrs.  Quick  is  a  native  of  L  ockport,  N.  Y.,  her 
birth  occurring  there  August  21,  1832.  Her  pa- 


404 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


rents  were  Alva  and  Sally  (Reasoner)  McMastcr. 
The  father  was  probably  born  in  Chcmung  County, 
N.  Y.,  and  the  mother  in  Dutchess  County,  the 
same  State.  They  were  married  in  Lockport,  and 
from  there  subsequently  removed  to  Delaware 
County,  Ohio,  whence  they  came  to  Illinois  in 
1842.  They  were  pioneers  of  Ogle  County,  set- 
tling first  in  what  is  now  Rockville  Township,  and 
afterwards  in  Lafayette  Township,  where  Mrs. 
McMaster  died.  The  father  spent  his  last  days  in 
Oregon,  111.  They  had  five  children,  of  whom 
Mrs.  Quick  was  the  second  in  order  of  birth. 

Mr.  Quick  possesses  an  active,  intelligent  mind, 
those  traits  of  character  that  command  genuine  re- 
spect. He  is  regarded  throughout  his  community  as 
a  thoroughly  conscientious,  upright  man,  who  is 
helpful  and  generous  in  his  relations  with  all  about 
him.  He  is  loyal  in  his  citizenship,  and  as  School 
Director  and  Highway  Commissioner  has  always 
done  good  service  for  his  township.  His  political 
opinions  are  in  line  with  the  principles  of  the  Re- 
publican party.  Both  he  and  his  wife  are  liberal 
in  their  religious  views. 


JEROME  B.  IIUSSEY,    of   Franklin    Grove, 
dealer  in  lumber,  coal,  lime,  cement,   painty 
oil    etc.,    is   a    fine    representative    of    the 
native-born  citizens  of  Lee  County  who  are 
such  important  factors    in    carrying   forward    its 
great  commercial,  agricultural  and   manufacturing 
interest.     He  comes  of  sterling  pioneer  stock,  and 
was  born  on  his  father's  old  homestead  in    Frank- 
lin Grove  Township  May  9,  1847. 

Our  subject  is  a  son  of  the  late  Amos  Hussey, 
one  of  the  early  settlers  of  the  county,  and  until 
his  death  at  a  ripe  age  April  14,  1891,  a  valued 
citizen  of  Franklin  Grove  Township,  where  he  had 
lived  for  more  than  half  a  century  on  the  fine 
farm  that  lie  had  purchased  from  the  Government 
when  it  was  a  tract  of  wild  uncultivated  land. 
Amos  Hussey  was  born  in  Little  York,  York 
County,  Pa.,  August  18,  1806.  At  the  age  of 
twenty  years  he  migrated  to  the  forest  wilds  of 
Ohio,  and  was  there  married  in  183(5  to  Jane  Fre- 


donia,  daughter  of  Jesse  Holly,  who  was  the  first 
white  female  child  born  hi  the  town  of  Fredonia, 
N.  Y.  Mr.  Hussey  was  a  corder  and  fuller  by 
trade,  and  worked  in  woolen  mills  in  the  early 
part  of  his  life,  but  after  he  came  to  Lee  County 
in  1838  he  turned  his  attention  to  farming,  and  he- 
came  one  of  the  well-to-do  farmers  of  Franklin 
Grove  Township,  where  he  located  on  a  claim, 
which  he  purchased  from  the  Government  as  soon 
as  the  land  came  into  the  market,  the  deed  being 
signed  by  James  K.  Polk.  When  he  came  here  he 
had  but  little  money,  and  he  and  his  wife  exper- 
ienced all  the  hardships  and  trials  of  a  pioneer 
life.  They  mutally  sustained  and  helped  each 
other  to  bear  the  privations  to  which  they  were 
subject  in  a  newly  settled  country,  worked  cheer- 
fully and  to  a  good  purpose,  and  in  due  time  pros- 
perity smiled  upon  them.  The  farmers  of  those 
days  had  to  cultivate  their  land  without  the  aid  of 
modern  machinery,  and  in  the  absence  of  railways 
had  to  transport  their  grain  to  market  with  their 
own  teams,  the  settlers  of  this  vicinity  for  the  first 
few  years  taking  their  produce  to  Peru,  and  later 
to  Chicago.  Mr.  Hussey  became  the  owner  of  some 
three  hundred  and  fifty  acres  of  land,  on  which  he 
made  substantial  improvements.  He  was  a  man 
whose  strict  adherence  to  the  principles  of  truth 
and  honesty,  inculcated  by  his  religion  as  a  Quaker, 
made  him  universally  trusted  and  respected.  In 
his  early  life  he  was  a  Whig,  but  after  the  forma- 
tion of  the  Republican  party  he  became  a  stanch 
supporter  of  its  policy.  His  good  wife  was  a 
faithful  member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and 
was  one  of  the  organizers  of  the  society  of  Frank- 
lin Grove.  Of  the  six  children  of  our  subject, 
these  three  grew  to  maturity:  Mary  A.,  now  Mrs. 
Josiah  Little;  Jerome  B.  and  Columbus  1). 

He  of  whom  we  write  passed  his  early  life  on  the 
old  homestead  that  was  his  birthplace.  He  was  a 
studious  lad  and  was  given  fine  educational  advan- 
tages at  the  Illinois  State  Normal  School,  at  Nor- 
mal, and  he  also  attended  the  seminary  at  Whca- 
ton.  While  still  a  youth  he  taught  school  two 
winters,  and  then  throwing  aside  the  profession, 
became  cashier  of  the  bank  of  Josiah  Little,  at 
Amboy,  before  he  was  twenty-one.  He  held  the 
responsible  position  for  some  fifteen  years,  and 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


405 


then  was  obliged  to  give  it  up  on  account  of  ill 
health.  Wishing  for  a  more  active,  out-of-door 
life,  he  purchased  his  father's  old  homestead,  and 
for  two  years  devoted  his  energies  to  tilling  the 
soil.  At  the  end  of  that  time  lie  traded  the  farm 
with  his  brother  and  since  then,  1885,  has  been 
engaged  in  the  lumber  trade,  and  in  dealing  in 
coal,  etc..  at  Franklin  Grove.  He  has  built  up  a 
remunerative  business  by  excellent  management 
and  strictly  fair  dealings,  and  is  regarded  as  one 
of  the  solid  men  of  this  part  of  the  country.  Good 
mental  endowments,  a  well-trained  mind,  and  a 
high  reputation  for  unswerving  integrity  have  won 
him  the  confidence  of  the  people  among  whom  he 
has  spent  his  entire  life,  and  they  have  shown 
their  trust  in  him  by  placing  the  management  of 
the  local  public  finances  in  his  hands,  and  he  is 
doing  good  service  as  Township  Treasurer.  He 
inherited  his  father's  sound  political  convictions, 
and  is  a  true  Republican. 

Mr.  Hussey  was  married  in  1875  to  Miss  Ella  E. 
Badger,  a  daughter  of  Henry  E.  Badger,  and  their 
home  at  the  north  end  of  Main  Street,  is  cozy  and 
comfortable  in  its  appointments,  and  the  centre  of 
true  culture.  Five  children  complete  their  house- 
hold,— Fred,  Warren,  Raymond,  Alice  and  Rush. 
Mrs.  Hussey  is  a  lady  of  refinement  and  education, 
and  a  graduate  of  the  Northwestern  University. 
Religiously,  she  is  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
faith  and  a  member  of  the  church. 


EPPE  WILLIAM  MEPPEN  is  a  good 
type  of  the  foreign  element  that  is  so  im- 
portant a  factor  in  developing  and  sustain- 
ing the  great  agricultural  interests  of  this 
county,  and  the  farm  of  two  hundred  and  forty 
acres  he  operates  on  section  26,  Nelson  Township, 
is  in  many  respects  one  of  the  best  in  the  locality. 
Mr.  Meppcn  was  born  in  the  Kingdom  of  Hanover, 
Germany,  August  16,  1836,  that  part  of  the  Ger- 
man Empire  having  been  the  home  of  his  ancestry 
since  the  fifteenth  century,  and  a  certain  estate  in 
the  town  of  North  Werdan  has  been  in  the  posses- 
sion of  the  family  since  that  time,  it  still  being 


owned  by  a  kinsman  of  our  subject.  The  father 
of  the  latter,  Peter  Meppen,  was  born  thereon  as 
well  as  himself,  and  there  led  the  life  of  a  farmer 
until  his  death  at  the  age  of  fifty-four  years.  •  He 
married  Martha  Becker,  who  came  of  good  old 
( Icnnan  stock,  was  born  and  reared  in  the  King- 
dom of  Hanover,  and  died  in  the  home  where  her 
wedded  life  was  passed,  at  the  age  of  seventy-two. 
The  family  on  Ixrth  sides  have  always  been  prom- 
inent members  and  active  workers  in  the  Luth- 
eran Church,  and  Peter  Meppen,  who  was  a  deacon 
thereof  when  he  died,  was  considered  one  of  the 
firmest  pillars  of  the  church  with  which  he  was 
connected. 

He  of  whom  these  lines  are  the  life-record  is  one 
of  six  children,  of  whom  three  are  living,  he  being 
the  only  one  of  the  family  to  settle  in  this  country. 
He  lived  in  the  Fatherland  until  he  was  twenty- 
seven  years  old.  At  that  age,  he  was  stalwart 
and  active,  had  been  trained  to  industrious  habits 
and  was  a  good  worker,  so  that  when  he  decided 
j  to  seek  a  home  in  the  New  World  he  was  well  fitted 
for  the  life  that  lay  before  him  in  the  struggle  for 
a  competency  on  the  broad  prairies  of  Illinois.  He 
left  his  native  place  in  October,  1863,  and  at  Bre- 
:  mer  Haven  took  passage  on  a  steamer  bound  for 
]  New  York.  After  landing  in  that  city,  he  came 
directly  to  Lee  County,  and  for  a  while  lived  in 
1'almyra  Township  prior  to  coming  to  Nelson 
Township,  in  which  he  has  resided  for  twenty-eight 
years.  In  the  old  country  he  had  been  a  miller, 
but  after  coming  to  this  he  adopted  the  calling  of 
a  farmer,  which  he  has  since  followed  exclusively. 
He  was  formerly  engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits 
in  another  part  of  the  township,  but  four  years 
ago  he  rented  the  farm  that  he  occupies  on  section 
26.  This  is  a  fine  farm,  with  fields  well  cultivated, 
and  with  excellent  equipments  in  the  way  of 
buildings,  machinery  and  all  the  facilities  for  farm- 
ing according  to  the  best  methods. 

Mr.  Meppen 's  wife,  to  whom  he  was  married  in 
Nelson  Township,  was  born  and  reared  here,  a 
daughter  of  one  of  the  pioneers  of  the  county, 
Louis  Brauer,  a  native  of  Oldenburg,  Germany. 
He  came  to  this  country  when  a  young  man,  and 
was  an  early  settler  of  this  part  of  Illinois.  He 
obtained  a  tract  of  Government  land,  from  which 


406 


PORTRAIT  AND  BKKJKAPIIICAL   RECORD. 


he  made  a  good  farm,  which  was  his  home  until 
his  untimely  death  at  the  age  of  fifty-two  years 
deprived  his  community  of  one  of  its  most  skilful 
farmers,  and  of  one  of  its  best  citizens.  He  was  a 
prominent  member  of  the  Lutheran  Church,  and 
was  always  active  in  the  advancement  of  religion. 
His  widow,  who  has  attained  the  age  of  sixty-four 
years,  is  now  living  in  Prairieville.  Her  maiden 
name  was  Louisa  Toel.  and  she  is  of  the  pioneer 
stock  of  this  county,  where  she  married  Mr.  Brauer. 
She,  too,  is  a  true  Lutheran  in  religion,  and  her 
uncle  was  a  minister  of  that  faith.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Meppen  are  the  parents  of  six  children,  one  of 
whom,  Mabel,  died  in  infancy.  The  others,  who 
are  at  home  with  their  parents,  are  Martha,  Lucy, 
Louis,  William  and  Arthur. I. 

The  fellow-citizens  of  our  subject,  appreciating 
the  fact  that  he  is  a  man  of  great  merit,  worthy  in 
every  way  of  their  consideration,  and  not  that 
alone,  but  knowing  that  he  is  shrewd  and  capable, 
aud  clear-witted  in  counsel,  have  frequently 
selected  him  to  fill  some  public  position,  and  he 
has  held  the  most  of  the  township  offices,  such  as 
that  of  Highwa_y  Commissioner,  etc.  His  political 
creed  is  that  of  the  Republican  party.  In  religion 
he  has  not  departed  from  the  faith  of  his  fathers, 
but  both  he  and  his  wife  are  among  the  leading 
members  of  the  Lutheran  Church. 


j?ILLIAM  II.  FASOLDT,  now  deceased,  was 
for  many  years  one  of  the  leading  mer- 
chants of  Amboy,  111.,  and  is  numbered 
among  the  early  settlers  of  Lee  County,  where  he 
located  in  1840.  As  a  successful  jeweler  he 
carried  on  business  for  forty  years  and  won  an 
honorable  place  among  the  leading  citizens  of 
Amboy.  A  native  of  Saxony,  Germany,  he  was 
born  near  Trasten,  April  5,  1825.  His  father,  G.  J. 
Fasoldt,  spent  his  entire  life  in  his  native  land  and 
died  at  the  advanced  age  of  ninety,  having  sur- 
vived his  wife  a  few  years.  She  too  had  spent 
all  her  days  in  Saxony.  Both  were  members  of 


the  Lutheran  Church  and  were  highly  respected 
people. 

Our  subject  spent  his  boyhood  in  the  land  of 
his  nativity,  and  while  yet  a  young  man  crossed 
the  briny  deep  to  America,  following  an  older 
brother  to  Rome,  N.  Y.  At  that  place  he  learned 
the  jeweler's  trade  under  his  brother,  Charles 
Fasoldt,  who  was  one  of  the  noted  jewelers  of  the 
Empire  State,  having  patented  a  number  of  fine 
watch  works  and  constructed  a  great  number  of 
town  and  church  clocks  of  rare  excellence.  Under 
his  direction  William  Fasoldt  became  thoroughly 
acquainted  with  the  business  in  all  its  details,  and 
throughout  life  was  recognized  as  a  skilled  work- 
man in  his  line.  With  the  intention  of  trying  his 
fortune  in  the  West,  he  located  in  South  Bend. 
Ind.,  where  he  was  first  married,  his  union  being 
with  Balina  Bower,  a  native  of  Germany,  who 
came  to  America  during  her  maidenhood.  A  few 
years  later  the  young  couple  removed  to  Illinois, 
where  Mrs.  Fasoldt  died  at  the  age  of  twenty-eight 
years.  She  was  a  member  of  the  Catholic  Church, 
and  the  mother  of  four  children,  two  of  whom 
are  now  deceased — Edward  and  Franklin.  The 
living  are — Mary,  wife  of  Christian  Wovel,  who  is 
engaged  in  farming  in  Iowa;  and  Anna,  wife  of 
J.  W.  Walters,  a  commercial  traveller  residing  in 
Aurora,  111. 

Mr.  Fasoldt  was  a  second  time  married  in  Amboy. 
He  was  joined  in  wedlock  with  Miss  Rena  Teil, 
who  was  born  in  Germany,  November  10,  1844, 
and  is  a  daughter  of  Charles  and  Margaret  (Schover) 
Teil,  natives  of  Germany.  Her  parents  came  to 
this  country  with  their  family  in  1847,  crossing 
the  Atlantic  in  a  sailing  vessel,  which  after  a  voy- 
age of  several  weeks,  at  length  dropped  anchor  in 
the  harbor  of  New  York.  By  the  way  of  the  Erie 
Canal  and  the  Great  Lakes,  they  proceeded  to 
Chicago,  from  whence  they  continued  their  jour- 
ney with  teams  overland  to  Lee  Center.  Mr.  Teil 
purchased  a  partially  improved  farm,  and  there 
began  life  as  an  agriculturist.  He  was  thus  suc- 
cessfully engaged  until  his  death,  which  occurred 
at  the  age  of  fifty-two  years.  His  wife  died  some 
years  later  in  the  sixty-sixth  year  of  her  age. 
They  were  both  members  of  the  Lutheran  Church 
and  were  worthy  people. 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RKCOUI). 


As  before  stated,  Mr.  Fasoldt  went  to  Am  boy  in 
1840,  and  at .once  embarked  in  the  jewelry  busi- 
ness, which  he  made  his  life  work.  A  liberal  pat- 
ronage soon  rewarded  his  efforts,  and  he  built  up 
an  excellent  trade,  thereby  acquiring  a  handsome 
income.  He  was  thus  engaged  in  business  at  the 
time  of  his  death.  In  all  the  telations  of  life  he- 
was  honorable  and  upright,  and  the  success  which 
crowned  his  efforts  was  richly  merited.  Mrs. 
Kasoldt,  who  still  survives  her  husband,  is  one  of 
six  children.  She  was  born  in  Germany,  but  was 
reared  and  educated  in  Lee  County.  She  is  a  lady 
of  intelligence  and  much  force  of  character,  is 
enterprising,  and  lias  considerable  executive  abil- 
ity. She  possesses  considerable  property  in  her 
own  right,  including  some  valuable  real  estate  in 
Amboy  and  its  vicinity.  In  her  religious  views 
Mrs.  Fasoldt  is  a  Presbyterian.  Her  social  quali- 
ties have  won  her  many  friends,  and  she  is  held 
in  high  esteem  by  all  who  know  her. 


rt*^  YLVANTS  C.  IIAUSEN.  Lee  County 
^^£  numbers  Sylvanus  C.  Hausen  among  her 
V^OI  mos^  successful  farmers.  His  farm  is  one 
of  the  largest  and  best  in  its  appointments 
in  China  Township,  and  his  residence  on  section  3, 
of  a  substantial  and  appropriate  style  of  architec- 
ture with  its  excellent  arrangements  for  comfort 
and  convenience,  is  a  model  farm  house. 

Born  October  15,  1825,  in  the  town  of  Bremen. 
Lincoln  County,  Me.,  seventh  of  the  eleven  chil- 
dren of  Charles  and  Mary  .1.  (Hilton)  Hausen,  the 
lx>yhood  days  of  our  subject  were  quietly  passed 
in  his  native  State  until  he  was  fifteen  years  old, 
and  then  came  an  eventful  change  in  his  life,  as  in 
the  year  1840  his  parents  emigrated  to  the  distant 
prairies  of  Illinois.  They  were  among  the  early 
settlers  of  China  Township,  locating  a  short  dis- 
tance west  of  Franklin  drove,  and  here  they 
lived  greatly  respected  by  their  neighbors  until 
their  decease. 

Sylvanus  Ilausen  grew  to   man's  estate    in    the 
parental  home  in  China  Township,  and  his  charac- 
ter was    molded    by  the  pioneer  life  that  obtained 
19 


j  ill  this  region  in  those  early  years  of  its  settlement 
to  sturdy  self-reliance,  manliness,  and  keen  fore- 
sight, and  he  was  early  inured  to  hard  work.  He 

i  was  thus  well  adapted  to  the  calling  to  which 
he  had  been  reared  and  when  it  came  time 
for  him  to  select  his  life-work  he  chose  agri- 
cultural pursuits.  His  after  career  has  demonstrated 

;  the  wisdom  of  his  choice,  as  he  has  risen  to  the  fore- 
most ranks  of  the  farmers  and  stock-raisers  of  the 
county.  He  located  on  his  farm  at  the  time  of  mar- 
riage, and  here  he  owns  about  seven  hundred  acres 
of  excellent  farming  land  and  has  erected  a  com- 
modious set  of  buildings  that  are  first-class  in  every 
re.-pect.  His  pastures  are  stocked  with  fine  herds 
of  cattle  and  horses  and  everything  about  his  well- 
kept  farm  is  indicative  of  his  ability  to  conduct 
agriculture  after  the  best  methods. 

December  20,  185!),  Mr.  Hausen  was  married  to 
Miss  Sabina  .1.  Fellows,  their  marriage  being  sol- 
emnized in  Belvidere,  Boone  County,  this  State, 
She  has  indeed  filled  in  a  perfect  measure  the  sacred 

I   offices  of  wife,  mother,  friend,  and  to  her  devotion 

I  her  husband  and  family  owe  much  that  makes  life 
worth  living,  and  her  neighbors  are  indebted  for 
many  a  kindly  act.  She  is  a  member  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church,  and  an  active  worker  in 
the  society.  Her  union  with  our  subject  has 
brought  them  five  children — Ida  C'.,  the  wife  of 
Frank  Maolton;  Charles  F.,  who  married  Miss 
Josephine  Stevens;  Lillian  A.,  the  wife  of  Lorin 
Townsend;  Grace  E.  and  May  E.  Mrs.  Hausen 
was  born  November  30,  1839,  near  Syracuse,  in  the 
State  of  New  York,  the  fifth  of  the  seven  children 
of  David  and  Harriet  (Lobdell)  F'ellows,  who  were 
natives  of  Otsego  County,  N.  Y.  They  came  from 
near  Syracuse,  that  State,  to  Illinois  in  the  spring  of 
1856,  and  at  first  settled  in  Belvidere,  whence  they 
afterward  removed  to  Coldwater,  Mich.  Mr.  Fel- 
lows died  in  that  city,  but  his  wife  still  survives 
at  a  venerable  age. 

Through  his  many  years'  residence  here  our  sub- 
ject is  widely  known,  and  bears  a  high  reputation 
among  his  many  acquaintances  as  a  man  of  un- 
swerving rectitude  and  unblemished  honor,  whose 
life  is  guided  by  true  principles  of  equity  and 
justice  in  his  dealings  and  who  never  hesitates  to 
befriend  one  who  is  in  need  of  sympathy  and 


410 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


material  assistance.  His  portrait,  which  is  pre- 
sented in  this  connection,  is  a  valuable  addition  to 
the  volume.  He  has  been  School  Director  in  his 
township,  and  in  no  instance  has  he  failed  in  true 
public  spirit  when  his  influence  has  been  sought  to 
further  some  plan  for  civic  improvement.  He  is 
well  posted  on  the  political  situation  of  the  day, 
and  favors  the  Democratic  party. 


jrJ)OBERT  JAMES  THOMPSON  has  proved  a 
^V  valuable  re-enforcement  to  the  farmers  and 
<*>  \V  stock-raisers  of  Lee  County  during  the 
twenty-five  and  more  years  that  he  has 
lived  here,  as  he  brings  to  his  work  a  clear,  vigor- 
ous mind,  has  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  prin- 
ciples of  agriculture,  and  manages  his  extensive 
farming  interests  in  Willow  Creek  Township  after 
the  most  approved  modern  methods. 

Nine  miles  east  of  the  town  of  Romney,  the 
county  seat  of  Hampshire  County,  W.  Va.,  is  the 
birthplace  of  our  subject,  and  he  was  born  amid  its 
pleasant  scenes  March  2,  1847.  His  father,  Robert 
Thompson,  was  bom  in  the  same  neighborhood,  and 
was  a  son  of  John  Thompson,  who  was  a  native  of 
the  North  of  Ireland,  being  descended  from  an  old 
Scotch  family.  He  came  from  there  to  America 
when  lie  was  a  young  man,  and  resided  for  a  time 
in  Pennsylvania,  whence  he  went  to  Virginia  to 
build  up  a  home  in  the  forest  wilds  of  that  part 
of  it  that  is  now  embraced  in  Hampshire  County, 
W.  Va.  He  bought  a  tract  of  land  and  engaged  in 
farming,  and  also  improved  a  water  power  on  it 
by  erecting  one  of  the  first  mills  in  the  county. 
He  managed  both  his  mill  and  his  farm,  and  re- 
sided on  the  latter  until  his  death.  He  was  a 
brave  soldier  in  the  Continental  Army  during  the 
Revolution.  His  wife  whose  maiden  name  was 
Martha  Beard,  also  died  on  that  Hampshire  County 
farm. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  but  five  years  old 
when  his  father  died.  He  continued  to  live  with 
his  mother,  and  as  soon  as  old  enough  assisted  on 
the  farm  and  in  the  mill,  making  his  home  on  the 
old  homestead  until  he  married  and  established  a 


home  of  his  own  on  a  part  of  his  father's  farm 
that  he  had  inherited,  and  to  which  he  added  by 
further  purchase.  In  1868  he  left  his  native  State, 
and  coming  to  Lee  County  settled  in  Willow  Creek 
Township  on  the  land  that  he  had  previously 
bought  some  years  before.  Here  his  life  record 
was  closed  by  his  death  in  June,  18.81.  His  wife 
survived  him  until  December,  1886,  when  she  too 
passed  away.  They  were  the  parents  of  twelve 
children,  of  whom  these  ten  grew  to  manhood  and 

1  womanhood:  John  T.,  Lacy  A.,  Martha  J.,  Mary 
F.,  Robert  J.,  Samuel  T.,  Amanda  S.,  Virginia  C., 

j  Edward  II.,  and  Wilder  B.  The  maiden  name  of 
the  mother  was  Zulemma  Taylor;  she  was  born  in 

!  Hampshire  County,  W.  Va.  Her  father  was  Thomas 
Taylor,  and  he  was,  it  is  thought,  a  native  of  Penn- 

|  sylvania,  whence  he  went  to  Hampshire  County  in 
the  days  when  it  formed  a  part  of  Virginia,  and 
took  up  a  tract  of  land  ten  miles  south  of  Romney. 
He  improved  a  good  farm,  and  resided  on  it  all 
the  remaining  days  of  his  life. 

Robert  J.  Thompson,  who  forms  the  subject  of 
this  biography,  spent  his  early  life  on  a  farm  in 
his  native  place,  and  was  living  at  the  old  home  of 
his  birth  all  through  the  war.  Like  other  farmers' 

!  boys,  he  was  early  taught  to  make  himself  useful, 
and  he  continued  to  assist  his  father  in  the  care  of 
his  farm  until  he  was  eighteen  years  old.  Ambitious 
to  see  something  of  the  world  and  to  try  life  on 
the  beautiful  prairies  of  Illinois,  he  then  came  to 
this  State,  and  for  a  time  was  employed  by  his 
uncle  James  Thompson  on  a  farm  at  Twin  Grove, 
this  county.  He  afterward  worked  his  father's 
land,  and  at  the  time  of  his  marriage  settled  on  his 
present  farm  in  Willow  Creek  Township.  He  now 
has  three  hundred  and  five  acres  of  land,  of  which 

j  two  hundred  and  thirty  are  in  a  body,  and  the  re- 
mainder lies  one  mile  east  of  his  homestead.  His 

1  farm  is  admirably  adapted  to  general  farming  and 
stock-raising  purposes  to  which  he  devotes  it, 
gleaning  from  its  productive  fields  rich  harvests, 
and  in  its  fertile  pastures  he  has  numerous  cattle 
and  horses  of  fine  grades.  Its  buildings  are  ample 
and  are  always  kept  in  good  order,  and  there  is 
every  convenience  for  carrying  on  farming  so  as 
to  produce  the  best  results. 

Comfort,  prosperity  and  happiness  have  come  to 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


411 


our  subject  through  his  marriage  in  1870  with 
Miss  Eveline  L.  Flagg.  They  have  four  children 
living-:  Guy  A.,  George  P.,  Nora  and  Blanche 
Elma.  Mr.  Thompson  is  a  Democrat,  sound  and 
true,  in  his  politics,  and  always  stands  by  his 
colors.  Socially,  he  is  a  member  of  Steward  Camp, 
M.  W.  A.,  and  Knights  of  the  Globe.  He  is  an  in- 
telligent reader  of  good  literature,  and  is  conver- 
sant with  all  subjects  of  general  interest.  He  is 
one  of  the  solid  men  of  Willow  Creek  Township, 
upon  whom  his  fellow-citizens  know  they  can 
place  their  reliance  at  all  times  and  under  all  cir- 
cumstances, and  he  is  esteemed  accordingly. 


e HAMPTON  FULLER,   a   successful    farmer 
and  enterprising  citizen    of   Dixon  Town- 
ship, residing  on   section  27,  owns  a  fine 
homestead.     It  is  located  on  the  east  side  of  Rock 
River,  on  the  Grand  Detour  road  a  few  miles  from 
Dixon,  and  so  complete  is  it  in   its   appointments 
that    it  may  well  be  termed  a  model    farm.     It  is 
well  stocked,  having  upon   it   some  forty  head  of 
milch  cows,  and  is  well  watered  with  never-failing 
springs. 

Mr.  Fuller  has  long  made  his  home  in  this  local- 
ity. On  the  10th  of  September,  1836,  his  family 
located  in  the  county  and  from  that  time  he  has 
been  identified  with  the  interests  of  this  commu- 
nity. His  father,  Stephen  Fuller,  was  a  native  of 
Luzerue  County,  Pa.,  and  came  of  an  old  New 
England  family  of  Connecticut.  In  the  Keystone 
State  he'married  Anna  H.  Pratt,  who  was  born  in 
Hartford,  Conn.,  as  were  her  parents  before  her. 
With  their  three  children,  Champion,  Silas  P.  and 
Washington  I.,  Mr.  Fuller  and  his  wife  left  Penn- 
sylvania in  1829,  emigrating  by  team  across  the 
Allfghany  Mountains  to  I'avnesville,  Ohio.  On 
the  old  stage  road,  he  engaged  in  farming  until 
1836,  when,  accompanied  by  his  family,  he  arrived 
in  Lee  County.  They  first  located  on  the  old  Dr. 
Everett  homestead,  where  the  famous  elm  tree 
stands,  under  which  the  Indian  chief,  Black  Hawk, 
made  his  treaty.  It  was  not  then  surveyed,  but  a 


squatter's  cabin  was  received  as  a  title  in  those 
days  as  willingly  as  a  Government  patent.  In  the1 
spring  of  1837,  Stephen  Fuller  bought  a  squat- 
ter's claim,  for  $150,  lying  on  the  east  side  of  Hock- 
River,  where  is  the  well-known  Fuller  Cave  that  is 
often  visited  by  people  throughout  this  section  of 
the  country.  When  his  financial  resources  enabled 
him  to  do  so,  Mr.  Fuller  added  to  this  a  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty-acre  tract,  the  entire  amount  being 
now  the  property  of  our  subject. 

In  a  primitive  log  cabin,  the  family  began  life  in 
the  West  in  true  pioneer  style  and  their  home  was 
the  second  settlement  on  Rock  River  between 
Dixon  and  Grand  Detour.  It  was  on  this  farm 
that  Stephen  Fuller  lived  and  labored  and  at  last 
passed  away  in  1882,  at  the  age  of  eighty-four 
years.  He  had  witnessed  almost  the  entire  growth 
of  Lee  County,  from  the  da3's  when  a  hamlet, 
known  as  Dixon 's  Ferry,  marked  the  site  of  the 
present  city  of  Dixon.  One  of  those  warm-hearted 
and  generons-natured  people,  Mr.  Fuller  had  many 
friends  in  whose  regard  he  ranked  high  and  his 
genial  nature  made  him  a  favorite  companion.  He 
always  had  a  tale  to  tell  of  the  early  days  when  he 

!  traveled  overland  with  ox-teams,  when  one  had  to 
go  many  miles  to  mill,  and  when  the  county  was 
almost  in  its  primitive  condition.  His  death  was 
sincerely  regretted  by  a  large  circle  of  acquain- 
tances, and  when  called  home  he  left  behind  him  a 
memory  of  a  well-spent  life.  Mrs.  Fuller  was  a 
faithful  companion  and  a  true  helpmate  to  her 
husband  until  her  death  in  1852,  at  the  age  of  fifty 
years.  She  was  a  member  of  the  Baptist  Church, 
and  ever  took  an  active  interest  in  its  growth  and 

i  welfare.  In  politics,  Mr.  Fuller  was  an  old  Jackson 
Democrat.  The  members  of  the  family  still  living 
are  Champion;  Abraham,  of  this  county;  and  Mrs. 
Caroline  M.  Poorman,  now  living  in  Clinton, 
Iowa. 

Champion  Fuller  was  born  in  Luzernc  County, 
I'a.,  January  21.  1826.  and  in  early  childhood 
went  to  Ohio  with  his  p;i rents.  He  was  a  lad  of 
but  ten  summers  when  he  came  to  Illinois,  where  he 
was  reared  to  manhood  and  early  inured  to  hard 
labor  on  a  frontier  farm.  In  April,  1864,  he  drove 
a  mule  team  overland  to  California,  and  spent 
twenty  years  in  Humboldt  County,  that  State,  dur- 


412 


POETRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


ing  which  time  lie  met  with  good  success  in  his 
business  dealings.  It  was  in  Humboldt  County 
that  Mr.  Fuller  was  united  in  marriage  with  Julia 
A.  Reynolds,  who  was  born,  in  Luzerne  County, 
Pa.,  and  is  a  daughter  of  Elijah  and  Mary  (Worth- 
ington)  Reynolds.  Her  parents  were  also  natives 
of  the  Keystone  State,  and  her  father  died  in  Luz- 
erne County  in  tbe  prime  of  life,  after  which  the 
mother  went  with  her  children  to  California.  She 
is  now  living  with  her  daughter,  Mrs.  Fuller,  at  the 
age  of  seventy-four  years. 

The  wife  of  our  subject  was  Uberally  educated  in 
the  seminary  of  Luzerne  County,  Pa.,  and  is  an  ac- 
complished lady.  By  her  marriage  she  has  become 
the  mother  of  three  children,  but  Joseph  L.  died  in 
California  at  the  age  of  eighteen  months.  Two  sons, 
Theodore  W.  and  Edward  C.,  are  yet  at  home.  In 
politics,  Mr.  Fuller  is  a  Democrat. 

fr_KRMAN  S.  FISCHER,  The  subject  of  this 
ifjij  sketch  is  a  flue  example  of  the  intelligent 
'^^  and  enterprising  class  of  Germans  who 
\jjjjj)  have  done  so  much  to  build  up  the  towns 
and  counties  in  the  New  World  in  which  they 
have  made  their  homes.  He  owns  a  fine  tract  of 
two  hundred  and  sixty  acres  on  section  29,  Pal- 
myra Township,  this  county,  on  which  he  has 
placed  excellent  farm  buildings  and  improved  in 
the  best  manner.  He  has  been  remarkably  suc- 
cessful in  all  his  undertakings,  and  occupies  a 
prominent  position  in  the  affairs  of  the  community 
in  which  he  lives.  While  exercising  a  general 
supervision  over  his  place,  he  has  for  the  past  five 
years  let  his  farm  on  shares  to  S.  M.  Sleasman. 

Mr.  Fischer  has  been  a  resident  of  this  county 
since  1869,  emigrating  to  this  country  from  Ger- 
many. He  was  a  native  of  Hamburg,  born  July 
21,  1845,  and  in  that  country  received  an  excel 
lent  education  in  its  model  schools.  He  came  of 
excellent  stock  on  both  sides  of  the  family.  His 
father,  Carl  G.,  and  his  mother,  Bertha  (Schroeder) 
Fischer,  were  natives  of  Hamburg,  in  which  place 
they  were  reared  and  married.  They  came  of 
prominent  Hamburg  families,  many  members  of 


which  were  well-known  physicians  and  lawyers, 
and  our  subject  has  in  his  possession  a  fine  gold 
medal  which  was  presented  to  his  maternal  great- 
grandfather Schroeder  for  his  services  while  Maj-or 
of  Hamburg.  His  paternal  grandfather  was  a  re- 
nowned physician  of  Hamburg  and  died  during 
the  terrible  scourge  of  the  "Black  Death."  The 
parents  of  our  subject  remained  in  Hamburg  after 
their  marriage,  where  the  father  is  still  residing, 
and  is  a  prominent  attorney.  He  has  been  twice 
married. 

Our  subject  was  the  only  child  of  his  mother, 
who  died  in  giving  him  birth.  He  was  most  care- 
fully reared  and  educated  in  his  native  city,  re- 
maining there  until  1869,  when  he  decided  to 
come  to  the  United  States,  and  on  reaching  New 
York  came  at  once  to  the  West,  where  he  has  since 
made  his  home.  He  was  here  married  to  Miss 
Kate  F.  Thummel,  who  was  born  and  reared  in 
this  township.  Mrs.  Fischer  is  a  cultured  and  re- 
fined woman,  well  fitted  to  be  the  helpmate  of  her 
worthy  husband.  She  is  a  prominent  member  of 
the  Lutheran  Church.  In  politics  Mr.  Fischer  is 
a  Republican  and  is  interested  in  everything  which 
tends  to  the  upbuilding  of  his  township  and 
county. 


ACOB  EPLA.  Too  much  honor  cannot  be 
paid  to  the  early  pioneers  of  this  county 
who  braved  the  hardships  and  privations  of 
frontier  life  to  build  up  a  home  on  the  rich 
virgin  soil  of  Northern  Illinois,  and  thus  helped 
to  develop  its  great  agricultural  resources,  or  in 
other  ways  contributed  to  its  development.  Jacob 
Epla  is  one  of  that  class,  and  he  holds  a  worthy 
place  in  the  history  of  Wyoming  Township  as  one 
of  its  earliest  settlers  and  most  industrious  farmers, 
who  lias  been  living  on  the  farm  that  he  now 
owns  and  occupies  ever  since  1K45. 

Our  subject  was  born  in  Rockingham  County, 
Ya.,  January  9,  1819.  His  father,  John  Epla,  is 
supposed  to  have  been  a  Virginian  by  birth  also, 
lie  was  a  son  of  Jacob  Epla,  who  during  some 
period  of  the  last  century  was  employed  at  an  iron 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


413 


forge  near  Luray,  Va.,  where  he  spent  the  last 
part  of  his  life.  John  Epla  was  a  shoemaker,  and 
carried  on  his  trade  in  his  native  State  until  1837, 
when  he  removed  to  Ohio  and  passed  his  remain- 
ing days  in  Champaign  County,  that  State.  The 
maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  Elizabeth  Derr,  who 
was  born  in  England  and  died  in  Ohio. 

He  of  whom  this  life  record  is  written  resided 
with  his  father  until  he  attained  the  age  of  twenty 
years  and  six  months,  when  he  gave  his  sire  $30 
for  his  time  and  commenced  life  for  himself  $30  in 
debt.  The  first  six  months  thereafter  he  was  em- 
ployed on  a  farm  at  $10  a  month,  and  he  paid  one- 
half  that  amount  to  his  father.  Although  he  had 
no  capital  with  which  to  begin  his  struggle  with 
the  world,  he  had  what  is  better,  health,  strength, 
industrious  habits,  and  sutticient  resolution  to 
accomplish  whatever  he  tried  to  do,  and  thus 
equipped,  he  went  from  Ohio  to  Vigo  County,  Ind., 
in  1838,  and  sought  and  found  employment  on  a 
farm.  In  1844  he  paid  his  first  visit  to  Lee  County, 
journeying  to  and  from  Vigo  County  with  a  team. 
He  was  favorably  impressed  with  what  he  saw,  and 
in  1845  he  came  again  to  make  a  permanent  settle- 
ment in  this  then  sparsely  settled,  wild  region.  He 
entered  forty  acres  of  Government  land  on  section 
9,  of  what  is  now  Wyoming  Township,  and  at 
once  erected  a  substantial  log  house,  which  was 
the  first  building  ever  put  up  between  Paw  Paw 
and  Malugin's  Grove  on  the  Chicago  <fe  Dixon 
Road. 

Mr.  Epla's  land  being  in  a  wild  state,  with  never 
a  furrow  turned  when  it  came  into  his  possession, 
he  rented  an  improved  tract  the  first  year  of  his  resi- 
dence here.  At  that  time  there  were  but  few  inhab- 
itants throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the 
county,  and  deer,  wolves  and  other  kinds  of  game 
were  abundant,  which  showed  that  the  pioneers 
had  made  but  little  headway  against  the  rude  forces 
of  nature.  The  land  was  nearly  all  owned  by  the 
Government.  The  nearest  mills  were  at  Aurora 
and  Ottawa,  where  the  people  obtained  a  poor 
quality  of  flour  from  the  wheat  that  they  carried 
to  those  points  to  be  ground.  Chicago  was  the 
principal  market,  and  thither  the  farmers  carried 
their  grain,  which  often  sold  at  a  low  rate,  wheat 
bringing  forty  cents  a  bushel.  They  generally 


used  oxen  for  transportation  purposes,  to  do  their 
farming,  and  even  in  making  social  visits,  as  but 
few  were  provided  with  horses,  and  it  would  take 
from  five  to  ten  days  to  make  the  round  trip, 
which  is  now  performed  in  a  few  hours.  Primitive 
machinery  was  used  on  the  farms  and  household 
affairs  were  carried  on  after  old-fashioned  methods. 

The  good  wife  of  our  subject  and  the  other 
pioneer  women  of  that  day  who  so  nobly  helped 
their  husbands,  fathers  and  sons  in  their  labors, 
used  to  cook  appetizing  meals  before  the  fire  in 
the  rude  fireplace  of  olden  times,  and  then-  deft 
hands  wove  the  garments  wherewithal  their  fam- 
ilies were  clothed.  The  life  that  these  early  settlers 
led.  while  it  was  often  one  of  sacrifice,  and  much  was 
lacking  that  they  had  enjoyed  in  their  old  homes, 
yet  had  its  compensations.  The  people,  though 
living  far  apart,  were  drawn  nearer  together  by 
their  common  lot,  were  very  friendly  and  helpful 
towards  each  other,  and  were  true  neighbors  to  all 
who  were  in  trouble,  no  matter  how  great  the  dis- 
tance. Their  hospitality  was  proverbial,  the  "latch 
string  was  always  out,"  and  friend  or  stranger 
rarely  sought  food  and  shelter  without  being  kindly 
welcomed  to  both,  however  humble  the  pioneer 
home. 

Our  subject  still  retains  possession  of  the  old 
homestead  on  which  he  settled  forty -six  years  ago. 
He  has  added  to  his  landed  estate  at  different  times, 
and  at  one  time  had  two  hundred  acres  of  choice 
farming  land.  His  farm  is  well-improved  and  its 
fields  are  under  admirable  tillage,  yielding  abun- 
dant harvests  in  repayment  for  the  care  and  toil 
expended  in  their  cultivation. 

For  these  many  years  the  capable  assistance  and 
companionship  of  a  good  wife  has  made  our  sub- 
ject's life  more  prosperous  and  pleasant.  Mrs. 
Epla  was  formerly  Miss  Catherine  Farnham,  and 
her  union  with  Mr.  Epla  was  solemnized  in  Edgar 
County,  111.  It  has  been  blessed  to  them  by  these 
three  children— Sarah  E.,  wife  of  E.  N.  Babbitt; 
Josiah  T.;  and  Mary  A.,  wife  of  J.  B.  Christie. 

Mr.  Epla  has  witnessed  almost  the  entire  growth 
of  the  county,  and  it  may  well  be  his  pride  that  he 
has  had  a  hand  in  bringing  about  the  great  change 
that  has  been  wrought  since  ho  located  within  its 
borders,  making  it  one  of  the  best  developed  and 


414 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


most  wealthy  counties  in  Northern  Illinois.  When 
a  young'  man  he  was  an  ardent  supporter  of  the 
AVhig  party,  but  he  has  been  a  firm  supporter  of 
Republican  doctrines -since  the  Republicans  came 
into  power.  He  cast  his  first  Presidential  vote  for 
W.  II.  Harrison,  the  old  hero  of  Tippecanoe,  and 
grandfather  of  our  present  President. 

•==*  / 


^,  OBERT  SMITH,  a  retired  fanner  residing 
on  West  Third  Street  in  Dixon,  where  he 
owns  a  lx?autiful  home,  is  numbered  among 
i  the  honored  pioneers  of  the  county  of 
1837.  More  than  half  a  century  has  passed  away 
since  he  here  located.  Almost  the  entire  growth 
of  the  county  has  he  witnessed  and  with  its  devel- 
opment and  upbuilding  has  he  been  prominently 
connected. 

Mr.  Smith  is  a  native  of  the  Highlands  of  Scot- 
land. He  was  born  in  Argyleshire,  in  1822.  and 
comes  of  pure  Scottish  ancestry.  His  grandfather, 
Robert  Smith,  lived  and  died  in  Argyleshire,  and 
in  accordance  with  the  teachings  of  his  forefathers 
was  a  Presbyterian  in  religious  belief.  He  mar- 
ried Miss  McNair,  who  like  him,  had  pure  Scottish 
blood  in  her  veins  and  upon  the  old  homestead  of 
the  Smith  family  she  spent  the  remainder  of  her 
days,  dying  in  -  the  belief  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church.  Unto  them  were  born  seven  children  but 
only  two  ever  came  to  this  country.  Both  settled 
in  Illinois  and  John  Smith,  the  father  of  our  sub- 
ject, spent  his  last  days  in  Lee  County.  His  sister, 
Mrs.  Elizabeth  McNair,  died  in  McDonough 
County,  111.  John  Smith  was  reared  to  farm  life 
and  when  he  had  attained  to  mature  years  was 
married  in  his  native  county  to  Jane  Colville,  who 
was  also  of  pure  Scotch  descent  but  her  people  en- 
gaged in  mercantile  pursuits  while  the  Smith 
family  was  given  to  agriculture.  Five  children 
were  born  to  them  in  their  home  in  the  Highlands, 
after  which  they  bade  good-by  to  their  native  land 
and  in  the  spring  of  1837  crossed  the  Atlantic  to 
America.  On  the  sailing  vessel  the  "Tropic. "they 
left  (ireenough;  after  a  voyage  of  six  weeks  they 


landed  in  New  York,  from  whence  they  came  by 
way  of  the  Erie  Canal  and  the  Lakes  to  Chicago, 
completing  the  journey  overland  by  teams  to  Lee 
County.  From  the  Government  Mr.  Smith  secured 
land  in  what  is  now  Willow  Creek  Township  and 
the  settlement  which  he  there  made  was  the  second 
within  its  borders.  He  developed  a  good  farm, 
upon  which  he  made  his  home  until  his  death, 
which  occurred  in  1863.  He  had  lived  to  see  the 
county  well  improved  and  had  himself  taken  an 
active  part  in  furthering  its  best  interests.  His 
wife  had  died  in  1840,  only  three  years  after  loca- 
ting here.  Another  child  had  been  bom  unto 
them,  the  family  then  numbering  six.  Both  par- 
ents were  members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
and  lived  consistent  earnest  lives.  Three  of  their 
children  are  yet  living.  The  brother  of  our  subject 
is  David  Smith,  a  resident  farmer  of  Willow  Creek 
Township;  and  his  sister  Jane,  widow  of  N.  A. 
Nettleton,  also  resides  in  that  township. 

The  experiences  of  pioneer  life  are  familiar  to 
Robert  Smith.  He  can  recall  the  days  when  the 
county  was  but  sparsely  settled,  when  the  greater 
part  of  the  land  was  still  unimproved  and  the  work 
of  civilization  and  progress  seemed  scarcely  begun. 
He  has  been  an  eye-witness  of  the  wondrous 
changes  which  have  since  worked  a  great  trans- 
formation. His  labors  have  also  aided  in  this  task 
and  he  well  deserves  mention  among  the  found- 
ers of  the  county.  He  was  here  married  to  Miss 
Harriet  Beaisley,  who  was  torn  in  Pennsylvania 
in  1837,  and  at  the  age  of  eighteen  years  came  to 
Illinois.  Her  father,  John  IT.  Beaisley  was  killed 
by  a  train.  Her  mother  is  now  living  in  Wayne. 
Pa.,  at  the  age  of  seventy-five  years.  Unto  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Smith  have  teen  born  a  family  of  children, 
who  in  order  of  birth  are  as  follows:  Ella(i..  the 
eldest,  who  graduated  from  Jennings  Seminary,  is 
now  the  wife  of  Teil  Swarthout,  a  banker  of  Paw 
Paw, 111.;  Bertha  B.  is  the  wife  of  William  Crump- 
ton,  a  real-estate  dealer  of  West  Superior.  Wis.. 
and  Clyde  is  an  attorney -at-law  of  Dixon.  He 
studied  for  his  profession  with  Mayo  <Vr  Whitmer, 
attorneys  of  Ottawa,  111.,  and  was  afterward  grad- 
uated from  the  State  University  of  Michigan. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Smith  are  held  in  high  esteem  by 
many  friends  throughout  this  community.  In 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


415 


politics  he  is  a  Republican,  having  supported  that 
party  since  its  organization,  and  of  its  principles 
is  a  warm  advocate.  In  the  Presbyterian 
Church  he  was  reared,  but  neither  he  nor  his  wife 
are  members.  Mrs.  Smith  attends  the  Congrega- 
tional Church,  but  her  views  are  not  in  accordance 
with  many  of  its  orthodox  principles.  This  worthy 
couple,  who  have  so  long  resided  in  Lee  County, 
have  now  a  pleasant  and  beautiful  home  inDixon, 
which  was  erected  in  1890.  There  they  are  now 
living  a  retired  life  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  fruits 
of  their  former  toil.  Mr.  Smith,  however,  is  still 
the  owner  of  his  fine  large  farm  in  Willow  Creek 
Township,  which  yields  to  him  an  excellent 
income. 


OICHOLA8  D.  STEVENS.  Our  subject  has 
been  very  successful  in  life  as  a  farmer  and 
stock-raiser,  carrying  on  his  vocation  in 
Lee  County,  and,  though  he  still  retains  his  agri- 
cultural interests,  has  accumulated  sufficient  wealth 
to  enable  him  to  retire  from  active  business  in 
season  to  enjoy  his  possessions  ere  the  infirmities 
of  old  age  come  upon  him,  and  he  is  now  occupy- 
ing one  of  the  pleasant  homes  of  the  village  of 
Paw  Paw,  which  he  purchased  when  he  abandoned 
fanning. 

Mr.  Stevens  is  a  native  of  the  town  of  Sterling, 
Wayne  County,  Pa.,  born  August  28,  1835.  His 
father,  who  also  bore  the  given  name  Nicholas, 
was  a  native  of  the  same  place,  for  aught  that  is 
known  to  the  contrary.  The  grandfather  of  our 
subject  was  a  farmer,  and  spent  his  last  years  at 
Sterling.  His  son  Nicholas  was  reared  to  agricul- 
tural pursuits,  and  always  devoted  himself  to 
tilling  the  soil  and  raising  stock.  He  bought  a 
farm  in  Sterling,  which  he  occupied  until  his 
death,  and  was  one  of  the  leading  farmers  of  his 
neighborhood.  He  married  Ann,  daughter  of 
Robert  and  Ann  Catterson,  who  spent  her  last 
years  on  the  home  farm.  She  reared  a  family  of 
eight  children  to  good  and  honorable  lives. 

Our  subject  gained  his  early  education  in  the 
local  district  schools  of  his  native  town,  and  then 


pursued  his  studies  further  at  the  Teachers'  County 
Institute  in  Pennsylvania.  In  1857,  in  the  open- 
ing years  of  a  promising  manhood,  he  came  to 
Illinois,  and  made  his  home  with  his  brother-in- 
law  one  summer,  and  then,  ambitious  to  gain  a  still 
higher  education,  he  entered  the  State  Normal 
School  at  Bloomington,  where  he  pursued  an  excel- 
lent course  of  instruction,  and  was  well  equipped 
for  teaching.  Returning  to  his  native  State  and 
county  in  1859,  he  taught  there  in  the  winter  of 
1859-60.  In  the  spring  of  the  latter  year  he  re- 
turned to  this  county,  having  been  favorably  im- 
pressed with  the  many  advantages  that  it  offers 
for  a  desirable  location,  and  having  previously 
invested  in  eighty  acres  of  land  in  Willow  Creek 
Township.  He  at  once  commenced  his  pioneer 
labors  of  redeeming  it  from  a  state  of  nature,  and 
three  or  four  years  later  bought  another  eighty 
acres  joining  his  first  purchase,  on  which  there  were 
a  small  frame  house  and  a  little  stable  with  a  straw 
roof.  He  subsequently  obtained  possession  of  a 
forty-acre  tract  of  land,  and  now  owns  two  hun- 
dred acres  of  land  of  unsurpassed  fertility,  whose 
value  he  has  greatly  increased  by  the  many  fine 
improvements  that  he  has  placed  upon  it  and  by 
his  skillful  mode  of  cultivation,  as  he  has  a  just 
appreciation  of  the  best  modern  methods  of  ap- 
plying agricultural  principles,  of  which  he  has 
made  himself  master.  He  has  erected  a  neat  and 
handsome  brick  residence,  a  commodious  barn,  and 
his  place  is  adorned  with  many  beautiful  shade 
trees  and  with  various  varieties  of  fruit  trees. 

Mr.  Stevens  occupied  his  farm  until  the  summer 
of  1890,  and  then,  having  bought  an  attractive 
home  in  the  village  of  Paw  Paw,  he  retired  to  it, 
to  spend  his  remaining  years  free  from  business 
cares.  He  has  a  thoughtful  well-trained  mind,  is 
•a  reader  of  good  books,  and  has  a  large  fund  of 
general  knowledge  to  draw  upon  in  conversation, 
or  when  appealed  to  for  information  on  any  and 
every  subject  of  universal  interest.  He  has  always 
been  prominent  in  local  educational  matters,  and 
has  served  as  School  Director  for  many  years.  He 
has  also  been  elected  Justice  of  the  Peace,  this 
being  his  first  term  of  office,  and  he  dispenses 
justice  with  an  even  hand,  deciding  a  case  accord- 
ing to  its  merits,  after  due  deliberation,  and  gen- 


416 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


orally  to  the  satisfaction  of  all  parties  concerned. 
In  him  the  Republican  party  finds  a  loyal  sup- 
porter, lie  was  married  in  April,  1866,  to  Miss 
Rebecca  A.  Barton,  and  of  their  happy  wedded 
life  one  son  has  been  born,  whom  they  named 
Wade  IX,  who  is  now  attending  the  Northwestern 
College  at  Chicago,  where  he  is  studying  medicine. 
Mrs.  Stevens'  parents  were  William  and  Hannah 
(Remington)  Barton,  natives  of  Massachusetts,  who 
emigrated  to  Pennsylvania  in  1836.  The  father 
died  in  1888  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-two. 
The  mother,  who  is  now  eighty-two  years  of  age, 
still  resides  in  Lackawanna  County,  Pa.  In  1865 
Mrs.  Stevens  came  to  Lee  County  and  engaged  in 
school  teaching. 


J    CONRAD  MILLER,  a  native  of  this  county, 
born  October  10,  1865,  in  Brooklyn  Town- 
ship, still  lives  on  the  old  homestead, which  is 
under  his  management.  lie  is  one  of  the  most 
enterprising  stockmen  of  this  part  of  Illinois,  and, 
though  one  of  the  youngest  of  his  class,   is   carry- 
ing on  an  extensive  business  in  buying   and  ship- 
ing  stock,   and  in  raising  high   grade  cattle   and 
standard-bred  horses.     He  bids  fair  to  become  one 
the  foremost    in  his  line   in  this  section  at  no  dis- 
tant day. 

Our  subject  is  a  son  of  Conrad  Miller,  by  whose 
untimely  death  Brooklyn  Township  lost  a  citizen 
who  was  doing  valuable  work  in  its  upbuilding 
by  industriously  developing  a  farm  from  its  orig- 
inal wildness.  lie  was  a  (ierinan  by  birth,  born 
in  Hesse-Darmstadt  in-  August,  1832.  His  father, 
who  bore  the  same  name  as  himself,  and  his  mo- 
ther, Mary  Miller,  were  both  life-long  residents  of 
Hesse-Darmstadt.  The  father  of  our  subject  was 
reared  on  a  farm,  and  obtained  his  education  in 
the  schools  of  his  native  land.  He  continued  to 
live  in  the  Old  Country  until  1858,  when,  ambitious 
to  try  life  on  American  soil,  he  started  for  this 
country,  setting  sail  from  Havre  in  May,  and 
landing  in  New  York  City  in  .Inly,  after  a  voyage 
of  seven  necks,  lie  immediately  came  to  Illinois, 
and  located  at  Perkins  drove,  Lee  County. 


A  stranger  in  a  strange  land,  and  without  cap- 
ital with  which  to  begin  his  new  life,  Mr.  Miller. 
Sr.  had  strength  and  courage,  and  went  to  work 
with  a  good  will  as  a  farmer  on  rented  land.  He 
was  thus  engaged  for  eight  years,  and  during  that 
time  invested  some  of  the  money  that  lie  thus 
made,  in  an  eighty-acre  tract  of  land  on  section  25. 
Brooklyn  Township,  which  formed  the  nucleus  of 
the  tine  large  farm  now  owned  by  his  family. 
Forty-five  acres  of  the  land  were  broken,  and  the 
remainder  was  in  its  original  wild  condition,  the 
whole  costing  him  $25  an  acre.  He  moved 
a  house  to  his  homestead,  and  lived  and 
labored  upon  it  until  death  stayed  his  hand  .lime 
9,  1867,  while  he  was  yet  in  the  prime  of  life. 

Mr.  Miller  was  not  married  until  shortly  after 
he  came  to  this  county,  and  here  he  was  wedded 
August  15,  1858,  to  Katherina  Sinner,  a  country- 
woman of  his  who  had  crossed  the  waters  in  the 
same  ship  that  had  borne  him  hither,  and  he 
found  in  her  a  true  helpmate,  who  cheerfully  shared 
with  him  the  burdens  Of  pioneer  life.  Mrs.  Miller 
was  born  March  19,  1841,  and  is  a  daughter 
of  Conrad  and  Anna  Maria  Sinner,  who  were  also 
natives  of  Hesse-Darmstadt. 

By  the  death  of  her  husband  the  mother  of  our 
subject  was  left  a  widow  with  two  sons,  Philip  and 
Conrad,  to  care  for.  and  a  farm  only  partly  im- 
proved to  look  after.  And  well  did  she  do  her 
part,  training  her  sons  to  a  self-reliant,  honor- 
able manhood,  so  that  they  have  become  valuable 
citizens  of  their  respective  communities.  Philip, 
the  elder,  who  was  but  five  and  a  half  years  old 
when  his  father  died,  developed  a  decided  taste 
for  the  mercantile  business,  and  is  now  prosper- 
ously engaged  in  the  sale  of  hardware  and  agricul- 
tural implement*  at  Chadwick,  in  Carroll  County, 
lie  is  married,  and  has  three  children — Lina  M., 
Cora  and  Lloyd  Conrad.  The  mother  of  our  subject 
when  left  to  her  own  resources  by  the  removal  of 
the  head  of  the  household,  displayed  a  marked 
aptitude  for  managing  affairs  in  a  business-like 
way.  Possessing  much  force  of  character,  intelli- 
gence, and  thrift,  under  her  vigilant  care  every- 
thing about  the  place  throve,  the  fields  were  placed 
under  admirable  tillage,  improvi-mi-nts  of  a  good 
class  were  constantly  being  made,  and  when  at  last 


(HE  . 

;••••,••.;• 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


419 


she  was  able  to  yield  up  the  charge  of  the  farm  to 
her  son.  and  lay  down  the  burden  so  long  and  so 
bravely  bOrne,  she  had  the  satisfaction  of  knowing 
that  her  work  had  been  well  performed,  and  that 
the  old  homestead  left  her  hand  in  a  fine  condi- 
tion. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  reared  and  edu- 
cated in  Brooklyn  Township,  and  for  the  past  ten 
years  has  had  charge  of  the  farm  where  he  has  al- 
ways lived,  entering  upon  his  career  as  a  farmer 
when  scarcely  more  than  a  boy,  and  even  at  that 
early  age  he  evinced  a  decided  talent  for  the  busi- 
ness he  has  since  so  successfully  pursued,  and  a 
capability  for  judicious  management  not  often 
found  in  one  so  young.  He  has  dealt  quite  ex- 
tensively in  stock,  buying  and  shipping  and  also 
raising  stock.  A  view  of  the  old  homestead  is 
presented  in  connection  with  this  sketch.  The 
farm,  which  now  contains  upward  of  four  hundred 
acres,  is  well  adapted  to  stock-raising  purposes,  and 
is  well  stocked  with  high  grade  Short-horn  cattle 
and  standard  bred  horses.  His  favorites  in  horses 
are  the  Norman  and  Clydesfor  draft  horses,  while 
for  driving  horses  he  prefers  the  Wilkes  strain  of 
the  Ilambletonian  breed.  He  has  several  fine  step- 
pers as  well  as  some  first-class  draft  horses,  and  he 
is  the  fortunate  owner  of  the  famous  stallion 
"Star  W.  K.,"son  of  "Alkantara"  with  a  record  of 
2:23. 


"7f  NDREW  A.  RICHARDSON,  although  of 
&/  I  foreign  birth,  lias  passed  the  most  of  his  life 

jl  *  in  this  country,  being  the  son  of  a  pioneer 
f^jl  in  an  adjoining  county,  and  he  is  now 
classed  among  the  most  intelligent  and  progressive 
of  the  farmers  and  stock-raisers  that  form  so  im- 
portant a  part  in  the  population  of  Lee  County. 
He  has  a  good  sized,  finely  equipped,  well  managed 
farm  in  Alto  Township. 

Mr.  Richardson  was  born  near  Stavenger,  Nor- 
way, January  <>,  1841,  and  is  a  son  of  Andrew 
Richardson,  a  retired  farmer  of  La  Salle  County, 
who  was  born  in  the  Mime  locality  as  himself,  passed 
his  early  life  in  the  land  of  his  birth,  and  in  due 


time  was  married  to  Ingen  Reiberland,  also  a  native 
of  that  region.  In  184(5,  considering  that  he  could 
do  better  for  himself  and  give  his  family  better 
opportunities  in  the  United  States  of  America,  he 
set  sail  with  his  wife  and  eight  children  from  Stav- 
enger, in  the  month  of  April,  in  a  ship  bound  for 
these  shores,  and  eleven  weeks  later  landed  in  New 
York.  He  came  directly  from  that  city  to  Illinois, 
journeying  by  the  Hudson  River  and  Erie  Canal 
to  Buffalo,  and  thence  by  the  great  lakes  to  Chicago, 
where  he  arrived  two  weeks  later.  From  that  city 
he  made  his  way  to  La  Salle  County,  and  as  he  had 
some  means,  he  wisely  invested  in  eighty  acres  of 
wild  prairie  at  once,  his  land  lying  near  the  village 
of  Norway.  His  first  work  was  to  build  a  log 
house,  and  he  then  began  to  prepare  his  land  for 
cultivation.  Four  years  later,  he  sold  that  place 
and,  moving  to  Leland,  bought  a  place  near  that 
village.  He  resided  on  it  some  years,  was  much 
prospered  in  his  farming  operations,  and  finally 
rented  his  farm  and  retired  to  the  village  of  Le- 
land, where  he  is  living  in  the  enjoyment  of  a 
competency,  well  earned  by  industry  and  excellent 
management.  The  faithful  wife  who  accompanied 
him  across  the  waters  and  helped  him  to  found  a 
new  home  in  this  country  has  departed  this  life, 
dying  in  1883.  These  five  of  their  children  grew 
to  maturity:  Richard,  Isabelle,  Ann,  Andrew  A. 
and  Ole. 

He  of  whom  these  lines  are  written  was  so  young 
when  he  came  to  America  that  he  remembers  but 
little  of  his  early  home,  and  is  a  patriotic  citizen 
of  the  country  of  his  adoption,  under  whose  insti- 
tutions he  was  reared  to  an  intelligent  and  vigor- 
ous manhood.  At  the  time  the  family  settled  in 
Illinois,  the  whole  northern  part  of  the  State  was 
still  mostly  in  its  primitive  condition,  with  deer, 
wolves,  wild  turkeys  and  other  game  very  plenti- 
ful where  are  now  beautiful  farms  and  thriving 
towns.  The  scattered  settlements  were  but  sparsely 
inhabited;  there  were  no  railways,  and  for  years 
Ottawa  was  the  chief  market,  although  the  people 
occasionally  carried  their  grain  to  Chicago. 

Our  subject  attended  school  whenever  opportu- 
nity offered,  and  assisted  in  the  labors  of  the  farm 
during  his  youth.  He  remained  an  inmate  of  the 
parental  home  until  he  attained  his  majority,  and 


420 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


then  began  life  as  a  farmer  on  rented  land  in  La 
Salle  County.  In  1870  he  came  to  Lee  County, 
and  invested  some  of  the  money  he  had  thus 
earned  in  a  quarter  of  a  section  of  land  in  Alto 
Township,  which  is  included  in  his  present  farm. 
Me  farmed  with  good  profit,  bought  other  tracts  of 
land  from  time  to  time,  and  now  has  three  hun- 
dred and  forty-seven  acres  of  as  fine  land  as  can 
be  found  in  the  township.  He  has  placed  it  all 
under  excellent  cultivation,  has  erected  neat 
buildings,  and  everything  about  the  place  is  in- 
dicative of  good  care  and  of  modern  methods  of 
farming. 

Mr.  Richardson  was  married  in  1862  to  Miss 
Elsie  Nelson,  who  was  born  in  La  Salle  County,  of 
Norwegian  parents.  She  died  in  March,  1876, 
leaving  five  children:  Carrie,  Ellen,  Rebecca, 
Amos  and  Frank.  The  second  marriage  of  our 
subject,  which  took  place  in  1886,  was  with  Miss 
Laura  Iverson,  a  native  of  Norway,  and  to  them 
have  been  born  two  children,  Lyman  and  Hiram. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Richardson  are  members  in  high 
standing  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and 
are  regarded  as  among  our  best  people,  their  traits 
of  character  being  such  as  to  win  them  friendship 
and  true  respect  from  their  associates.  In  politics 
Mr.  Richardson  is  a  sturdy  Republican. 


PAVID  B.  AYRES,  who  is  conducting  a  good 
business  at  Dixon  as  a  manufacturer  of  har- 
ness,  has    been  a    resident    of  this  county 
since  he  was  a  child,  and  is  a  son   of   one   of    its 
pioneer  merchants  and   preachers,    the  Rev.  Oscar 
F.  Ayres,  who  was  well  known  throughout  North- 
ern Illinois  not  only  as  a  business  man,  but  for  his 
untiring   efforts    in    the   cause   of     religion    and 
morality. 

Our  subject  was  born  in  Albany,  N.  Y.,  April 
29,  1833,  and  his  father  was  born  in  Orange 
"County,  the  same  State  in  1809.  The  latter  was  a 
son  of  Benjamin  F.  and  Christiana  (Minthorn) 
Ayres,  who  were  respectively  of  Scotch  and  Ger- 
man descent.  Hi'  was  reared  on  a  farm  and  later 


learned  the  trade  of  a  merchant  tailor,  which  he 
followed  in  Albany  for  a  time.  In  1831  he  re- 
moved to  Fabius,  Onondaga  County,  and  con- 
tinued in  the  same  business  there  until  183!).  In 
the  fall  of  that  year  he  came  to  I llinois  with  his 
family,  journeying  by  Erie  Canal  to  Buffalo,  and 
thence  by  the  Great  Lakes  to  Chicago,  which  was 
then  but  an  insignilicaut  village.  His  father-in- 
law  met  them  at  that  point  with  a  team  and  trans- 
ported the  family  and  household  goods  to  Lee 
County.  They  found  this  to  be  a  wild,  sparsely 
settled  region,  where  deer,  wolves  and  other  wild 
animals  roamed  at  pleasure  over  the  prairies  and 
through  the  timber,  and  even  across  the  very  site 
where  Dixon  stands  to-day  a  beautiful  and  flour- 
ishing city.  For  several  years  after  the  family 
located  at  Dixon  there  were  no  railways  in  this 
part  of  the  country,  and  the  farmers  had  to  take 
their  grain  to  Chicago  to  market.  Wheat  sold  at 
a  low  price,  and  some  times  when  the  roads  were 
bad  they  did  not  get  enough  for  their  grain  to  pay 
the  expense  of  the  trip.  Many  of  the  settlers  used 
oxen  both  for  their  farm  work  and  for  transporting 
their  products  to  market. 

The  fust  winter  after  their  arrival  the  family 
occupied  the  garret  of  a  log  house  at  Inlet  Grove 
near  Lee  Centre.  In  pleasant  weather  the  mother 
did  her  cooking  outside  in  an  old  Dutch  oven. 
The  spring  of  1840  they  removed  to  Dixon,  and 
the  father  followed  his  trade  here  for  a  time,  and 
also  kept  a  general  stock  of  almost  everything  in 
use  in  a  household  in  those  days.  He  continued 
actively  engaged  in  the  mercantile  business  for 
upwards  of  thirty  years,  but  finally  sold  out  and 
turned  his  attention  to  the  fire  insurance  business. 
He  resided  here  until  his  death  at  a  venerable  age 
in  1886.  He  had  lived  to  sec  the  country  de- 
veloped from  a  wilderness  to  a  well  settled  county, 
and  Dixon  from  a  hamlet  to  a  populous  and 
wealtliv  city.  He  was  a  Christian  of  lofty  prin- 
ciple, and  having  been  converted  in  early  life  was 
licensed  to  preach  in  the  Methodist  Church  while  a 
resident  of  New  York.  After  coming  here  he  was 
regularly  ordained  in  1H45,  and  from  that  time 
forth  did  a  noble  work  in  the  ministry  during  his 
active  life.  He  often  filled  the  pulpit  acceptably  in 
Dixon  and  in  various  places  in  the  surrounding 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


421 


county,  always  holding  himself  in  readiness  to 
Mipply  any  vacancy.  By  the  right  of  his  sacred 
calling  he  performed  many  marriage  ceremonies, 
and  officiated  at  funerals,  etc.  lie  was  widely 
known  and  much  respected,  and  his  death  was 
deeply  regretted  by  the  entire  community. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Ayrcswas  married  in  March,  1831, 
to  Miss  Hannah  M.  Birdsall,  who  survives  him, 
and  still  makes  her  home  in  Dixon.  She  was  born 
in  the  State  of  New  York  seventy -eight  years  ago, 
and  is  a  daughter  of  David  H.  Birdsall,  one  of  the 
early  pioneers  of  Lee  County.  Six  of  her  children 
are  now  living,  namely:  James  B.,  who  is  a  travel- 
ing salesman,  representing  the  Rockford  Shoe  Co., 
with  headquarters  at  St.  Louis;  Elizabeth  J.,  Mrs. 
Bowman,  of  Mt.  Vernon,  Iowa;  Hattie  E.,  Mrs. 
Crawford,  of  Clinton,  Iowa;  Emma  J.,  a  resident 
of  Helena,  Mont.;  Mary  M.,  Mrs.  Snow,  of  Helena, 
Mont. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  but  six  years  old 
when  he  came  to  Illinois  with  his  parents,  and  he 
was  reared  under  pioneer  influences  in  this  county. 
He  remembers  many  instances  of  the  journey 
hither  and  of  the  primitive  life  led  by  the  people  in 
this  then  wild  and  thinly  inhabited  country.  He 
attended  the  early  schools  of  Dixon,  and  in  his 
boyhood  assisted  in  his  father's  store.  At  the  age 
of  seventeen  he  began  to  learn  the  trade  of  a  har- 
ness-maker, serving  an  apprenticeship  of  nearly 
three  years'  duration.  Ambitious  to  improve  his 
education,  he  then  entered  a  select  school  at  Lee 
Centre,  taught  by  Prof.  Wright,  a  most  excellent 
teachei ,  and  he  had  the  advantage  of  two  years' 
study  under  his  instruction.  After  leaving  school 
he  clerked  in  his  father's  store  two  years,  and  then 
accepted  a  similar  position  in  the  establishment  of 
Wood  &  Boardman,  with  whom  he  remained  eight 
years.  At  the  expiration  of  that  time  he  removed 
to  his  father-in-law's  farm  and  tried  his  hand  at 
fanning.  Three  years  later  he  abandoned  agricul- 
tural pursuits,  and  returning  to  Dixon,  then  began 
for  the  first  time  to  make  practical  use  of  his  trade 
by  opening  a  harness  shop,  and  he  has  ever  since 
been  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  harness,  and 
enjoys  an  extensive  trade. 

Mr.  Ayros  \v;is  fortunate  in  his  selection  of  a  life 
companion,  as  by  hi*  marriage  in  August,  1858  to 


Miss  Sarah  J.  Perry,  he  secured  a  truly  estimable 
wife.  Mrs.  Ayres  is  a  native  of  Vermont,  and  a 
daughter  of  Hillard  II.  and  Amelia  Perry.  Her 
union  with  our  subject  has  brought  them  two  chil- 
dren—Minnie M.,  who  married  Charles  W.  Allen, 
of  Omaha;  and  Oscar  P.,  married  Lillian  Coffey,  he 
is  a  traveling  salesman,  representing  a  cloth  house 
at  Omaha,  and  makes  his  home  in  Hastings,  Neb. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ayres  are  devoted  Christian  people, 
who  enjoy  the  confidence  and  affection  of  the  en- 
tire community  where  so  many  years  of  their  lives 
have  been  pleasantly  passed,  and  in  them  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  has  two  of  its  best 
working  members.  Mr.  Ayres  is  a  member  of 
Friendship  Lodge,  No.  7,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  and  also 
of  the  Modern  Woodmen  of  America.  He  is  a 
Democrat,  sound  and  true  in  his  political  views. 
His  assistance  has  been  sought  in  the  management 
of  the  city  government,  and  during  the  two  years 
that  he  served  in  the  City  Council  he  was  always 
to  be  found  on  the  side  of  the  right  in  any  ques- 
tion of  public  importance,  and  has  always  cheer- 
fully given  his  support  to  all  feasible  plans  for 
municipal  improvement. 


VERY  MERRIMAN,  who  was  a  brave  sol- 
i  Curing  the  Civil  War,  is  a  son  of  an 
early  settler  of  Paw  Paw,  and  for  several 
years  has  been  an  important  member  of 
the  farming  community  of  this  county,  and  owns 
and  successfully  manages  a  fine  farm  in  Wyoming 
Township.  He  was  born  in  Greauga  County,  Ohio, 
February  2,  1846,  and  is  the  son  of  Peter  and 
Mary  Merriman,  natives  of  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio 
respectively. 

The  father  of  our  subject  learned  the  trade  of  a 
carpenter,  and  removing  to  Ohio  carried  it  on  in 
Geauga  County  for  some  years.  In  the  fall  of 
1846,  he  came  to  Illinois,  as  he  shrewdly  foresaw 
that  in  this  newly-settled  region  skillful  mechanics 
|  would  be  in  demand.  He  was  accompanied  by  his 
wife  and  four  children,  as  well  as  by  several  other 
families,  and  traveled  by  the  most  expeditious 
mode  of  those  days,  which  was  with  team. 


422 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


The  first  location  of  the  family  was  at  Shabbona  I   He  was  married  in  December,    1868,   to   Josephine 

Grove,  where  they  lived  close  by  the  Indians  for  two  Potter,  a  native  of  Wayne  County,    Pa.,   and    the 

years,  and  two  years  later  they  came    to  Paw  Paw,  daughter  of  Lester  and  Miranda  Potter,   of    whom 

and  became  among  the   earliest   settlers.     A   store  j   see  sketch  elsewhere.     They  arc  the  parents  of  five 

and  blacksmith  shop,  and    one  or  two  habitations  children:  Albert,  Lovancha,  Josie,  All ie  and  Char- 


in  Paw  Paw,  were  the  only  indications  of  a  village 
at  that  early  day.  Mr.  Merriman  bought  land, 
erected  a  house  for  himself  and  family,  and  was 
prosperously  engaged  at  his  trade  until  1877.  He 
then  removed  to  Wayne  County,  Neb.,  and,  buy- 
ing a  farm,  devoted  his  attention  to  its  cultivation 
until  he  died,  in  1880. 

The  maiden  name  of  the  mother  of  our  subject 
was  Mary  French,  and  she  was  born  in  Geauga 
County,  Ohio,  her  parents  being  Avery  and  Eliza- 
beth French.  Her  death  occurred  in  Paw  Paw  in 
1863.  She  was  the  mother  of  eight  children,  as  fol- 
lows: Milton;  Orlina;  Melissa,  who  died  in  infancy; 
Sidney,  who  served  in  Company  K,  Seventy-fifth 
Illinois  Infantry,  during  the  late  war  and  died 
while  bravely  fighting  in  the  battle  of  Stone 


lie  A. 


AMUEL  C.  EELLS  has  made  Dixon  his  home 
for  many  years,  occupying  an  honorable 
place  among  its  leading  business  men,and  for 
thirty-eight  years  has  been  connected  witli 
its  banking  interests,  assisting  in  the  organization 
of  the  Lee  County  National  Bank,  and  acting  as 
its  Cashier  until  its  charter  expired  and  it  was 
merged  into  the  City  National  Bank,  with  the 
same  list  of  officers,  and  he  still  retains  his  old 
position. 

Our    subject  first  saw  the  light  in  the  town  of 


River;  Avery;  Marcus,   who   died    at    the    age   of    I   Walton,  Delaware  County,  N.  Y.,  March  19,    1822. 


fourteen;  Henry  and  Arthur. 

Avery    Merriman    was    a    mere    infant    when 


His   father,  Nathaniel  (i.   Eells,  was  born  in  Cin- 
cinnati in  1800,  his  birthplace  being  in  the   town 


brought  by  his    parents    to    Illinois,   and    he    was       of  New  Canaan.     He  in  turn  was  a  son  of  Samuel 


reared  in  Paw  Paw.  When  the  Rebellion  broke 
out  and  threatened  destruction  to  the  Union,  he 
watched  its  course  witli  intense  boyish  enthusiasm 


Eells,  who  was  also  a  native  of  that  New  England 
State,  and  was  descended  from  one  of  the  old 
Colonial  families  that  had  crossed  the  Atlantic  to 


and  in  1864  volunteered  for  service   and    was   ac-   |   found  anew  home  on  these  shores.  The  grandfather 
cepted,  his  name  being   enrolled  as   a   member    of       of  our  subject  was  an  independent  farmer,  and  for 


Company  K,  Seventy-fifth  Illinois  Infantry.  He 
joined  his  regiment  at  Nashville,  Tenn.,  in  time  to 
take  part  in  the  battle  between  Thomas  and  Hood, 
and  afterward  followed  the  retreating  army  to 
Iluntsville,  Ala.,  where  his  regiment  was  stationed 
until  the  spring  of  1865.  Then  returning  to 
Nashville,  he  was  sent  to  New  Orleans  and  from 
there  to  St.  Louis,  where  he  was  honorably  dis- 
charged in  November,  1865. 

When  Mr.  Merriman  returned  to  Paw  Paw,  after 


several  years  was  engaged  in  his  calling  in  his  na- 
tive town  and  in  the  town  of  Canaan.  In  1800  he 
left  the  latter  place  and,  making  his  way  to  New 
York,  became  a  pioneer  of  Delaware  County.  He 
leased  a  tract  of  heavily  timbered  land,  cleared  a 
farm,  and  was  a  resident  of  Walton  until  his 
death.  His  wife  also  died  at  Walton.  Her  maiden 
name  was  Hannah  (' rev,  and  she  was  a  native  of 
Connecticut. 

Nathaniel  Eells  was  reared  to  the  life  of  a  farmer, 


his  experience  in  army  life,  he  sought  employment       and  after  he  attained  his  majority  he  adopted  that 


as  a  farm  hand,  and  was  thus  engaged  by  the 
month  for  two  seasons.  Afterward  he  conducted 
farming  operations  as  a  renter,  and  then  bought 
the  farm  where  he  now  resides,  purchasing  eighty 
acres  at  first  and  adding  to  it  until  he  now  owns 


vocation,  and  also  engaged  in  the  lumber  business. 
His  career  was  cut  short  by  his  untimely  death 
while  yet  in  the  prime  of  early  manhood,  and  his 
community  lost  a  citizen  who  would  undoubtedly 
have  been  a  potent  factor  in  its  upbuilding,  as  he 


two  hundred  and  eighty  acres  of    well-tilled    land.        had    displayed    :m    enterprising    spirit    and    keen 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


business  capacity  in  the  few  years  in  which  he  was 
engaged  in  business.  He  had  married  when  quite 
3-oung,  taking  as  his  wife  Betty  St.  John,  who  was 
born  in  Connecticut  in  1800,  and  was  a  daughter 
of  Cook  and  Polly  (Seymour)  St.  John,  who  were 
natives  of  Connecticut  and  pioneers  of  Delaware 
County.  By  her  husband's  death  she  was  left  in 
straightened  circumstances  witli  four  children  to 
care  for.  She  returned  to  her  father's  home,  and 
lived  with  him  some  years.  She  then  went  to  re- 
side with  her  daughter  in  Walton,  and  died  there 
in  1878.  She  was  the  mother  of  these  four  chil- 
dren: Hannah,  wife  of  Henry  Fancher;  Samuel 
C.;  Ann,  who  married  Jetur  Gardiner;  and  Nathan- 
iel G. 

Our  subject  passed  his  boyhood  on  a  farm,  and 
as  soon  as  large  enough  had  to  assist  in  the  work 
of  carrying  it  on.  He  received  his  early  education 
in  the  district  schools  of  his  native  county,  and 
afterward  attended  Delaware  Academy,  where  he 
made  rapid  progress  in  his  studies,  and  was  so 
well  advanced  by  the  time  he  was  sixteen  years 
old  that  he  was  amply  qualified  to  teach,  and  en- 
tered upon  the  duties  of  that  profession.  He  made 
his  home  with  his  grandfather  and  uncle  until  he 
was  sixteen  years  old.  At  nineteen  years  of  age  he 
accepted  a  position  as  clerk  in  a  general  store  at 
Walton,  and  was  employed  in  that  capacity  the 
most  of  the  time  until  1854.  In  that  year  he  came 
to  Dixon,  which  was  then  a  flourishing  village  of 
about  two  hundred  inhabitants,  but  without  any 
railway  communication  with  the  outside  world. 
Mr.  Eells  at  once  entered  the  employ  of  Robertson, 
Eastman  &  Co.,  bankers,  as  an  accountant.  In 
1855  Mr.  Eastman  withdrew  from  the  company, 
and  our  subject  stepped  into  his  place  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  firm,  which  assumed  the  title  of  Robert- 
son, Eells  &.  Co.  In  1859  another  change  was 
made,  and  the  business  was  henceforth  carried  on 
under  the  firm  name  of  Eells  &  Coleman  until 
1865,  when  they  helped  to  organize  the  Lee  County 
National  Bank,  of  which  Joseph  Crawford  was 
elected  President,  and  he  himself  was  appointed 
Cashier,  and  John  Coleman  assistant  Cashier. 
He  held  that  responsible  position  until  the  charter 
of  the  bank  expired  in  1885,  at  which  time  the  City 
National  Bank  was  organized  with  the  same  list  of 


officers  that  had  made  the  old  bank  so  successful. 
At  the  death  of  President  Crawford,  Mr.  Eells  was 
made  President  in  1891.  By  his  course  as  Cashier 
of  this  institution  he  has  been  very  helpful  in 
making  it  one  of  the  leading  monetary  establish- 
ments in  this  section  of  Illinois,  and  his  connection 
with  it  enhances  the  confidence  of  the  people  in  its 
stability,  so  well  do  they  understand  and  appre- 
ciate the  honest  and  straightforward  nature  of  one 
who  has  walked  among  them  uprightly  and  with 
spotless  reputation  for  so  many  3'ears. 

Mr.  Eells  was  married  in  1854  to  Miss  Anna 
More,  and  they  have  a  cheerful,  attractive  home, 
whose  pleasant  hospitalities  are  well  known  to  their 
man}'  friends  and  acquaintances,  and  no  stranger 
enters  their  door  who  does  not  receive  a  kindly, 
courteous  welcome.  Mrs.  Eells  is  a  native  of  the 
same  county  in  New  York  as  her  husband,  her 
birthplace  being  in  the  town  of  Delhi.  She  is  a 
daughter  of  Henry  and  Betsy  A.  (Farrington) 
More,  natives  of  New  England.  Her  marriage 
with  our  subject  has  brought  to  them  these  three 
children:  Caroline  W.;  Anna,  wife  of  Charles  C. 
I'pham,  of  Salt  Lake  City,  and  Bessie. 

Mr.  Eells  and  his  family  are  among  the  leading 
members  of  St.  Luke's  Episcopal  Church,  and  he 
has  been  a  vestryman  for  many  years.  He  was 
formerly  a  Whig  in  politics,  but  has  been  a  stanch 
Republican  ever  since  the  formation  of  the  party. 


ILLIAM  J.  M<  ALPINE  is  one  of  the  lead- 
ing contractors  and  builders  of  Northern 
Illinois,  with  his  home  at  Dixon,  and  he  is 
conducting  a  large  business  that  extends  not  only 
to  adjacent  counties,  but  even  beyond  the  limits 
of  the  State.  He  is  a  native  of  Ashtabula  County, 
Ohio,  and  was  bom  August  15,  1852.  His  father, 
Dr.  Lemuel  McAlpine,  a  retired  physician,  now 
residing  in  Aurora,  was  lx>rn  in  Litchfield,  Ct., 
and  was  reared  amid  the  pleasant  scenes  of  his 
birth.  He  was  well  educated,  and  fitted  himself 
for  the  profession  of  medicine.  He  commenced  to 
practice  in  the  State  of  New  York,  but  subsequently 


424 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


returned  to  Ashtabula,  Ohio,  where  he  was  actively 
engaged  in  his  vocation  until  1853.  He  then 
came  to  Illinois,  and  settling  in  De  Kalh  County, 
bought  land,  and  turned  his  attention  to  agricul- 
tural pursuits  for  a  few  years.  Since  that  time 
he  has  lived  in  retirement  in  the  city  of  Aurora. 
He  was  happily  married  in  early  life  to  Miss  Sarah 
Price,  a  native  of  the  State  of  New  York. 

The  subject  of  this  brief  sketch  attended  the 
district  schools  of  De  Kalb  County  in  his  boyhood, 
became  a  student  at  the  High  School  at  Sycamore, 
and  on  the  removal  of  the  family  to  Aurora  was 
admitted  to  the  High  School  of  that  city,  in  which 
institution  of  learning  lie  completed  his  education, 
as  far  as  mero  book  knowledge  was  concerned.  He 
had  a  decided  taste  for  mechanics,  and  in  1869  he 
began  to  cultivate  his  talents  in  that  direction  by 
learning  the  trade  of  a  carpenter  at  Aurora,  giving 
eighteen  months  of  his  time  to  acquiring  a  thorough 
knowledge  of  the  calling. 

In  1875,  after  considerable  experience  in  car- 
pentering, Mr.  McAlpine  entered  upon  his  success- 
ful career  as  a  contractor  at  Sycamore.  He  soon 
acquired  a  good  reputation  as  a  builder  who  ful- 
filled his  contracts  to  the  letter,  and  for  the  finish, 
durability  and  solidity  of  his  work,  which  left  noth- 
ing to  be  desired  in  his  buildings,  which  were  com- 
pleted in  exact  accordance  with  the  plans  and  terms 
of  agreement.  As  he  became  known,  his  business  in- 
creased, and  he  was  able  to  compete  with  older  con- 
tractors in  the  same  line,  orders  coming  to  him  in 
other  counties  as  well  as  this,  and  now  he  makes  con- 
tracts for  buildings  in  various  parts  of  Illinois,  and 
even  in  SouthernWisconsin.  In  1888,  he  removed  to 
Dixon,  as  a  more  convenient  location,  and  has 
since  had  his  office  and  home  here. 

Mr.  McAlpine  was  first  married  in  1877  to  Miss 
Martha  Manning,  a  native  of  De  Kalb  County.  III., 
who  died  in  1886.  The  second  marriage  of  our 
subject,  which  took  place  in  1888,  was  with  Miss 
Bertha  German,  of  Lacon,  111.  Their  home  was  at 
the  Nachusa  House,  of  Dixon,  and  when  any  of 
their  mutual  friends,  or  any  of  the  acquaintances 
or  friends  that  Mr.  McAlpine  has  made  through 
his  business  connections  or  in  a  social  way,  visited 
them,  they  carried  away  with  them  a  pleasing 
remembrance  of  the  hospitalities  that  they  enjoyed 


at  the  hands  of  the  host  and  hostess.  Mrs.  Bertha 
McAlpine  passed  from  this  earth  in  February.  1892. 
Our  subject  is  popular  as  a  member  of  the  follow- 
ing societies:  Sycamore  Lodge,  A.  F.  <V-  A.  M.: 
Sycamore  Chapter,  R.  A.  M.;  Sycamore  Council. 
R.  it  S.  M.;  Sycamore  Commander}-,  K.  T.;  and 
A.  A.  O.  N.  M.  S.,  Medinah  Temple,  Chicago.  In 
politics,  he  gives  his  allegiance  to  the  Republican 
party. 


AMFS  P.  GOODRICH,  deceased,  was  born 
at  Barry,  Vt.,  among  the  Green  Mountains. 
October  14,  1849,  and  was  descended  from 
an  old  New  England  family  of  prominence 
:  in  his  native  State.  The  family  came  originally 
from  Scotland,  where  they  owned  a  castle  and  were 
influential  citizens.  The  father'  of  our  subject, 
Samuel  Goodrich,  was  born  in  Barry,  Yt.,  May  7, 
1816,  and  died  at  Massena,  St.  Lawrence  County, 
N.  Y.,  June  21,  1887.  Throughout  his  life  he 
seemed  doomed  to  meet  accident  in  one  form  or 
another  and  suffered  much  from  injuries  sustained. 
For  many  years  he  was  in  poor  health  and  at  length 
died  of  heart  disease.  After  leaving  the  Green 
Mountain  State  and'  coming  West,  he  resided  in 
Pine  Creek,  Ogle  County,  Dixon,  and  in  Pal- 
myra Township,  Lee  County,  and  thence  he  moved 
to  New  York,  where  they  died.  He  was  a  consis- 
tent member  of  the  Methodist  Church  and  a  He- 
publican  in  politics.  A  short  time  before  his  death 
he  published  a  little  volume  of  poems,  many  of 
which  possessed  considerable  merit.  Throughout 
the  community  in  which  he  resided  he  was  held  in 
high  esteem  as  a  man  of  sterling  worth  and  un- 
blemished character. 

Mr.  Goodrich  was  twice  married.  He  first  wedded 
Charlotte  Perry,  of  Plainfield,  Vt.,  who  while  on  a 
visit  to  her  old  home  in  the  Green  Mountain  State, 
died  at  the  age  of  fifty-three  years.  She  was  a 
member  of  the  Baptist  Church  and  an  active  worker 
for  the  interests  of  all  that  tended  to  benefit  human- 
ity. The  second  wife  of  Mr.  Goodrich  bore  the 
name  of  Mrs.  Phoebe  Dutton.  She  still  survives 
him  and  is  now  living  in  St.  Lawrence  County, 
N.  Y. 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


•I2;-, 


The  first  seventeen  years  of  his  life  James  Good- 
rich spent  among  the  mountains  of  his  native 
State,  where  he  began  his  education  in  an  academy, 
completing  his  school  life  in  Mt.  Morris,  111. 
Arriving  at  an  age  when  he  must  choose  a  life 
work,  he  determined  to  engage  in  farming  and 
was  a  prominent  and  progressive  agriculturist  of 
this  community.  His  lalx>rs  were  not  without 
their  reward,  and  as  a  result  of  his  industry  and 
pei-severance  he  became  owner  of  a  fine  farm  of 
one  hundred  and  ninety-five  acres,  to  which  his 
widow  has  added  since  his  death  until  now  within 
its  boundary  is  comprised  a  two  hundred  and 
thirteen  acre  tract  which  yields  a  golden  tribute. 
Mr.  Goodrich  ever  took  an  active  interest  in  those 
things  pertaining  to  the  welfare  of  the  community 
and  was  recognized  as  one  of  the  best  citizens  of 
the  township.  In  politics  he  was  a  Republican, 
who  stanchly  advocated  his  party  principles. 

At  the  home  of  the  bride  in  Palmyra  Township, 
Mr.  Goodrich  was  joined  in  wedlock  with  Miss 
Clara  Williams,  one  of  the  fair  daughters  of  Lee 
County.  She  was  educated  in  the  High  School  of 
Dixon  and  is  a  lady  of  superior  intelligence  and 
culture.  Her  parents,  George  and  Mary  (Adams) 
Williams,  were  natives  of  Center  County,  Pa., 
where  they  were  reared  and  married,  and  where 
their  children,  with  one  exception,  were  all  bom. 
The  year  1853  witnessed  their  removal  to  Illinois 
and  saw  them  located  on  a  farm  of  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres  in  Palmyra  Township,  where  Mr. 
Williams  died  April  13,  1891,  aged  eighty-nine 
years  and  five  months.  His  widow  is  still  living 
at  the  age  of  severe-nine  years  and  makes  her 
home  with  her  daughter,  Mrs.  Clara  Goodrich.  She 
lias  a  wide  acquaintance  throughout  the  com- 
munity and  her  friends  are  many,  their  regard 
having  been  secured  by  her  excellencies  of  char- 
acter. 

Mrs.  Goodrich  is  the  youngest  of  the  Williams 
family,  six  of  whom,  four  sons  and  two  daughters, 
are  yet  living.  Her  marriage  has  been  blessed 
with  three  children  but  she  lost  one,  Grace,  who 
died  at  the  age  of  eight  weeks.  Edwin  was  born 
February  19,  1873,  and  Lila  was  born  January  4, 
1882.  The  mother  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist 
Church  and  in  the  county  where  she  has  so  long 


made  her  home  she  is  well  and  favorably  known. 
Mr.  James  P.  Goodrich  departed  this  life  at  his 
home  in  Palmyra  township,  on  the  27th  of  January, 
1883,  of  consumption,  after  having  traveled  ex- 
tensively in  different  parts  of  the  United  States  in 
quest  of  health. 


ILLIAM  C.  WOOLEY,  a  trusted  employe 
of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  Company, 
now  filling  the  position  of  ticket-agent  at 
Dixon,  is  of  English  birth,  he  and  a  brother  being 
the  only  ones  of  his  family  who  ever  crossed  the 
Atlantic  to  America.  He  was  born  in  the  city  of 
Manchester,  and  is  a  son  of  Thomas  and  Margaret 
(Calland)  Wooley.  His  father  was  born  in  Rugely, 
Staffordshire,  where  he  was  reared  to  manhood  and 
became  a  mason  and  a  mechanic.  When  a  young 
man  he  went  to  Manchester,  where  he  built  a  num- 
ber of  the  machine  shops  of  that  city,  including 
the  large  shops  of  Wrenn  &  Bennett.  His  death 
there  occurred  at  an  advanced  age,  having  sur- 
vived his  wife  some  years.  She  was  born  in  Man- 
chester and  her  people  were  early  settlers  of  that 
city.  Both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wooley  were  excellent 
musicians  and  sang  in  the  choir  of  the  Congre- 
gational Church  for  man y  years.  The  lady  espec- 
ially was  particularly  gifted  in  this  line  and  with 
her  beautiful  voice  often  held  her  audience  en- 
tranced. Two  of  the  children  of  the  family  are 
yet  living  in  England — John  and  Sarah  A.,  both 
of  whom  are  married  and  reside  in  Manchester. 

Under  the  parental  roof  our  subject  spent  the 
days  of  his  boyhood  and  in  the  schools  of  his 
native  city  acquired  his  education.  After  he  had 
attained  to  mature  years  he  was  united  in  the  holy 
bonds  of  matrimony  with  Miss  Mary  Webb,  also  a 
native  of  Manchester,  where  her  parents,  David 
and  Nancy  Webb,  spent  the  greater  part  of  their 
lives, although  they  were  both  born  in  Warrington, 
England.  Mr.  Webb  was  a  glass-blower  in  the  em- 
ploy of  the  firm  of  Mollinaux,  Webb  &  Co.,  who 
were  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  glass  in  Man- 
chester. Both  he  and  his  wife  lived  to  advanced 
ages  but  are  now  deceased. 


12f> 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


It  was  in  1853  that  Mr.  Wooley,  accompanied 
by  his  wife  and  little  daughter,  came  to  America. 
They  took  passage  on  a  sailing  vessel  at  Liverpool 
and  after  a  voyage  of  seven  weeks  and  one  day, 
landed- at  New  Orleans.  On  the  vessel  "George 
Collier"  they  went  up  the  Mississippi  to  St.  Louis, 
from  whence  they  made  their  way  to  Fultonville, 
and  on  to  Dixon,  111.,  where  they  have  since  re- 
sided. For  almost  forty  years  they  have  now  been 
identified  with  the  city  and  its  social,  religious  and 
educational  interests.  Their  home  has  been  blessed 
by  the  presence  of  three  children — Mary,  wife  of 
Stephen  Youngman,  a  farmer  residing  near  Dixon; 
Gertrude,  wife  of  W.  C.  Jones,  who  is  also  living 
near  this  city,  and  William  W.,  the  present  baggage 
master  of  Dixon,  on  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad. 
His  wife  was  formerly  Miss  Nora  Edleman,  of  this 
city. 

For  more  than  thirty-six  years  Mr.  Wooley  has 
been  in  the  employ  of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad, 
and  during  that  time  has  never  lost  a  day's  pay. 
He  was  first  engaged  on  the  construction  of  the 
road  from  Rock  Island  four  miles  north  and  after 
its  completion,  when  trains  began  to  travel  over 
it,  February  17, 1855;  he  accepted  a  position  in  the 
freight  department,  where  lie  remained  until  1890, 
when  he  resigned  to  take  charge  of  the  passenger 
department.  He  has  now  full  control  of  the  same 
and  well  merits  the  confidence  reposed  in  him  by 
the  company.  To  retain  a  position  in  the  employ 
of  the  railroad  company  one  must  be  faithful  and 
also  prompt  and  exact  in  the  discharge  of  his 
duties.  That  Mr.  Wooley  has  complied  with  these 
requirements  is  attested  by  the  fact  of  his  long 
continuance  with  the  road.  In  politics  he  is  a  Re- 
publican and  his  wife  is  member  of  the  Episcopal 
Church. 


PAVID  A.  GLENN.     There  are  many  promi- 
nent    mercantile      establishments     in      Lee 
County,  but  it  is  no  discredit  to  the  others 
to  state  that  for  reliability  of  dealings,  superiority 
of  stock  and  extent  of    business  transactions,  the 


firm  of  D.  A.  Glenn  cfe  Co.,  of  Ashton,  is  without 
a  rival.  For  years  Mr.  Glenn  has  teen  one  of  the 
foremost  figures  in  the  mercantile  circles,  not 
only  of  Ashton  but  also  the  surrounding  commu- 
nity. The  period  of  his  residence  here  has  been  a 
fruitful  and  active  one  with  him,  in  many  ways 
adding  lustre  to  his  useful  life. 

Before  mentioning  the  minute  dclails  of  time 
and  place  which  contribute  to  the  development 
of  individual  characteristics,  it  may  be  well  to 
briefly  note  the  parentage  of  Mr.  Glenn.  His  fa- 
ther, George,  was  born  in  1811,  in  Center  County, 
Pa.,  and  in  his  early  manhood  married  Eliza  Hart- 
sock,  also  a  native  of  the  Keystone  State.  She  died 
in  Centre  County  in  1850,  and  afterward  George 
Glenn  removed  to  this  county,  where  he  has  since 
resided.  By  trade  he  is  a  tailor,  but  after  coming 
to  Illinois  operated  as  a  farmer.  He  and  his  esti- 
mable wife  had  a  family  of  five  children,  four 
sons  and  one  daughter,  our  subject  being  the 

I    third  in  order  of  birth. 

Born  January    23,  1839,  in  Center  County,  Pa., 

]  the  subject  of  this  sketch  passed  his  boyhood  days 
in  the  place  of  his  birth  and  in  Blair  County,  Pa. 

|   Thence  he  removed  in  1857,  with  his  father,  to  this 

j  county  and  continued  to  reside  at  home  until  his 
marriage,  in  the  meantime  devoting  his  energies 

j  to  the  cultivation  of  the  home  farm.  Upon  the 
breaking  out  of  the  Civil  War  he  enlisted  in 
August,  1861,  in  Company  C,  Thirty-fourth  Illi- 

;   nois  Infantry,  and  served  until  the  following  Jan- 

j  uary,  when  he  was  discharged  on  account  of  dis- 
ability. He  then  returned  to  this  county  and  as 
soon  as  he  regained  his  health  engaged  in  teach- 
ing for  one  year.  For  some  three  years  thereafter 
he  was  employed  as  a  clerk  for  the  firm  of  Mills 
&  Petrie,  and  remained  with  their  successor  in 
business  for  some  time.  For  a  period  of  about 
ten  years  he  was  book-keeper  in  various  mercan- 
tile establishments  in  Rochelle. 

In  May,  1883,  Mr.  Glenn  embarked  in  the  mer- 
cantile business  on  his  own  account  and  formed 
a  partnership  with  A.  W.  Rosecrans,  which  still 
continues.  The  firm  carries  a  fine  stock  of  mer- 
chandise and  enjoys  a  large  trade,  not  only  in 
the  village  but  throughout  the  country  around. 
The  success  which  lias  met  the  efforts  of  Mr. 


THE  LIBRARY 

( 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


429 


Glenn  is  deserved,  for  he  lias  taken  the  most 
painstaking  wire  in  his  business,  to  which  lie  has 
devoted  his  entire  time  and  best  energies.  He 
was  married  in  Asliton,  December  14,  1869,  to 
Miss  Clara  C.  Buck,  who  was  born  in  Huntingdon 
County,  Pa.,  .Inly  22,  1812.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Glenn 
are  consistent  members  of  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Church  and  active  in  all  good  works. 

In  his  political  affiliations  Mr.  Glenn  is  an 
ardent  Republican  and  has  served  his  fellow-citi- 
zens in  various  positions  of  honor.  For  some 
time  he  was  Supervisor  of  Ashton  Township,  and 
also  filled  the  positions  of  Township  Clerk,  Con- 
stable and  was  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Trustees. 
There  is  no  measure  proposed  for  the  benefit  of 
the  community  at  large  which  does  not  receive  his 
support,  and  he  is  numbered  among  the  representa- 
tive citizens  of  the  county.  He  is  a  member  of 
Masonic  fraternity,  belonging  to  the  Blue  Lodge 
at  Ashton  and  Rochelle  Chapter,  and  is  prominent 
in  the  fraternity. 


LEXIS  R.  WHITNEY.     This   well-known 
ient  of  Lee  County  is  a  son  of  one  of 
its  earliest  settlers  and  occupiesa  prominent 

place  in  this  community.  He  is  proprietor 
of  the  celebrated  Franklin  Grove  Orchard  and 
Nursery  Farm,  located  on  section  12,  China  Town- 
ship, and  is* an  extensive  manufacturer  of  cider 
and  vinegar.  He  was  born  in  the  town  of  Albion, 
Orleans  County,  N.  Y.,  February  22,  1824.  His 
father,  the  late  Col.  Nathan  Whitney,  was  known 
far  and  wide  as  "Father  Whitney"  for  more  than 
fifty-five  years,  and  a  review  of  his  life  is  appended 
to  this  biographical  sketch  of  his  son. 

Our  subject  was  four  years  old  when  his  parents 
removed  to  Elba,  Genesee  County,  N.  Y.,  and  the 
next  six  years  of  his  life  were  spent  in  that  town. 
After  that  the  home  of  the  family  was  in  I'nion- 
ville,  Lake  County,  Ohio,  the  ensuing  four  years. 
Early  in  the  month  of  .Ian nary,  1838,  they  again 
took  up  the  march  ^or  the  frontier,  and  coming  to 
Lee  County,  located  on  a  tract  of  Government 
land  which  had  been  selected  by  the  father  when 
he  visited  this  section  in  1835. 


Thus  from  the  age  of  fourteen  years  Mr.  Whit- 
ney has  been  a  resident  of  this  township.  He 
grew  with  its  growth,  pioneer  environments  help- 
ing to  mould  his  character  in  strength  and  manli- 
ness, and  to-day  is  numbered  among  the  prosperous 
citizens  of  the  community  where  he  has  dwelt  as 
boy  and  man  for  more  than  half  a  century.  He 
early  showed  an  independent  and  self-helpful 
spirit,  and  at  the  age  of  eighteen  made  an  agree- 
ment with  his  parents  to  take  care  of  them  the 
remainder  of  their  lives  and  he  in  turn  to  have 
the  homestead  in  his  own  right.  He  faithfully 
fulfilled  his  contract  with  them,  surrounding  their 
old  age  with  every  comfort  that  filial  love  could 
devise,  and  making  their  last  days  their  best. 

Mr.  Whitney's  farm  comprises  three  hundred  and 
sixty  acres  which  was  an  original  entry,  and  he 
still  retains  the  patents  from  the  Government.  He 
has  erected  a  fine  set  of  buildings,  and  has  all  the 
conveniences,  including  first-class  modern  ma- 
chinery, for  carrying  on  the  various  operations  in 
which  he  is  engaged.  lie  is  one  of  the  longest 
established  nurserymen  in  the  State,  beginning 
that  business  in  1843,  and  his  nursery  is  one  of 
the  finest  and  best  managed  for  miles  around.  In 
1849  he  commenced  to  make  cider  and  in  1853 
added  the  manufacture  of  vinegar.  He  does  an 
immense  business,  finding  sale  for  his  products  in 
Michigan,  Colorado,  Texas,  and  in  fact,  almost  all 
the  Western  and  Southern  States. 

Our  subject  and  Miss  Mary  ,1.  Oakley  were  mar- 
ried at  Franklin  Grove  August  14,  1851.  Mrs. 
Whitney  is  a  native  of  Hudson,  N.  Y.,  and  was 
born  October  10,  1830.  Her  marriage  with  our 
subject  has  been  blessed  to  them  by  the  birth  of 
six  children,  of  whom  two  are  deceased — Sarah  .1., 
who  died  when  eighteen  months  old,  and  Carrie 
Louise,  who  died  at  the  age  of  two  years.  The 
following  is  recorded  of  the  four  children  living: 
Jesse  R.,  a  resident  of  Carroll,  Carroll  County,  Iowa, 
is  engaged  in  the  wholesale  fruit  and  grocery  trade 
and  in  real-estate  business;  Carrie  L.  is  the  wife  of 
Albert  W.  Crawford;  Nathan  A.  is  cashier  and 
book-keeper  for  his  father;  Mary  .1.  is  the  wife  of 
C.  L.  Booth,  of  Denver,  Col. 

Mr.  Whitney  was  the  first  Township  Clerk  of 
China  Township,  and  held  that  office  six  years. 


430 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


and  that  of  School  Treasurer  eight  years.  He  was 
in  earl}'  life  a  Democrat,  but  when  the  Republican 
party  was  organized  he  transferred  his  allegiance 
to  it  and  has  remained  true  to  its  principles  through 
the  victories  and  defeats  of  the  many  .years  that 
have  since  gone  by.  He  is  prominently  identified 
with  the  Masonic  fraternity  as  a  member  of  the 
Franklin  Grove  Lodge,  Nathan  Whitney  Chapter, 
Dixon  Commandery,  and  is  a  Thirty-second  Degree 
Mason.  lie  has  been  a  liberal  supporter  of  the 
churches  and  has  contributed  freely  to  charitable 
and  other  worthy  objects,  as  well  as  to  all  enter- 
prises that  would  in  any  way  benefit  the  community. 
His  many  friends  will  be  pleased  to  notice  his  por- 
trait On  another  page  of  this  volume. 


}OL.  NATHAN  WHITNEY.  At  the  great 
i  of  one  hundred  years,  four  months  and 
twenty  days,  this  venerable  gentleman 
passed  away  June  11,  1891,  at  the  home  of  his  son 
A.  R.  Whitney.  Amid  scenes  which  held  the  asso- 
ciations of  years  of  toil  and  hardships,  his  declin- 
ing days  were  passed  in  the  comforts  of  a  happy 
home  and  tenderly  cared  for  by  those  who  held 
him  dear. 

Father  Whitney,  as  he  was  familiarly  >known, 
was  born  in  Con  way,  Mass.,  January  22, 1791,  and 
was  the  third  in  a  family  of  five  brothers,  all  of 
whom  attained  to  advanced  years.  In  his  early 
manhood  he  was  married  to  Miss  Sarah  Gray,  and 
twice  opened  farms  in  Western  New  York  before 
he  removed  to  the  new  State  of  Illinois.  The  year 
1835  marked  his  arrival  here  and  two  years  after- 
ward he  made  a  final  settlement.  He  and  his  wife 
became  the  parents  of  seven  children,  six  daughters 
and  one  son,  five  of  whom  survived  him,  namely: 
Mrs.  Polly  Smith;  Mrs.  Abram  Brown;  Mrs.  Han- 
nah McKenney,  of  Dixon;  Mrs.  D.  B.  McKenney, 
of  Chicago,  and  A.  R.  Whitney,  of  Franklin  Grove. 

June  23,  1817,  Father  Whitney  was  initiated 
into  the  mysteries  of  Free  Masonry,  with  which 
order  he  ever  afterward  maintained  his  connection, 
being  at  the  time  of  his  death  undoubtedly  the 
oldest  Mason  in  the  world.  He  was  a  charter 


member  of  Friendship  Lodge,  No.  7,  of  Dixon, 
established  in  1840,  and  was  among  the  first  to 
receive  the  red  cross  order  of  a  Sir  Knight  in 
Dixon  Commandery.  The  Nathan  Whitney  Chap- 
ter of  Royal  Arch  Masons,  of  which  he  was  a  mem- 
ber at  the  time  of  his  death,  was  named  in  his 
honor. 

As  his  grandfather  bore  arms  in  defense  of  his 
country  during  the  Revolutionary  War,  so  our 
subject  was  a  valiant  soldier  in  the  War  of  1812 
and  received  mention  for  bravery  at  the  battle  of 
Ft.  Erie.  There  are  still  in  possession  of  his  de- 
scendants his  commission  as  Lieutenant,  Captain 
and  Colonel,  bearing  the  signature  of  De  Witt 
Clinton,  Governor  of  New  York.  Soon  after  Mr. 
Whitney  moved  to  this  vicinity  he  was  elected 
one  of  the  commissioners  who  organized  the  county 
of  Lee  and  who  for  years  took  an  active  part  in 
its  improvement. 

The  funeral  of  Father  Whitney  took  place  on 
June  14,  1891.  After  brief  services  at  the  home 
conducted  by  Rev.  A.  H.  Scoonmaker,  the  remains 
were  conveyed  to  Dixon,  where  they  were  placed 
in  state  under  a  guard  of  eight  Sir  Knights  at  the 
court  house  and  were  viewed  by  many  hundreds 
of  people.  Later  a  procession  was  formed,  in 
which  one  hundred  Sir  Knights  and  one  hundred 
and  three  Blue  Lodge  Masons  were  in  line,  the 
largest  Masonic  funeral  ever  held  in  the  county. 
Besides  the  Dixon  and  Franklin  lodges,  large  de- 
tachments of  Knights  and  Masons  were  in  attend- 
ance from  Sterling,  Sycamore,  DeKalb  and  other 
places,  and  the  impressive  burial  service  was  con- 
cluded at  the  grave. 


OUIS  FLOTO,  who  is  now  living  a  retired 
life  at  the  Kingdom,  on  section  18,Nachusa 
Jjy^  Township  is  one  of  the  self-made  men  of 
the  county,  who,  empty  handed,  began  life  and  by 
his  own  exertions  worked  his  way  upward  to  a 
position  of  wealth  and  affluence.  He  is  of  German 
birth,  having  been  born  in  the  Kingdom  of  Han- 
over, February  6,  1822.  His  father,  Frederick 
Floto,  was  also  born  in  that  kingdom,  where  he 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


431 


made  his  home  until  his  death  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
four  years.  By  trade  he  was  a  blacksmith  and 
that  vocation  he  used  as  the  means  to  secure  a 
livelihood.  His  wife,  was  also  bom  and  reared  in 
Hanover.  She  died  when  our  subject  was  only 
about  a  year  old. 

Louis  Floto  was  then  reared  by  his  father  'and 
stepmother  and  when  a  youth  he  learned  to  be  a 
blacksmith.  After  attaining  to  mature  years  he 
married  Miss  Caroline  Rosenthall  who  was  born  at 
Brunswick  in  the  Kingdom  of  Hanover,  in  1827, 
her  parents  spending  their  entire  lives  in  that 
locality.  One  child  was  born  unto  Mr.  Floto  and 
his  wife  in  the  Fatherland,  after  which,  with  his 
family,  he  emigrated  to  America.  Sailing  from 
Bremen  in  June,  1848,  ho  landed  in  New  York 
City  after  a  long  voyage  of  seven  weeks.  His  first 
location  was  in  Luzerne  County,  Pa.,  where  for 
two  years  he  worked  in  the  coal  mines.  Hoping 
to  better  his  financial  condition  in  the  West  lie 
next  came  to  Illinois  and  settled  in  Grand  Detour, 
where  for  seventeen  years  he  worked  in  a  plow 
factor}'.  The  money  which  he  saved  during  that 
period  he  then  invested  in  land  and  turned  his 
attention  to  agricultural  pursuits,  which  lie  follow- 
ed for  hiany  years  with  excellent  success.  He 
bought  an  improved  farm  of  about  two  hundred 
acres  and  in  return  for  his  care  and  cultivation  it 
yielded  to  him  a  golden  tribute.  He  is  now  living 
a  retired  life,  having  by  industry,  perseverance 
and  good  management  in  former  years  acquired  a 
handsome  competence  which  now  enables  him  to 
lay  aside  business  cares. 

I'nto  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Floto  have  teen  born  ten 
children  who  with  but  one  exception  are  yet  living. 
Emma  was  married  and  died  in*  1888.  The  other 
members  of  the  family  are  Ernestina,  wife  of  Will-  ! 
iam  Girton,  a  farmer  of  Marshall  County,  Iowa; 
Ixniis  who  wedded  Katie  Girton  and  is  engaged  in 
agricultural  pursuits  in  Ogle  County;  Elizabeth, 
wife  of  P.  S.  Girton.  also  a  farmer  of  Marshall 
County.  Iowa;  Caroline,  wife  of  Wilson  Brink  who 
follows  farming  at  Fremont,  Neb.;  Henry,  an  agri- 
culturist of  Marshall  County,  Iowa,  who  wedded 
Emma  Levan;  Charles  who  married  Maggie  Mor- 
rison and  is  ;i  farmer  of  Ogle  County;  Mary,  wife 
of  K.  Robertson,  who  engages  in  the  same  pursuit 


in  Marshall  County,  Iowa.  Ella,  wife  of  Henry 
Hintz  of  Nachusa  Township;  and  William  who 
wedded  Lotta  Cooper  and  also  follows  farming  in 
Ogle  County. 

Mr.  Floto  is  a  man  of  genial  nature  who  easily 
wins  friends  and  throughout  the  community  is 
widely  and  favorably  known.  In  politics  he  is  a 
Republican  and  himself  and  wife  are  members' of 
the  Evangelical  Church. 


/fzj^  AF1\  JOHN  STEVENS,  one  of  the  honored 
(ft  p  soldiers  of  the  late  war,  who  laid  down  his 
^^&y  life  on  the  altar  of  his  country,  was  born  in 
Shirley  Township,  Huntingdon  County,  Pa.,  Feb- 
ruary 22,  1831.  His  father,  William  Stevens,  was 
also  a  native  of  the  Keystone  State.  William  be- 
came a  prominent  citizen  of  Huntingdon  County, 
and  was  officially  connected  with  its  history  for 
some  time.  His  wife  bore  the  maiden  name  of 
Ruhama  Ayres.  She  was  born  in  New  York,  but 
was  reared  in  Pennsylvania,  where  they  began  their 
domestic  life.  About  1840,  when  our  subject  was 
a  young  lad,  they  emigrated  to  Dixon  and  after 
some  years  removed  to  Mt.  Morris,  111.,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  educating  their  children  in  the  Northern 
Illinois  Methodist  College.  When  all  had  pursued 
courses  in  that  institution  they  returned  to 
Dixon,  where  William  Stevens  died  in  the  month 
of  .1  une,  1890,  at  the  age  of  seventy-eight  years. 
He  had  taken  quite  a  prominent  part  in  political  af- 
fairs and  was  frequently  called  upon  to  serve  in 
public  positions  of  honor  and  trust.  In  early  years 
lie  supported  the  Democratic  party  but  became  a 
Republican  on  the  organization  of  that  party.  lie 
was  a  man  of  few  words.  It  was  his  actions  that 
counted  and  his  life  was  an  upright  and  honorable 
one.  He  had  served  as  United  States  Marshal  of 
this  district  for  two  terms,  was  Justice  of  the  Peace1 
for  many  years  and  was  a  life-long  member  of  the 
Methodist  Church.  Devoted  to  its  interests,  he 
labored  untiringly  in  the  Master's  vineyard.  He 
was  also  a  Master  Mason.  His  wife  had  passed 
away  long  years  before,  having  died  July  28, 1859, 


432 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


at  the  age  of  fifty-six  years,  in  the  faith  of  the 
Methodist  Church,  of  which  she  was  also  a  consis- 
tent member. 

Capt.  Stevens,  as  before  stated,  was  only   abo.ut   j 
ten  years  of  age  when  he  came  to  Dixon.     His  edu- 
cation was  acquired  in  Mt.  Morris  Seminary,  from    ! 
which  he  was  graduated  at  the  age  of  eighteen.  He 
then  entered  the  law  office  of   Judge  I-Ieaton,  now 
deceased,  and  after  three  years  of  thorough  study 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  and  began   practice.     A 
bright  future  seemed  opening  before  him  and  he 
possessed  the  ability  and  determination  to  become 
a  successful  lawyer. 

In  De  Kalb  County,  111.,  in  Ross  Grove,  Mr. 
Stevens  was  united  in  the  bonds  of  matrimony  with 
Miss  Mary  S.  La  Port,  who  was  born  in  Watertown, 
N.  Y.,  in  1834,  and  is  a  daughter  of  Norris  and 
Minerva  (Gardner)  La  Port,  the  former  a  native  of 
Kingston,  Canada,  and  the  latter  of  the  Empire 
State.  Mr.  La  Port  was  of  French  descent,  his  parents 
emigrating  from  Paris  to  America.  He  was  reared 
in  New  York  and  some  years  after  his  marriage 
brought  his  family  to  Illinois,  locating  in  Kane 
County,  in  1840.  Subsequently  they  removed  to 
De  Kalb  County,  where  he  devoted  his  energies  to 
agricultural  pursuits.  His  death  there  occurred  in 
1884,  at  the  age  of  four-score  years.  His  wid.ow  is 
now  living  with  a  daughter  in  DC  Kalb  County,  in 
her  eighty-fifth  year.  She  is  a  member  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  and  a  lady  beloved  by  all  who 
know  her. 

In  the  autumn  of  1861,  Mr.  Stevens  organized 
Company  II,  of  the  Forty-sixth  Illinois  Infantry, 
commanded  by  Col.  Jones.  He  became  its  Captain 
and  the  company  was  mustered  in  the  service  in 
February,  1862.  With  the  regiment  it  at  once 
marched  to  the  front  and  was  assigned  to  the  Army 
of  the  Cumberland.  With  his  command,  Capt. 
Stevens  participated  in  the  engagement  at  Ft. 
Donelson,  where  a  few  of  his  men  were  killed  and 
several  wounded.  Soon  after  they  marched  to 
Shiloh.  In  the  early  morning  of  the  day  on  which 
that  engagement  occurred,  he  and  his  men  were  Iv- 
ing  near  the  scene  of  the  severest  part  of  the  con- 
flict, when  the  rebels  surprised  them.  The  Cap- 
tain, hearing  the  alarm,  rushed  from  his  tent,  or- 
dered his  men  to  form,and  with  wonderful  bravery 


and  presence  of  mind  placed  himself  at  the  head  of 
his  troops.  With  unsheathed  sword,  waving  his 
hat  in  the  air,  he  called  his  luen  to  rally  around 
him  and  pressed  forward  to  victory,  but  a  few  min- 
utes later  the  rebels,  who  had  the  advantage,  were 
upon  them.  A  large  piece  of  shell  tore  the  Cap- 
tain's leg  below  the  knee  and  shattered  the  femur 
bone.  At  the  same  time,  a  minie-ball  passed 
through  his  sword  sheath,  cutting  it  nearly  in  two. 
This  was  on  Sunday  morning,  April  3,  1862.  One 
of  his  comrades  made  an  attempt  to  carry  him  from 
the  field  on  a  horse,  but  the  beast  was  shot  and  both 
the  Captain  and  his  friend  fell.  One  of  his  privates, 
a  Mr.  Tracy,  then  picked  him  up  and  amid  flying 
shot  and  shell  ran  with  him  to  a  place  of  safety  un- 
der a  tree,  where  he  lay  in  his  agony,  watching  the 
two  contending  forces  as  they  swayed  back  and 
forth  in  the  tide  of  battle.  The  Captain  was  there 
left  without  care  until  Tuesday,  when  the  ifnion 
forces  succeeded  in  gaining  the  field  and  he  was 
carried  to  a  hospital  where  every  attention  was  be- 
stowed upon  him,  but  the  loss  of  blood  and  exposure 
had  been  too  much  for  him.  On  the  following  Sun- 
day, he  was  put  on  a  boat  to  be  sent  home,  but  as 
the  vessel  was  leaving  its  moorings  he  passed  away. 
It  was  his  hope  to  once  more  reach  his  home  and 
family  but  when  told  by  the  surgeon  that  he  could 
1  not  live  he  said  "Tell  my  wife  and  little  children 
that  I  made  my  peace  with  God  and  to  meet  me  in 
Heaven."  He  then  sank  back,  dead.  His  remains 
were  sent  to  Dixon,  where  he  was  buried  with  all 
the  honors  of  a  soldier. 

Capt.  Stevens  had  been  High  Priest  of  the  Royal 
Arch  Templars  of  Dixon,  resigning  that  office  when 
he  enlisted.  In  politics  he  was  a  stanch  Republican 
and  had  made  speeches  throughout  the  country  for 
Lincoln,  whom  he  met  soon  after  the  election  in 
Springfield.  AVhen  asked  by  the  President-elect 
what  office  he  would  like,  the  Captain  replied  that 
he  would  accept  no  office.  Mr.  Lincoln  then  lay 
back  in  his  chair  and  with  a  hearty  laugh  requested 
Mr.  Stevens'  photograph.  The  Captain  was 
an  active  member  of  the  Episcopal  Church.  His 
death  proved  a  loss  to  the  community  where  he 
resided  and  in  the  household  made  a  vacancy  which 
can  never  be  filled.  The  widow,  who  still  remains 
true  to  his  memory,  resides  in  Dixon.  She  is 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


433 


a  noble  Christian  lady  who  belongs  to  the  Episco- 
pal Church  as  do  also  her  two  sons:  Frank  E.  and 
Leon  L.  The  elder,  who  married  Miss  Sadie  Lattin, 
of  Sycamore,  111.,  is  now  a  real-estate  dealer  of 
Chicago.  The  younger,  who  married  Nellie  Tib- 
bets,  of  Preston,  Minn., also  resides  in  Chicago, where 
he  is  engaged  in  business  as  a  collector. 


JAMES  H.  BRAFFET,  M.  D.,  of  Paw  Paw, 
is  well  known  as  one  of  the  leading  phy- 
sicians of  Lee  County,  whose  skill,  success 
in  practice,  and  learning  place  him  well  at 
the  head  of  his  profession.  He  was  born  in  the 
town  of  Florida,  Orange  County,  N.  Y.,  October 
16,  1834.  His  father,  James  Braffet,  for  many 
years  an  honored  citizen  of  this  county,  was  born 
in  the  town  of  Monroe,  Orange  County,  July  22, 
1802,  a  son  of  John  Braffet,  who  is  supposed  to  have 
been  a  native  of  that  county  also,  and  there  he 
spent  his  last  years.  He  is  thought  to  have  been 
of  Scotch  ancestry.  When  the  father  of  our  sub- 
ject was  five  years  old,  his  father  took  him  to  Or- 
leans County  in  his  native  State,and  bound  him  out 
to  a  farmer,  with  whom  he  was  to  live  until  lie  was 
twenty-one.  In  the  meantime  he  was  to  have  his 
board  and  clothes,  and  when  he  became  of  age  was 
to  have  a  new  suit  of  clothes,  ten  dollars  in  cash, 
and  a  horse,  saddle  and  bridle.  When  he  was 
eighteen  years  old,  he  bought  his  time  in  order  to 
serve  an  apprenticeship  to  learn  the  trade  of  a 
blacksmith,  but  when  he  was  twenty-one,  the  old 
farmer  generously  gave  him  the  horse  that  he  had 
promised  him.  At  the  close  of  his  apprenticeship, 
he  did  journey -work  in  different  places,  and  finally 
at  Newburg,  Orange  County,  and  carried  on  busi- 
ness in  that  county  until  1855,  when  he  came  to 
Illinois  to  identify  himself  with  the  pioneers  of 
this  county,  as  he  wisely  thought  that  skilled 
mechanics  would  be  in  demand  in  a  young  and 
growing  country.  He  came  by  rail  as  far  as  Earl- 
ville,  then  the  nearest  railway  station,  and  after 
his  arrival  he  established  himself  at  his  calling  at 
East  Paw  Paw.  He  carried  on  business  there  un- 
til 1863,  when  he  removed  to  Melugin's  Grove, 


and  opening  a  shop  there,  was  actively  engaged  as 
a  blacksmith  for  several  years.  When  the  railway 
was  completed  through  Brooklyn  Township,  he 
took  up  his  residence  at  the  village  of  Compton, 
being  one  of  its  first  settlers,  and  there  he  lived  re-  • 
tired  until  his  death,  in  April,  1888.  The  maiden 
name  of  his  wife  was  Melissa  A.  Furman.  She  sur- 
vives him  and  still  makes  her  home  at  Compton. 
She  is  also  a  native  of  Orange  County,  N.  Y.,  and 
a  daughter  of  Josiah  Furman,  who  was  born  in  the 
Empire  State,  and  was  of  German  ancestry.  Mrs. 
Braffet  and  her  husband  were  for  many  years 
members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  but 
she  now  belongs  to  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and 
is  held  in  great  esteem  by  all  who  know  her. 

Our  subject  is  the  only  survivor  of  the  three 
children  born  to  his  parents.  He  was  given  liberal 
educational  advantages,  obtaining  his  knowledge 
of  the  common  branches  in  the  public  schools  of 
his  native  county,  and  he  subsequently  became  a 
student  at  Chester  Academy,  which  he  attended 
four  years.  While  there  he  paid  particular  atten- 
tion to  mathematics  and  civil  engineering,  with  a 
view  of  preparing  himself  for  West  Point.  He 
successfully  passed  the  examination  required  of 
those  desiring  admission  to  that  institution,  and 
receiving  the  endorsement  of  Mr.  Wheeler,  the  re- 
presentative to  Congress  from  the  district  in  which 
he  lived,  his  ambition  seemed  about  to  be  realized, 
when  his  parents  so  strenuously  objected  to  his 
entering  a  military  school,  that  he  gave  up  his  cher- 
ished dream  of  becoming  a  cadet,  and  turned  his 
attention  to  the  study  of  medicine,  under  the  in- 
struction of  Dr.  C.  P.  Smith,  of  Chester,  N.  Y.  He 
defrayed  a  part  of  the  expenses  of  his  education 
by  teaching,  and  alternately  taught  and  attended 
school,  and  engaged  in  surveying.  He  came  to 
Illinois  with  his  parents  in  1855,  and  taught  the 
first  term  of  the  East  Paw  Paw  Seminary.  lie  de- 
voted his  leisure  to  his  medical  studies,  and  in  the 
winter  of  1861-62  attended  a  course  of  lectures  at 
Rush  Medical  College,  at  Chicago.  He  still  fur- 
ther prepared  himself  later  on  by  attendance  at 
Bellevue  Hospital  College,  New  York  City,  in  the 
winter  of  1868-69,  and  was  graduated  from  there 
in  Hie  Class  of  '6!).  He  had  already  practiced 
medicine  successfully,  and  went  back  to  his  work 


434 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


with  renewed  vigor.  He  had  first  established  him- 
self at  East  Paw  Paw.  and  had  gone  from  there 
to  Melugin's  Grove  in  1862.  In  1875  he  opened 
an  office  at  Paw  Paw.  and  has  remained  here  ever 
since,  acquiring  an  extensive  and  lucrative  prac- 
tice. By  identifying  himself  with  various  medical 
societies  and  by  careful  reading,  he  keeps  well 
abreast  of  the  times  in  his  profession,  to  which  he 
is  devoted,  and  his  patients  feel  that  safety  and 
confidence  under  his  care  that  a  true  physician 
ever  inspires.  He  is  a  member  in  good  standing 
of  the  North  Central  Illinois  Medical  Association, 
of  the  Illinois  State  Medical  Society,  of  the  Ame- 
rican Association,  and  in  1887  he  became  a  mem- 
ber of  the  International  Medical  Association.  He 
is  also  connected  with  the  Masonic  fraternity,  of 
which  he  has  been  a  member  since  1858,  but  at  the 
present  time  non-officiating;  and  of  the  Indepen- 
dent Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  which  he  joined  in 
1881,  andis  a  camp  member. 

Dr.  Braffet  was  happily  married  in  1860  to  Miss 
Ellen  S.  Billings,  who  was  born  near  Detroit,  Mich., 
and  is  a  daughter  of  James  and  Mrs.  (Serville) 
Billings.  They  have  seven  children,  namely: 
Nellie,  John,  Charles,  Mark  P.,  Harvey,  AVilliam 
and  Essie.  Nellie  married  Sidney  Stevens,  of 
Beardstown,  Cass  County.  John  is  superintendent 
of  a  vineyard  in  Tulare,  C'al.  Charles  is  a  com- 
positor on  the  Boston  Daily  Post.  Mark  is  in  the 
chief  dispatcher's  office,  Rio  Grande  &  Western 
Railroad,  at  Schofield,  Utah  Territory.  The  three 
younger  are  students. 


JOSIAH  FRY  has  since  the    spring    of    1891 
been  living  a  retired    life  in    West   Dixon. 
Long  years  did  he  follow   farming   and    by 
close  application  to  his  business  in  that  line 
and  in  other  directions  he   acquired    a    handsome 
competence  which  now  enables  him  to  retire  from 
active  life.     He  was  born  on  the    10th    of    Decem- 
ber, 1843,  on  his  father's  farm    in  Nachusa  Town- 
ship, and  is  the  only  sou  of  John  and  Mary  (Kline- 
top)  Fry.     His  father  was  a   native    of    Columbia 
(uu nl,y.  Pa.,  born.  April  4,  1813,  and  was   of  Ger- 


man descent.  In  the  county  of  his  nativity  the 
days  of  his  boyhood  and  youth  were  passed  and 
he  learned  the  trade  of  a  carpenter  which  he  fol- 
lowed for  some  years.  He  was  a  j'ouug  man,  still 
unmarried,  when  he  came  to  the  West,  and  located 
Government  land  in  '  Nachusa  Township,  .Lee 
County,  111.  The  farm  which  he  there  developed 
continued  to  be  his  home  until  within  a  few 
months  of  his  death,  when  he  went  to  Bremer 
County.  On  the  5th  of  December,  1886,  he 
passed  awa3r,  leaving  a  large  circle  of  friends  to 
mourn  his  loss.  'In  politics  he  was  a  Republican 
and  had  lived  an  upright,  honorable  life,  worthy 
of  emulation  in  many  ways.  Mrs.  Fry,  the  mother 
1  of  our  subject,  was  born  and  reared  in  Colum- 
bia County,  Pa.,  and  when  a  young  lady  be- 
came a  resident  of  Lee  County.  She  died  at  her 
home  in  Nachusa  Township,  May  20,  1870,  in  the 
faith  of  the  Lutheran  Church,  in  which  she  had 
been  a  member  for  some  years.  Her  parents  were 
of  German  descent  and  resided  in  the  Keystone 
State  throughout  their  lives. 

No  event  of  special  importance  occurred  during 
the  childhood  of  our  subject.  In  the  usual  routine 
of  farm  life  the  days  of  his  boyhood  and  youth 
were  passed  and  forsome  years  after  attaining  his 
majority  he  followed  the  occupation  to  which  he 
was  reared.  At  length  he  determined  to  engage  in 
other  pursuits,  and  in  1872  came  to  Dixon  where 
he  entered  into  the  coal  business,  which  he  carried 
on  for  thirteen  years,  or  until  1885.  In  the  mean- 
time he  also  dealt  in  ice,  continuing  his  operations 
in  that  line  of  trade  for  six  years.  In  1885  he 
returned  to  his  home  in  Nachusa  Township,  and 
there  resided  until  the  spring  of  1891,  when,  as. 
before  stated,  he  came  to  Dixon,  locating  perma- 
nently in  this  city.  He  still  owns  his  farm,  a 
highly  improved  tract  of  land  of  one  hundred 
and  sixtj7  acres,  situated  on  section  24,  Nachusa 
Township,  which  adds  materially  to  his  income. 

The  lady  who  is  now  Mrs.  Fry  bore  the  maiden 
name  of  Mary  C.  Stetler.  On  the  12th  of  Octo- 
ber, 1846,  she  was  born  in  Columbia  County,  Pa., 
unto  Samuel  and  Mary  E.  Stetler,  both  of  whom 
were  natives  of  the  Keystone  State,  where  their 
childhood  \\:is  passed  and  their  marriage  celebrated. 
Mrs.  Stetler  died  in  hex  native  State,  while  Mr. 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


435 


Stetler  came  to  Illinois  and  subsequently  removed 
to  Cass  County,  Iowa,  where  he  is  yet  living.  Af- 
ter her  mother's  death,  Mrs.  Fry  was  reared  chiefly 
by  strangers.  To  her  husband  she  has  proved  a 
faithful  helpmate  and  their  union  has  been  blessed 
with  eight  children,  seven  of  whom  are  yet  living. 
John  E.,  the  eldest,  wedded  Rebecca  Boyer  and  is 
now  operating  the  old  homestead  farm;  Mary  E., 
is  the  wife  of  Ralph  Hendricks,  a  resident  farmer 
of  Bremer  County,  Iowa;  Bert,  Anna  E.,  Olive  M., 
Ernest  O.  and  Elsie  E.  are  still  under  the  parental 
roof. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Fry  are  people  of  intelligence  and 
culture  who  manifest  a  commendable  interest  in 
every  thing  pertaining  to  the  welfare  of  the 
county  and  the  promotion  of  the  best  interests  of 
the  community,  and  in  Dixon  and  throughout  Lee 
County  have  many  warm  friends  who  esteem  them 
highly  for  their  sterling  worth.  Mr.  Fry  exercises 
his  right  of  franchise  in  support  of  the  Re- 
publican party,  with  which  he  has  been  affiliated 
for  several  years. 


JOSEPH    C.    BERNARDIN   has    done    well 
financially  since  he  came  to  this  county  in 
his  boyhood,  as  his  diligence,  constant  ap- 
plication to  his  work,  and  sagacity  in  con- 
ducting his  affairs  have  met  with  due  reward,  and 
he  is  to-day  the  owner  of  one  of  the  most  desirable 
farms    to    be    found    throughout   the  length   and 
breadth  of  Viola  Township. 

The  birth  of  our  subject  took  place  September  6, 
1839,  in  the  village  of  Luxouel,  in  the  Department 
of  Vesoul,  France.  His  parents,  Peter  and  Mary 
(Hoffy)  Bernardin,  were  also  natives  of  the  sunny 
land  of  France.  They  emigrated  to  America  in 
1855,  the  father  coming  first  to  prepare  a  home  for 
the  remainder  of  the  family.  •  He  settled  in  Soiota 
County,  Ohio,  and,  with  his  capital  of  $300,  pur- 
chased two  hundred  acres  of  timber  land,  twelve 
miles  from  the  town  of  Portsmouth,  paying  $1.25 
an  acre  for  the  land.  His  first  work  was  to  build 
a  shanty  for  a  temporary  shelter,  which  he  after- 
ward replaced  by  a  substantial  log  house.  He 


worked  hard  to  clear  his  land,  and  in  time  placed 
it  under  cultivation,  and  made  of  it  a  good  farm, 
upon  which  lie  resided  until  1870.  In  that  year 
he  came  to  Lee  County,  and  was  a  resident  of  this 
section  until  he  closed  his  eyes  in  death  in  August, 
1889,  at  a  ripe  age.  His  wife  survives  him  and 
these  seven  of  their  children  are  living:  Sophia, 
Rosalie,  Virginia,  Joseph  C.,  Sadonie,  Alfred  and 
Julius. 

The  subject  of  this  biographical  sketch  attended 
school  quite  steadily  until  he  was  twelve  years  of 
age,  and  then  he  began  to  assist  his  father  on  the 
farm.  The  latter  came  to  this  country  in  the  spring 
of  1855,  and  in  the  fall  of  the  same  year  he  sent 
for  his  wife  and  children  to  join  him.  They  jour- 
neyed by  rail  to  Havre  de  Grace,  and  October  16 
embarked  on  a  sailing  vessel  at  that  port.  Off  the 
coast  of  p]ngland,  the  ship  collided  with  a  war  ves- 
sel, and  had  to  lay  by  at  Plymouth,  England, 
twenty-four  days,  for  repairs.  Starting  once  again 
on  its  voyage,  it  crossed  the  ocean  in  safety,  and 
arrived  at  New  Orleans  January.  12,  1856.  The 
family  then  went  to  their  destination  by  way  of 
the  Mississippi  River  to  Cairo,  thence  to  a  port 
on  the  Ohio  River,  whence  they  proceeded  by  rail 
to  Portsmouth.  His  father  being  in  limited  cir- 
cumstances, our  subject  had  to  assist  him  in  sup- 
porting the  family,  and  was  of  great  help  to  him  in 
clearing  his  land  and  tilling  the  soil.  He  remained 
a  resident  of  Sciota  County  until  1870,  and  then 
abandoned  Ohio  and  transferred  his  citizenship  to 
Illinois,  settling  in  this  county,  and  two  years  later 
he  bought  the  farm  he  now  owns  and  occupies. 
Under  his  skillful  care  it  is  now  a  well-improved 
and  valuable  piece  of  property,  consisting  of  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  very  fertile  land,  in- 
cluding the  northeast  quarter  of  section  21,  Viola 
Township. 

Mr.  Bernardin  was  first  married  April  14,  1866, 
to  Miss  Palmyrie  Ranje,  a  native  of  France.  She 
died  in  1874,  leaving  three  children:  Mary,  Henry 
and  Charles.  The  second  marriage  of  our  subject, 
which  was  solemnized  January  21,  1877,  was  with 
Miss  Catherina  Barlow,  also  a  native  of  France. 
Three  children  have  been  born  of  their  union: 
Julius,  Peter  and  Louisa. 

In  our  subject  this  county   has  a    faithful,  law- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


abiding  citizen,  who  is  contributing  to  its  prosper- 
ity by  his  skill  as  a  practical,  wide-awake  tiller  of 
the  soil.  He  and  his  family  are  members  in  high 
standing  of  St.  Joseph's  Roman  Catholic  Church 
in  Brooklyn,  and  are  greatly  esteemed  in  their 
community  for  their  personal  worth. 


~71  HU'ST  CIIAON  owns  and  is  occupying 
IsOl  the  homestead  on  section  31,  Viola  Town- 
7/nfc  ship,  that  formerly  belonged  to  his  father, 
3gj  the  late  Xavier  Chaon,.a  practical,  suc- 
cessful farmer  and  a  valuable  citizen  of  this  county 
until  death  terminated  his  useful  career. 

Our  subject  was  bom  in  France,  September  8, 
1841,  and  that  was  also  the  native  land  of  his 
father,  who  was  born  January  6,  1814.  He  spent 
the  early  part  of  his  life  in  that  country,  but 
ambitious  to  try  his  fortunes  on  American  soil,  in 
1848  he  started  with  his  wife  and  three  children 
on  the  long  and  momentous  journey  hither.  A 
stage  conveyed  the  little  family  to  Havre  in  three 
weeks'  time,  and  from  that  port  they  set  sail  in 
February  in  a  ship  bound  for  New  Orleans,  where 
they  landed  after  a  voyage1  of  sixty-eight  days. 
From  the  Crescent  City  they  went  on  the  waters 
of  the  Mississippi  and  Ohio  Rivers  to  Portsmouth, 
Ohio,  and  upon  their  arrival  Mr.  Chaon  was  en- 
tirely out  of  money.  He  first  rented  a  house  near 
that  town,  and  after  borrowing  money  of  his 
brother-in-law  for  his  family  to  subsist  on  while 
he  was  away,  went  forth  in  search  of  employment. 
He  walked  to  an  iron  furnace  twenty-four  miles 
distant,  and  there  secured  work  at  fifty  cents  a 
day.  He  returned  to  his  family  in  six  weeks 
with  .the  money  thus  earned,  but  only  to  make 
them  a  short  visit,  as  he  continued  to  work  at  the 
furnace  for  two  or  three  years.  He  was  extremely 
industrious  and  economical,  and  finally  had 
enough  money  accumulated  to  buy  a  tract  of 
twenty  acres  of  land  eight  miles  from  Portsmouth, 
ten  acres  of  which  were  cleared  and  the  remainder 
\va<  heavily  temlrered.  He  built  a  log  house  on 
the  place  for  a  dwelling  for  his  family,  and  his 
wife  and  children  tilled  the  soil  and  cleared  the 


land  while  for  sometime  he  continued  to  work  out. 
He  bought  other  land  at  different  times  until  he 
had  one  hundred  acres  in  his  possession. 

In  18(5")  the  father  of  our  subject  sold  his  prop- 
erty  in  Ohio,  and   coming  to  Lee  County,  bought 
the  quarter  section  in  Viola  Township,  which  now 
belongs  to  his   son  of  whom   we   write,  and  upon 
'    which  he  makes  his  home.     He  had  but  ten  dollars 
in  ready  money  to  make  a  cash  payment,  as  he  had 
I   used  the  rest  of  his  money  to  buy  a  team,  farming 
machinery,    etc.     But    he    went    to    work    with 
characteristic  energy  and  good  courage,  and  so  suc- 
cessful was  he  in   his  agricultural  operations  that 
|    in  four  years'  time  he  had  his  farm  entirely  paid 
j    for,  and  afterward  accumulated  an  extensive  and 
(    valuable    property,  including    four    hundred    and 
'.    thirty  acres  of  land,  the  greater  part  of  which  was 
tillable.     Both  he  and  his   wife  died  on   the  home 
farm.     Her  maiden  name  was  Josephine    Debeau, 
and   she  was   likewise  a  native  of    France.     They 
reared    five    children  —  August,    Mattie,    Olamp. 
Joseph  and  Charles. 

A  bright  lad  of  seven  years  when  he  left  the 
Jair  land  of  his  birth,  our  subject  still  retains 
pleasant  recollections  of  his  old  home,  and  can 
recall  incidents  of  that  ever  memorable  ocean  voy- 
age that  brought  the  family  to  a  strange  country. 
His  parents  being  in  such  limited  circumstances, 
he  had  not  the  advantages  afforded  the  children 
of  the  present  day  for  obtaining  a  good  education, 
for  his  services  were  early  needed  on  the  farm  that 
lie  helped  to  hew  from  the  forests  of  Ohio. 
Coming  of  a  people  noted  for  their  industrious 
and  frugal  habits,  he  inherited  those  traits  so  es- 
sential oftentimes  to  prosperity,  and  these  have 
given  him  success  in  his  chosen  calling.  lie  lias 
alwavs  devoted  himself  to  agricultural  pursuits, 
and  on  the  old  homestead,  which  is  now  his.  he 
obtains  a  good  yearly  income  from  his  fine  harvests 
and  from  the  sale  of  his  sleek,  well-kept  stock. 
Everything  about  his  place  shows  that  he  is  an 
excellent  farmer,  and  here  he  and  his  wife  have  a 
cozy  home,  wherein  they  enjoy  true  comfort.  A 
view  of  their  residence  appears  on  another  page. 
Mrs.  Chaon 's  name  •  in  her  maiden  days  was 
Mary  Yenson.  She  was  born  in  Alsace,  before  the 
,  the  war,  which  then  belonged  to  France,  and  there 


RESIDENCE  OF   AUGUST    CHAON  ,  SEC. 31.  ,VIOLA   TR,  LEE  CO., ILL. 


RESIDENCE   OF   J.  J.  BURGER,  SEC  .  18., PALMYRA    TR,LEE  CO. .ILL. 


THE  U3RARY 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


her  parents  still  reside.  Her  marriage  with  our 
subject  was  solemnized  August  27,  1882,  and  has 
been  blessed  to  them  by  these  six  'children — 
Xavier,  Josephine,  Emma,  August,  Mary  and  Ella. 
The  family  are  all  members  of  the  Catholic  Church, 
and  our  subject  and  his  wife  are  greatly  esteemed 
in  their  community  for  their  personal  worth. 


JESSE  JEREMIAH  BURGER,  a  practical  and 
enterprising  farmer  and  stock-raiser  living 
on  section   18,  Palmyra  Township,  is  num- 
bered   among   the  settlers  of    1855,  and  in 
the  years  that  have  since  come  and  gone  he  has 
been  prominently  identified  with  the  history  of  the 
community,  especially  in    the    line  of    its   growth 
and  development.     We  are  pleased  to  present  this 
record  of   his   life    to  our  readers,  for   lie  is   both 
widely  and  favorably  known  in  Lee  County. 

A  native  of  Pennsylvania,  Mr.  Burger  was  born 
in  Franklin  Township,  Columbia  County,  December 
5,  1839.  Tradition  says  that  the  family  is  of  Ger- 
man origin.  Abraham  Burger,  the  grandfather  of 
our  subject,  lived  and  died  in  the  Keystone  State, 
his  death  occurring  at  the  age  of  eighty-seven 
years.  By  trade  he  was  a  carpenter  but  after  hav- 
ing followed  that  occupation  for  many  years  he 
gave  his  attention  to  agricultural  pursuits.  Ihs  son, 
Isaac  Burger,  the  father  of  our  subject,  was  also  a 
native  of  the  Keystone  State,  and  in  Columbia 
County  learned  the  carpenter's  trade,  which  he 
made  the  means  of  obtaining  a  livelihood  until 
failing  health  caused  him  to  abandon  that  pursuit 
and  embark  in  fanning. 

While  residing  in  the  East,  Isaac  Burger  was  for 
seven  years  a  bugler  in  the  Pennsylvania  State 
Militia,  of  Philadelphia,  his  superior  musical  talent 
well  fitting  him  to  thus  serve.  Me  married  Miss 
Sarah  Mensch,  also  a  native  of  Columbia  County, 
and  iu  the  spring  of  1855,  we  find  them  established 
in  their  new  home  in  Palmyra  Township,  Lee 
County,  111.  A  year  later  Mr.  Burger  purchased 
a  farm  in  Jordan  Township.  Wliitesiclc  County, 
where  they  continued  to  reside  until  called  to 


the  home  beyond.  The  death  of  the  father 
occurred  April  10,  1888,  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
eight  years  and  Mrs.  Burger  died  August  29,  1888, 
aged  seventy-four  years.  In  religious  belief  the}' 
were  Lutherans.  The  family  of  this  worthy  couple 
numbered  ten  children,  the  eldest  of  whom  is  our 
subject.  Three  sons  and  four  daughters  are  yet 
living  and  all  are  farming  people. 

Jesse  Jeremiah  Burger  was  a  youth  of  sixteen 
years  when  he  came  to  this  county.  His  father 
received  the  benefit  of  his  labors  until  1863,  when 
he  started  out  in  life  on  his  own  account.  Two 
years  later  he  purchased  the  farm  upon  which  he 
yet  resides.  The  pride  of  Illinois  is  in  her  fine 
farms  and  among  the  best  of  these  is  classed  the 
home  of  our  subject.  He  now  owns  eighty  acres 
of  rich  land  and  in  return  for  his  care  and  culti- 
vation it  yields  to  him  a  golden  tribute.  The  im- 
piovements,  both  useful  and  ornamental,  are  many 
and  the  work  of  his  own  hands.  In  1884,  he 
built  one  of  the  largest  barns  in  this  locality  and 
in  1887,  erected  his  fine  residence  which  is  taste- 
fully furnished  and  supplied  with  all  the  require- 
ments of  life,  and  a  view  of  which  appears  else- 
where in  this  volume. 

As  a  companion  and  helpmate  on  life's  journey 
Mr.  Burger  chose  Miss  Anna  Schick,  who  was  born 
in  the  City  of  Brotherly  Love,  and  when  three 
months  old  was  brought  to  this  county  by  her 
parents,  Mathias  and  Elizabeth  (Obrist)  Schick. 
Her  father  was  a  native  of  Germany,  who,  at  the 
age  of  eighteen  years,  bade  good-by  to  the  Father- 
land and  crossed  the  Atlantic  to  America,  locating 
in  Philadelphia,  Pa.  There  he  followed  the  trade 
of  blacksmithing,  which  he  had  learned  prior  to 
emigration.  Three  children  were  born  unto  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Schick  in  the  East,  after  which,  in  1842, 
they  sought  a  home  in  Illinois,  and  in  Prairievillc 
the  husband  established  a  smithy.  Later  he  en- 
gaged in  farming  in  Lee  and  Whiteside  Counties, 
but  his  death  occurred  in  Palmyra  Township  in 
1888,  when  seventy-five  years  of  age.  His  wife 
had  died  thirteen  years  previous  in  the  faith  of  the 
Lutheran  Church,  with  which  Mr.  Schick  also  held 
membership. 

Mr.  Burger  exercises  his  right  of  franchise  in  sup- 
port of  Democratic  principles,  but  has  never  sought 


440 


PORTEAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


or  desired  public  office.  Unto  himself  and  wife 
was  horn  one  child,  Mary,  but  she  was  called  home 
at  the  age  of  two  years  and  seven  months.  The 
home  of  this  worthy  couple  is  the  abode  of  hos- 
pitality and  their  friends  throughout  the  com- 
munity are  many. 


EMERY  L.  THORP  is  one  of  the  principal 
farmers  and  stock-raisers  in  Alto  Township, 
where  he  has  extensive  farming  and  stock 
interests,  and  he  is  also  a  leader  in  the  public  life 
of  the  county  as  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Super- 
visors. He  is  a  native  of  Illinois,  coming  of  one 
of  the  pioneer  families  of  the  Northern  part  of  the 
State,  and  he  was  born  in  Little  Rock  Township, 
Kendall  County,  January  30,  1859.  His  father, 
Henry  Thorp,  a  retired  farmer  of  I)e  Kalb  County, 
was  born  in  the  State  of  New  York,  and  his  father, 
Leonard  Thorpe,  a  native  of  the  same  State,  of 
which  he  was  a  resident  until  1840,  when  he  came 
to  Illinois.  He  made  the  journey  on  the  lakes  to 
Chicago,  which  was  then  but  a  small,  swampy  set- 
tlement,and  he  found  Northern  Illinois  but  sparsely 
inhabited.  There  were  no  railways  or  other  means 
of  transportation,  save  by  team.  Mr.  Thorp 
started  out  from  the  future  "World's  Fair  City" 
on  foot  to  explore  the  country  to  seek  a  location 
that  suited  him.  He  finally  selected  a  tract  of  land 
in  Big  Grove,  Kane  County,  and  for  a  few  years 
was  identified  with  the  early  settlers  of  that  sec- 
tion. He  removed  from  there  to  Kendall  Count}', 
and  was  actively  engaged  in  agriculture  there  for 
a  number  of  years.  He  finally  retired  from  active 
business  to  the  town  of  Piano,  where  he  passed 
away  at  a  ripe  age.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife 
was  Miller. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  very  young  when 
he  accompanied  his  parents  to  their  pioneer  home 
in  this  State.  He  was  reared  to  the  life  of  a  farmer, 
and  carried  on  that  occupation  in  Kendall  County 
until  1861.  In  that  year  he  bought  land  in  So- 
manauk  Township,  De  Kalb  County,  and  for  thirty 
years  was  a  prominent  farmer  in  that  locality.  He 
accumulated  :i  comfortable  property  by  liis  opci.'i- 


tions,  and  in  1891  retired  from  active  work  to  en- 
joy it  at  his  leisure.  In  early  manhood  he  was 
married  to  Belinda  Loomis,  a  native  of  New  York, 
who  has  been  an  important  factor  in  his  prosperity. 
They  have  reared  three  sons,  of  whom  our  subject 
is  the  eldest,  Leonard  and  Lyman  the  names  of  the 
others. 

lie  of  whom  these  lines  are  written  received  a 
substantial  education  in  the  local  district  school  of 
Somanauk  Township  and  in  the  village  schools  of 
Somanauk  and  Piano.  He  made  his  home  with  his 
parents  until  his  marriage,  and  on  his  father's  farm 
was  well  .trained  in  all  the  branches  of  agriculture. 
He  rented  a  farm  the  first  year  of  his  marriage,  and 
then  located  on  the  farm  where  he  has  since  re- 
sided, including  the  southwest  quarter  of  section 
11,  Alto  Township.  In  1888  he  bought  the  south- 
east quarter  of  section  10,  of  the  same  township, 
and  has  a  farm  that  is  comparable  with  the  best  in 
this  section  in  regard  to  cultivation  and  appoint- 
ments. It  is  admirably  adapted  to  general  farming 
purposes,  and  is  well  stocked  with  cattle,  horses 
and  swine  of  the  finest  grades.  He  is  extensively 
engaged  in  breeding  thorough-bred  Hereford  cat- 
tle, Clyde  and  Norman  horses  and  Poland-China 
hogs,  and  is  meeting  with  marked  success  in  his 
stock  business. 

Mr.  Thorp  has  proved  a  very  useful  acquisition 
to  the  citizenship  of  the  county  since  he  took  up 
his  abode  here,  his  intelligence  and  competence  as 
a  farmer  making  him  a  valuable  assistant  in  main- 
taining and  extending  the  most  important  of  the 
industries  of  this  region,  and  his  clear  head  and 
excellent  business  qualifications  fitting  him  for  the 
public  service  in  which  he  has  been  engaged  for 
some  time,  as  he  is  now  filling  his  second  term  as 
'a  member  of  the  County  Board  of  Supervisors, 
representing  Alto  Township.  His  political  views 
find  expression  in  the  principles  of  the  Republican 
party,  of  which  he  is  a  stanch  supporter. 

December  25,  1879,  was  the  date  of  a  most  im- 
portant event  in  the  life  of  our  subject,  as  he  was 
then  married  to  Miss  Emma  Clark.  They  have 
three  children:  Roy,  John  and  Lester.  Mrs.  Thorp 
is  also  a  native  of  this  State,  and  a  daughter  of  one 
of  the  pioneer  families  of  Northern  Illinois.  So- 
Hianauk,  DeKalb  County,  is  the  (ilnco  of  her  birth, 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


•Ill 


;ind  she  was  born  September  30,  1860.  She  is  a 
daughter  of  Israel  Clark,  a  retired  farmer  of  that 
county,  lie  was  born  in  Haddam,  Conn.,  and  his 
father,  George  Clark,  was  a  native  of  the  same 
State.  He  came  to  Northern  Illinois  in  pioneer 
limes,  and  was  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  De  Kalb 
County,  taking  up  a  tract  of  Government  land 
near  Somanauk,  and  spending  the  remainder  of  his 
life  on  the  farm  that  lie  improved  from  the  wil- 
derness. 

Israel  Clark  came  from  his  native  State,  where 
liis  life  had  been  passed  up  to  that  time,  to  Illinois 
in  1842,  traveling  by  canal  and  lakes  to  Chicago, 
and  thence  making  his  way  to  Somanauk.  At  that 
time  but  few  settlements  had  been  made  in  North- 
ern Illinois  and  the  most  of  the  land  was  owned 
by  the  Government.  He  has  lived  to  see  the 
country  well  populated,  and  beautiful  farms  and 
busy  towns  where  he  found  but  few  indications  of 
civilization.  He  was  at  that  time  unmarried,  and 
he  worked  out  for  awhile.  But  he  soon  bought 
land  five  miles  from  Somanauk,  and  in  the  course 
of  time  developed  it  into  a  good  farm,  upon  which 
he  resided  many  years.  He  finally  sold  it,  and  buy- 
ing a  home  one  mile  from  the  village,  now  lives  re- 
tired, in  the  serene  enjoyment  of  his  property.  At 
his  country's  call  he  served  three  and  a  half  years 
in  the  late  war.  The  maiden  name  of  his 
wife  was  Cornelia  Potter.  She  was  born  in  the 
State  of  New  York,  a  daughter  of  Charles  and 
Dinah  (Miller)  Potter.  They  are  the  parents  of 
four  children:  Georgine,  Naomi,  Emma  and  Nellie. 


eoNHAI)  DURKES,  Vice-President,  Manager 
and  principal  stockholder  of  the  Franklin 
Grove  Bank,  is  one  of  the  best  known  and 
ablest  business  men  and  most  astute  financiers  of 
this  part  of  the  county.  He  was  a  pioneer  merchant 
of  Franklin  Grove,  where  he  has  made  his  home 
since  the  early  days  of  its  settlement,  and  during 
the  thirty-six  years  that  lie  has  lived  within  its 
precincts  has  been  the  chief  promoter  of  all  enter- 
prises that  have  tended  to  hasten  its  growth  and 
strengthen  its  material  prosperity. 


A  native  of  the  Grand  Duchy  of  Hesse-Darm- 
stadt, Germany,  our  subject  was  born  June  19, 
1829,  in  the  village  of  Blodesheim,  within  a  short 
distance  of  the  famous  city  of  Worms.  He  is  a 
son  of  Philip  and  Appolonie  (Stelzer)  Durkes. 
The  family  came  to  the  United  States  in  1842, 
landing  at  New  Orleans  and  from  there  proceeding 
to  St.  Louis,  where  the  father  found  work  at  his 
trade  as  a  carpenter.  In  1845  he  removed  with 
his  wife  and  children  to  Chicago,  and  there  he  died 
in  1858,  at  the  age  of  sixty-four  years.  His  wife 
passed  away  at  the  age  of  seventy,  in  1866.  They 
reared  four  children,  all  of  whom  were  born  in 
German}7.  Their  sou  John  died  in  St.  Louis  in 
1843. leaving  no  family;  their  daughter Magdalena 
married  George  Blum  and  died  at  Dayton,  Ohio, 
in  1860,  leaving  a  family;  Anna  M.  married 
George  Peterman  and  resides  in  Chicago. 

Our  subject  is  the  youngest  of  the  family.  He 
entered  upon  his  business  career  early  in  life  as  a 
clerk  in  a  store  in  Chicago,  and  served  in  that  ca- 
pacity until  1852,  and  in  the  meantime  gained  a 
good  insight  into  the  details  of  trade.  He  was 
then  advanced  to  the  responsibility  of  taking 
charge  of  a  store  at  Oregon,  111.,  and  the  follow- 
ing year  purchased  the  same.  lie  continued  to 
conduct  business  at  that  point  until  1855,  when  he 
took  advantage  of  the  fine  opening  afforded  by  the 
building  of  the  railway  to  the  newly-founded  town 
of  Franklin  Grove  to  establish  the  first  store  here 
on  the  present  business  site  of  the  village.  He  did 
a  general  mercantile  business  until  1870,  and  then 
sold  out,  but  again  engaged  in  business  in  1873, 
carrying  it  on  until  he  disposed  of  his  establish- 
ment and  stock  in  trade  in  1886.  He  had  for  sev- 
eral years  been  engaged  in  other  financial  trans- 
actions, although  he  made  his  start  as  a  merchant, 
selling  more  goods  when  in  that  line  than  any  other 
firm  in  Franklin  Grove,  and  when  he  gave  that  up 
lie  turned  his  attention  to  a  private  banking  business 
which  finally  led  to  the  organization  of  the  Frank- 
lin Grove  Bank  in  1889,  with  a  capital  stock  of 
125,000.  This  is  one  of  the  solid  monetary  insti- 
tutions of  the  county,  and  richly  deserves  its  rep- 
utation for  stability  and  safety, as  its  management 
is  prudent  and  conservative,  and  at  the  same  time 
is  by  no  means  lacking  in  a  proper  spirit  of  enter. 


442 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECOED. 


prise  that  has  made  the  bank  a  useful  factor  in  de- 
veloping the  interests  of  this  section  of  the  State. 

Mr.  Durkes'  career  is  illustrative  of  the  fact  that 
he  is  an  excellent  financier,  as  when  he  began  life 
as  a  clerk  all  the  money  that  he  could  call  his  own 
was  his  monthly  salary  of  $10,  and  he  is  now  com- 
paratively wealthy.  He  is  possessed  of  a  large 
amount  of  real  estate  in  Iowa,  and  has,  besides  his 
commodious  residence  with  its  pleasant  and  well- 
ordered  surroundings,  and  other  valuable  property 
in  Franklin  Grove,  a  good  farm  of  two  hundred 
acres  near  the  town,  lie  is  a  judicious  investor,  a 
cool  and  close  calculator,  but  his  liberal  use  of  his 
money  where  it  will  do  the  most  good  is  sufficient 
proof  that  he  does  not  hoard  it  for  the  further- 
ance of  private  and  selfish  ends.  He  has  been  ad- 
ministrator for  various  estates,  having  the  care  of 
one  large  estate  for  fifteen  years,  and  so  well  did 
he  handle  the  money,  loaning  it  in  sums  ranging 
from  $50  to  $5,000,  and  nearly  all  on  personal  se- 
curity, that  he  never  lost  a  cent  belonging  to  this 
estate. 

Mr.  Durkes  was  married  in  1854  to  Miss  Eliza 
.1.  Fleming,  a  native  of  Pennsylvania.  She  died 
in  1855,  leaving  one  child,  who  died  in  infancy. 
Our  subject  was  married  a  second  time  in  1858, 
taking  as  his  wife  Miss  Mary  E.  Jones,  a  native  of 
Canada  and  a  daughter  of  Augustus  and  Mary 
Jones.  They  have  had  live  children:  Ida  E.,wife 
of  Dr.  H.  M.  Hewitt;  Augustus  P..  a  merchant  of 
Erie,  Whiteside  County;  Warren  C.,  cashier  of  the 
Franklin  Grove  Bank;  Stelzer  A.,  and  Kittie,  who 
died  in  childhood. 

One  can  say  but  little  about  the  village  of 
Franklin  Grove  without  connecting  the  name  of 
our  subject  therewith  as  its  leading  citizen,  who 
has  done  as  much  or  more  than  any  other  man  to 
advance  its  interests  in  every  direction  and  make 
it  an  attractive  and  desirable  place  of  residence. 
He  has  taken  an  active  part  in  local  government 
as  President  of  the  Village  Board  and  in  other 
official  capacities.  He  drafted  the  first  chart  and 
laws  of  the  village,  and  its  effective  drainage  sys- 
tem is  due  to  his  energetic  influence  while  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Council.  He  is  pleasant  and  kindly  in 
his  manners,  and  his  personal  habits  are  above  re- 
proach. I  It-  lias  always  lict-n  a  stanch  tempcraiu  r 


man,  and  is  an  earnest  advocate  of  whatever  will 
elevate  the  social  life  of  the  community.  He  is  a 
man  of  religious  convictions,  and  still  leans  toward 
the  faith  of  the  German  Reformed  Church  in 
which  he  was  reared.  His  family,  however,  are 
members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and 
he  contributes  generously  for  its  support.  He  is 
identified  with  the  Masonic  fraternity  as  a  charter 
member  of  the  Franklin  Grove  Lodge.  In  politics 
he  began  as  a  Republican,  but  in  1872  he  saw 
cause  for  changing  his  views,  and  since  then  has 
been  a  loyal  Democrat,  his  fidelity  to  his  party  be- 
ing rewarded  during  Cleveland's  admistration  by 
the  Postmastership  at  Franklin  Grove. 


PROF.  GEORGE  II.  NOBLE,who  is  successfully 
conducting  a  livery  business  in  the  village 
of  Compton,  is  one  of  the  native-born  citi- 
zens of  Lee  County,  who  now  form  so  im- 
portant an  element  in  the  maintenance  of  its 
prosperity.  His  birthplace  is  Amboy  Township, 
and  March  27,  1859,  the  date  :>f  his  birth.  His 
father,Charles  Noble,  formerly  a  well-known  farmer 
of  this  section  was  born  in  Whitehall,  Washington 
County,  N.  Y.,  while  his  father,  whose  name  was 
the  same  as  his  own,  was  a  native  of  Massachu- 
setts. During  some  period  of  his  life  he  removed 
from  the  old  Bay  State  to  the  Empire  State,  and 
became  the  proprietor  of  a  farm  in  Whitehall, 
where  he  passed  the  remainder  of  his  life.  The 
maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  Anna  Waters,  and 
she,  too,  died  on  the  homo  farm  in  Whitehall. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  reared  and  edu- 
cated in  his  native  State,  of  which  he  remained  a 
resident  until  1855,  and  in  the  meantime  he  learned 
the  art  of  daguerreotyping.  In  the  year  mentioned,he 
came  to  Illinois,  and  became  a  pioneer  farmer  of 
what  is  now  Amboy  Township.  He  remained  on 
his  farm  but  one  year,  however,  as  the  climate  did 
not  agree  with  his  family,  and  he  removed  with 
them  to  Minnesota,  going  by  teams  to  the  Missis- 
sippi, and  then  by  boat  to  Winona.  He  entered  a 
tract  of  Government  land  near  that  cit3-,  lived 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


443 


there  about  two  years,  and  then  returned  to  his 
homestead  in  Amboy  Township.  lie  made  that 
his  home  until  death  closed  his  honorable  career, 
March  26,  1880,  devoting  himself  to  its  improve- 
ment. The  maiden  name  of  the  mother  of  our 
subject  was  Eliza  H.  Holeomb.  She  was  born  in 
Dresden,  Washington  County,  N.  Y.,  a  daughter  of 
James  and  Olive  Holcomb.  She  married  a  second 
time,  becoming  the  wife  of  Edward  Mackin,  and 
still  occupies  the  home  farm. 

Our  subject  was  one  of  nine  children,  and  the 
names  of  his  brothers  and  sisters  are  as  follows: 
Mariette,  Ann  Eliza,  Julia.  Charles,  James,  Joseph- 
ine (twin  sister  of  our  subject),  Bowman  and  Hiram. 
George  H.  Noble  received  his  early  education  in 
the  district  schools,  and  advanced  by  attendance 
at  Phillips'  private  academy  at  Arnboy,  and  Dixon 
Business  College.  In  September,  1876,  he  went 
to  Kansas,  and  was  employed  on  a  farm  in  the 
summer  and  attended  school  in  the  winter  during 
his  stay-in  that  State.  He  resided  in  Dickinson, 
Saline  and  McPherson  Counties  two  and  a  half 
years,  and  then,  returning  home,  attended  Phillips' 
Academy,  where  he  pursued  a  thorough  course  of 
study.  In  the  fall  of  1881  he  entered  the  pro- 
fession of  teacher,  for  which  lie  was  amply  quali- 
fied, and  in  the  years  that  he  devoted  to  that 
vocation  he  won  a  high  reputation  for  his  manifest 
talent  for  imparting  knowledge,  and  for  the  ex- 
cellence of  his  methods  of  teaching.  He  taught 
two  years,  and  then  entered  Dixon  Business  Col- 
lege, where  he  obtained  high  rank  for  generat  pro- 
ficiency in  his  studies,  and  while  a  student  taught 
a  class  in  German  during  the  absence  of  Professor 
Sickles. 

At  the  close  of  his  term  at  the  business  college, 
Prof.  Noble  resumed  teaching  in  the  public  schools, 
and  continued  his  professional  career  until  June, 
1891,  being  principal  of  the  Compton  School  the 
last  three  years  of  that  time.  In  the  fall  of  18!»(i 
he  established  himself  in  the  livery  business,  in 
which  he  still  continues.  He  has  a  well-equipped 
stable  and  is  well  patronized  by  the  traveling  pub- 
lic. The  Professor  is  a  highly  intelligent,  well-in- 
formed young  man,  whose  active  mind  has  been 
well  trained,  and  he  stands  high  in  the  citizenship 
of  liis  native  county.  He  is  a  member  of  Brook- 


lyn Lodge,  No.  282,  A.  F.  &  A.M.;  Anchor  Lodge 
I.  O.  O.  F.,  No.  510,  at  Paw  Paw,  and  is  popular 
in  social  circles. 

Prof.  Noble  was  married  June  20,  1889,  to  Miss 
Josephine  Atkinson,  a  native  of  Brooklyn  Town- 
ship, and  a  daughter  of  the  late  William  Atkinson, 
who  was  a  prominent  pioneer  and  well-known  citi- 
zen  of  Lee  County.  Her  father  was  born  in  County 
Armagh,  Ireland,  in  December,  1806.  He  was  in 
his  sixteenth  year  when  he  embarked  on  board  the 
good  ship  "Betsy  Jane,"  bound  for  St.  John,N.  B., 
where  he  was  met  by  two  older  brothers  who  had 
preceded  him  to  America.  He  attended  school  in 
that  city  two  years,  and  then  news  of  his  mother's 
death  was  received,  and  his  brothers  returning  to 

j  their  old  home  across  the  sea,  he  never  saw  any  of 
the  family  again.  He  engaged  in  lumbering  in 
the  New  Brunswick  forests  a  few  years,  and  subse- 
quently tried  the  mercantile  business  a  short  time. 
'  He  finally  came  to  the  States,  and  from  New  Hamp- 
shire made  his  way  to  Cairo,  111.  For  a  time  he 
made  trips  up  and  down  the  Ohio  from  that  point, 
but  attacks  of  fever  and  ague  obliged  him  to  seek 
other  quarters.  We  next  hear  of  him  at  Ross's 
Grove,  whence  he  removed  to  Inlet,  and  found 
employment  in  Dewey's  saw-mill. 

In  1843  Mr.  Atkinson  took  unto  himself  a  wife, 
in  the  person  of  Mrs.  Mary  Ross  Melngin,  a  native 

|  of  Virginia,  and  a  daughter  of  Joseph  and  Jane 
(Katon)  Ross,  and  widow  of  Zachariah  Melugin. 

|   Her  father  died  January  31,  1888,  and  her  mother 

I  April  13,  1880,  both  living  to  be  very  old.  Four 
of  the  eight  children  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Atkin- 
son are  living,  namely:  William,  Martha  E.,  Anna 
:iii(l  Josephine. 

Shortly  after  his  marriage,  Mr.  Atkinson  bought 
the  homestead  in  Brooklyn  Township  of  the  Gov- 
ernment, and  there  he  and  his  wife  passed  the 
most  of  their  wedded  life,  though  at  two  different 
times  they  were  residents  of  Mendota,  once  for  a 
year,  and  again  for  three  years,  and  Mr.  Atkinson 
was  at  one  time  prominent  in  the  civic  life  of  that 
city  as  a  member  of  the  City  Council.  He  was 
very  successful  in  his  business  operations,  as  he 
invested  his  money  judiciously,  and  became  one 
of  the  rich  men  of  the  county.  He  was  a  man  of 

!    broad  views,  of  untiring  energy,  and  was  fond  of 


444 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


traveling.  He  watched  with  keen  interest  the 
progress  of  the  war,  and  after  the  battle  of  Mnr- 
freesboro  was  fought  he  visited  the  scene  of  the 
conflict.  He  attended  the  Centennial  Exhibition 
at  Philadelphia  and  the  Cotton  Exposition  at  New 
Orleans.  He  was  a  man  of  genial,  frank,  straight- 
forward nature,  was  generous  and  hospitable,  and 
had  many  close  friends  who  mourned  his  death, 
which  was  a  loss  to  the  community.  He  had  done 
much  for  the  upbuilding  of  the  county,  and  his 
name  will  always  be  associated  with  its  history. 
He  was  a  member  of  Bethany  Chapter,  K.  T., 
and  was  active  in  forwarding  the  interests  of  that 
organization,  as  well  as  of  all  things  which  would 
in  any  way  benefit  the  community. 


SIDNEY  BEACH,  who  resides  on  section  34, 
Lee  Countjr,  was  born  in  Delaware  County, 
Ohio,  December  6,   1827.     His  parents,  Is- 
rael and  Rhoda  (Lockwood)  Beach,  were 
natives  of  New  Jersey,  but  removed  to  Delaware 
County,  Ohio,  where  they  reared  their  family  of 
eleven  children,  and  where  they  died. 

Our  subject  is  the  ninth  in  order  of  birth  in 
the  parental  family,  and  lived  in  his  native 
county  until  he  was  fifteen  years  old,  when  he 
came  to  Ogle  County,  this  State,  and  engaged  in 
farming  on  his  own  account  for  three  years;  he 
then  returned  to  Ohio,  where  he  remained  for  three 
years,  being  employed  most  of  the  time  in  assisting 
his  father  upon  the  farm.  After  remaining  there  for 
some  three  years,  during  which  time  he  was  engaged 
in  breaking  prairie  and  in  dealing  in  cattle,  he  again 
returned  to  Delaware  County,  this  time  remaining 
about  a  year  and  a  half,  and  was  there  united  in 
marriage  January  8,  1856,  to  Miss  Sarah  Vande- 
mark,  daughter  of  Daniel  and  Anna  (Kidney)  Van- 
demark.  Her  parents  were  natives  of  Pennsylvania, 
whence  they  removed  to  Delaware  County,  where 
they  died.  Mrs.  Beach  was  the  second  in  order  of 
birth  of  their  three  children,  her  birth  taking  place 
in  Delaware  County,  December  31,  1838. 

After  his  marriage  Mr.  Beach  returned  with  hi* 
wife  to  Lee  County,  where  they  settled  in  Ashton 


Township,  and  have  since  resided.  Mr.  Bench  has 
always  been  engaged  in  farming  and  stock-raising, 
and  has  dealt  quite  extensively  in  land,  of  which 
ho  owns  between  five  and  six  hundred  acres.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Beach  are  the  parents  of  three  children: 
Clement,  who  married  Miss  Flora  Thompson;  Jes- 
sie C.,  who  is  the  wife  of  J.  C.  Edwards;  and  Sidney 
E.  Mr.  Beach  is  a  Republican  in  politics,  and  with 
his  wife  is  a  member  of  the  Free  Methodist  Church. 
He  is  well  known  as  a  public-spirited,  enterprising 
man,  prominent  in  all  the  interests  of  his  township 
and  county,  and  his  wife  is  highly  esteemed  as  a 
refined  and  intellectual  woman. 


ARTIN  DETRICK  is  an  able,  enterprising 
farmer,  who  has  acquired  a  handsome 
property  by  his  good  management  of  his 
affairs  and  intelligent  method  of  farming, 
anil  Nelson  Township,  where  his  agricultural  in- 
terests are  centered  on  section  32,  classes  him 
among  her  best  citizens.  He  was  born  December 
7,  1833,  in  Monroe  County,  Pa.,  whence  his  par- 
ents removed  when  he  was  a  year  old  to  what  is 
now  Meshoppen  Township,  in  Wyoming  County, 
the  same  State,  where  his  father,  Jacob  Detrick, 
began  life  anew  on  a  tract  of  one  hundred  acres 
of  heavily  timbered  land,  beautifully  located  on 
the  banks  of  the  lovely  Susquehanna  River.  He 
hewe"d  out  a  good  farm  from  the  primeval  forests 
and  lived  there  for  fifty  years,  his  death  occur- 
ring on  the  old  homestead  December  11,1890, 
when  he  was  eighty-one  years  and  five  days  old. 
He  was  born  in  Northumberland  County,  coining 
of  Holland  ancestry,  and  a  son  of  Elias  Detrick, 
who  also  claimed  Pennsylvania  as  his  native 
State,  and  died  there  in  Monroe  County  on  a  farm 
when  he  was  seventy  years  of  age.  His  wife,  who 
was  likewise  a  Pennsylvania!!  by  birth,  died  there 
when  past  ninety-two  years  old.  She  was  the 
mother  of  seventeen  children,  who  were  nearly  all 
boys  and  lived  to  grow  up  and  marry,  all  but  one. 
and  the  most  of  them  died  full  of  years.  The 
familv,  as  a  rule,  were  members  of  the  Lutheran 
Church. 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


445 


The  father  of  our  subject  was  married  in  Mon- 
roe County  to  Miss  Margaret  Rowe,  who  had 
been  there  born  and  bred,  and  was  of  old  Pennsyl- 
vania-Dutch stock.  She  died  in  AVyoming  County 
in  1852,  when  she  was  but  thirty-seven  years  of 
age,  and  was  greatly  mourned  by  her  family  and 
neighbors,  as  she  was  a  woman  of  rare  character. 
Both  she  and  her  husband  were  devoted  7nembers 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  He  was 
known  as  a  man  of  remarkable  physique,  of  an 
iron  will  and  great  tenacity  of  purpose,  and  he 
was  a  great  worker. 

Our  subject  is  the  eldest  of  ten  children,  four 
sons  and  six  daughters,  three  of  the  sons  dying 
when  quite  young  and  one  of  the  daughters  when 
forty  years  of  age,  and  he  and  his  five  sisters  are 
the  surviving  members  of  the  family.  He  was 
not  quite  of  age  when  he  came  to  this  county  in 
1854,  but  he  had  inherited  in  a  good  degree  the 
manliness,  decision  of  character  and  persistent 
ambition  that  distinguished  his  father,  and  he  was 
well  able  to  struggle  with  the  hardships  that  lay 
before  him  in  the  new  and  untried  life  upon 
which  he  was  about  to  enter  with  not  a  dollar  to 
his  name.  He  began  here  as  a  laborer,  and  later 
rented  land  for  six  years  in  Palmyra  Township 
before  he  purchased  his  first  eighty  acres  of  land 
in  1864.  He  improved  a  part  of  that,  and  has 
bought  other  land  since,  so  that  lie  has  a  valuable 
farm  of  two  hundred  and  forty  acres,  which  is 
under  a  high  state  of  cultivation,  is  provided 
with  neat  and  well-arranged  buildings,  and  is 
fully  stocked  with  cattle,  horses  and  swine  of  fine 
breeds. 

To  the  amiable  wife  who  lias  shared  his  for- 
tunes and  ably  presides  over  their  home,  Mr. 
Detrick  was  united  in  marriage  in  Wyoming 
County,  his  native  State,  January  11,  1860.  Mrs. 
Detrick,  who  in  her  maiden  days  was  Rachel  At- 
kinson, was  born  in  that  part  of  Pennsylvania  in 
August,  1833.  Her  parents  were  George  and  Lu- 
cinda  (Russell)  Atkinson,  who  died  on  their  old 
hoinotead  in  Wyoming  County,  where  they  had 
passed  their  wedded  life  and  had  improved  a  good 
farm,  death  coming  to  them  when  they  were  very 
old.  Mr.  Atkinson  was  a  native  of  England,  and 
coming  to  the  Tinted  States  when  a  young  man 


married  his  wife  in  Pennsylvania,  which  was  her 
native  State,  she  having  been  born  in  Wyoming 
County  of  Connecticut  stock.  They  were  promi- 
nent members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
which  he  served  for  some  years  as  a  local  preacher 
in  Wyoming  County.  He  was  known  as  a  man  of 
strong  character,  who  was  very  decided  when  he 
knew  he  was  in  the  right. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Detrick  are  the  parents  of  four 
children,  of  whom  one  is  deceased,  Lydia,  who 
died  in  August,  1877,  at  the  age  of  six  years. 
Those  living  are  George  A.,  who  married  Miss 
Lizzie  Taylor  and  makes  his  home  on  a  farm  in 
this  township,  his  business  being  to  operate  ma- 
chines and  deal  in  grain  and  hay;  Myron  H.,  a 
very  fine  draughtsman  and  skilled  machinist,  a 
thorough  student  in  his  line,  who  represents  the 
Babcock  &  Wilcox  Boiler  Company,  of  New  York 
City,  with  headquarters  at  Chicago,  111.,  mar- 
ried Miss  Ida  Davis,  of  Sterling,  111.;  and  Mary 
L.,  wife  of  William  G.  Hartshorn,  the  operator  at 
Dixon  for  the  Illinois  Central  Railway  Company. 

Mr.  Detrick  is  a  man  of  large,  round-about  com- 
mon-sense and  excellent  business  tact,  whose  ster- 
ling qualities  of  head  and  heart  command  the 
respect  of  all  with  whom  he  has  financial  dealings, 
and  has  won  many  sincere  friends  during  the 
many  years  that  he  has  made  Nelson  Township 
his  home.  In  politics,  he  is  a  Republican  of  the 
first  water.  He  has  held  the  local  offices  of  High- 
way Commissioner,  etc.,  and  is  the  present  Justice 
of  the  Peace  of  this  township,  with  whose  inter- 
ests Ids  own  are  so  closely  linked,  and  public- 
spirit  has  always- characterized  the  administration 
of  his  official  duties. 


.ILLIAM  II.  ANDERSON.  The  native- 
born  citizens  of  Lee  County  have  in  Wil- 
liam II.  Anderson  one  of  the  finest  repre- 
sentatives of  their  class.  lie  is  a  young  man  of 
marked  enterprise  and  business  capacity,  and  is 
one  of  the  most  extensive  farmers  and  stock-rais- 
ers in  East  Grove  Township,  where  he  makes  his 


146 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


home  on  the  old  homestead  in  the  house  in  which 
his  birth  occurred  March  8,  1857. 

Our  subject  is  tho  son  of  Fenwick  Anderson,  who 
was  born  in  1818  and  was  one  of  the  foremost  and 
most  successful  of  the  pioneers  of  this  part  of  the 
county,  who  did  much  to  encourage  its  growth, 
and  is  now  living  in  retirement  in  the  village  of 
Ohio,  in  the  adjoining  county  of  Bureau,  enjoying 
the  wealth  that  he  accumulated  in  former  years, 
and  looking  after  his  property.  He  is  a  native  of 
Scotland,  but  his  parents,  who  were  also  natives  of 
that  country,  emigrated  to  Canada  when  he  was 
young,  and  settled  on  a  farm  near  Ayr.  Of  his 
brothers  it  is  recorded  that  Robert  came  to  Illinois 
and  died  in  Lee  County;  Fergus  still  lives  on  the 
family  homestead  in  Canada;  and  William  is  in 
Australia. 

Fenwick  Anderson  grew  to  a  vigorous  manhood 
under  the  pioneer  influences  of  the  Canadian 
settlement  in  which  his  parents  located  when  they 
came  to  America.  After  he  had  attained  his  major-  j 
it}',  he  crossed  the  border  line  between  the  Queens 
dominion  and  the  United  States  into  New  York, 
whence  he  subsequent^-  came  to  Illinois  in  the 
early  years  of  the  settlement  of  this  northern  part 
of  the  State,  and  stayed  awhile  in  Ogle  County. 
He  there  met  and  married  Janette  Peake,  a  native 
of  Vermont,  and  to  them  have  been  born  thirteen 
children,  of  whom  these  ten  grew  to  manhood  and 
womanhood:  Alice,  wife  of  William  Balcom;  Fen- 
wick; William  H.;  Frank;  Albert;  Emma;  Fergus; 
Ilettie,  wife  of  John  Neiss;  George  and  Charter. 

When  Mr.  Anderson  first  made  his  appearance 
in  this  State  the  country  in  these  parts  was  but 
thinly  inhabited  by  whites  and  the  Indians  still 
lingered  around  their  old  hunting  grounds.  He 
used  to  encounter  them  frequently,  and  once  met 
and  talked  to  the  noted  chief,  Black  Hawk.  Mr. 
Anderson  decided  to  locate  permanently  in  Lee 
County,  and  selected  a  suitable  site  for  his  future 
home  on  section  34,  East  Grove  Township.  He 
erected  a  log  cabin  and  commenced  to  till  the  soil, 
and  later  manufactured  brick  on  his  own  farm, 
and  built  a  substantial  residence  of  that  material. 
He  prospered  exceedingly,  and  in  time  became  one 
of  the  wealthy  men  of  the  county,  as  lie  was  suc- 
cessful in  everything  he  undertook,  lie  at  one 


time  owned  about  a  thousand  acres  of  land,  and 
still  retains  seven  hundred  acres.  Ho  was  an  ex- 
tensive stock-raiser  for  many  years,  and  lie  man- 
aged his  large  farming  interests  until  1887,  when 
he  removed  to  Ohio,  in  Bureau  County,  two  miles 
from  his  farm,  and  is  living  retired.  An  idle  life 
would  by  no  means  suit  a  man  of  his  active  tem- 
perament, and  as  his  health  is  good  and  he  still  re- 
tains much  of  his  physical  vigor,  he  daily  rides  on 
horseback,  chops  wood,  splits  posts,  or  does  any 
work  that  he  desires  to  accomplish.  He  is  a  man 
of  sterling  worth  and  generous  nature,  and  holds 
a  warm  place  in  the  hearts  of  many  whom  he  has 
befriended.  In  the  early  days  of  the  settlement  of 
the  country  many  a  man  who  came  here  burdened 
by  a  heritage  of  poverty  owes  to  him  a  start  in  life, 
as  he  used  to  furnish  such  settlers  with  team,  wagon 
and  seed-grain,  allowing  them  to  pay  for  1  he  same 
when  convenient.  He  was  prominent  in  public 
life  as  Supervisor  and  Justice  of  the  Peace  for 
many  years,  and  in  him  the  Republican  party  has 
had  one  of  the  most  stanch  supporters,  who  has  ad- 
vocated its  principles  since  the  early  days  of  its 
organization. 

William  II.  Anderson  was  reared  on  the  farm 
that  is  still  his  home,  and  received  a  common- 
school  education.  He  early  evinced  a  taste  for 
agriculture,  and  is  now  successfully  engaged  in 
large  farming  operations,  having  five  hundred 
acres  of  land  tinder  his  management.  He  has 
every  convenience  for  conducting  his  work  after 
the  most  approved  methods,  and  his  pastures  are 
well  stocked  with  cattle  and  horses  of  the  l>est 
breeds.  He  is  bright,  prompt  and  alert,  keeping 
pace  witli  the  times  in  all  things,  and,  besides  being 
a  thorough-going  farmer,  has  a  record  as  a  public 
official,  as  he  has  been  a  School  Director,  and  has 
represented  his  township  on  the  County  Board  of 
Supervisors.  In  politics,  he,  too,  like  his  father, 
is  a  Republican  to  the  heart's  core. 

We  should  leave  this  review  of  the  life  of  our 
snbject  incomplete  did  we  not  refer  to  his  marriage 
and  to  his  household.  In  January,  1883,  he  was 
married  to  Miss  Kate  O'Neil,  a  daughter  of  Thomas 
and  Mary  O'Neil.  She  is  a  native  of  Philadel- 
phia, Pa.,  and  her  parent*  arc  now  well-known  res- 
ident <>!'  the  village  of  Ohio  in  Bureau  County. 


THE 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


449 


Mr.  and  .Mrs.  Anderson  have  a  home  that.is attract- 
ive in  its  appointments  and  surroundings,  and 
three  children  complete  their  pleasant  family  cir- 
cle, whom  they  have  named  AVilliam  F..  Seth  and 
Nettie. 


KV.  JOHN  E.  HART,  who  is  well  known  as 
an  evangelist  and  an  active  minister  in  the 
Brethren  Church,  and  is  an  influence 
for  much  good  in  this  community,  is  also 
connected  with  the  agricultural  life  of  this  county 
as  a  practical  farmer,  having  a  good  farm  on  sec- 
tion 11,  South  Dixon  Township,  which  he  has  im- 
proved and  made  a  pleasant  home.  His  native 
place  is  in  Erie  County,  Pa.,  and  November  19, 
1833,  is  the  date  of  his  birth,  his  parents  being 
Chauncey  and  Magdalena  (Somes)  Hart. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  born  in  Connecti- 
cut of  New  England  parents,  and  came  of  the 
original  Yankee  stock.  In  early  life  he  was  a 
farmer  and  a  brewer,  and  when  a  young  man  he 
worked  in  a  brewery  in  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  where 
he  lived  until  past  the  meridian  of  life.  He  then 
removed  to  Pennsylvania,  and  followed  farming 
in  that  State  a  number  of  years.  When  an  old 
man  he  came  to  Illinois  in  1866,  and  settled  on  a 
small  farm  in  Nachusa  Township.  He  did  not 
live  long  in  his  new  home,  as  death  claimed  him 
eighteen  months  later,  in  the  early  part  of  1868> 
he  being  then  seventy-five  years  of  age.  lie  was 
an  honest,  hard-working  man  of  unblemished 
character,  and  left  behind  him  an  honorable  life 
record.  In  early  years  he  was  a  Whig,  but  trans- 
ferred his  allegiance  to  the  Republican  party  after 
its  formation.  A  man  of  true  piety,  he  was  an  al- 
most life-long  meml>er  of  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Church,  dying  firm  in  the  faith.  His  widow 
survived  him  a  few  years,  and  then  passed  away 
iji  Chenango  County,  at  the  age  of  seventy-seven. 
She  was  a  noble  woman  and  a  sincere  Methodist 
in  religion. 

Our   subject    was    one    of    eleven    children,    of 
whom  seven  are  yet  living.     He    was  five   years 
old  when  his  parents  removed  from  his  biithplaec 
21 


to  Yenango  County,  in  the  same  State,  and  he 
lived  there  until  he  came  to  Illinois  in  1865.  He 
began  to  farm  in  Dixon  Township,  and  in  1873 
purchased  his  present  home  in  South  Dixon  Town- 
ship. He  has  devoted  all  his  spare  time  to  its 
improvement,  has  its  ninety-five  and  one-half 
acres  under  excellent  tillage,  has  erected  a  good 
set  of  buildings,  and  has  a  neat  and  orderly  place 
that  adds  much  to  the  attractiveness  of  this  por- 
tion of  the  township. 

It  is  not  merely  as  a  tiller  of  the  soil,  however, 
that  our  reverend  subject  has  won  for  himself  an 
enduring  place  among  our  most  honored  citizens, 
but  also  by  his  earnest  work  as  a  preacher  of  the 
Gospel.  lie  has  been  a  local  minister  in  the 
United  Brethren  Church  for  many  years,  and  for 
the  past  six  years  has  been  regularly  licensed.  He 
has  become  quite  widely  known  in  his  church  as 
an  evangelist  of  much  power,  who  is  very  success- 
ful in  bringing  in  recruits  to  the  church,  and  his 
services  are  often  sought.  He  is  a  man  of  true 
Christian  spirit,  has  an  ardent  love  for  his  sacred 
falling,  and  puts  his  whole  soul  into  the  work.  He 
•is  not  only  a  great  worker  in  the  church,  but  also 
in  the  Sunday-school,  and  has  been  very  active 
in  building  up  these  nurseries  of  the  church,  as  he 
believes  that  in  them  a  child  often  lays  the  foun- 
dation of  a  high  moral  and  Christian  character. 
He 'is  Superintendent  of  the  Sunday-school  con- 
nected with  his  church  in  this  town,  and  under 
his  fostering  care  it  is  growing  in  strength  and 
numbers.  All  good  causes  find  in  him  a  cham- 
pion, and  especially  is  he  interested  in  the  great 
temperance  movement,  believing  firmly  in  legisla- 
tion to  eradicate  the  evil,  and  adhering  to  prohi- 
bition in  politics. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Hart  was  first  married  in  Yenango 
County,  Pa.,  to  Miss  Catherine  Best,  who  was 
born  in  Pennsylvania  but  was  reared  in  the  State 
of  New  York,  returning  to  her  native  State  to 
marry.  She  accompanied  her  husband  to  the  new 
home  in  Lee  County,  but  was  not  destined  to 
share  it  with  him  long,  as  she  died  One  month 
after  their  arrival  in  1865,  aged  thirty  years.  She 
left  five  children,  namely:  Alice,  who  died  at  the 
age  of  nineteen,  Alsa,  who  married  Charles  Boss- 
merer,  and  died  at  the  age  of  thirty-four,  her  bus- 


450 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


band  being  also  now  deceased;  Chauncey,  a  farmer 
in  South  Dixon,  who  married  Ida  Uhl;  Mary, 
who  died  at  the  age  of  twenty  years;  and  Hora- 
tio, who  died  in  childhood.  Our  subject  was  a 
second  time  married  in  this  county,  Mrs.  Sarah  M. 
Beaty,  nee  Brink,  becoming  his  wife.  She  was  a 
native  of  the  State  of  New  York,  and  came  to  Illi- 
nois in  her  girlhood.  She  married  Frank  Beaty, 
who  enlisted  in  a  Venango  County,  Pa.,  regiment 
during  the  late  war  and  sac-rifled  his  life  while  yet 
it  was  in  his  prime  for  his  country,  dying  of  some 
disease  contracted  while  in  the  army.  Mrs.  Hart 
is  a  member  of  the  United  Brethren  Church,  heart- 
ily sympathizes  with  her  husband  in  his  work, 
and  aids  him  by  her  co-operation. 

In  connection  with  this  sketch  may  be  found  a 
lithographic  portrait  of  Mr.  Hart. 


PANIEL  M.  HARRIS  and  his  good  wife  are 
well  known  and  honored  throughout  Lee 
County  as  among  the  oldest  settlers  now 
living  within  its  borders.  They  were  pioneers  of 
Wyoming  Township,  coming  here  many  years  ago 
in  their  early  married  life  to  improve  a  farm  from 
the  virgin  soil  and  make  a  home  in  the  wilder- 
ness. They  are  now  comfortably  and  happily 
passing  their  declining  years  amid  the  scenes  of 
their  early  toils,  and  are  well  fortified  against 
want  by  the  fruits  of  their  united  labors. 

Mr.  Harris  was  born  in  the  town  of  Summer  Hill, 
Cayuga  County,  N.  Y.,  July  9,  1825.  His  father, 
also  named  Daniel,  was  a  native  of  New  Hamp- 
shire, born  in  the  town  of  Richmond,  April  12, 
1794.  He  was  a  son  of  Joseph  Harris,  who  is  sup- 
posed to  have  been  a  native  of  New  England.  He 
was  a  farmer  and  spent  the  last  years  of  his  life  in 
Vermont.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was 
Martha  Mason.  She  was  born  April  2,  1767. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  reared  in  Vermont, 
and  after  marriage  moved  from  there  to  Summer 
Hill,  Cayuga  County,  N.  Y.,  where  lie  boug  ht  a  tract 
of  timber  land,  and  hewed  a  farm  from  the  forest 
wilds.  About  an  acre  of  his  land  was  cleared  and 
the  rest  was  covered  with  a  dense  growth  of  tim- 


ber, through  which  deer  and  other  kinds  of  game 
roamed  at  will.  A  log  house  stood  on  the  place 
at  the  time  of  purchase,  which  he  afterward  replaced 
by  a  good  set  of  frame  buildings.  The  original 
dwelling,  which  was  the  birthplace  of  our  subject, 
was  a  rude  structure,  without  glass  in  the  windows, 
the  light  being  admitted  through  greased  paper. 
They  found  their  way  to  their  new  home  by  blazed 
trees.  There  were  no  railways  in  that  part  of  the 
country  for  years,  no  markets,  and  there  was  but 
little  money  in  circulation.  Standing  timber  was 
of  but  little  value,  and  large  logs  were  piled 
together  and  burned  to  get  them  out  of  the  way, 
the  ashes  being  carefully  gathered  together  and 
traded  at  the  stores  for  supplies.  The  mother  of 
our  subject  used  to  card,  spin  and  weave  all  the 
cloth  in  use  by  the  family  for  years,  making  linen 
cloth  with  which  to  clothe  the  family  in  summer, 
and  cloth  of  wool  for  winter  wear.  The  father  of 
our  subject  had  the  assistance  of  his  children  in 
the  pioneer  task  of  clearing  his  farm,  and  he  re- 
sided on  it  until  they  were  grown.  He  then  sold 
it  and  bought  a  smaller  place  in  the  same  county, 
where  he  made  his  home  during  the  remainder  of 
his  mortal  existence,  his  death  occurring  June  26, 
1861. 

The  maiden  name  of  the  mother  of  our  subject 
was  Miriam  Page,  and  she  was  born  in  Coopers- 
town,  N.  Y.,  March  27,  1798.  She  spent  many  of 
her  last  years  with  our  subject,  but  her  death 
finally  took  place  at  the  home  of  her  son,  Parker 
M.,  at  Paw  Paw,  October  29,  1886,  at  a  venerable 
age.  She  was  the  mother  of  ten  children ;  of  these 
seven  grew  to  maturity:-  Luther  R.,  Alfred,  Daniel 
M.,  Mary  A.,  James,  Martha  E.,  and  Parker  M. 
Parker  M.,  Daniel  and  Martha  are  the  only  sur- 
vivors of  the  family.  The  latter  is  the  wife  of 
Charles  Jones,  of  whom  a  sketch  appears  on 
another  page  of  this  volume. 

Our  subject  attended  the  early  schools  of  his 
native  county,  and  assisted  his  father  on  the  farm 
during  his  boyhood.  He  lived  with  his  parents 
until  1846,  and  then  paid  a  visit  to  Lee  County, 
at  which  time  he  entered  a  tract  of  Government 
land  on  sections  8  and  5,  of  what  is  now  Wyoming 
Township.  Returning  in  a  short  time  to  Cayuga 
County,  he  resumed  work  on  his  father's  farm. 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


451 


In  the  fall  of  1848,  he  took  an  important  step 
whereby  he  secured  one  of  life's  choicest  blessings, 
;i  true  wife,  in  the  person  of  Christie  Ann  Adaline 
( 'firmer,  to  whom  he  was  wedded  on  the  29th  day 
of  November.  She  was  born  in  Dry  den,  Tomp- 
kins  County,  N.  Y.,. January  22,  1830.  Her  father, 
John  Carmer,  is  thought  to  have  been  a  native  of 
the  same  State,  and  was  a  son  of  Abram  Carmer. 
The  father  of  the  latter  was  Isaac  Carmor,  in  early 
life  a  resident  of  New  Jersey,  but  his  last  years 
were  spent  in  Dryden,  N.  Y.,  in  working  at  his 
occupation  as  a  farmer,  as  long  as  he  engaged  in 
active  business.  His  life  was  prolonged  to  the 
remarkable  age  of  one  hundred  and  throe  years. 
He  was  a  soldier  of  the  Revolution.  Mrs.  Harris' 
grandfather  was  a  farmer,  and  the  last  part  of  his 
life  was  passed  in  Tompkins  County.  The  father 
of  Mrs.  Harris  was  reared  on  a  farm,  and  adopted 
farming  as  his  life  work,  owning  and  occupying  a 
farm  at  Dryden,  where  he  died  at  a  ripe  age.  The 
maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  Hnldah  Hart,  and 
she  was  a  native  of  New  Jersey. 

In  the  spring  of  1849,  our  subject  came  again  to 
Lee  County,  this  time  with  a  view  to  permanently 
settling  here,  and  bringing  with  him  his  young 
wife.  They  started  on  their  momentous  journey 
from  their  old  home  to  the  new  with  many  hopes 
and  fears  for  the  untried  future.  They  journeyed 
by  rail  to  Buffalo,  where  they  embarked  On  the 
Great  Lakes  for  Chicago,  whence  they  went  by 
canal  to  Ottawa,  and  from  that  city  to  their  des- 
tination in  Lee  County  with  a  team.  After  their 
arrival  they  occupied  one  room  of  William 
Strader's  house  until  Mr.  Harris  could  build  one 
on  his  own  land.  At  that  time  the  surrounding 
country  had  advanced  but  little  from  its  original 
wildness,  settlements  were  few  and  far  between, 
and  the  abundance  of  deer  and  other  game  showed 
that  civilization  had  made  hut  little  headway  in 
this  region.  The  pioneers  had  to  go  to  Chi- 
cago as  the  nearest  market  where  thej'  could  ob- 
tain supplies,  and  in  the  absence  of  railways  all 
transportation  was  done  with  teams.  It  was  by 
that  means  that  our  subject  procured  the  lumber 
to  build  his  first  house.  He  has  been  a  resident  of 
Wyoming  Township  continuously  since  his  arrival 
here  with  his  wife  in  that  beautiful  spring  now 


!  lying  back  in  the  past  forty-two  years,  with  the 
exception  of  the  year  and  a  half  that  he  spent  in 

j  his  native  State  within  that  time,  and  three  months 
at  Dundee,  III.  He  has  been  blessed  in  his  work, 

i   and  with  the  cheerful  co-operation  of  his  wife  has 

i   accumulated  a  comfortable  property. 

But  few  have  such  a  record  for  long  and  faith- 
ful church-membership    as   Mr.    and    Mrs.    Harris. 

:  They  both  united  with  the  Baptist  Church  in  their 
native  State  when  very  young,  he  being  ten  years 
old  and  she  twelve  at  the  time  of  their  admission, 
and  for  more  than  sixty  years  they  have  been  true  to 
the  religious  vows  made  in  their  childhood.  Their 
marriage  has  been  blessed  with  children,  of  whom 
they  have  three:  William  Arthur,  who  married 
Mary  Wheat  for  his  first  wife,  who  died  leaving  one 
child,  and  his  second  marriage  was  with  Maude 
Manwaring,  and  they  have  four  children  living; 
Evart  M.,  the  second  son,  who  married  Mattie 
Monteith,  and  they  have  four  children ;  and  Dale 
Eugene,  who  married  Katie  Sayres,  and  they  have 
four  children. 


ELIAS  BOVEY,  an  extensive  .  lumber  dealer 
of  Dixon,  claims  Maryland  as  the  State  of 
his  nativity,  his  birth  having  occurred  in 
Washington  County  on  the  19th  of  June,  1838. 
His  father,  Jacob  Bovey,a  native  of  Pennsylvania, 
was  of  French  and  German  descent,  his  ancestors 
having  settled  in  the  Keystone  State  long  years 
prior  to  the  Revolutionary  War.  As  a  farmer  and 
mechanic  he  grew  to  manhood  and  afterwards  en- 
gaged in  merchandising.  When  a  young  man  he 
accompanied  his  parents  to  Maryland,  and  in  that 
State  wedded  Delila  Kressinger,  a  native  of  Vir- 
ginia, descended  from  an  old  Virginian  family  of 
German  origin.  She,  too.  had  gone  to  Maryland 
when  young.  In  1843  Mr.  Bovey,  accompanied  by 
his  wife  and  four  children,  started  overland  with 
teams  to  Illinois,  having  determined  to  try  his 
fortune  on  the  broad  prairies  Of  the  new  and 
growing  West.  Soutli  of  Mt.  Morris  he  settled  and 
entered  two  hundred  and  forty  acres  of  land,  and 


452 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


also  purchased  a  partially  improved  claim.  After 
many  years  devoted  to  agricultural  pursuits,  he 
was  called  to  his  final  rest  in  1879,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-two  years.  His  wife  is  now  living  in  Mt. 
Morris,  and  although  now  well  advanced  in  life, 
the  infirmities  of  old  age  do  not  press  heavily 
upon  her.  She  holds  membership  with  the  United 
Brethren  Church,  as  did  her  husband.  In  poli- 
tics he  was  a  Republican,  but  never  sought  politi- 
cal preferment. 

Our  subject  was  the  second  in  order  of  birth  in 
their  family  of  children,  six  of  whom  are  yet  liv- 
ing. When  a  lad  of  five  summers  he  came  to  Illi- 
nois and  his  early  education,  acquired  in  the  dis- 
trict schools  of  Ogle  County,  was  supplemented  by 
a  course  of  study  in  Mt.  Morris  Seminary.  Thus 
was  he  well  fitted  for  the  practical  duties  of  life, 
and  the  way  in  which  he  has  met  all  obstacles  and 
disadvantages  in  his  path  shows  that  he  has  the 
native  determination  and  energy  to  succeed,  what- 
ever comes.  Since  1867  he  has  resided  in  Lee 
County,  and  in  1872  he  embarked  in  his  present 
business.  His  location  is  now  on  Watrr  Street,  and 
the  large  stock  of  lumber  which  he  carries  shows 
that  he  has  an  excellent  trade.  Mr.  Bovey  is  a 
man  of  excellent  business  ability,  sagacious  and 
far-sighted  and  by  the  exercise  of  correct  princi- 
ples has  won  prosperity. 

Mr.  Bovey  was  united  in  marriage  with  Jen- 
nie Buckaloo,  a  native  of  this  county.  Her 
death  occurred  in  Dixon,  at  the  age  of  thirty-three 
years,  and  a  daughter  was  left  to  mourn  her  loss — 
Emma,  who  was  educated  in  Dixon  and  Evanston 
College,  and  is  now  assisting  her  father  in  office 
work.  Mr.  Bovey  was  again  married  in  this  city, 
his  second  union  being  with  Miss  Addie  Clute,  one 
of  Dixon 's  fair  daughters.  Her  parents,  John  W. 
and  Henrietta  (Peterson)  Clute,  early  settlers  of 
the  county,  are  now  residing  in  Dixon,  where  their 
daughter  spent  the  days  of  her  maidenhood  and 
acquired  her  education.  One  child  graces  the  sec- 
ond marriage — a  son,  Richard. 

Mr.  Bovey,  his  wife  and  children,  are  all  mem- 
bers of  the  Methodist  Church,  in  which  he  serves 
as  trustee,  class  leader  and  steward.  One  of  its 
consistent  members,  he  is  an  active  worker  in  the 
Master's  vineyard  and  takes  a  deep  interest  in  the 


growth  and  upbuilding  of  the  church.  To  its  sup- 
port he  contributes  liberally  and  his  efforts  in  its 
behalf  have  proven  of  much  benefit  to  the  society. 
In  politics  he  is  an  inflexible  adherent  of  Republi- 
can principles,  having  long  supported  that  party. 


JAMES  L.  McGINNIS,  who  owns  and  oper- 
ates a  well-improved  farm  of  seventy-three 
acres  on  section  1,  Palmyra  Township,  that 
has  been  in  the  possession  of  the^  family 
since  1838,  was  born  in  New  York  on  North 
River,  August  22,  1831.  For  some  years  during 
his  boyhood,  he  was  reared  in  the  heart  of  what  is 
now  Central  Park,  the  most  famous  resort  of  that 
kind  in  New  York  City.  His  father,  Stewart 
McGinnis,  was  born  in  the  North  of  Ireland,  Feb- 
ruary 22,  1802,  and  was  of  Scotch-Irish  descent. 
His  father  died  when  he  was  quite  young  and 
with  his  mother  he  afterward  came  to  the  United 
States.  Some  years  previous,  his  elder  brother, 
James,  had  crossed  the  Atlantic,  and  in  the  War 
of  1812  fought  for  his  adopted  country.  This 
little  family  settled  in  New  York  City,  where  the 
mother  died  atari  advanced  age,  and  her  son  James 
some  years  later.  Stewart  McGinnis,  father  of  our 
subject,  became  an  architect,  learning  his  trade  in 
New  York  City,  and  built  the  first  saw  and  plan- 
ing mill  in  the  Empire  State.  In  fact,  it  was  one 
of  the  first  in  the  East.  This  so  enraged  the 
laboring  people  that  they  tried  to  organize  a  mob 
to  .kill  him,  as  they  thought  such  an  enterprise 
would  ruin  the  working  classes.  Later,  Mr.  Mc- 
Ginnis built  many  sugar  mills  between  New  York 
City  and  New  Orleans,  and  while  thus  engaged 
lost  his  life  on  a  burning  vessel  in  1838.  He  was 
a  prominent  man  in  his  day  in  the  East  and  in  the 
Southern  States.  Although  of  Irish  birth,  he  was 
a  Protestant  in  religious  belief. 

In  New  York  City  Mr.  McGinnis  married  Miss 
Mary  Law,  sister  of  Dr.  G.  II.  Law.  whose  sketch 
appears  elsewhere  in  this  work.  She  was  born  in 
County  Antrim,  Ireland,  February  24,  1813,  and 
was  a  maiden  of  only  five  summers  when  her 
parents  came  to  the  United  States  in  1818.  She  is 
yet  living  at  the  age  of  seventy-nine  years  and 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


453 


makes  her  home  with  her  son  William.  Her 
mental  and  physical  faculties  she  retains  to  a  re- 
markable degree  and  she  yet  does  much  work  in 
her  flower  garden,  which  is  a  most  beautiful  spot. 
Throughout  life  she  has  been  a  member  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  and  by  those  who  know  her 
she  is  greatly  beloved.  Her  family  is  noted  for 
longevity,  her  mother  having  reached  the  advanced 
age  of  one  hundred  and  two  years.  Four  of  the 
children  are  yet  living:  Margaret  makes  her  home 
with  her  mother;  our  subject  is  the  next  younger; 
Keziah  is  the  widow  of  Marcus  Bryant,  who  was  a 
nephew  of  William  Cullen  Bryant,  the  poet,  and 
her  home  is  in  Princeton,  111.;  William,  the  other 
member  of  the  family,  was  born  and  reared  in  the 
Empire  State  but  has  spent  the  greater  part  of  his 
life  in  Lee  County,  where  he  now  owns  a  seventy- 
three-acre  farm  in  Palmyra  Township.  He  enlisted 
for  the  late  war  in  1861,  as  a  member  of  Company 
A,  Thirteenth  Illinois  Infantry,  under  Capt.  Noble 
and  Col.  Wyman,  the  regiment  joining  the 
Western  Army.  He  participated  in  the  battles  of 
White  River,  Vicksburg,  Chickasaw  Bayou,  the 
Siege  of  Yicksburg,  the  battles  of  Lookout  Moun- 
tain, Mission  Ridge,  Ringgold  Valley  and  many 
others  of  less  importance.  He  was  always  found 
at  his  post  of  duty,  ready  to  respond  to  every  call, 
and  throughout  the  service  escaped  uninjured,  save 
that  he  lost  one  finger,  which  was  shot  off  at  the 
Siege  of  Vicksburg.  With  the  exception  of  three 
years  spent  at  Princeton,  111.,  since  coming  West 
he  has  resided  continuously  in  Lee  County,  and  is 
one  of  its  honored  and  respected  farmers,  esteemed 
by  all  for  his  sterling  worth. 

James  McGinn  is  has  been  a  resident  of  the 
county  since  1839.  He  was  a  lad  of  but  eight 
years  at  the  time  of  his  arrival  and  in  his  boy- 
hood was  inured  to  the  hardships  of  farm  labor 
and  the  experiences  of  pioneer  life.  He  has  made 
agriculture  his  life  work,  and  carried  it  on  unin- 
terruptedly, with  the  exception  of  a  short  period 
spent  in  California.  In  1852  he  crossed  the 
plains  with  a  team  of  oxen  and  yoke  of  cows  and 
spent  five  years  in  the  mines,  meeting  with  fair 
success.  He  returned  by  way  of  the  Isthmus  of 
Panama  in  1857,  and  after  one  year  spent  in  St. 
Paul,  Minn.,  again  came  to  Illinois. 


The  lady  who  is  now  Mrs.  McGinnis  bore 
the  name  of  Mary  Becker.  She  was  born  in 
Reading,  Pa.,  August  28,  1834,  and  was  quite 
young  when  with  her  parents  she  came  West. 
Her  family  is  mentioned  fully  in  the  sketch  of 
Charles  A.  Becker.  Her  education  was  acquired 
in  Chicago  and  she  is  a  lady  of  intelligence  and 
culture.  Unto  Mr.  and  Mrs.  McGinnis  have  been 
born  nine  children,  and  the  family  circle  yet  re- 
mains unbroken.  In  order  of  birth  they  are  as 
follows:  W.  Charles,  Ella,  Mabel,  James  F., 
Keziah,  Mark  E.,  Harry,  Oliver  and  Paul,  all  at 
home  except  W.  Charles,  who  married  Miss  Sarah 
E.  Hodge,  and  resides  in  Dixon,  111.  The  Mc- 
Ginnis household  is  noted  for  its  hospitality,  and 
the  members  of  the  family  rank  high  in  the  social 
world.  Father  and  sons  are  all  Republicans  in 
political  belief.  Our  subject  is  one  of  the  well- 
known  citizens  of  this  community,  and  as  a  worthy 
representative  of  an  honored  pioneer  family  well 
deserves  representation  in  this  volume. 


J^  OSEPH  UTLEY.     Foremost  in  the  various 
enterprises   that    have   contributed    to  the 
lasting    prosperity   of    Dixon    was    Joseph 
Utley,  deceased.     He  was  born  in  Weston, 
N.  Y.,  and  was  descended  from  New  England  an- 
cestors, his  grandfather  having  been  a  tanner  in 
Connecticut  and  later  a  resident  of  Lewis  County, 
N.  Y.     The  father  of  our  subject,  Henry,  was  also 
a^tanner  and  followed  his  trade  in  Weston,  engag- 
ing in  the  manufacture  of  harness,  saddles,  trunks, 
boots  and  shoes  for  upwards  of  sixty  years.  Grand- 
mother Sarah  (Morse)  Utley,  was  a  native  of  New 
England  and  died  in  Weston,  at  the  venerable  age 
of  ninety -six. 

After  engaging  in  the  manufacture  of  leather  at 
Westernville  for  a  number  of  years,  Mr.  Utley  vis- 
ited Dixon  in  1855  and  was  so  greatly  pleased 
with  the  village  that  he  returned  the  following 
year  and  opened  a  leather  and  saddle  store  in  part- 
nership with  Austin  Morse.  In  1859  he  sold  his 
interest  in  his  native  place,  and  removing  his  fam- 
ily to  Dixon,  settled  in  this  city  permanently,  and 


454 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


from  that  time  until  the  day  of  his  death,  March 
19,  1889,  he  was  one  of  of  its  most  useful  and  pro- 
gressive citizens. 

In  the  spring  of  1860  Mr.  Utley  sold  his  business 
to  the  firm  of  Morse  &  Benjamin,  after  which  he 
retired  from  active  business.  A  man  of  great  en- 
terprise, push  and  energy,  he  always  took  the  lead 
in  any  undertaking  for  the  good  of  the  community. 
He  was  appointed  Canal  Commissioner  by  Gov. 
Palmer  and  served  eight  years  in  that  capacity, 
being  President  of  the  Board  during  six  years  of 
that  time.  It  was  mainly  through  his  exertions 
and  influence  that  the  first  appropriation  for  the 
improvement  of  the  canal  was  obtained  from  the 
Government,  the  money  being  expended  for  the 
building  of  the  locks  at  Henry. 

Mr.  Utley  was  one  of  the  most  ardent  champions 
of  the  Hennepin  Canal.     At  a  meeting  held   in 
Richmond  for   the    purpose    of  securing  aid  from 
the  Government  for  the  improvement  of  Southern 
waterways,  he  introduced  a  resolution  asking  the 
United  States  Government  to  make  an  appropria- 
tion for  the  construction   of  the  Hennepin  Canal, 
which  was  unanimously  adopted  by  the  convention 
in  1885.     He  went  before  the  New  York  Legisla- 
ture and  secured  the  unanimous  endorsement  of 
that  body   and    the   passage   of  the  resolution  in- 
structing the  Representatives  and  Senators  of  that 
State  in  the  National  Legislature  to  vote  for  an 
ppropriation  for  the  building  of  the  canal.     Mr. 
'tley  was  profoundly  versed  in  all  that  relates  to 
anals  and  knew  the  cost  of  transportation  through 
very  canal  in   the   world   and  the  tonnage  of  its 
hipping. 

March  25,  1839,  Mr.  Utley  was  married  to  Miss 
Frances  Church,  daughter  of  Seth  and  Clarissa 
(Turner)  Church.  She  was  born  in  Westernville, 
N.  Y.,  March  31,  1816,  where  she  was  also  reared. 
Her  grandfather,  .Tosiah  Church,  was  probably  a 
native  of  Rhode  Island,  whence  he  removed  to 
Oneida  County,  N.  Y.,  and  bought  a  tract  of  land  in 
Westernville.  For  many  years  after  his  settlement 
there  were  no  railways,  and  Albany,  one  hundred 
miles  away,  was  the  nearest  market.  The  maiden 
name  of  his  wife  was  Maria  Clark. 

Seth  Church,  father  of  Mrs.  Utley,  was  born  in 
Rhode  Island.  During  the  war  of  181 2  he  served 


as  musician  in  a  New  York  regiment,  and  engaged 
in  the  trade  of  a  cabinet  maker  at  Westernville 
until  his  death.  His  wife,  Clarissa  (Turner) 
Church,  was  a  native  of  Vermont,  and  a  daughter 
of  Nathaniel  and  Mary  (Bartholomew)  Turner. 

The  married  life  of  our  subject  and  his  wife  was 
one  of  uninterrupted  happiness  until  death  separ- 
ated them,  within  six  days  of  the  anniversary 
that  would  have  marked  their  golden  wedding. 
They  reared  three  children:  Edward  B.,  who  resides 
in  Dixon;  Clara,  wife  of  A.  C.  Bardwell,  and  Henry 
J.,  a  graduate  of  Bellevue  College,  New  York  City, 
and  now  a  physician  of  Springfield.  Mr.  Utley 
was  an  ardent  Republican  in  his  political  views 
and  was  a  strong  supporter  of  his  party.  In  his 
death  the  community  lost  one  of  its  best  citizens, 
who  had  always  made  its  interests  his  own  and 
who  in  dying  left  behind  him  a  record  of  devotion 
to  public  work  well  worthy  of  emulation. 


PR.  GEORGE  W.  I.  BROWN  stands  in  the  front 
rank  of  the  medical  profession  in  Lee  County. 
He  has  oeen  engaged  in  practice  in  Dixon  since 
1878,  and  the  liberal  patronage  accorded  him  at- 
tests his  skill  and  ability.  He  was  born  in  Greens- 
boro, Pa.,  October  26,  1846.  The  family  is  of 
English  descent  and  was  founded  in  this  countiT 
by  his  great  grandfather,  Richard  Brown,  who  em- 
igrated from  England  and  made  a  settlement  in 
Philadelphia,  Pa.,  where  he  married.  Some  years 
later  he  went  to  Western  Pennsylvania  and  Vir- 
ginia, and  purchased  large  tracts  of  land  in  both 
States,  but  his  last  days  were  spent  in  the  City  of 
Brotherly  Love.  In  religion  he  was  an  Episco- 
palian. George  M.  Brown,  the  grandfather  of  our 
subject,  after  the  death  of  his  father,  took  posses- 
sion of  the  large  landed  estates  left  him  in  Western 
Pennsylvania  and  Virginia,  and  (here  spent  his 
last  years.  He  died  of  pneumonia  when  nearly 
four-score  years  of  age.  He  was  a  wealthy  and 
prominent  citizen  of  that  community,  widely  and 
favorably  known.  He  married  Letitia  McFarland 
:i  native  of  Virginia,  of  Scotch  descent,  whose 
death  occurred  in  1840  of  yellow  fever,  while  on  a 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


455 


visit  in  Southern  Virginia.  She  was  a  noble 
Christian  woman  and  held  membership  with  the 
Baptist  Church.  The  descendants  of  this  worthy 
couple  are  prominent  people  of  Pennsylvania  and 
Virginia. 

John  C.  Brown,  the  father  of  our  subject,  was 
born  on  his  father's  homestead  in  Pennsylvania  in 
1815.  In  his  boyhood  he  was  surrounded  by  the 
comforts  of  life,  and  he  became  a  successful  busi- 
ness man.  In  the  Keystone  State  he  married  Eliza- 
beth Ilopton,  who  was  also  born  in  Pennsylvania, 
her  parents  being  Jesse  and  Sarah  (Finch)  Hopton. 
Her  father  and  mother  were  both  born  in  Phila- 
delphia, and  reared  in  the  faith  of  the  Society  of 
Friends.  In  their  native  city  they  were  married, 
after  which  they  located  in  Greene  Count}',  Pa., 
near  the  old  Brown  homestead,  where  they  lived 
and  died.  Mr.  Hopton  was  about  eighty-four 
years  of  age  at  the  time  of  his  death  and  was  one 
of  the  prominent  citizens  of  the  community  in 
which  he  made  his  home.  His  wife  died  at  the  age 
of  sixty-five  years. 

After  his  marriage,  John  C.  Brown  and  his  wife 
located  in  Greensboro,  Pa.,  where  he  had  an  interest, 
in  and  operated  a  glass  manufactory  for  some  time. 
In  1849,  he  removed  to  Monongalia  County,  W.  Va., 
where  he  engaged  in  farming.  Some  years  later 
he  returned  to  the  old  Brown  homestead  in  Greene 
County,  Pa.,  where  he  and  his  wife  are  still  living. 
He  is  now  seventy-seven  years  of  age  but  is  still 
hale  and  hearty  although  he  has  been  a  cripple 
since  the  war.  He  served  in  the  Union  Army 
throughout  the  Rebellion  and  at  Mt..  Jackson,  Va., 
was  severely  wounded.  He  was  also  captured  at 
that  time  and  held  a  prisoner  for  three  months, 
when  with  others  he  was  recaptured  by  Gen.  Sher- 
idan when  he  made  his  famous  ride.  His  wound 
had  been  neglected  and  it  seemed  that  he  could 
not  recover  from  his  injuries  but  after  some  time 
spent  in  the  hospital  he  gradually  regained  his  health 
and  was  finally  discharged.  The  cause  of  abolition 
found  in  him  a  stanch  supporter  and  he  is  to-day  a 
stalwart  Republican  in  politics.  Himself  and  wife 
are  active  workers  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  although  the  lady  was  reared  a  Quakei. 
They  have  never,  in  their  married  life,  had  death 
enter  their  household.  Their  children  and  grand- 


children are  all  yet  living.  They  have  three  sons: 
Dr.  William  A.,  a  physician  of  the  regular 
school,  practicing  in  Dunkard,  Pa.,  married  Leah 
Whetstone  and  they  have  five  children;  our  sub- 
ject is  the  second;  Jesse  E.  lives  on  the  old  home- 
stead with  his  parents. 

We  now  take  up  the  personal  history  of  Dr. 
Brown,  whose  name  heads  this  sketch.  When  he 
was  three  years  old  his  parents  removed  to  Mo- 
nongalia County  ,W.  Va.,  where  he  attended  the  com- 
mon schools.  Subsequently  he  was  a  student  in 
Greene  Academy,  of  Carmichael's,  Pa.,  where  his 
literary  education  was  completed.  Wishing  to 
make  the  practice  of  medicine  his  life  work,  in 
1865  he  entered  the  office  of  Dr.  G.  W.  John,  of 
Stewartstown,  W.  Va.,  and  after  two  years  entered 
the  Philadelphia  University  of  Medicine  and  Sur- 
gery, at  the  same  time  having  access  to  the  Penn- 
sylvania Hospital  of  that  city.  Having  graduated 
in  1869,  he  took  charge  of  his  preceptor's  practice 
in  Stewartstown,  and  a  year  later  went  to  Meyers- 
dale,  Pa.,  where  he  engaged  in  practice  for  eight 
years  when  he  sold  his  "good  will"  and  practice  to 
Dr.  J.  Ernest  Meiere,  of  Washington,  D.  C.  He  re- 
moved to  Illinois  and  matriculated  at  the  Hahne- 
mann  Medical  College,  of  Chicago,  from  which  he 
was  graduated  in  1878.  In  Dixon,  where  he  lo- 
cated immediately  after  his  graduation,  he  has 
built  a  large  and  lucrative  practice  among  the  best 
class  of  citizens.  He  believes  that  a  doctor  should 
be  a  student  in  his  profession,  and  ever  keeps  him- 
self abreast  with  the  times  and  the  discoveries  in 
the  .science. 

In  Meyersdale,  Pa.,  Dr.  Brown  was  joined  in 
wedlock  with  Miss  Maggie,  daughter  of  Josiah  and 
Matilda  (Beachy)  Miller,  who  were  natives  of 
Pennsylvania  but  are  now  deceased.  Her  mother 
died  when  Mrs.  Brown  was  only  three  years  old 
and  Mr.  Miller  passed  away  in  1887,  aged  seventy- 
two  years,  dying  in  the  faith  of  the  Lutheran 
Church.  Mrs.  Brown  was  the  third  in  order  of  age  in 
a  family  of  four  children,  her  birth  occurring  in 
Meyersdale,  Pa.,  November  22,  1846.  Unto  the 
Doctor  and  his  wife  have  been  born  three  children: 
Charles  LeRoy,  Edna  Florence  and  George  Har- 
old. 

The  parents  arc  both  prominent  members  of  the 


456 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  in  which  the  Doctor 
'has  served  as  steward  for  fourteen  years.  Fie  also 
takes  quite  a  prominent  part  in  political  affairs. 
He  is  an  active  Republican  and  has  twice  served  as 
delegate  to  the  Congiessional  conventions  of  this 
party.  Socially  he  is  a  Mason,  belonging  to  Friend- 
ship Lodge,  Nachusa  Chapter  and  Dixon  Com- 
mandery,  Knights  Templar,  in  which  he  has  filled 
all  the  chairs  and  is  the  present  Eminent  Com- 
mander of  Dixon  Commandery,  No.  21,  K.  T.  He 
is  also  Past  Grand  of  Dale  Lodge,  I.  ().  O.  F., 
of  Meyersdale,  Pa.  The  Doctor  has  a  very 
wide  acquaintance  throughout  this  communit}' 
and  in  social  as  well  as  professional  circles  both 
he  and  his  estimable  wife  are  held  in  high  regard. 


JAMES  H.  GILMAN,  who  is  recognized  as 
one  of  the  leading  and  influential  citizens 
of  Nachusa  Township,  is  now  engaged  in 
general  farming  on  section  18.  He  is  a  na- 
tive of  the  old  Granite  State,  his  birth  having  oc- 
curred in  Rockingham  County,  October  4,  1826. 
His  father,  Theopholis  Gilman,  was  born  in  Brent- 
wood,  N.  H.,  and  was  an  own  cousin  of  Gen.  Cass, 
and  belongs  to  the  same  family  from  which  ex- 
Govemor  Gilman  sprang.  By  occupation  he  was 
a  farmer  and  followed  that  business  throughout 
his  entire  life.  In  his  native  State  he  married  Miss 
Anna  F.  Roby,who  also  came  of  an  early  New  Eng- 
land family  of  prominence,  ex-Governor  Roby  be- 
ing one  of  her  kinsmen.  She  was  a  member  of  the 
Congregational  Church  and  died  in  her  native 
State.  When  about  sixty-five  years  of  age,  Mr. 
Gilman  was  accidentally  scalded  with  hot  water 
and  his  death  resulted  from  the  injuries  sustained. 
In  their  family  were  three  children  who  grew  to 
mature  years,  but  our  subject  has  only  one  sister 
now  living  and  one  half-brother,  Daniel  a,  resi- 
dent of  Tacoma,  Wash. 

Mr.  Gilman  has  been  twice  married,  his  first  union 
being  with  Miss  Mary  Fogg,  who  died  leaving 
one  son,  Jerome,  now  a  house  and  carriage  painter 
of  Wellington,  Kan.,  who  married  Gertrude  Cox. 


Returning  to  Providence,  R.  I.,  he  was  joined  in 
wedlock  with  Marcy  Healey,  who  on  the  maternal 
side  is  a  direct  descendant  of  Roger  Williams,  the 
founder  of  the  Rhode  Island  Colony.  Her  father 
was  James  Healey  and  her  grandfather  was  John 
Healey.  They  both  spent  their  entire  lives  in  Rhode 
Island  where  the  former  followed  the  trade  of  a 
tanner  and  the  latter  engaged  in  farming.  Promi- 
nent men  of  their  day,  they  were  well  known 
throughout  the  community.  The  mother  of  Mrs. 
Gilman  was  Martha  Angel,  daughter  of  Capt.  Jesse 
Angel,  who  was  a  sea  captain  for  many  years  and 
died  at  the  age  of  eighty.  Mrs.  Healey  passed 
away  at  the  age  of  seventy- two  years.  Both  the 
Healey  and  Angel  families  were  members  of  the 
Society  of  Friends. 

When  the  late  war  broke  out,  James  H.  Gilman 
responded  to  the  President's  call  for  troops,  enlist- 
ing in  August,  1862,  as  a  member  of  Company  K, 
Fourteenth  New  Hampshire  Infantry,  under  Capt. 
Oliver  Martson  and  Col.  Robert  Wilson.  The  reg- 
iment went  into  camp  at  Washington,  D.  C.,  and 
after  spending  some  time  in  the  vicinity  of  that 
city  went  to  Harper's  Ferry,  later  to  New  York 
City  and  subsequently  to  New  Orleans,  in  March, 
1863.  In  June,  following,  we  find  the  troops  at 
Morganza  Bend,  where  the  regiment  joined  the 
Nineteenth  Army  Corps  under  Gen.  Banks.  They 
marched  north,  participating  in  the  campaign  in 
the  Shenandoah  Valley,  met  the  enemy  at  the  bat- 
tle of  Winchester  and  in  the  Cedar  Creek  engage- 
ment. After  "three  years  pf  faithful  service,  dur- 
ing which  time  he  won  credit  and  honor  as  a  loyal 
soldier,  Mr.  Gilman  was  honorably  discharged  and 
returned  to  his  home  in  New  Hampshire. 

It  was  not  long  after  this  that  Mr.  Gilman  again 
went  South  for  the  purpose  of  raising  cotton,  but 
this  venture  proved  a  failure  and  he  came  to  Illi- 
nois, where  he  has  made  a  good  home  and  become 
a  successful  and  progressive  farmer.  In  1869  he 
purchased  land  on  section  18,  Nachusa  Township, 
to  which  he  removed  the  following  year,  and  in 
the  period  which  has  since  elapsed  lias  made  of  it 
one  of  the  best  homes  in  the  community.  The 
neat  and  thrifty  appearance  of  the  place  indicates 
the  enterprise  of  the  owner,  who  is  a  careful  and 
painstaking  manager.  In  connection  with  general 


ME 

OF  THE 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


459 


farming  Mr.  (iilman  also  engaged  in  teaching  for 
many  years  with  marked  success,  and  the  same 
profession  was  followed  by  his  estimable  wife  from 
the  age  of  fifteen  to  fifty  years.  For  some  time 
after  her  marriage  she  continued  to  pursue  that 
vocation,  in  fact,  did  not  abandon  it  until  1879. 
She  is  a  lady  of  culture  and  refinement  who  pre- 
sides with  grace  over  their  comfortable  home, 
where  hospitality  and  good  will  reign  supreme. 
Both  .Mr.  and  Mrs.  Oilman  are  people  of  superior 
intelligence  and  their  friends  throughout  the  com- 
munity are  many.  In  politics,  he  is  a  stanch  Re- 
publican, and  in  religious  belief  his  wife  is  a  Free- 
will Baptist, 


;ILLIAM  P.  HAMPTON,  whose  home  is 
pleasantly  situated  on  section  12,  Wy- 
oming Township,  has  been  a  resident  of  Lee 
County  for  thirty-six  years,  has  assisted  in  its 
agricultural  development,  and  may  well  be  classed 
among  its  pioneers.  He  was  bom  May  6,  1823, 
his  birthplace  being  about  fifty  miles  from  the 
city  of  Toronto,  in  the  Province  of  Ontario,  Canada. 
His  father,  James  Hampton,  was  a  native  of  Penn- 
sylvania, and  so  was  the  grandfather  for  aught  that 
is  known  to  the  contrary,  he  being  a  descendant  of 
one  of  three  brothers  that  came  to  America  in 
Colonial  times,  one  of  them  settling  inNewJerse3" 
one  in  Nova  Scotia,  and  the  remaining  one  in 
South  Carolina.  The  grandfather  of  our  subject 
went  from  Pennsylvania  to -Canada,  and  was  a  pio- 
neer of  the  Province  of  Ontario,  where  he  secured 
a  tract  of  timber  and  hewed  a  farm  from  the  pri- 
meval forests,  on  which  he  resided  until  death 
called  him  hence. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  quite  young  when 
his  parents  went  to  Canada,  where  he  grew  to  man's 
estate,  and  married.  In  1838  he  emigrated  from 
there  to  Missouri,  making  the  removal  with  teams. 
After  spending  nearly  a  year  in  the  sparsely  settled 
wilds  of  the  western  part  of  that  State,  he  retraced 
his  way  Eastward  as  far  as  Illinois,  and  settling 
near  (Juincy,  gave  his  attention  to  farming.  He 
enlisted  in  the  army  during  the  Mexican  War,  and 


accompanying  his  regiment  to  Santa  Fe,  died  there 
while  in  the  service. 

The  maiden  name  of  the  mother  of  our  subject 
was  Clarissa  McCarty,  and  she  was  a  native  of  Ba* 
tavia,  N.  Y.  Her  father,  William  McCarty, 
was  a  Captain  of  the  State  Militia,  and  did  honor- 
able service  in  the  War  of  1812.  He  settled  in 
Canada  in  an  early  day,  and  followed  farming 
there  until  his  demise,  and  many  of  his  descendants 
are  living  there  yet.  After  the  father's  death  the 
mother  of  our  subject  married  a  second  time,  be- 
coming the  wife  of  Bailey  Breese.  She  spent  her 
last  days  with  her  daughter  Mrs.  Brownlow  of 
Paw  Paw,  dying  at  the  age  of  eighty-nine  years. 

William  Hampton  was  a  stalwart  lad  of  fifteen 
years  when  he  came  to  the  States  with  his  par- 
ents. He  had  to  assist  in  the  support  of  the  family 
and  when  his  father  died  became  the  sole  support 
of  his  mother  and  the  younger  children.  In  1848 
he  came  to  Illinois,  and  at  first  rented  land  in  De 
Kalb  County,  but  soon  bought  an  eighty-acre  tract 
of  wild  prairie  land  at  $1.25  per  acre.  In  1852  he 
caught  the  gold  fever  and  started  for  California. 
He  went  first  to  (Juincy  on  horseback  and  visited 
friends  in  that  city  a  few  days,  and  then  joined 
the  wagon-train  with  which  he  was  going  to  cross 
the  plains  at  Burlington.  Pushing  on  as  rapidly 
as  possible  the  party  crossed  the  Missouri  River  at 
St.  Joseph  the  20th  of  May. 

At  that  time  there  were  no  white  settlers  be- 
tween that  river  and  California,  except  the  Mor- 
mons at  Salt  Lake  and  soldiers  and  missionaries. 
Our  subject  arrived  in  California  in  September, 
and  engaged  in  mining  for  a  time,  after  which  he 
opened  a  temperance  hotel  at  Cold  Springs,  Eldo- 
rado County.  A  year  later  he  abandoned  that  to 
resume  mining  at  Diamond  Spring,  and  remained 
there  until  1855,  when  he  decided  to  gather  his 
gains  together  and  come  back  to  Illinois.  He  re- 
turned by  the  way  of  the  Isthmus,  and  settled  oh 
his  land  in  Paw  Paw  Township.  He  was  actively 
engaged  in  farming  there  until  1866,  when  he  sold 
his  farm  in  that  locality,  and  removed  to  his  pres- 
ent residence  on  section  1 2,  Wyoming  Township. 

While  a  resident  of  California,  Mr.  Hampton, 
was  married  to  Miss  Amanda  J.  Weddell,  their 
marriage  being  solemnized  May  16,  1853.  Mrs. 


460 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


Hampton  was  boni  in  Westmoreland  County,  Pa., 
June  24,  1823,  and  was  a  daughter  of  Jesse  Wed- 
dell,  who  was  born  in  the  same  place.  His  father 
was  a  native  of  Wales,  and  coming  to  America  in 
Colonial  times,  he  settled  among  the  pioneers  of 
what  is  now  Westmoreland  County,  Pa.  His  son 
Jesse  was  reared  and  married  in  his  native  State, 
and  in  1831  removed  from  there  with  his  family 
to  Indiana,  and  was  a  pioneer  of  Goshen,  where  he 
died.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  Nancy 
Davis.  She  was  born  in  Pennsylvania  in  1800, 
and  is  now  living  with  her  son,  W.  B.  Weddell  at 
Rollo,  De  Kalb  County. 

In  1853  Mrs.  Hampton,  her  brother  P.  M.  Wed- 
dell,and  their  friend  Henry  Zinn, started  for  Califor- 
nia. They  sailed  from  New  York  on  the  steamer 
"Northern  Light,"  and  on  the  west  side  of  the  Isth- 
mus of  Panama  embarked  on  the  steamer  "Inde- 
pendence." All  went  well  until  off  the  island  of 
St.  Marguerette  the  steamer  was  wrecked,  and 
then  burned,  and  four  hundred  passengers  were 
lost,  including  Mrs.  Hampton's  brother  and  their 
friend  Zinn.  She  was  one  of  the  last  to  leave  the 
burning  steamer,  and  being  washed  ashore  on  a 
desert  island,  was  picked  up  insensible  from  the 
shock  that  she  received.  After  three  days  a  whal- 
ing vessef  came  along  and  taking  the  survivors  on 
board,  carried  them  to  their  destination. 

In  California  better  fortunes  awaited  Mrs.  Hamp- 
ton, as  there  she  met  and  married  our  subject,  as  be- 
fore mentioned.  She  made  him  a  true  wife,  and  they 
lived  happily  together  until  her  death  August  31, 
1889.  They  reared  these  three  children:  Clara  A. 
Fanny  R.  and  Effie.  Clara  married  Oscar  Lambert 
and  died  March  5,  1889,  leaving  two  children, 
Willie  and  Vernon.  Fanny,  who  makes  her  home 
with  her  father,  married  Julian  Hoge,  who  died 
March  28, 1 890,  leaving  these  six  children :  Darlene, 
Emerson,  Edward.  Glenn,  Perry  and  Clara.  Effie 
married  Frank  Slocum,  and  they  have  five  chil- 
dren: Beatrice,  Iva,  Ethel,  Glenn  and  Paul. 

Mr.  Hampton  is  a  man  worthy  in  every  respect 
of  the  high  esteem  in  which  he  is  held  by  his  neigh- 
bors and  friends  in  general.  His  conduct  in  all  the 
relations  of  life  that  he  sustains  towards  others  shows 
himtobea  sincere  Christian.  He  and  his  wife 
joined  the  Congregational  Church  many  year*  ago 


but  as  there  is  no  church  of  that  denomination  here 
he  is  now  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  C'huch.  So- 
cially he  is  a  member  of  Corinthian  Lodge,  No. 
205,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.;  and  of  Spartan  Lodge,  No  272, 
I.  O.  O.  F. 

In  connnection  with  his  biographical  notice  may 
be  found  a  lithographic  portrait  of  Mr.    Hampton. 


RANKLIN  W.  WOODFORD,  an  intelligent 
and  respected  farmer  residing  on  section 
28,  Dixon  Township,  is  the  only  son  of 
Truman  O.  and  Harriet  (Alexander)  Woodford, 
His  father  was  a  native  of  Connecticut  and  with 
his  parents,  Truman  Woodford,  when  a  small  lad, 
removed  to  Onondaga  County,  N.  Y.,  the  family 
locating  in  the  wilds  of  Pompey  Township,  far 
from  any  other  settlement.  There  they  spent  the 
remainder  of  their  lives,  the  father  dying  at  the 
age  of  ninety  years,  while  the  mother  was  called 
to  her  final  rest  at  the  age  of  eighty.  They  were 
both  members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  Truman 
O.  Woodford  was  the  fourth  in  order  of  birth  in 
their  family  of  six  sons  and  three  daughters,  of 
whom  two  sons  and  two  daughters  are  yet  living 
in  the  Empire  State.  One  of  the  family,  Harvey  M., 
now  deceased,  was  a  soldier  of  the  War  of  1812. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  the  only  one  who 
came  West.  In  Onondaga  County,  N.  Y.,  he  mar- 
ried Miss  Alexander,  who  was  born  in  that  county 
and  was  a  daughter  of  Solomon  and  Elizabeth 
(Maxwell)  Alexander,  who  came  of  New  England 
families  of  Scotch  origin.  They  lived  upon  a  farm 
in  Onondaga  County,  where  the  death  of  Mr.  Alex- 
ander occurred  at  the  age  of  ninety  years,  his  wife 
dying  in  her  fifty-first  year.  It  was  in  1855  that 
Truman  O.  Woodford  brought  his  family  to  Lee 
County,  111.,  and  located  on  the  farm  now  occupied 
by  our  subject.  It  was  then  a  wild  and  barren 
tract  of  land  but  he  transformed  it  into  rich  and 
fertile  fields.  Some  years  later  he  removed  to 
Dixon,  where  he  lived  a  retired  life  until  called  to 
the  home  beyond  in  1883,  at  the  age  of  seventy-six 
years.  His  wife  is  still  living  in  Dixon,  and  al- 
though now  seventy-eight  years  of  age,  retains  both 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


461 


her  mental  and  physical  faculties  to  a  remarkable 
degree.  She  is  a  lady  well  known  throughout  the 
community  and  is  greatly  beloved  by  her  many 
friends.  Mr.  Woodford  voted  with  the  Republican 
parly  and  in  religious  belief  was  a  Presbyterian. 
Besides  our  subject,  there  was  only  one  other  child 
iu  the  family,  a  daughter,  Louisa,  who  is  now  the 
wife  of  Isaac  W.  McCasky,  a  merchant  of  Chicago. 

Franklin  Woodford,  one  of  the  well  known  and 
highly  respected  citizens  of  Dixon  Township,  was 
born  in  the  town  of  Pompey,  Onondaga  County, 
in  1833.  When  his  parents  emigrated  to  Illinois, 
lie  accompanied  them  and  located  upon  the  old 
home  farm  which  his  father  had  purchased  in  1852. 
It  is  now  his  property  and  com  prises  three  hundred 
acres  of  arable  land,  under  a  high  state  of  cultiva- 
tion. This  desirable  and  valuable  farm  is  pleasant- 
ly situated  on  the  outskirts  of  Dixon,  in  fact  ad- 
joins the  city  limits  near  Rock  River  Park.  Its 
close  proximity  thus  enables  the  family  to  enjoy 
the  comforts  and  luxuries  of  city  life  as  well  as  the 
pleasures  of  country  life.  On  the  east  the  farm  is 
bordered  by  the  Rock  River,  which  is  another  at- 
tractive feature  of  the  place.  The  improvements 
there  seen  are  many  and  are  in  keeping  with  the 
enterprising  and  progressive  spirit  of  the  owner. 
The  place  is  well  stocked  and  in  all  its  appoint- 
ments the  farm  is  most  complete. 

Mr.  Woodford  was  a  single  man  when  he  came 
to  Illinois,  however,  he  soon  afterwards  returned 
to  the  Empire  State  and  the  cause  of  the  journey 
was  explained  when  he  brought  back  with  him  a 
bride.  The  maiden  name  of  the  lady  was  Rosetta 
Potter,  and  she  is  a  native  of  Erie  County,  N.  Y. 
Her  parents,  Levi  and  Lj'dia  (Gould)  Potter,  were 
also  born  in  Erie  County,  where  they  grew  to  ma- 
ture years  and  were  married.  Mr.  Potter  for  some 
time  followed  farming  and  also  engaged  in  mer- 
chandising. After  the  birth  and  marriage  of  their 
only  child,  Mrs.  Woodford,  they  came  West,  locat- 
ing  in  Chicago,  where  Mr.  Potter  died  in  1878,  at 
the  age  of  sixty  years.  Four  years  previous  his 
wife  had  l)een  called  to  her  final  home,  at  the  age 
of  fifty-two.  He  had  been  reared  under  the  auspices 
of  the  Society  of  Friends  but  was  excommunicated 
on  account  of  marrying  outside  of  the  church,  his 
wife  being  a  I'niversalist.  lie  had  taken  quite  a 


prominent  part  in  public  affairs,  was  a  stanch  Re- 
publican in  politics,  filled  a  number  of  minor  offices 
and  while  residing  in  New  York  represented  his 
district  in  the  State  Legislature. 

Mrs.  Woodford  received  excellent  educational 
advantages  and  attended  school  in  East  Hamburg. 
By  her  marriage  she  has  become  the  mother  of  five 
children :  Burt  P.,  II.  Louise,  Mary  L.,  Julia  Marion 
and  Agnes  II.  The  family  circle  yet  remains  un- 
broken. The  children  were  all  provided  with  good 
educational  advantages,  having  attended  the  city 
schools  of  Dixon  and  are  thereby  well  fitted  for 
the  practical  duties  of  life.  The  family  is  one  well 
and  favorably  known  throughout  the  community 
and  in  social  circles  its  members  rank  high.  .  In 
politics,  Mr.  Woodford  is  a  Republican  but  has  never 
sought  the  honor  of  emoluments  of  political  of- 
fice. About  thirty-seven  years  have  passed  since 
he  came  to  the  county  and  with  the  history  of  its 
development  and  progress  he  has  since  been  con- 
nected. All  social,  educational  and  moral  interests 
find  in  him  a  friend  and  among  the  valued  and  re- 
presentative citizens  of  the  community  is  numbered 
the  gentleman  whose  name  heads  this  sketch. 


JOSEPH  T.  LITTLE,  Deputy  County  Treas- 
urer of  Lee  County,  well  deserves  repre- 
sentation in  this  volume  for  he  has  been  a 
resident  of  Dixon  since  1839,  and  in  the 
years  that  have  since  elapsed  has  been  prominently 
connected  with  its  history,  its  growth  and  its  up- 
building. A  native  of  the  Pine  Tree  State,  he  was 
born  m  Castine,  Me.,  April  24.  1817.  His  father, 
Major  Otis  Little,  was  born  in  Massachusetts,  but 
spent  the  greater  part  of  his  life  in  Hancock 
County,  Me.,  where  he  engaged  in  merchandising, 
doing  business  as  a  West  Indian  merchant.  He 
was  counsel  for  a  number  of  the  Governors  of  that 
State  and  for  years  served  as  Major  of  the  State 
Militia.  Prominent  and  influential  in  public 
affairs,  he  was  a  valued  citizen  of  the  community 
in  which  he  made  his  home  and  had  a  wide  ac- 
quaintance throughout  the  State.  In  politics,  he 


462 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


was  a  Whig  and  afterward  a  Republican.  He  died 
in  Hancock  County,  Me.,  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
seven  years.  His  wife,  whose  name  was  Dorothy 
Perkins,  was  born  in  the  Pine  Tree  State,  where 
she  died  at  the  age  of  seventy-seven  years  and  was 
a  true  helpmate  and  faithful  companion  to  her 
husband.  Both  the  Major  and  his  wife  were  mem- 
bers of  the  Congregational  Church. 

In  the  schools  of  his  native  county,  Joseph  Lit- 
tle acquired  his  education  and  when  twenty-two 
years  of  age  left  home  with  the  determination  to 
seek  his  fortune  in  the  West.  He  chose  Dixon, 
111.,  as  the  scene  of  his  future  labors.  This  was  in 
1839,  and  the  city  was  then  a  small  hamlet.  He 
lias  since  aided  in  its  growth  and  development 
and  the  important  part  which  he  has  taken  in  its 
progress  links  his  name  inseparably  with  its  history. 
The  year  after  his  arrival  he  returned  to  his  native 
State  and  the  object  of  his  journey  was  explained 
when,  on  again  coming  to  Illinois,  he  brought  with 
him  his  bride.  Her  maiden  name  was  Ellanor  W. 
Cobb,  and  in  Castine,  Me.,  she  was  born  on  the 
12th  of  April,  1818.  Her  grandfather,  David  Cobb, 
served  as  Aide-de-Camp  to  Gen.  Washington  dur- 
ing the  Revolutionary  War,  and  spent  his  last  days 
in  Mt.  Vernon.  The  father  of  Mrs.  Little, 
Thomas  Cobb,  was  born  in  Taunton,  Mass.,  and 
spent  his  entire  life  in  Hancock  and  Wash- 
ington Counties.  lie  was  an  attorney-at-law 
and  became  quite  an  influential  citizen  of  the  com- 
munity, where  he  served  both  as  Recorder  and  Re- 
gister of  Deeds. 

By  the  union  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Little  have  been 
born  seven  children,  but  two  are  now  deceased: 
George  O.,  who  died  in  childhood,  and  William  A., 
who  while  skating  was  accidentally  drowned  in 
Rock  River,  at  the  nge  of  twelve  years.  Thomas 
and  Charles  are  extensively  engaged  in  farming  in 
Oregon;  Joseph  T.  is  engaged  in  banking  and  the 
loan  business  in  Sioux  Falls,  S.  Dak.;  Frank  W.  is 
President  of  the  Lincoln  Electric  Street  Railway 
Company,  of  Lincoln,  Neb.  He  wedded  Miss  Mary 
Trimble,  of  Clinton,  Iowa,  daughter  of  Rev.  Mr. 
Trimble,  an  Episcopal  clergyman,  now  located  in 
Dakota.  Mary  F.,  the  youngest  of  the  family,  is 
the  wife  of  John  F.  Carpenter,  of  the  firm  of  Bru- 
baker  &  Carpenter,  dry-goods  merchants  of  Dixon. 


Mr.  Little  has  engaged  in  various  business  in- 
dustries in  this  city.  For  some  years  he  carried 
on  merchandising  and  for  sixteen  years  engaged 
in  the  nursery  business,  being  proprietor  of  the 
Nachusa  Nursery  on  Block  7  in  Dixon.  He  was 
one  of  the  first  Trustees  of  the  city  under  the  old 
town  organization,  has  served  as  Treasurer  of  his 
township,  was  City  Alderman  for  some  years,  was 
one  of  the  first  School  Commissioners  of  the  county 
and  in  1864  was  elected  County  Treasurer.  So 

I  ably  did  he  fill  that  office  that  it  led  to  his  re-elec- 
tion and  he  served  in  that  position  until  1872. 
He  is  now  Deputy  Treasurer,  which  position  he 
has  filled  two  years.  Every  public  trust  reposed 
in  him  has  been  faithfully  fulfilled  and  the  prompt- 
ness and  fidelity  with  whicli  he  has  discharged  his 

,  duties  won  him  the  commendation  of  all  concerned. 
He  supports  the  Republican  party  and  does  all  in 
his  power  to  promote  its  growth  and  insure  its 
success.  His  public  and  private  life  are  alike  above 
reproach  and  his  word  is  as  good  as  his  bond.  Of 

I  unquestioned  integrity,  he  is  indeed  a  noble  and 
high-minded  man  and  a  worthy  citizen.  Himself 

j   and  wife  are  prominent  members   of   the   Baptist 

i   Church  in  which  Mr.  Little  served   as  Deacon  for 

I   some  years  and   was   clerk    for   thirty-five   years. 

I  They  have  a  host  of  warm  friends  throughout  this 
community,  where  for  more  than  half  a  century 
they  have  now  resided. 

Mrs.  Little  is  a  lady  of  rare  intelligence  and  re- 
finement and  of  great  moral  worth.  Possessed  of 
fine  conversational  powers  and  pleasing  address, 
she  has  always  had  a  large  circle  of  friends  who 
gladly  availed  themselves  of  her  societ3r.  Com- 
ing from  one  of  the  best  families  in  New  Eng- 
land, she  brought  with  her  the  true  New  England 
hospitality  and  politeness,  and  in  the  early  days 
of  Lee  County  her  house  was  always  open  to  the 
missionary.  The  minister  of  the  Gospel,  of  what- 
ever name  or  denomination,  was  always  welcome 
at  her  table  and  to  the  best  the  country  afforded, 
and  from  her  door  the  hungry  and  the  destitute 
never  went  empty  away.  With  a  heart  full  of 
benevolence  and  human  kindness  and  with  a  genial 
love  for  the  prairies,  the  flowers,  the  streams,  the 
clouds  (when  angry  as  well  as  in  repose),  for  all 
that,  is  beautiful  and  grand  in  naturp,  and  what- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


'463 


ever  is  pure  and  elevated  in  humanity,  she  has 
always  been  ready  to  plead  the  cause  of  the  un- 
fortunate and  to  help  them  over  the  rough  places 
of  life.  After  an  experience  of  over  fifty  years  of 
married  life,  her  husband  is  a  firm  believer  in 
Solomon's '  saying  that  "whoso  findeth  a  wife 
findeth  a  good  thing,"  and  also  that  "  a  prudent 
wife  is  from  the  Lord." 


BEACON  ISAAC  E.  HUNT.  Of  the  pio- 
neer farmers  who  have  played  so  import- 
ant a  part  in  the  making  of  Lee  County 
and  are  still  contributing  to  its  material 
prosperity,  not  one  is  more  worthy  of  representa- 
tion in  this  work  than  Deacon  Isaac  Hunt,  who  is 
pleasantly  passing  the  declining  years  of  a  life 
well  spent  in  all  that  goes  to  make  a  good  man 
and  a  true  citizen  on  the  well-ordered  farm  in 
Wyoming  Township  upon  which  he  located 
nearly  forty  years  ago  when  it  was  a  tract  of  wild, 
unimproved  land. 

A  pioneer  himself,  our  subject  comes  of  a  family 
that  from  generation  to  generation  has  sent  out 
pioneers  into  the  wilderness  to  help  subdue  the 
forces  of  nature  and  settle  the  frontiers  of  the 
country.  He  was  born  in  a  pioneer  home,  on  a 
farm,  five  miles  from  Liberty,  Union  County,  Ind., 
November  11,1819.  His  father,  William  II.  Hunt, 
was  a  native  of  North  Carolina,  and  a  son  of 
Charles  Hunt,  who,  so  far  as  known,  was  born  in 
the  same  State,  and  was  there  reared  and  married. 
In  the  early  years  of  the  settlement  of  Indiana, 
when  it  was  under  Territorial  government,  he 
migrated  thither,  and  became  a  pioneer  settler  of 
Wayne  County.  The  remainder  of  his  life  was 
spent  there  on  a  farm  that  he  cleared  from  the 
primeval  forests. 

The  father  of  our  subject  accompanied  his  par- 
ents to  their  new  home  in  the  wilds  of  Indiana, 
and  was  married  in  that  State  to  Elizabeth  Esteb, 
a  native  of  North  Carolina,  and  a  daughter  of 
Isaac  and  Ruth  (Moore)  Esteb.  She  survived  her 
husband  some  years,  and  in  the  latter  part  of  her 
life  came  to  Illinois,  and  died  in  the  home  of  her 


youngest  son  in  Lee  County.  She  reared  ten  chil- 
i  dren  to  honorable  and  useful  lives.  Both  she  and 
!  her  husband  were  steadfast  Christians  and  mem- 
bers of  the  Baptist  Church.  When  the  father  of 
our  subject  began  life  for  himself,  he  located  on  a 
tract  of  forest-covered  land  that  he  bought  in 
Union  County,  and  became  actively  identified 
with  its  pioneers.  For  many  years  after  his  set- 
tlement there,  there  were  no  railways,  and  the  set- 
tlers had  to  go  with  teams  to  Cincinnati,  sixty 
miles  away,  to  market  their  grain  and  obtain  their 
family  supplies. 

Mr.  Hunt  cleared  quite  a  large  tract  of  land    in 
j   Union  County,  and  made  it  his  home   until    1836, 
when  he  sold  it,  and  removed  to  La  Porte  Count}', 
where  he  bought  land  that  was   part   prairie   and 
-   the  remainder  timber.     At  that  time   that  section 
'   of  the  country  was  sparsely  settled,  and    deer   and 
other  kinds  of  game  abounded.     For  a  time  Mich- 
igan City  was  the  nearest  market.     The  father   of 
|   our  subject  dwelt  in  La  Porte  County  the  rest  of  his 
[   days,  making  himself  useful  as    a   pioneer    and    a 
citizen,  and  winning  the  regard  of  his    neighbors 
1   by  his  conduct  as  an  upright  man. 

Our  subject  grew  up  under  the  invigorating  in- 
lluences  of  frontier  life  in  his  native  State,  receiv- 
ing a  careful  training  in  right  principles  at  the 
hands  of  pious  parents.  His  education  was  con- 
ducted in  the  primitive  schools  of  the  time,  which 
were  held  in  log  houses,  that  were  provided  with 
home-made  furniture,  the  seats  being  made  of  oak 
slabs,  with  wooden  pins  for  legs.  As  soon  as  large 
enough,  he  had  to  help  on  the  farm,  and  he  assisted 
his  father  in  its  management  until  he  was  twenty- 
;  three  years  old.  At  that  age,  he  settled  on  land  of 
i  his  own  in  La  Porte  County,  and  was  busily  en- 
gaged in  farming  it  for  several  years.  In  1852  he 
sold  his  property  in  Indiana,  as  he  had  decided  to 
try  farming  on  the  fertile  soil  of  Lee  County.  He 
made  the  journey  hither  overland,  accompanied 
by  his  wife  and  three  children.  He  bought  a  tract" 
of  wild  land  in  Wyoming  Township,  which  is  in- 
cluded in  his  present  farm,  and  buying  lumber  at 
Aurora,  then  the  nearest  railway  station,  he  erected 
a  frame  house  and  barn,  and  then  devoted  himself 
to  the  pioneer  task  of  developing  the  rich  agricul- 
tural resources  of  his  land.  .  He  now  has  a  farm  of 


464 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


one  hundred  and  ninety-four  acres  of  finely  tilled 
land,  amply  provided  with  improvements  of  a 
good  class,  everything  about  the  place  giving  evi- 
dence of  his  practical  skill  as  a  farmer. 

Deacon  Hunt  has  been  twice  married.  His  first 
marriage  was  with  Miss  Eliza  A.  Patterson,  and 
they  were  wedded  February  20,  1844.  She  was 
born  in  Kentucky,  and  died  in  Lee  County,  111.,  in 
1858,  leaving  three  sons:  George  W.,  William  H. 
and  James  L.,  the  two  latter  of  whom  live  on  the 
home  farm.  In  February,  1859,  our  subject's  mar- 
riage with  Miss  Ann  E.  McBride  was  solemnized. 
Of  the  children  born  to  them  three  are  now  liv- 
ing, namely:  Martha  E.,  wife  of  Dr.  Alfred 
Owens,  of  Dover;  Frederick,  a  successful  physician 
practicing  his  profession  at  p:arlville;  and  Milton, 
a  farmer  in  Cerro  Gordo  County,  Iowa. 

Throughout  the  many  years  of  his  life  in  this 
county,  the  Deacon  has  always  borne  the  same 
high  reputation  as  a  man  of  sound  integrity,  ex- 
emplary in  his  habits,  and  strictly  just  and  fair, 
kind  and  neighborly  in  his  relations  with  his  fel- 
low-men. 

For  many  years  a  consistent  and  valued  mem- 
ber of  the  Baptist  Church,  he  has  worked  earnestly 
in  its  upbuilding,  and  has  contributed  to  its  use- 
fulness as  a  religious  organization  at  Paw  Paw. 
In  politics,  Mr.  Hunt  is  a  Republican;  Mrs.  Hunt  is 
a  Prohibitionist. 


MILLER,  a  representative  of  one  of 
IW^  the  pioneer  families  of  this  county,  is  well 
&\  known  as  one  of  the  leading  apiarists  of 
this  portion  of  the  State,  and  is  also  a  suc- 
cessful farmer,  owning  a  good  farm  in  Viola 
Township,  upon  which  he  makes  his  home.  He  is 
a  native  of  County  Brant,  Province  of  Ontario, 
Canada,  and  July  16,  1835,  is  the  date  of  his  birth. 
His  father,  whose  name  was  Jacob  Miller,  was 
born  in  the  town  of  Ancaster,  in  the  same  Canadian 
province  as  himself.  He  was  the  son  of  another 
Jacob  Miller,  who  was  a  native  of  German}'.  Dur- 
ing the  time  of  a  revolution  in  their  native 
country  he  and  two  of  his  brothers  abandoned 


their  property  there  and  sought  a  new  home  in 
America.  One  of  the  brothers  settled  in  Xew 
York,  another  in  Philadelphia,  while  the  grand- 
father of  our  subject  sought  a  dwelling  in  the 
primeval  wilds  of  Canada,  and  was  one  of  the 
early  settlers  in  the  town  of  Ancaster.  He  cleared 
a  farm  from  the  forests,  and  ended  his  days 
thereon.  He  was  the  father  of  thirteen  children, 
twelve  of  whom  grew  to  maturity,  and  nine  of 
them  became  useful  citizens  of  the  United  States. 
The  father  of  our  subject  was  reared  amid  the 
pioneer  scenes  of  his  birthplace,  and  after  marriage 
removed  from  Ancaster  to  the.  town  of  Burford, 
where  he  bought  a  tract  of  timber  land.  On  this 
he  built  a  log  house,  the  same  in  which  our  subject 
was  born,  and  in  time,  by  hard  pioneer  labor,  he 
hewed  a  farm  from  the  wilderness.  He  had  heard 
much  of  the  attractions  of  Illinois  and  he  deter- 
mined to  come  hither  to  judge  for  himself  as  to 
whether  it  afforded  superior  facilities  for  farming, 
and  renting  his  farm  for  five  years,  in  1846  he 
started  on  the  long  journey  with  teams,  taking 
with  him  his  wife  and  eight  children,  and  while  on 
their  way  they  stopped  at  noon  and  night  to  rest 
and  cook  their  food.  After  his  arrival  in  this 
land  of  promise  he  purchased  a  squatter's  claim  in 
the  northeastern  part  of  Brooklyn  Township,  Lee 
County,  and  moved  his  family  into  the  house  that 
stood  on  the  place.  He  was  one  of  the  early 
settlers  of  the  township,  and  had  but  few  neigh- 
bors, the  plentifulness  of  deer,  wild  turkeys  and 
other  game  indicating  that  civilization  had  not 
made  much  progress  here  at  that  time.  For  years 
Peru  and  Ottawa  were  the  nearest  markets,  and 
wore  not  then  accessible  by  railway.  Once  each 
year  the  father  of  our  subject  went  with  a  load  of 
grain  or  pork  all  the  way  to  Chicago,  which  was 
quite  an  undertaking  in  those  days. 

In  the  fall  of  1850,  Mr.  Miller  and  his  family  re- 
turned to  Canada  and  did  not  come  back  again  until 
i    1853,  when  he  sold  his  Canadian    farm,   and    once 
'   more  took  up  his  residence  on  his  farm    in    Brook- 
lyn   Township,   and    there   he    remained    the  rest 
of  his  days,  doing  good  service  as  a  pioneer,  and 
winning  respect  and  esteem  from  all  with  whom  he 
came  in  contact.       His  life  was  brought  to  an  end 
in    October,   1865.     His   wife   is  still    living   at  :i 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


465 


venerable  age  in  Brooklyn  Township.  She  bore 
the  maiden  name  of  Esther  Van  Sickle,  and  was 
born  at  Dundas,  Canada,  a  daughter  of  Rinear  and 
Esther  Van  Sickle,  who  both  spent  their  last  years 
on  their  farm  close  to  Dundas. 

Our  subject  is  one  of  the  nine  children  that  Ids 
parents  reared  to  lives  of  usefulness.  He  was 
eleven  years  old  when  they  came  first  to  Illinois, 
lie  had  attended  school  in  Canada  previously,  and 
after  coming  to  this  county  completed  his  educa- 
tion in  the  pioneer  schools  of  Brooklyn  Township. 
He  also  gained  a  thorough  training  in  all  kinds  of 
farm  work,  so  that  when  he  came  to  carry  on 
agricultural  pursuits  on  his  own  account,  he  was 
perfectly  capable  of  managing  a  farm  to  the  best 
advantage.  He  remained  under  the  parental  roof 
until  he  married  and  established  a  home  of  his  own. 
For  a  time  after  his  marriage  he  rented  land  and 
devoted  himself  exclusively  to  tilling  the  soil.  In 
the  meantime  he  had  been  making  a  study  of  bee 
culture,  and  in  1865  began  to  make  a  regular  busi- 
ness of  it,  and  has  been  engaged  in  it  the  most  of 
the  time  since  then,  and  has  found  it  very  profit- 
able'. He  now  has  one  hundred  and  nineteen 
swarms  of  bees  in  his  apiary,  and  the  delicious 
honey  that  they  make  commands  a  high  price  and 
a  ready  market.  Mr.  Miller  has  by  no  means  con- 
fined himself  to  the  care  of  his  bees  since  he  estab- 
lished his  apiary,  but  has  also  actively  engaged  in 
farming.  He  settled  on  his  present  farm  in  1871, 
and  has  placed  upon  it  many  substantial  improve- 
ments that  have  greatly  added  to  its  value  since  it 
came  into  his  possession. 

Mr.  Miller  married  in  1857  Miss  Ann  Scott,  a 
native  of  Guelph,  Canada,  and  a  daughter  of 
George  and  Rebecca  Scott.  Wedded  life  has 
brought  to  them  many  joys  and  sorrows,  and  in 
the  former  may  be  counted  the  eleven  sons  born  to 
them,  of  whom  three  died  in  infancj',  and  eight 
are  spared  to  bless  their  declining  years,  namely: 
Lafayette,  Canvess  D.,  Lincoln  C.,  Francis  T., 
firenville,  Harrison,  Nelson  and  Andrew. 

Nearly  half  a  century  has  rolled  by  since  our 
subject  came  to  Lee  Count}'  as  a  boy,  and  he  has 
not  only  been  a  witness  of  its  gradual  growth  from 
a  sparsely  inhabited  wilderness  to  a  populous  and 
well  developed  agricultural  region,  but  it  may  be 


his  pride  that  he  has  helped  to  bring  about  the 
grand  transformation.  He  remembers  well  the 
days  before  railways  were  common  in  this  country, 
and  when  the  mail  facilities  were  not  such  as  to  en- 
courage correspondence,  as  postage  stamps  were 
unknown,  and  each  letter  cost  twenty-five  cents. 
Our  subject  knew  also  something  of  the  hardships 
and  privations  of  pioneer  life,  which  experiences 
tended  but  to  strengthen  his  character,  and  per- 
haps contributed  to  make  him  more  self-reliant, 
helpful  toward  others,  and  neighborly  in  the  true 
sense  of  the  word,  so  that  none  fear  to  ask  of  him 
a  favor  or  to  appeal  to  him  for  sympathy  and  as- 
sistance in  times  of  trouble. 


JOHN  MATHIAS  LEVAN  is  an  intelligent, 
wide-awake  and  prosperous   young    farmer 
of  South  Dixon    Township,  where   he   has 
passed  the  most  of   his    life.     He  was  born 
in  Prussia,  Germany,  October  15,  1851,  and  is   a 
son  of  Jacob  Levan,   a  well-known    farmer  of  this 
county,  whose  biography  is  inscribed  on  the  pages 
of  this  volume.     Our     subject  was    very  young 
when  his  parents  brought  bim  to  their  new   home 
in  this  township.     He  obtained  a  good   education 
in  the  public  schools,  was  well  trained  by  his  father 
and  mother  in  all  that  goes  to   make  an  honorable 
man,  and  he  was  thoroughly  drilled  in  farm  work 
while  yet  he  was  young,  so  that  he  came  to  his  vo- 
cation well  fitted  to  perform  its  duties. 

Our  subject  purchased  his  farm  on  section  21, 
South  Dixon  Township,  in  1886,  and  has  done 
much  to  improve  it  since  it  came  into  his  posses- 
sion. Its  eighty  acres  are  under  fine  tillage,  and  as 
the  soil  is  exceedingly  rich,  the  land  yields  large 
harvests  of  the  various  products  common  to  this 
region,  besides  supporting  a  goodly  number  of 
castle,  horses  and  swine.  Mr.  Levan  has  thus  far 
in  his  career  shown  himself  to  possess  progressive 
ideas  in  regard  to  farming.  He  keeps  himself  well 
informed  in  all  matters  pertaining  to  his  business, 
has  a  good  understanding  of  how  to  feed  and  care 
for  his  stock  so  as  to  obtain  the  best  results,  and  he 


46C 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


is  not  slow  in  adopting  new  modes  of  agriculture 
when  it  seems  practicable.  lie  is  a  hard  worker, 
keeps  his  place  in  good  order,  and  looks  carefully 
after  his  interests.  He  is  manly,  resolute  and 
straightforward  in  his  hearing,  and  his  reputation 
is  above  reproach.  His  political  sympathies  are 
with  the  Democrats. 

Nearly  all  the  good  things  of  life  have  come  to 
our  subject  in  this  township  of  his  adoption,  and 
among  them  his  wife,  formerly  Miss  Isabella  Miller. 
Mrs.  Levan  is  a  native  of  this  county,  born  in 
Marion  Township,  August  6,  1863.  She  was  there 
reared  and  educated,  and  remained  an  inmate  of 
the  home  of  her  parents  until  her  marriage.  She  is 
a  daughter  of  August  and  Hannah  (Warneck) 
Miller,  who  are  natives  of  Saxony,  Germany. 
Thej-  are  of  pure  German  blood.  They  were 
young  people  when  they  came  to  this  country  and 
to  Illinois,  and  they  were  married  in  this  State. 
They  then  located  in  Marion  Township,  being 
among  its  early  settlers,  and  still  reside  there  in 
one  of  the  most  comfortable  homes  of  that  precinct. 
Mr.  Miller  has  been  very  successful  as  a  farmer, 
and  has  a  fine  farm  of  two  hundred  acres.  He  and 
his  wife  are  well  regarded  by  the  entire  community 
where  they  have  lived  so  many  years,  and  they 
have  many  friends.  They  were  brought  up  in  the 
Lutheran  Church  and  still  faithfully  adhere  to  it. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Levan,  of  this  notice,  are  the  parents 
of  two  children,  Arthur  and  Hubert. 


PRANCIS  E.  ROGERS  is  the  son  of  a  pio- 
neer of  this  section   of  Illinois,  and  now 
owns  and  is  successfully  managing  the  fine 
farm  on  section  10,  Wyoming  Township,  that  his 
father   redeemed  from  the  hands  of  nature  many 
years  ago.     Our  subject  is  not  only  known  as  one 
of  the  successful  farmers  and  stock-raisers  of  Lee 
County,  but  as  one  of  its  valued    public   officials, 
representing  his  township  on  the  County  Board  of 
Supervisors. 

Mr.  Rogers  was  bora  in  Wyoming  Township, 
Luzerne  County,  Pa.,  August  2,  1840.  His  father, 
Elihue  Rogers,  was  born  in  the  same  county,  in  the 


town  of  Exeter,  coming  of  .in  old  family,  of  whom 
but  little  is  known,  though  there  are  traditions 
concerning  its  history,  and  some  of  his  ancestors 
were  among  the  early  Colonial  settlers  of  New 
England.  Hope  Rogers  is  the  first  one  of  whom 
mention  is  made;  his  son  Jethro  was  the  next  in 
line  of  descent;  after  him  came  John  Rogers;  then 
Josiah  Rogers,  who  was  the  great-great-grandfather 
of  our  subject;  following  him  came  Jonah  Rogers, 
the  great-grandfather  of  our  subject,  and  his  son 
Elihue  was  the  grandfather  of  our  subject.  Tho 
latter  was  an  early  settler  of  the  beautiful  Wyo- 
ming Valley,  and  spent  his  last  years  in  Luzerne 
County,  where  he  carried  on  business  as  a  tailor. 
The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  Rhoda  Drake. 
She  survived  her  husband  some  years,  and  from 
Pennsylvania  went  to  Ohio>  and  finally  coming  to 
Lee  County  made  her  home  in  her  last  days  with 
her  son  Jacob  D.  She  now  lies  quietly  sleeping 
the  sleep  of  death  in  the  cemetery  at  South  Paw 
Paw. 

Eliliue  Rogers,  Jr.,  grew  to  manhood  in  Luzerne 
County,  and  in  due  time  took  unto  himself  a  wife 
in  the  person  of  Miss  Bersheba  Stiles.  In  1847  he 
left  his  old  home  to  go  forth  into  the  unknown 
wilds  of  the  "Great  West,"  as  this  part  of  the 
country  was  then  called.  He  was  accompanied  on 
his  momentous  journey  by  his  wife  and  eight 
children,  and  they  traveled  slowly  with  teams  over 
the  mountains  and  prairies  and  through  the  forests 
that  intervened,  and  cooked  and  camped  by  the 
wayside  at  night,  and  at  last  after  forty  days  ar- 
rived in  McHenry  County.  The  family  spent  the 
remainder  of  that  fall  and  the  following  winter  in 
that  county,  and  then  came  to  Paw  Paw  in  the 
spring  of  1848.  The  father  bought  a  tract  of  land 
on  section  10,  of  what  is  now  Wyoming  Township. 
A  few  acres  broken  constituted  all  the  improvement 
that  had  been  attempted,  and  as  there  was  no 
dwelling  upon  the  place  Mr.  Rogers  bought  a  house 
near  by,  and  moving  it  to  his  land,  soon  after 
built  on  an  addition,  and  made  it  his  home  until 
his  death  June  1,  1873.  In  the  years  of  toil  and 
care  that  followed  his  settlement  here  he  had 
cheerfully  endured  the  privations  inseparable  from 
life  in  a  newly  settled  country,  had  worked  early 
and  late,  and  in  time  acquired  a  comfortable  prop- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


4K9 


erty.  lie  held  a  worthy  place  among  his  pioneer 
associates,  was  a  loyal  citizen,  was  all  that  a  hus- 
band and  father  should  he  in  his  domestic  relations, 
and  he  was  in  all  ways  deserving  of  the  sincere 
respect  accorded  to  him  by  the  people  among  whom 
so  many  years  of  his  life  were  passed. 

The  parents  of  our  subject  had  nine  children,  of 
whom  the  following  is  recorded:  Olive  married 
Harley  Green,  of  Chicago:  Arabella  married  E.  G. 
Rogers,  of  St.  Paul,  Minn.;  Amorintha  is  the  wife 
of  James  Simons,  of  Kansas  City,  Mo.;  Elibue  W. 
lives  at  Chicago,  111.;  Lewis  S.  is  a  resident  of 
Hakersfield,  Cal.;  Marion  B.  resides  at  Chicago; 
Francis  E.  is  our  subject;  Elizabeth  A.  died  at  the 
age  of  five  years;  Lydia  married  Philo  Smith,  of 
Lincoln,  Neb. 

He  of  whom  this  sketch  is  written  was  but  a 
child  of  seven  years  when  his  parents  brought  him 
to  Illinois,  which  was  still  in  the  hands  of  the  pio- 
neers, though  parts  of  the  State  had  been  settled 
for  many  years.  At  that  time  there  was  not  a 
railway  in  the  State,  and  Chicago  was  the  nearest 
market  for  the  people  of  this  region.  Our  subject 
was  reared  under  wholesome  pioneer  influences  to 
a  vigorous  manhood.  He  began  early  in  life  to 
gain  a  knowledge  of  agriculture  on  his  father's 
farm,  which  since  his  father's  death  has  come  into 
his  possession.  It  is  a  valuable  piece  of  property, 
in  a  desirable  location,  is  amply  supplied  with 
buildings  for  every  needed  purpose,  its  fertile  acres 
are  well  tilled,  and  Mr.  Rogers  is  constantly  mak- 
ing improvements  on  the  place. 

Mr.  Rogers  lived  with  his  parents  until  their 
death,  and  was  their  stay  in  their  declining  years. 
In  1866  he  was  married  to  Miss  Nancy  Barratt,  a 
native  of  Ohio,  and  in  her  capacity  for  making 
home  pleasant  and  cozy,  he  has  found  much  of  the 
solid  comfort  and  true  happiness  of  life.  They 
have  three  children,  whom  they  have  named  Belle 
('..  Francis  D.,  and  Mary  E. 

Our  subject  was  a  soldier  in  the  Union  Army 
during  the  latter  part  of  the  Civil  War.  He  en- 
listed March  4,  1865,  in  Company  G,  Fifteenth 
I  llinois  Infantry,  was  immediately  sent  to  the  front 
to  join  his  regiment  in  North  Carolina,  and  marched 
with  the  victorious  army  through  that  State  on--' 
ward  to  Washington  by  the  way  of  Richmond,  and 


at  the  National  Capital  took  part  in  the  Grand 
Review.  He  did  not,  however,  leave  the  army  at 
the  close  of  hostilities,  but  was  detained  in  the 
service  until  September  16,  1865,  when  he  was 
honorably  discharged  with  his  regiment.  Return- 
ing home  he  resumed  his  calling  as  a  farmer,  and 
has  made  his  citizenship  valuable  to  his  commun- 
ity, win  re  he  has  spent  the  most  of  his  life,  and 
where  he  is  so  well  known.  He  is  a  member  of 
Anchor  Lodge,  No.  510,  I.  O.  O.  F.;  and  of  the 
William  IT.  Thompson  Post,  No.  308,  G.  A.  R.  'In 
politics,  he  stands  stanchly  by  the  Republican 
party.  He  was  elected  a  member  of  the  County 
Board  of  Supervisors  in  1890,  and  so  faithfully 
and  conscientiously  did-  he  serve  the  interests  of 
his  township,  as  well  as  those  of  the  count}'  at  large, 
he  was  honored  by  re-election  to  the  same  important 
ottice  in  1891. 


yiLLIAM  DYSART,  residing  on  section  13, 
China  Township,  where  lie  has  valuable 
farming  interests,  has  been  intimately  con- 
nected with  the  rise  and  progress  of  Lee  County 
for  many  years,  and  is  deservedly  held  in  honor 
as  a  pioneer  who  has  not  only  been  instrumental  in 
in  its  upbuilding  but  has  been  prominent  in  its 
public  and  political  life,  and  influential  in  its  edu- 
cational and  social  elevation. 

For  a  history  of  the  parents  of  our  subject  see 
the  sketch  of  his  brother  the  Hon.  Samuel  Dysart. 
Of  a  family  of  ten  children  he  was  the  fifth  in  or- 
der of  birth,  and  was  born  in  Huntingdon  County, 
Pa.,  April  11,  1828.  He  there  grew  to  manhood 
on  a  farm,  and  made  it  his  home  until  the  latter 
part  of  April,  1850.  Then,  in  the  flush  and  vigor 
of  life,  he  set  his  face  Westward,  well  equipped  to 
cope  with  the  experiences  that  lay  before  him  in  a 
region  still  in  the  hands  of  the  pioneers.  He  ar- 
rived in  Dixon  on  the  8th  of  May,  and  for  two 
months  worked  hard  at  breaking  prairie  on  the 
farm  that  is  now  his  own,  receiving  $20  a  month 
for  his  services. 

At  the  end  of  that  time  Mr.  Dysart  returned  to 
his  native  county  in  Pennsylvania,  and  after 


470 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


spending  the  summer  there  returned  to  Lee  County, 
November  14,  the  journey  taking  him  about  four 
weeks  to  accomplish.  For  nearly  two  years  he 
made  his  home  with  his  brother,  Col.  A.  P.  Dysart, 
of  Nachusa  Township,  and  during  that  time  en- 
gaged chiefly  in  teaming,  although  for  two  months 
in  the  winter  season  he  was  emploj'ed  in  threshing. 
After  that  he  superintended  the  building  of  the 
original  house  on  the  farm  now  owned  and  occu- 
pied by  his  brother,  Samuel  Dysart,  and  subse- 
quently for  a  year  and  a  half  or  two  years  lived 
with  Joseph  Mattern  on  that  same  farm  belonging 
to  his  father. 

In  the  meantime  Mr.  Dysart  had  been  making 
improvements  on  his  own-land  on  section  13,  mak- 
ing it  habitable  by  building  a  house  .and  other 
necessary  buildings,  and  soon  after  leaving  Mr. 
Mattern 's  he  took  up  his  residence  on  his  own 
premises  and  has  dwelt  there  ever  since.  His  life 
has  been  devoted  to  agricultural  pursuits,  although 
he  has  mostly  lived  retired  since  1877.  and  enjoys 
an  ample  income  as  the  result  of  his  skillful  and 
business  like  way  of  conducting  his  affairs.  His 
farm  is  a  fine  place  with  a  substantial  and  conven- 
iently arranged  set  of  buildings,  highly  cultivated 
fields  and  rich  pasturage,  and  forms  one  of  the 
most  pleasing  country  homes  in  the  vicinity.  1 1 
comprises  two  hundred  and  forty  acres  of  land 
and  he  has  besides  a  quarter-section  of  pasture  land 
in  Ogle  County. 

February  18,  1858,  our  subject  was  married 
to  Miss  Mary  Grazier,  the  ceremony  being  per- 
formed in  Huntingdon  County,  Pa.,  near  the 
scenes  of  his  early  home.  Unto  them  have  been 
born  two  children,  Mary  F.  and  Bessie  A.  Mi's. 
Dysart  was  born  in  Huntingdon  County,  March 
22,  1830,  and  is  the  sixth  of  a  family  of  thirteen 
children,  four  sons  and  nine  daughters.  Her  par- 
ents were  Henry  and  Nancy  (Beck)  Grazier,  both 
of  whom  were  born  in  Huntingdon  County,  and 
died  in  their  old  Pennsylvania  home  when  well 
along  in  years.  Mrs.  Dysart  is  a  woman  of  great 
worth,  a  true  Christian,  and  stands  high  in  the 
membership  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  with  which 
she  has  long  been  connected. 

The  most  useful  and  eventful  part  of  the  life  of 
our  subject  has  been  spent  in  this  township,  four 


decades  having  passed  away  since  he  first  set  foot 
within  its  bounds,  and  during  these  many  years 
while  busily  engaged  in  attending  to  his  private 
affairs,  and  at  the  same  time  seeking  to  promote 
the  material  well  being  of  the  community,  he  has 
made  for  himself  a  warm  place  in  the  hearts  of  the 
people  with  whom  he  has  been  so  long  associated 
in  business,  in  a  social  way,  or  in  carrying  on  the 
local  government,  as  thejr  have  always  found  him 
true  to  his  word,  honorable  in  thought  and  act, 
and  faithful  in  his  friendships. 

Knowing  well  Mr.  Dysart's  ability  and  rectitude 
of  character,  his  fellow-citizens  have  again  and 
again  elected  him  to  some  responsible  position  and 
he  has  been  an  incumbent  of  nearly  all  the  town- 
ship offices.  He  has  been  School  Trustee  for  sev- 
eral years  and  has  taken  a  deep  interest  in  educa- 
tional matters,  exerting  his  influence  to  obtain  the 
best  possible  facilities  for  the  school  children  of 
this  locality.  For  some  nine  years  he  filled  the 
office  of  Supervisor,  representing  China  Township 
on  the  County  Board  of  Supervisors.  In  politics 
he  is  a  Republican  of  no  uncertain  tone,  and  has 
been  a  strong  advocate  of  the  principles  of  the 
party  ever  since  its  organization. 

The  lithographic  portrait  of  Mr.  Dj7sart  accom- 
panies this  biographical  sketch. 


JOSEPH  H.  AYRES,  who  resides  on  section 
32,  Lee  Center  Township,  is  well  known  as 
an  enterprising  and  successful  farmer  and  a 
public-spirited  man  who  takes  a  deep  inter- 
est in  everything  tending  to  the  upbuilding  of  his 
township  and  county.     His  parents,  Henry  S.  and 
Ann  E.  (Green)  Ayres,  were   natives  of  Vermont, 
who  after    their   marriage    emigrated    to    Illinois, 
where    the  father  died  in  Sublettc  Township,  De- 
cember 15,  1879.     They  were  the  parents  of   two 
children:    Joseph  II.  and   Ella  M.,  the  latter  the 
wife  of  William  P.  Long,  of  Sublette  Township. 

The  subject  of  our  sketch  was  born  in  Crete, 
Will  County,  this  State,  April  17,  1853.  When  he 
was  one  and  a  half  years  old,  his  parents  removed 
t»>  Lee  County,  settling  in  Am  boy  Township, 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


471 


where  they   remained   until   their  son    was    eight 
years  of  age,  when  they  removed  to  Sublette.  Here 
our  subject  lived    until    February,  1885,  when    he 
•line  to  Lee  Center  Township  and  settled  on  sec- 
Hi  32,  his    present    home.     Here    lie  has  a  good 
arm  of  two  hundred  and  seventy  acres,  on  which 
e  has  erected  a  fine  set  of   buildings,  and  where 
e   is  carrying  on  agricultural  pursuits  under  the 
most   favorable   circumstances.     He   acquired   his 
education  in  the  common  schools  and  is  an  intelli- 
gent and  well-read  man. 

Mr.  Ayres  was  married  in  Sublette,  August  24, 
1879,  to  Miss  Jennie  E.  Berkley,  who  was  a  native 
of  that  township,  her  birth  occurring  April  5, 1857. 
They  are  the  parents  of  three  children:  Yilette  B., 
Anna  E.  and  Ruth  E.  Mrs.  Ayres  is  the  daughter 
of  Benjamin  F.  and  Vilette  (Eastman)  Berkley,  the 
former  being  a  native  of  Virginia  and  the  latter  of 
Ohio;  the  mother  died  in  Sublette  Township  in 
September,  1866. 

Mr.  Ayres  is  a  Republican,  and  while  not  taking 
a  very  active  part  in  political  affairs,  is  warmly 
interested  in  all  pertaining  to  the  welfare  of  his 
community.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Masonic  fra- 
ternity and  has  been  Master  of  the  Blue  Lodge  in 
Sublette  for  seven  consecutive  years.  The  family 
have  a  comfortable  home  and  a  large  circle  of 
friends. 


SAMUEL  S.  DODGE,  who  for  almost  a  quar- 
ter of   a  century  has  been  engaged  in  the 
jewelry  business  in  Dixon,  is  now  located 
on   the  corner  of  Hennepin   Avenue  and 
First  Street,  where    he    has  carried    on    operations 
since    1888.     Previous   to   that   time    he  was  for 
eighteen  years  established  at  the  comer  of  First 
Street  and  Galena  Avenue  where  the  City  National 
Bank  now  stands.     During  the  years  in  which  he 
has  been  a   leading  jeweler  of    Dixon,  he  lias  had 
two  partners,  both  gentlemen  being  of  the  name  of 
King,  but  is  now  alone.     He  has  a  fine  store,  well 
lilted  out  and  stocked  with  everything  in  his  line, 
lie  has  built  up  a  good  business,  and  by  industry, 


perseverance,  close  attention  to  details  and  the 
exercise  of  correct  business  principles,  lias  acquired 
a  competence. 

Mr.  Dodge  was  born  in  Somerset  County,  Ohio, 
in  1841.  His  father,  Almeron  Dodge,  and  his 
grandfather,  Seymour  Dodge,  were  both  natives 
of  the  Empire  State  and  were  of  English  descent. 
The  latter  was  reared  in  the  Mohawk  Valley  but 
later  became  a  resident  of  Batavia  and  Northern 
New  York.  He  was  a  member  of  the  same  Masonic 
lodge  to  which  belonged  the  Mr.  Morgan  whose 
mysterious  death  caused  such  general  disturbance 
and  excited  such  feelings  against  the  fraternity. 
His  business  was  that  of  merchandising  and  he 
owned  several  lake  vessels.  He  afterwards  came 
to  Illinois  and  died  at  the  home  of  his  son  in  Win- 
nebago  County  at  the  age  of  eighty-seven  years. 
He  had  been  twice  married  and  both  wives  died  in 
New  York.  The  first  lady  whom  he  wedded  was 
Miss  Whitcomb,  who  was  descended  from  the 
Scotch  nobility,  her  father  tracing  his  ancestry 
back  in  direct  line  to  Lord  Whitcomb. 

Almeron  Dodge,  the  father  of  our  subject, 
learned  the  trade  of  a  blacksmith  in  his  native 
State  and  afterward  emigrated  to  Ohio,  where  he 
became  acquainted  with  and  married  Miss  Sallie 
Baldwin,  who  was  born  in  one  of  the  suburban 
towns  of  Cleveland,  where  her  marriage  was  cele- 
brated. In  1846,  accompanied  by  their  family, 
they  emigrated  to  Illinois  and  became  early  set- 
tlers of  Roscoe  Township,  Winnebago  County, 
where  Mr.  Dodge  opened  a  shop  and  engaged  in 
blacksmithing  for  many  years.  During  their  resi- 
dence there  the  wife  and  mother  died  at  the  age 
of  sixtj'-nine  years.  Mr.  Dodge  is  yet  living  at 
the  age  of  eighty-five  years,  and  finds  a  pleasant 
home  with  his  son,  A.  F.,  in  Winnebago  County. 
He  belongs  to  the  Methodist  Church,  of  which  his 
wife  was  a  consistent  member,  and  in  politics  is  a 
supporter  of  Republican  principles.  The  three 
surviving  children  of  the  family  are  Samuel,  of 
this  sketch;  A.  F.,  a  farmer  of  Winnebago  County, 
and  Mrs.  Mary  Kachford,  who  is  living  on  the  old 
homestead  in  Roscoe  Township. 

Our  subject  was  only  three  years  old  when 
brought  by  his  parents  to  Illinois,  hence  his  entire 
life*  has  been  practically  spent  in  this  State.  No 


472 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


event  of  special  importance  occurred  during  his 
boyhood.  He  attended  the  common  schools  and 
under  the  parental  roof  was  reared  to  manhood. 
He  learned  his  trade  in  Rockford,  and  from  there, 
came  to  Dixon  in  1868.  It  was  after  coming  to  this 
city  that  he  formed  the  acquaintance  of  Miss  Hattie 
Davis,  and  in  1873  their  union  was  celebrated.  The 
lady  was  born  in  Amboy,  and  is  a  daughter  of  Hon. 
C.  A.  Davis,  a  second  cousin  of  Mrs.  Longfellow, 
wife  of  the  poet.  He  is  also  related  to  the  Apple- 
tons,  one  of  the  well-known  and  prominent  families 
of  Boston,  of  which  Samuel  Applcton  was  the 
head.  Cyrus  Davis,  father  of  C.  A.  Davis,  came 
to  Illinois  from  Concord,  Mass.,  and  entered  the 
land  from  the  Government  on  which  the  present 
town  of  Amboy  is  located.  There  he  spent  the 
remainder  of  his  life.  The  father  of  Mrs.  Dodge 
was  reared  to  manhood  amid  the  pioneer  scenes  of 
Lee  County  and  afterward  returned  to  New  Hamp- 
shire, where  he  wedded  Sarah  Holt.  With  his 
bride  he  returned  to  the  West  and  became  one  of 
the  prominent  and  influential  citizens  of  this  com- 
munity. He  returned  to  Ash  by,  Mass.,  in  1853, 
where  he  represented  his  district  in  the  State  Leg- 
islature and  took  quite  an  active  part  in  public 
affairs.  He  came  back  to  Lee  County  in  1858 
and  settled  in  Dixon  where  he  remained  until  his 
death  in  1885. 

Mrs.  Dodge  has  spent  her  entire  life  in  Lee 
County,  and  is  one  of  the  leading  ladies  of  Dixon. 
Intelligent  and  cultured,  she  ranks  high  in  social 
circles  and  is  an  active  worker  in  the  Methodist 
Church,  of  which  she  is  a  member. 

During  the  late  war  Mr.  Dodge  responded  to  the 
country's  call  for  troops  to  aid  in  crushing  out  the 
rebellion  and  enlisted  in  1861  with  the  boys  in 
blue  of  Company  L,  Eighth  Illinois  Cavalry,  under 
Col.  Farnsworth.  The  regiment  joined  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac  and  our  subject  was  in  active  ser- 
vice until  the  battle  of  Mechanicsville  in  1862, 
when  he  was  wounded  in  the  left  arm  by  a  cannon 
hall.  His  injuries  were  such  that  it  unfitted  him 
for  further  duty  and  he  was  honorably  discharged. 
He  holds  membership  with  Dixon  Post  No.  299, 
G.  A.  R.,  and  is  also  a  prominent  Mason,  being 
now  Past  Commander  of  Dixon  Commandery, 
No.  21,  K.  T.,  and  a  Thirty-second  Degree 


Mason.  In  politics,  he  is  a  stancli  advocate  of  the 
Republican  party  but  has  never  been  an  office 
seeker.  Among  his  lodge  comrades  and  his  busi- 
ness acquaintances  he  is  highly  esteemed  as  a  man 
of  sterling  worth,  and  knowing  that  he  well  de- 
serves representation  in  this  volume,  it  is  with 
pleasure  that  we  present  this  sketch  to  our  readers. 


ATHIAS  A.  GIRTON,  a  prominent  mem- 
ber of  the  Lee  County  Board  of  Super- 
visors, with  which  he  has  been  connected 
for  some  years,  representing  the  interests 
of  South  Dixon  Township,  is  also  one  of  the  pro- 
gressive farmers  and  stock-raisers  of  this  section, 
own  ing  an  d  successfully  managing  a  well-appoin  led 
farm  on  section  26,  of  the  afore-mentioned  town- 
ship, upon  which  he  has  a  pleasant  home. 

Mr.  Girton  is  a  native  of  Columbia  County,  Pa., 
bom  February  11,1846.  His  father,  Marshal  C. 
Girton,  was  also  a  native  of  that  county,  and  was 
a  sou  of  William  Girton,  who  was  likewise  of 
Pennsylvania  birth.  The  parents  of  the  latter 
were  born  in  this  country  prior  to  the  Revolution, 
and  some  members  of  the  Girton  family  helped 
fight  the  battles  in  that  great  struggle  for  freedom. 
William  Girton  became  a  farmer  as  he  grew  up  in 
Pennsylvania,  and  in  early  manhood  he  married  a 
Pennsylvania  lady.  Several  years  afterward,  when 
their  children  had  grown  to  maturity  and  some  of 
them  had  married,  William  Girton  and  wife  came  to 
Nachusa  Township,  Lee  County,  111.,  and  settled  on 
a  new  farm,  in  1847.  They  were  thus  early  pioneets 
of  that  place,  and  there  they  lived  to  be  very  old, 
the  grandfather  being  about  ninety  when  he  died. 
He  was  popular  among  his  fellow-pioneers,  and 
known  as  a  hospitable,  true-hearted  man,  and  a 
public-spirited  citizen.  Both  he  and  his  wife  were 
good  Methodists  in  religion,  and  he  was  a  Demo- 
crat in  politics. 

The  early  life  of  Marshal  Girton  was  passed  in 
his  native  county,  and  there  he  was  married  to 
Kffie  Flick,  who  was  born  in  the  same  neighbor- 
hood as  himself,  and  was  a  daughter  of  Stephen 
Flick.  Her  father,  a  native  of  Germany,  was 
married  in  the  Fatherland,  and  subsequently 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


473 


brought  his  wife  to  America.  They  died  in  Co- 
lumbia County,  Pa.,  when  old  people.  They  were 
Lutherans. 

Marshal  Girton,  wife  and  five  children,  came  to 
Illinois  in  1850,  and  at  once  entered  upon  the 
pioneer  task  of  improving  a  prairie  farm  in  Na- 
chusa  Township.  A  comfortable  home  was  the 
result  of  the  united  labors  of  husband  and  wife, 
and  they  lived  therein  peacefully  and  happily 
until  death  severed  the  tie  that  bound  them,  re- 
moving the  former  from  the  scenes  of  his  toil  in 
April,  1872,  he  being  then  but  fifty-four  years  of 
age.  He  left  behind  him  the  record  of  a  life  un- 
blemished, in  which  he  had  sought  the  good  of 
others,  and  had  faithfully  fulfilled  his  obligations 
as  a  \oy&l  citizen,  as  a  true  husband,  tender  father 
and  kind  neighbor,  and  he  had  many  warm  friends 
in  this  county.  He  was  a  conscientious  Methodist 
in  his  church  relations,  and  a  good  Democrat  in 
regard  to  politics.  His  wife  makes  her  home  with 
her  children  in  Nachusa  Township.  Seventy-two 
years  is  her  age  and  she  is  still  bright  and  active 
in  mind  and  body.  A  sincere  Christian,  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church  has  for  many  years  found 
in  her  a  useful  member. 

Mathias  Girton  is  the  third  of  a  family  of  eleven 
children,  of  whom  nine  are  living.  He  was  four 
years  of  age  when  his  parents  settled  among  the 
pioneers  of  Lee  County,  and  he  grew  to  man's 
estate  in  Nachusa  Township.  lie  was  a  good 
scholar  in  his  youth  and  laid  the  foundation  of  a 
sound  education  in  the  local  public  schools,  which 
he  completed  by  a  liberal  course  of  study  at  Dixon 
College.  He  was  thus  well  prepared  for  whatever 
position  he  might  assume  in  after  life.  Reared  on 
a  farm  and  always  taking  a  keen  interest  in  all 
that  pertains  to  agriculture,  he  naturally  selected 
that  for  his  vocation.  Fourteen  \ears  ago  he 
bought  the  farm  upon  which  he  lives  in  South 
Dixon  Township,  and  under  his  supervision  it  has 
become  a  fine  piece  of  property  and  an  attractive 
home.  It  comprises  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  section 
of  land  that  is  well  drained,  fenced  into  conven- 
ient fields,  supplied  with  ample  buildings,  and  the 
natural  fertility  of  the  soil  is  retained  by  a  good 
system  of  cultivation,  well  calculated  to 
its  productiveness. 


Mr.  Girton  was  married  at  Nachusa  to  Miss 
Mary  Hill,  who,  as  a  true  wife  should,  has  strength- 
ened and  encouraged  him  in  his  work,  and  ably 
presides  over  their  home.  Mrs.  Girton  was  born 
in  Luzerne  County,  Pa.,  in  April,  1848,  and  is  a 
daughter  of  Nathan  Hill,  whose  biography  appears 
on  another  page  in  this  volume.  She  was  reared 
in  this  township,  and  was  educated  in  the  public 
schools.  To  her  and  our  subject  have  been  born 
five  children,  whom  they  have  named  Judith  Ma- 
bel, Ellis  C.,  Mary  Effle,  Grace  .E.  and  Daisy  E. 

Our  subject  possesses  a  clear,  vigorous  intellect, 
is  progressive  in  his  ideas,  and  has  a  full  share  of 
the  business  acumen  so  necessary  to  success  in  any 
walk  in  life.  These  attributes  early  attracted  the 
attention  of  his  fellow-citizens,  who,  recognizing 
the  fact  that  they  qualified  him  for  public  positions 
of  trust,  have  for  several  years  kept  him  in  office. 
He  has  held  most  of  the  township  offices,  and  is 
now  filling  his  fifth  term  as  its  representative  on 
the  County  Board  of  Supervisors,  to  the  manifest 
satisfaction  of  all  concerned  without  regard  to 
party.  He  is  a  prominent  local  politician,  and  is 
a  leader  among  the  Democrats.  He  and  his  wife 
are  popular  in  social  circles,  have  many  warm 
friends,  and  their  hospitality  is  proverbial. 


OHN  D.  LAHMAN,  capitalist  and  President 
of  the  Franklin  Grove  Bank,  has  been  prom- 
inently and  variously    identified    with    the 
interests  of    Lee   County  for   many  years, 
and  his  name  will   always   be  associated    with  its 
history  as  one  who  has  contributed  greatly  to  the 
extension  of   its  wealth   and  material  prosperity, 
and  has    been   influential  in  promoting  its  higher 
I    welfare.     June  22,  1834,  is  the  date  of  his  birth  in 
j   Washington  County,  Md.,  he  being  a  son  of  Chris- 
|   tian  and  Elizabeth  (Emmert)  Lahman,  who  were 
natives  respectively  of  Adams  County,    Pa.,   and 
Washington    County,   Md.     The    Lahmans   origi- 
nated   in    Germany,   and    he  is  one  of  the  fourth 
generation  of  that  branch  of  the' family  that  settled 
in  this  country   in  Colonial    times.     His    paternal 


474 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


grandfather  was  a  prosperous  miller  and  the  owner 
of  a  gristmill  in  Adams  County,  Pa. 

Christian  Lahman,  the  father  of  our  subject,  was 
a  farmer  and  he  also  owned  mills.  Soon  after  his 
marriage  he  settled  in  Maryland,  where  he  lived 
for  several  years.  In  1845  he  migrated  from  there 
to  Illinois  with  his  family  and  was  one  of  the  pio- 
neers of  Lee  County  and  one  of  the  early  settlers 
of  China  Township,  where  he  purchased  land.  He 
was  closely  identified  with  the  rise  and  progress  of 
this  part  of  the  county  from  that  time  until  the 
day  of  his  death  in  1864,  at  the  age  of  fifty-six 
years.  He  was  a  man  of  more  than  ordinary  finan- 
cial ability  and  became  one  of  the  wealthy  men  of 
this  section.  He  had  some  fifteen  hundred  acres 
of  land,  a  part  of  which  was  in  the  village  of 
Franklin  Grove,  and  he  left  a  valuable  estate.  He 
was  a  thoroughly  good  man  and  an  active  Chris- 
tian. He  was  a  member  of  the  Dunkard  Church, 
and  was  one  of  the  leading  organizers  of  the  soci- 
ety of  that  denomination  at  Franklin  Grove.  His 
wife  survived  him  until  1872,  at  which  time  she 
departed  this  life  at  the  age  of  sixty-one  years. 
Those  worthy  people  were  the  parents  of  nine 
children,  of  whom  eight  grew  to  maturity,  and 
these  are  their  names:  Joseph  C.,  John  D.,  David 
F.,  Joshua  E.,  EphraimP.,  a  resident  of  Falls  City, 
Neb.;  William  H.,  of  Chicago;  Maggie,  wife  of 
William  A.  Miller,  of  Story  Co'unty,  Iowa;  Jacob 
E.  and  Alora  J.,  both  of  whom  died  in  Franklin 
(Trove,  unmarried;  and  Catherine,  who  died  in 
childhood. 

He  of  whom  these  lines  are  the  life  record  passed 
his  early  years  on  the  Maryland  farm  where  he  was 
bom,  and  received  the  foundation  of  his  education 
in  the  local  district  schools.  He  came  with  his  par- 
ents to  their  pioneer  home  in  the  wilds  of  this  reg- 
ion when  ho  was  a  lad  of  eleven  years,  and  his 
growth  to  manhood  was  commensurate  with  that 
of  the  county  of  which  he  is  to-day  a  leading  citi- 
zen, his  enterprising  spirit  making  him  a  prime 
mover  in  various  important  business  enterprises 
that  have  tended  to  enhance  the  prosperity  of  this 
section  and  also  to  promote  the  growth  of  other 
regions.  He  learned  the  milling  trade  and  worked 
at  that  some  four  years  in  early  manhood.  He 
then  resumed  farming,  the  calling  to  which  he 


had  been  reared.  Though  lie  remained  on  the 
farm  and  superintended  it  a  number  of  years,  he 
had  not  been  there  long  until  he  became  interested 
in  other  enterprises,  as  is  indicated  below.  In  1889 
he  took  up  his  residence  in  the  village  of  Franklin 
Grove,  where  he  now  devotes  his  time  principally 
to  looking  after  his  real-estate  business  and  making 
loans,  the  result  of  his  excellent  business  methods 
and  wise  investments.  He  has  owned  a  large 
amount  of  real  estate  at  different  times,  principally 
in  Iowa  and  Nebraska. 

The  following  are  some  of  the  enterprises  in 
which  our  subject  has  been  engaged.  He,  with 
others,  built  a  Hour  and  feed  mill  which  was  driven 
by  wind  power.  In  1873  he  formed  a  co-partner- 
ship under  the  firm  name  of  J.  1).  Lahman  &  Co., 
to  engage  in  the  manufacture  of  the  Emmert  Seeder, 
which  was  invented  by  his  uncle,  Ezra  Emmert. 
In  1879  the  firm  discontinued  the  manufacture  of 
the  Emmert  Seeder  and  commenced  the  manufacture 
of  the  seeder  widely  known  as  the  Great  Western 
Seeder.  In  1888  the  firm  was  dissolved  by  the 
death  of  J.  L.  Strock,  one  of  the  firm.  Our  sub- 
ject continued  its  manufacture  till  succeeded  by 
H.  N.  Bratton  &  Co.,  in  1891.  He  has  had  large 
live  stock  interests,  being  a  member  of  the  firm  of 
D.  F.  Lahman  &  Co.,  which  had  a  large  ranch  in 
Iowa,  and  raised  many  horses  and  cattle.  Mr. 
Lahman  was  one  of  the  organizers  of  the  Franklin 
Grove  Bank  in  1889,  and  lent  the  influence  of 
his  name  as  its  President,  which  position  he  still 
retains,  although  he  leaves  the  management  of  its 
funds  to  other  hands,  as  his  private  affairs  demand 
his  attention. 

Our  subject  and  Miss  Mary  C.  Haughtelling 
were  united  in  marriage  in  1860.  Mrs.  Lahman 
was  born  in  Adams  County,  Pa.,  and  is  a  daughter, 
of  John  and  Eliza  Haughteliing,  who  were  also 
natives  of  Pennsylvania.  Her  father  died  in  that 
State,  and  her  mother  removed  witli  her  family, 
in  1856,  from  there  to  Guthrie  County,  Iowa,  where 
her  daughter,  of  whom  we  write,  lived  until  she 
was  married.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lahman  have  a  home 
replete  with  all  the  comforts  and  conveniences 
that  add  so  much  to  the  charm  of  any  dwelling, 
and  the  pleasant  hospitality  which  they  dispense 
to  all  who  cross  its  threshold  furnishes  a  further 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


475 


attraction  to  the  numerous  friends  that  they  have 
gathered  around  them  in  the  course  of  years  by 
their  unfailing  generosity  and  helpfulness  in  their 
intercourse  with  all  around  them.  Sorrow  has  not 
left  them  untouched  in  their  domestic  life,  as  death 
has  taken  from  them  two  of  their  three  children, 
Vinnie  A.,  who  died  at  the  age  of  seventeen,  and 
one  that  died  in  infancy.  Their  only  surviving 
child,  Carance  W.,  was  married  December  9,  1889, 
to  Martha  Beery,  and  they  have  one  child,  Mary 
Alora. 

I  n  politics,  Mr.  Lahman  is  a  strong  Prohibitionist, 
though  formerly  belonging  to  the  Republican 
party.  He  is  a  man  of  exemplary  habits,  a  firm 
advocate  of  temperance  and  of  whatever  will  pro- 
mote morality  in  the  community.  Mrs.  Lahman  is 
a  consistent  Christian  and  a  valued  member  of  the 
Dunkard  Church. 


JACOB  LEV  AN  has  been  for  many  years  a 
much  respected  member  of  the  farming 
community  of  this  county,  and  has  a  good 
farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty-six  and  one- 
half  acres  on  sections  120  and  121,  South  Dixon 
Township,  which  he  bought  in  an  unimproved  con- 
dition more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago.  He 
is  a  native  of  Prussia,  Germany,  born  near  the 
French  line,  September  14,  1822.  His  parental 
history  is  given  in  the  biography  of  Mathias 
Lievan.  Our  subject  and  his  family  omit  the  let- 
ter "i"  from  their  surname.  He  received  a  practical 
education  in  the  German  schools,  and  even  as  a 
boy  was  put  to  work  in  his  father's  vineyard  on  the 
banks  of  the  Rhine,  grape-growing  being  the  prin- 
cipal business  of  the  people  along  that  river,  and  he 
was  engaged  in  that  until  he  emigrated  to  this 
country  in  1853. 

Our  subject  was  accompanied  on  his  journey  to 
this  country  by  his  wife  and  father-in-law.  The 
little  company  left  their  old  home  in  the  spring  of 
the  year,  and  journeying  to  Liverpool,  England,em- 
barked  on  an  English  sailing  vessel,  which  brought 


them  across  the  Atlantic  in  thirty-six  days,  and 
landed  them  at  Boston,  Mass.  They  then  made 
their  way  to  Pennsylvania,  and  during  a  residence 
of  two  years  and  a  half  in  that  State.  Mr.  Levan 
worked  on  the  great  reservoir  which  in  after 
years  broke  and  caused  the  great  Johnstown  flood, 
and  he  also  mined  in  the  vicinity  of  Cambria. 
Coming  to  Lee  County  in  1855,  he  began  life 
as  a  renter,  and  two  years  later  bought  the 
farm  that  he  now  occupies,  having  to  go  in  debt 
for  it.  He  has  long  since  paid  every  dollar  that 
he  owed  for  it,  and  has  placed  it  under  substantial 
^improvement,  providing  it  with  suitable  buildings, 
and  placing  the  land  under  excellent  tillage.  He 
also  has  it  well  stocked  with  a  good  class  of  cattle, 
horses  and  hogs.  Mr.  Levan  is  valued  as  a  citizen, 
and  is  greatly  esteemed  for  his  worth  as  a  man  of 
exemplary  habits,  who  is  a  good  husband  and  kind 
father  in  his  domestic  life,  and  is  always  neigh- 
borly and  obliging  in  his  relations  with  outsiders. 
He  and  his  good  wife  are  sincere  Christians  aijd 
devout  members  of  the  German  Catholic  Church. 

Our  subject  was  married  in  his  native  land  to 
Miss  Angeline  Ahl,  who  was  born  and  reared  in 
Prussia,  and  came  of  good  German  ancestry.  Her 
father,  Frederick  Ahl,  a  miller  of  good  standing, 
married  Catherine  Anser,  who  died  at  the  age  of 
thirty-two  years,  leaving  two  children,  Mrs.  Levan 
and  her  brother  Mathias.  The  latter  married  and 
died  in  Germany.  Frederick  Ahl  accompanied  his 
daughter  and  son-in-law  to  America,  and  he  made 
his  home  with  them  in  Lee  County  until  his  death 
in  1875,  at  the  age  of  seventy-three.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  Catholic  Church,  and  was  well 
known  and  greatly  respected. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Levan  are  the  parents  of  six 
children,  of  whom  alfc  are  living  but  their  eldest 
son,  John,  who  died  young.  The  others  are 
Margaret,  their  eldest  daughter,  who  is  the  wife  of 
George  Ortgiesn,  a  farmer  in  this  township,  who 
owns  a  good  farm  of  three  huudred  and  twenty 
acres;  John  M.,  who  is  represented  elsewhere  in 
tliis  volume;  Louis,  who  married  Rosa  Fischer,  and 
lives  on  a  good  farm  of  two  hundred  acres  in 
Marion  Township  that  he  owns;  Mary,  wife  of 
Sebastian  Bechtcl,  a  farmer  near  Sterling;  Ellen, 
wife  of  Charles  Bartholomew,  now  living  on  the 


476 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIWRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


home  farm;  Caroline,  wife  of  Conrad  Miller,  a 
farmer  in  this  township.  Mr.  Levan  and  his  sons 
are  all  sturdy  supporters  of  the  Democratic  party, 
and  take  an  intelligent  interest  in  politics. 


&M  NDREW  II.  ROSENKRANS.  To  this  gen- 
11*01  tleman  and  his  associates  Lee  County  is 

Ij  Ifc  largely  indebted  for  the  rapid  advance  it 
<^j/  has  made  in  agriculture  during  the  last 
quarter  of  a  century.  He  is  one  of  the  foremost 
farmers  and  stockmen  of  Wyoming  Township, 
where  he  has  large  farming  and  stock  interests, 
and  occupies  an  important  place  among  the  suc- 
cessful breeders  of  fine  road  horses  of  Ilamblctonian 
and  Wilkes  strains. 

Mr.  Rosenkraus  is  a  native  of  the  State  of  New 
York,  born  March  10,  1835,  and  as  his  name  indi- 
cates, he  is  a  descendant  of  an  old  Holland  family, 
some  of  his  ancestors  being  among  the  Colonial 
settlers  of  the  commonwealth  of  New  Jersey.  His 
father,  Abram  Rosenkrans,  was  born  November  11, 
1803,  in  the  town  of  Wallpack,  Sussex  County, 
N.  J.  His  father,  grandfather  of  our  subject,  whose 
name  was  Benjamin  Rosenkrans,  was  born  in  the 
same  town  March  31,  1770,  and  was  a  son  of  John 
Rosenkrans,  whose  birth  occurred  May  18,  1724. 
The  father  of  the  latter  was  Alexander  Augustus 
Rosenkrans,  great-great-grandfather  of  our  subject 
who  came  from  his  ancestral  home  in  Holland  to 
America  in  the  year  of  108!),  and  landed  at  New 
Amsterdam,  the  future  metropolis  of  the  New 
World.  From  there  he  made  his  way  to  New  Jer- 
sey, became  one  of  its  settlers,  and  founded  a 
family  in  that  Stsite.  One  of  his  descendants  bore 
a  conspicuous  part  in  the  Revolution,  and  another 
was  prominent  in  the  War  of  1812. 

When  the  C'olonists  were  battling  for  freedom 
from  the  Mother  Country,  John  Rosenkrans  was 
colonel  of  a  regiment  in  the  Continental  Army, 
and  accompanied  Gen.  Sullivan  in  his  campaign 
against  the  Indians  in  the  Susquehanna  and  (Jen- 
essee  Valleys  as  a  commander  of  a  brigade.  He 
was  wounded  in  the  shoulder  during  the  war,  and 
subsequently  died  from  the  effects  of  the  wound 


June  5,  1786.  His  wife  was  Margaret  De  Witt,  a 
cousin  of  De  Witt  Clinton.  She  was  born  April 
18,  1731.  Benjamin  Rosenkrans,  grandfather  of 
our  subject,  was  in  command  at  Sandy  Hook  in  the 
War  of  1812,  and  later  was  a  colonel  of  the  State 
militia.  He  was  a  well-to-do  farmer,  and  owned 
some  five  hundred  acres  of  land  in  Wallpack,  N.  J., 
and  there  he  and  his  wife  died  when  well  advanced 
in  years,  his  death  occurring  December  30,  1848, 
and  hers  February  1,  1842.  She  was  born  Novem- 
ber 16,  1774,  and  in  her  maiden  days  bore  the 
name  of  Margaret  Schoonovcr. 

The  father  of  our  subject  passed  his  early  life  in 
his  native  State,  and  received  his  education  in  the 
local  schools.  When  a  young  man  he  crossed  over 
into  New  York,  and  resided  there  for  a  few  years, 
and  then  returned  to  New  Jersey.  His  next  move 
was  to  Pennsylvania,  and  for  several  years  he 
lived  in  that  State,  a  part  of  the  time  in  Luzerne 
and  a  part  of  the  time  in  Wyoming  County.  In 
1855  he  came  to  Lee  County,  and  identified  him- 
self with  its  pioneers.  He  bought  a  farm  in  Wyom- 
ing Township  and  resided  thereon  until  1879, 
when  he  moved  to  Marble  Rock,  Floyd  County, 
Iowa,  and  made  his  home  there  the  remainder  of 
his  life,  which  was  brought  to  a  close  by  his  death 
which  occurred  November  19,  1889,  at  a  vener- 
able age.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  Lydia 
Henry.  She  was  born  in  the  State  of  New  York,  a 
daughter  of  Andrew  Henry,  and  died  in  AVallpack 
N.  J.,  May  15,  1838. 

Our  subject  was  only  four  years  old  when  he 
was  deprived  of  a  mother's  care  by  her  untimely 
death,  and  two  years  later  he  accompanied  his 
father  and  other  membe:s  of  the  family  to  Penn- 
sylvania, where  the  next  twelve  years  of  his  life 
were  passed.  When  he  attained  the  age  of  eighteen 
his  father  gave  him  his  time,  and  in  the  fall  of 
1853  he  turned  his  face  from  the  home  of  his  boy- 
hood and  started  Westward  to  join  two  of  his 
brothers,  who  were  then  living  at  Paw  Paw,  in 
this  county.  He  came  to  Illinois  by  rail  to  Ottawa 
and  thence  by  team  to  his  destination,  lie  im- 
mediately went  to  work  with  his  brothers  at  Paw 
Paw  as  an  apprentice  to  learn  the  trade  of  a  car- 
penter, and  remained  with  them  a  little  over  a 
year.  Having  become  proficient  at  carpentering 


(HE 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


479 


in  1855  he  commenced  working  at  his  trade  on  his  I 
own  account,  and  continued  in  that  line  until  i 
1859. 

Stirred  by  the  great  excitement  caused  by  the  | 
discovery  of  gold  at  Pike's  Peak,  Mr.  Rosenkrans 
started  in  the  month  of  May,  that  year,  for  that 
point,  with  Dan  Pine,  their  conveyance  consisting 
of  a  wagon  drawn  by  a  pair  of  oxen  and  a  pair  of 
cows.  They  drove  across  the  State  of  Illinois, 
passed  over  the  Mississippi  River  at  Burlington 
and  the  Missouri  at  Plattsmouth,  then  a  small  vil- 
lage, and  as  they  continued  on  their  journey  West- 
ward over  the  desolate  plains  they  encountered 
innumerable  herds  of  buffaloes.  They  had  not 
gone  very  far  in  the  direction  in  which  thej'  were 
traveling  before  they  met  people  returning  from 
Pike's  Peak  emptj'  handed,  who  told  them  that 
there  were  no  good  prospects  there.  Our  subject 
and  his  companion  then  changed  their  course  and 
pushed  on  to  California.  They  arrived  at  Carson 
Lake,  Nev.,  in  the  month  of  October,  and  leaving 
their  teams  there,  walked  to  Chinatown,  seventy- 
five  miles  distant.  After  a  week's  stay  there,  they 
proceeded  to  Silver  City,  and  mined  there  until 
1860. 

Returning  to  Carson  City,  they  staid  there  two 
months  and  Mr.  Rosenkrans  worked  at  his  trade. 
From  there  he  proceeded  on  foot  across  the  moun- 
tains to  the  famous  mining  town  of  Placer ville, 
where  he  secured  a  ride  to  Sacramento,  and  on 
the  Uth  of  July,  1860,  set  out  for  New  York. 
Thence  he  went  to  New  Jersey,  and  after  a  short 
visit  among  his  old  friends  in  that  State,  in  the 
month  of  September  he  came  once  more  to  Lee 
County.  He  has  once  since  visited  California,  go- 
ing thither  in  1884,  being  six  days  in  making  the 
journey,  which  l>efore  had  consumed  six  months. 

After  his  return  from  the  mining  camps  of  the 
Golden  State,  our  subject  settled  down  quietly  to 
his  trade,  and  gave  his  attention  to  carpentering 
until  he  was  married,  when  he  located  on  a  farm 
of  forty  acres  that  he  had  previously  bought  in 
Willow  Creek  Township.  He  tilled  the  soil  thereof 
for  one  year,  and  at  the  expiration  of  that  time 
sold  that  place,  and  bought  eighty  acres  of  his 
present  homestead.  There  were  no  buildings  on  it 
at  the  time,  and  the  substantial  improvements  that 


now  adorn  the  farm  is  the  work  of  his  own  hand, 
and  fine  fruit  and  shade  trees  that  he  has  planted 
add  beauty  and  value  to  the  place.  On  another 
page  will  be  noticed  a  view  of  the  residence  and 
surroundings.  Fortune  has  smiled  on  his  under- 
takings, and  he  has  accumulated  a  handsome  prop- 
erty. In  time  he  bought  one  hundred  and  sixty 
additional  acres  of  which  one  hundred  and  twenty 
join  his  original  purchase,  and  the  remaining  forty 
lie  across  the  street  from  it.  He  subsequently 
bought  another  farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty-six 
acres,  and  now  has  four  hundred  and  six  acres  of 
finely  improved  land.  He  has  superior  facilities 
for  raising  stock,  and  is  utilizing  them  to  the  utter- 
most. Some  years  ago  he  began  to  raise  road 
horses,  and  now  has  on  his  farm  more  than  forty 
of  as  fine  and  well-bred  horses  of  the  Hambleton- 
ian  and  AVilkes  blood  as  can  be  found  in  this  part 
of  the  State.  His  phenomenal  success  in  breeding 
horses  is  due  to  the  fact  that  he  has  excited  due 
discrimination  in  the  selection  of  his  stud,  has 
made  a  close  study  of  the  animals,  their  needs  and 
requirements,  and  their  proper  treatment,  and  has 
paid  strict  attention  to  the  business. 

Mr.  Rosenkrans  was  happily  married  October  15, 
1863,  to  Miss  Lydia  A.  Mittan,  in  whom  he  has 
found  a  true  wife,  who  makes  his  interest  her  own 
and  is  helpful  and  companionable.  They  have 
two  sons,  namely:  Anson  P.,  who  was  born  July 
31,  1869,  and  Byron  M.,  who  was  born  November 
22,  1871.  Mrs.  Rosenkrans  was  born  in  Newton 
Township,  Luzerne  County,  Pa.,  October  29,  1839, 

|  and  is  a  daughter  of  Jeptha  and  Jane  (Bcemer) 
Mittan,  the  latter  a  native  of  New  Jersey,  and  a 
daughter  of  Henry  and  Mary  Beemer.  Her  father 
is  thought  to  be  a  native  of  New  Jersey,  and  is  a 
son  of  Samuel  Mittan.  His  father  moved  from 
New  Jersey  to  Pennsylvania,  and  died  in  Luzerne 
County.  Mrs.  Rosenkran 's  father  was  reared  on  a 
farm,  and  adopted  farming  as  his  life-work. 

1  He  came  from  Pennsylvania  to  Illinois,  making 
the  removal  with  a  team,  and  bringing  his  family 
and  household  goods  along.  He  settled  in  Willow 

1    Creek  Township,  and  bought  a  claim  to  a  tract  of 

Government   land,   which   he  has  since  improved 

into  a  fine  farm  and  here  he  still  makes  his  home. 

The  citizenship  of  a  man  of  our  subject's  calibre 


•ISO 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


and  progressive  spirit  is  valuable  to  any  community 
and  we  have  seen  that  since  he  took  up  his  perma- 
nent abode  in  this  county  Mr.  Rosenkrans  has  been 
potent  in  increasing  his  wealth  and  enlarging  its 
agricultural  interests,  lie  possesses  a  good  degree 
of  common-sense,  has  a  mind  of  his  own,  and  is 
indebted  to  no  one  for  his  ideas  and  opinions. 
Especially  is  this  noticed  in  his  politics,  he  being 
independent  and  Wound  to  no  party  ties. 


\|2=^ELS  OLSEN  has  been  well  prospered  since 
I  III  he  sought  a  home  in  this  country,  and  is 
lii-ife  now  numbered  among  the  welUto-do  far- 
mers of  Lee  County.  His  farm  lies  in  Willow 
Creek  Township,  and  is  one  of  the  average  in  the 
neighborhood  in  regard  to  cultivation,  productive- 
ness and  improvement.  Mr.  Olsen  was  born  on 
the  rugged  shores  of  Norway,  in  the  town  of 
Stavanger,  in  the  Province  of  Ampt,  April  14, 
1833.  His  father,  Ole  Williams,  was  a  farmer, 
and  spent  his  entire  life  in  his  native  land,  lie  and 
his  wife  both  being  drowned  in  1840.  They  left 
five  children,  of  whom  these  three  came  to  Amer- 
ica: Andrew,  Mary  and  our  subject. 

The  latter  was  only  seven  years  old  when  he  had 
the  misfortune  to  lose  his  parents,  and  for  two 
years  he  lived  with  his  grandparents,  but  from  the 
time  he  was  nine  years  old  he  has  cared  for  him- 
self. He  worked  for  his  uncle  for  Ids  board  and 
clothes  until  he  was  fifteen  years  old,  and  then  was 
employed  by  others,  receiving  his  board,  clothes 
and  $10  a  year  in  payment  for  his  services.  In 
1856  Nels  Olsen.  who  had  now  grown  to  sturdy, 
self-reliant  manhood,  and  had  taken  unto  himself 
a  wife,  emigrated  to  this  land  of  plenty,  where  he 
hoped  to  do  better  for  himself  than  was  possible 
in  his  native  country.  Accompanied  by  his  wife, 
he  set  sail  from  Stavanger  in  May,  and  landed  at 
Quebec  in  July,  after  a  voyage  of  ten  weeks. 
From  that  city  he  came  to  Illinois,  and  the  ensuing 
three  years  he  worked  by  the  mouth  or  day  as  a 
farm  hand  in  La  Salle  County.  He  then  bought  a 
team  and  tilled  a  tract  of  land  on  shares.  He  was 
prudent  and  economical,  and  in  1H04  he  laid  by 


money  enough  to  become  independent,  and  then 
invested  in  a  tract  of  wild  prairie  on  section  13, 
Willow  Creek  Township.  He  has  ever  since  been 
identified  with  the  farming  interests  of  Lee  County, 
and  by  constant  and  well-directed  toil  has  brought 
his  land  to  a  fine  condition,  has  erected  a  neat  set 
of  buildings,  and  has  added  to  the  acreage  of  his 
farm,  which  now  comprises  two  hundred  acres  of 
exceedingly  fertile  land. 

In  1855  Mr.  Olsen  and  Martha  Olsen  united 
their  lives  and  fortunes  in  a  marriage  that  has 
been  a  happy  union,  and  has  been  blessed  to  them 
by  these  seven  children:  Lena,  Swan,  Lizzie, 
Willie,  Oscar,  Martin  and  Sarah  A.  Mrs.  Olsen 
was  born  in  the  same  Norwegian  town  that  was 
the  birthplace  of  her  husband,  and  she  is  a  daughter 
of  Ole  Svenson.  Both  she  and  Mr.  Olsen  were 
reared  in  the  Lutheran  Church,  and  have  ever 
remained  true  to  the  faith  of  their  fathers,  being 
devoted  members  of  the  church  of  that  denomin- 
ation in  this  township,  and  none  know  them  but 
to  respect  them  for  the  genuineness  of  their  Chris- 
tianity, and  for  their  kindly  dispositions. 

sfr  J 


*||LEXANDER  ARMSTRONG,  who  is  an 
Iszylj  engineer  on  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad 

iff  lf>  and  a  resident  of  Amboy,  was  born  in  St. 
$j  Lawrence  County,  N.  Y.,  March  19.  1838. 
His  parents,  Alexander  and  Mary  (Leonard)  Arm- 
strong, were  natives  of  the  same  State,  where  they 
also  died.  Their  family  consisted  of  two  children, 
Alexander  and  Jane,  the  latter  becoming  the  wife 
of  Thomas  D.  Jellico,  and  dying  in  Franklin 
County,  N.  Y.  After  the  death  of  her  first  hus- 
band the  mother  of  our  subject  was  again  married, 
and  of  this  union  one  son  was  born,  Samuel  A. 
Rolf,  who  resides  in  St.  Lawrence  County,  N.  Y. 

Our  subject  was  a  small  boy  when  his  father 
died,  and  remained  in  the  Empire  State  until  1856. 
He  then  emigrated  to  Wisconsin  and  worked  in  the 
lumber  regions  for  four  years,  afterward  coming 
to  Amboy  and  entering  the  employ  of  the  Central 
Railroad  Company  as  a  fireman.  Four  years  later 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


481 


he  was  made  engineer  and  in  1864  was  promoted 
to  be  engineer  of  a  passenger  train.  He  has  been 
twice  married,  the  first  time  in  1869  to  Edith  A. 
Ellison,  who  was  born  in  Matilda,  in  Canada,  C. 
W.,  1844.  She  died  in  1874,  leaving  one  son, 
George  II.,  who  is  now  baggageman  at  Amboy.  In 
1882  Mr.  Armstrong  was  united  in  marriage  with 
Miss  Louisa  Monhiem,  who  was  born  in  Peru,  111., 
February  15,  1856.  She  is  a  daughter  of  Mathias 
and  Elizabeth  (Bucholz)  Monhiem,  natives  of 
Hamburg,  Germany,  who  came  to  the  United 
States  and  settled  on  a  farm  near  Peru.  They  had 
five  children:  John,  William,  Louise,  Henry  and 
Lena. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Armstrong  have  one  daughter, 
Edith,  born  July  7,  1886.  In  politics  Mr.  Arm- 
strong is  a  Democrat,  and  a  member  of  the  Ma- 
sonic fraternity,  the  Ancient  Order  of  United 
Workmen  and  the  Brotherhood  of  Locomotive 
Engineers. 


IJLs^ON.  LUTHER  W.  MITCHELL,  who  is  the 
|[[)f  present  representative  of  the  Nineteenth 
%d?  District  111  the  Illinois  State  Legislature, 
(jjg)  is  a  man  of  weight  and  influence  in  the  po- 
litical and  public  life  of  Lee  County,  as  well  as  one 
of  its  most  enterprising  and  progressive  farmers 
and  business  men.  He  is  President  of  the  Ameri- 
can Shetland  Pony  Club,  of  which  he  was  one  of 
the  founders,  and  he  is  extensively  engaged  in 
raising  thoroughbreds  of  that  famous  race  of 
horses  on  his  farm  on  section  25,  Palmyra  Town- 
ship. 

Mr.  Mitchell  is  a  native  of  this  State,  Colchester, 
in  McDonough  County,  being  the  place  of  his 
birth,  and  February  5,  1843,  the  date  thereof.  He 
was  yet  .young  when  his  parents  removed  to  War- 
ren County,  whence  they  subsequently  went  to 
Knox  County  and  later  to  Whiteside  County  when 
lie  was  eight  years  old,  where  he  passed  the  re- 
mainder of  his  boyhood.  He  was  given  excellent 
educational  advantages,  and  was  very  youthful 
when  he  tecamc  a  pupil  at  the  Mt.  Carroll  Semi- 
nary, where  he  paid  diligent  attention  to  his  stud- 


ies and  made  his  mark  as  a  bright  scholar.  When 
the  war  broke  out,  our  subject  watched  its  course 
with  intense  interest,  and  as  soon  as  possible  before 
lie  attained  his  majority,  volunteered  to  serve  his 
country  in  the  hour  of  her  greatest  peril,  enlisting 
in  1863  in  Company  A,  One  Hundred  and  Fortieth 
Illinois  Infanti'3'.  He  did  guard  duty  for  some 
time,  and  after  his  first  term  of  enlistment  expired, 
re-entered  the  ranks  as  a  private  in  the  Fifteenth 
Illinois  Infantry,  and  at  the  close  of  the  war  was 
mustered  out  as  Quartermaster-Sergeant,  having 
been  in  the  Quartermaster's  department  for  more 
than  a  year. 

Our  subject  retired   from   the  army  with  a  fine 
military  record,  showing  him  to  have  been  a  good 
soldier  and  an  official  of  rare  merit.     Returning  to 
the  quiet  scenes  of   his   old    home   in  Whiteside 
County,  he  resumed  the  profession  of  teaching,  at 
which  he  had  been  engaged  when  he  exchanged 
his  books  for  the  accoutrements  of  a  soldier.     In 
1867  he  came  to  Lee  County  to  pursue  that  voca- 
tion and  taught  in  the  Sugar  Grove  school  district 
the  ensuing  two  years,  when  he  moved  to  Jones 
County,  Iowa,  where  he  was   engaged  as   farmer 
and  teacher  for  two  years,  and  then  again  returned 
to  Sugar  Grove,  where  he  taught  the  following  ten 
years.     He  subsequently  turned   his  attention    to 
farming, and  July  24,  1881,  entered  upon  thebusi- 
i   ness  of  raising  Shetland  ponies,  for  which  his  farm, 
that   he    devotes   to    that   purpose,    is   admirably 
adapted.    He  lias  applied  his  whole  energies  to  the 
further  introduction  of  this  breed  of  hardy  little 
horses,  which  are  such  favorites  with  the  children, 
and  he  was  one  of  the  prime  movers  in  the  organ- 
ization of  the   American  Shetland  Pony  Club,  of 
!   which  he  is  now  President,  and  which  has  a  mera- 
1    bership  in  every  State  in  the  Union.     This  associa- 
'   tion  for  the  encouragement  of  the  propagation  of 
•    this  peculiar  breed   of   ponies    from  the  far-away 
1   Scotch  isles  is  greatly  indebted   to  Mr.  Mitchell's 
zealous  labors  in  its  behalf  for  what  it  has  accom- 
plished.    It  has  issued  the  first  herd-book  that  has 
been  prepared  for  the  registration  of  the  Shetland 
ponies,  of  which  over  five  hundred  are  registered 
in  this  country,  our  subject,  himself,  having  over 
sixty  thoroughbreds  eligible   for  registration.     He 
,   lias  a  herd  of  ninety-five  of  these  ponies  that  are 


482 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


fine  specimens  and  excite  the  admiration  of  all  lov- 
ers of  horses.  At  the  head,  of  his  stud  is  the  well- 
known  "Trinket"  and  "Trinket,  Jr." 

Mr.  Mitchell  has  been  eminently  successful  from 
a  financial  standpoint.  lie  has  considerable  prop- 
erty in  this  county,  including  three  tracts  of  land 
lying  in  this  and  Dixon  Townships,  nearly  all  of 
which  is  finely  improved,  and  one  of  his  farms, 
which  he  has  acquired  since  he  came  here,  is  a 
well-equipped  dairy  farm,  run  in  the  interests  of 
the  condensed  milk  business. 

Our  subject  was  married  in  Lee  County,  Palmyra 
Township,  to  Miss  Augusta  Moon,  and  she  has 
been  an  invaluable  assistant  to  him  in  the  making 
of  their  home,  whose  pleasant  hospitalities  are  well- 
known  and  appreciated  by  their  many  friends. 
One  daughter,  Myrtle  I.,  completes  their  house- 
hold. She  has  been  given  fine  educational  advan- 
tages, and  is  now  completing  her  musical  studies 
at  Dixon  College.  Mrs.  Mitchell  is  a  lady  of  su- 
perior character,  is  bright  and  well  informed,  and 
is  a  leader  in  social  circles.  She  comes  of  one  of 
the  old  pioneer  families  of  the  county  and  was 
born,  reared  and  educated  in  Palmyra  Township, 
of  which  her  parents,  Abner  D.  and  Sarah  (Hill- 
man)  Moon,  were  early  settlers.  Her  father  was 
born  in  1817  and  was  but  twenty  years  of  age 
when  he  came  to  this  county,  before  many  settle- 
ments had  been  made  within  its  borders.  He  was 
one  of  the  first  to  locate  in  Palmyra  Township, 
where  he  improved  a  good  farm,  and  he  was  asso- 
ciated with  the  citizens  who  were  most  active  in 
promoting  its  welfare,  material  and  otherwise.  He 
was  a  prominent  Democrat  and  a  well-known  fig- 
ure in  local  politics.  He  was  a  Baptist  in  religion, 
and  his  community  lost  one  of  its  most  trust- 
worthy and  valued  citizens  at  his  death  in  1877. 
His  wife  now  lives  in  Ashland,  Neb.,  making  her 
home  with  her  eldest  daughter,  Mrs.  J.  B.  Russell. 
She  is  as  bright  and  active  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
four  as  many  a  younger  woman,  and  in  her  the 
Methodist  Church  finds  a  zealous  member. 

Mr.  Mitchell  is  well  equipped  mentally  as  a  busi- 
ness man  and  for  public  life,  as  lie  has  a  receptive, 
well- trained,  evenly  balanced  mind,  possesses  a 
calm  judgment,  is  sensible  in  his  conclusions,  and 
IIMS  positive  convictions  of  his  own  on  all  subjects 


with  which  he  is  conversant,  while  he  is  quick  to 
perceive  and  acknowledge  an  error  when  it  is 
clearly  proven  to  him  that  he  is  in  the  wrong,  and 
withal  he  is  singularly  true  to  his  principles  of 
right,  and  is  correct  in  his  habits.  These  charac- 
teristics have  recommended  him  strongly  to  his 
fellow-citizens  as  eminently  fitting  him  for  the  re- 
sponsibilities of  civic  offices,  and  they  have  hon- 
ored him  and  themselves  by  calling  him  to  high 
positions.  For  two  terms  he  was  Supervisor  of 
Palmyra  Township,  and  in  1890  he  was  elected  to 
represent  the  Nineteenth  District,  including  Lee 
and  Whiteside  Counties,  in  the  Illinois  State  Legis- 
lature. As  a  member  of  the  House  he  has  made 
his  mark  as  a  sound,  progressive  and  public-spir- 
ited legislator,  and  he  has  made  his  influence  felt 
in  the  passage  of  such  laws  as  he  has  deemed  would 
be  most  beneficial  to  the  State.  He  has  been  on 
several  important  committees — on  that  of  Finance, 
License  and  Claims,  was  one  of  the  Agricultural 
Committee,  and  was  President  of  the  Republican 
Farmers'  Committee. 

Perhaps  few  men  in  the  county  are  better  versed 
in  politics  than  Mr.  Mitchell,  who  has  long  been 
a  recognized  leader  of  the  Republicans  in  this  sec- 
tion. For  four  years  he  was  Chairman  of  the 
County  Republican  Central  Committee,  and  since 
he  has  been  in  the  Legislature,  he  has  stood  loyally 
by  his  party.  During  the  remarkable  Senatorial 
contest  in  the  last  session,  which  resulted  in  send- 
ing General  Palmer  to  the  United  States  Senate, 
he  showed  his  fealty  to  Republicanism  under  try- 
ing circumstances  that  would  have  daunted  a  less 
determined  man.  He  was  very  sick  at  the  time, 
yet  he  persisted,  at  the  peril  of  his  life,  in  being 
carried  from  his  sick-bed  into  the  Senate  chamber 
seven  times,  that  he  might  cast  his  vote  for  ex- 
Governor  Richard  J.  Oglesby  for  United  States 
Senator. 


UGUST   KEISTER.      Having   acquired    a 
comfortable  fortune  as  a   general   farmer, 
Mr.  Keister  and  his  wife  are  serenely  pass- 
ing their  declining  years  in  the  pleasant 
home    that    is    the    result   of   their  united  labors, 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


483 


enjoying  to  a  full  degree  the  esteem  and  vener- 
ation due  their  age  and  high  personal  worth.  Mr. 
Keister  purchased  the  farm  that  he  occupies  on 
section  21,  Nelson  Township,  more  than  a  quarter 
of  a  century  ago,  and  now  has  its  two  hundred 
and  fifteen  acres  under  the  plow,  and  well  supplied 
with  commodious  farm  buildings. 

The  birthplace  of  our  subject  is  across  the  ocean, 
in  the  Kingdom  of  Hanover,  Germany,  where  he 
was  born  February  13,  1814.  Christian  and 
Hannah  (Shaver)  Keister,  his  parents,  were  also 
natives'of  Germany,  and  passed  their  entire  lives 
in  Leithurst,  where  they  died — the  father  when 
eighty  years  old  and  the  mother  when  much 
younger.  They  were  true  Christians  and  faithful 
members  of  the  Lutheran  Church. 

The  parental  family  comprises  three  sons  and 
one  daughter,  of  whom  August  is  the  only  survivor. 
He  was  reared  in  his  native  country,  and  became 
master  of  several  trades,  learning  to  weave  linen, 
also  acquiring  a  thorough  knowledge  of  farming, 
besides  becoming  a  practical  butcher.  He  was 
married  near  his  birthplace  to  Miss  Minna  Gogle- 
mann,  who  was  born  and  reared  in  the  same 
neighborhood  as  himself.  Her  parents  were  natives 
of  Hanover,  Germany,  and  members  of  the  Luth- 
eran Church.  Their  family  consisted  of  four  daugh- 
ters, three  of  whom  are  living:  Mrs.  Keister,  one 
in  Germany  and  one  in  Pennsylvania. 

After  the  birth  of  five  of  their  children,  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Keister  determined  to  emigrate  to  the 
United  States  in  the  hope  of  becoming  more  pros 
perous,  and  in  May,  1856,  they  went  to  Bremer- 
haven  and  embarked  on  the  good  ship  "Alfred," 
landing  at  New  York  City  after  a  voyage  of  six ' 
weeks  and  four  days.  From  there  they  came  to 
this  county,  and  for  ten  years  resided  in  Dixon 
Township.  In  1856  Mr.  Keister  purchased  the 
farm  in  Nelson  Township,  where  he  has  since 
made  his  home.  He  has  acquired  all  his  property 
since  coming  here,  as  he  had  but  $200  in  cash  and 
his  household  goods  when  he  settled  here. 

Mr.  Keister  and  his  estimable  wife  have  for 
many  years  held  to  the  faith  of  their  fathers  as 
regards  their  religion,  and  are  conscientious  mem- 
bers of  the  Lutheran  Church.  In  politics  he  is  a 
Republican  and  the  country  of  his  adoption  has  in 


him  a  most  loyal  citizen.  His  sons  are  also  stal- 
wart adherents  to  that  .party  to  which  their  father 
gives  allegiance.  Four  of  his  eleven  children  still 
remain  at  home:  August,  who  assists  in  managing 
the  farm,  James,  George  and  Lena.  The  others 
are:  Fred,  of  whom  see  biography;  Hannah,  wife 
of  James  Jones,  of  Dixon;  Caroline,  a  dressmaker 
in  Dixon;  William,  a  farmer  in  Nelson  Township; 
Levena,  wife  of  Nathan  Willard,  a  farmer  near 
Nelson  Station;  Charles,  telegraph  operator  and 
station  agent  at  Garden  Prairie,  in  the  employ  of 
the  Northwestern  Railroad  Company;  and  Henry 
A.,  station  agent  and  night  operator  for  the  same 
companv  at  Marengo. 


SL-.  ARVEY  E.  WILLIAMS.  The  death  of  a 
ifjV  good  man  is  always  to  be  deplored,  not 
u*ffi£  only  as  a  loss  to  his  immediate  family  and 
(§g|)  intimate  associates,  but  also  to  the  commu- 
nity in  whose  behalf  he  has  labored  and  in  which 
the  vacancy  occasioned  by  his  death  is  hard  to  fill. 
Such  is  especially  the  case  in  regard  to  our  subject, 
who  has  for  many  years  been  known  as  a  promi- 
nent citizen  of  Dixon,  upright  in  all  his  dealings 
and  popular  and  well  beloved  wherever  known. 
He  came  to  this  county  in  the  spring  of  1855  and 
settled  in  Dixon  where  he  was  engaged  in  business 
for  eleven  years.  He  then  removed  to  a  good 
farm  in  South  Dixon  Township  which  was  a  highly 
improved  piece  of  land,  comprising  one  hundred 
and  seventy-two  acres  on  section  16,  and  where  he 
successfully  carried  on  agricultural  operations.  It 
is  supplied  with  fine  farm  buildings  and  is  well 
stocked  with  cattle  of  good  breeds,  he  having  for 
years  made  a  specialty  of  Short-horn  cattle.  His 
death  occurred  in  Dixon  Township.  April  23, 1890. 
Mr.  Williams  was  born  in  Onondaga  County,  N. 
Y.,  December  16,  1817.  He  was  carefully  reared 
and  received  an  excellent  education  and  was  mar- 
ried in  Madison  County,  soon  after  becoming  a 
successful  contractor  and  at  the  same  time  carrying 
on  a  faim.  On  selling  out  his  place,  he  came  to 
Illinois  in  1853,  settling  in  Lee  County  in  the 
spring  of  1855.  He  was  a  very  well-informed  man 


484 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


and  was  widely-known  throughout  the  county 
where  he  was  exceedingly  popular  and  by  his  in- 
tegrity and  upright  character  made  many  life-long 
friends.  For  many  years  he  was  a  member  of  the 
Masonic  order  and  was  a  prominent  Democrat.  In 
everything  that  pertained  to  the  upbuilding  of 
the  county  and  township,  he  aided  by  example 
and  influence. 

The  parents  of  our  subject  were  born  and  spent 
their  entire  lives  at  Manilas  Township,  Onondaga 
County,  N.  Y.,  where  the  father,  Elijah  Williams, 
died  when  about  seventy-two  years  of  age,  and  his 
wife  when  not  quite  so  old.  The  mother's  maiden 
name  was  Lucy  Edwards,  and  both  she  and  her  hus- 
band were  worthy  members  of  the  Baptist  Church. 
Of  their  five  children  two  are  yet  living;  one  son 
enlisted  during  the  Civil  War  in  a  New  York  reg- 
iment in  which  lie  was  a  commissioned  officer  and 
was  killed  at  the  battle  of  Chickamauga. 

Harvey  E.  Williams  was  married  in  Sullivan 
Township,  Madison  County,  N.  Y.,  to  Miss  Weal- 
thy A.  Cropsy,  who  was  a  native  of  that  county 
and  township,  born  in  1843.  She  was  carefully 
reared  and  well  educated  and  has  proved  a  true 
wife  and  devoted  mother.  She  is  a  progressive 
woman  and  on  the  death  of  her  husband  took 
charge  of  the  estate  and  has  managed  it  with  great 
wisdom  and  ability.  She  has  recently  moved  to 
the  city  of  Dixon,  where  she  has  erected  a  fine 
dwelling  near  Peoria  Street  and  where  she  most 
hospitably  entertains  a  large  circle  of  warm  friends. 
The  parents  of  Mrs.  Williams  were  John  G.  and 
Catherine  (DuColon)  Cropsy,  natives  of  Pough- 
keepsie,  N.  Y.,  both  removing  when  young  to  Sul- 
livan Township,  Madison  County,  of  that  State, 
where  they  were  married  and  began  their  wedded 
life  in  that  township,  spending  the  remainder  of 
their  lives  there,  the  wife  departing  this  life  when 
only  forty-six  years  of  age,  and  her  husband  liv- 
ing until  the  advanced  age  of  ninety-two  years. 
They  were  constant  attendants  of  the  Dutch  Re- 
formed Church.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cropsy  have  been  the 
parents  of  seven  children,  five  of  whom  are  living. 

Our  subject  and  his  wife  have  been  the  parents 
of  three  children,  one  of  whom  is  deceased,  Emma 
S.  who  was  the  wife  of  A.  C.  McCallister,  now  re- 
siding in  Aberdeen,  S.  Dak.  She  left  one  daugh- 


ter,  who  lives  with  her  grandmother,  Mrs.  Wil- 
liams. Cornelia  is  the  widow  of  John  S.  Green, 
who  died  in  Morrison,  111.,  where  Mrs.  Green  now 
resides.  She  has  four  children:  Harvey  and  Iva, 
both  of  whom  are  married;  Olive  and  Florence. 
The  remaining  daughter,  Ella  C.,  resides  at  home 
with  her  mother.  Mrs.  Williams  is  an  earnest 
member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  is 
foremost  in  every  good  work.  Mrs.  Williams  has 
one  great-granddaughter,  Helen  Sholes  Green. 


ICIIAEL  MALONEY,  County  Treasurer 
l\  of  Lee  County,  and  a  member  of  the  firm 
of  Duffy  &  Maloney,  also  Vice-President 
of  the  Building  &  Loan  Association  of 
Dixon,  has  been  one  of  the  prominent  men  of  this 
city  for  many  years  and  is  numbered  among  the 
early  settlers  of  1852.  His  birth  occurred  in 
Dunkirk,  N.  Y.,  in  1851,  and  he  has  therefore 
spent  almost  his  entire  life  in  Lee  County.  His 
parents,  Patrick  and  Bridget  (Mahan)  Maloney. 
were  both  natives  of  the  Emerald  Isle  and  came 
of  pure  Irish  ancestry.  During  childhood  both 
had  crossed  the  Atlantic  to  America  and  with 
their  respective  families  located  in  Palmyra,  N.Y., 
where  they  became  acquainted  and  were  married. 
After  a  few  years  they  determined  to  try  their 
fortune  in  the  West  and  in  1852  located  in  Dixon, 
where  they  still  reside.  They  and  all  of  their 
children  are  members  of  the  Catholic  Church. 

Under  the  parental  roof,  our  subject  was  reared 
to  manhood  and  received  the  educational  advan- 
tages afforded  by  the  city  schools.  After  attain- 
ing to  mature  years,  he  married  Miss  Elizabeth 
Duffy,  their  union  being  celebrated  in  this  city 
by  the  Rev.  T.  P.  Hodnett.  The  lady  was  born  in 
the  Green  Isle  of  Erin  and  with  her  parents,  both 
of  whom  are  now  deceased,  came  to  the  United 
States.  Her  father  and  mother  both  died  in  mid- 
dle life  and  their  remains  were  interred  in  Dixon 
Cemeterv.  They  were  members  of  the  Catholic 
Church  and  had  a  family  of  seven  children. 
Elizabeth  Duffy  spent  the  days  of  her  maidenhood 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


485 


in  her  parents'  home  and  afterward  gave  her 
hand  in  marriage  to  Michael  Maloney.  Their 
union  has  been  blessed  with  one  child,  a  daugh- 
ter, Mary.  They  are  both  members  of  the  Catho- 
lic Church. 

Our  subject  has  spent  almost  his  entire  life  in 
Dixon  and  is  widely  and  favorably  known  through- 
out the  community.  For  twenty  years  of  his 
business  career  he  was  connected  with  the  Illinois 
Central  Railroad  Company  as  clerk  and  cashier  in 
Dixon.  He  is  now  engaged  in  business  as  a 
member  of  the  firm  of  Duffy  &  Maloney,  dairy- 
men, and  they  have  built  up  an  excellent  trade. 
He  is  also  Vice-President  of  the  Building  &  Loan 
Association  and  is  regarded  as  one  of  the  repre- 
sentative citizens  of  the  community.  In  politics, 
he  is  a  supporter  of  Democratic  principles,  and  in 
1878  was  elected  Collector  of  Dixon.  He  is  now 
serving  as  County  Treasurer  of  Lee  County,  to 
which  office  he  was  chosen  in  1890,  and  is  prov- 
ing a  capable  and  faithful  official.  Those  who 
have  known  Mr.  Maloney  from  his  boyhood,  and 
have  been  witnesses  of  the  upright  life  which  he 
has  lived,  are  numbered  among  his  warmest  friends. 
His  circle  of  acquaintances  is  quite  extensive  and 
he  has  the  high  regard  of  all  with  whom  business 
or  pleasure  have  brought  him  in  contact. 


Gjj  LEXANDER  P.  GILMORE    is   a   son    of 

(@//j|i  one  of  the  early  pioneers  of  Lee  County, 
jni)  and  has  been  a  resident  of  this  part  of  111- 
<%jjl  inois  as  a  boy  and  man  for  more  than 
half  a  century.  During  that  time  he  has  won  his 
way  to  an  important  place  among  its  leading  agri- 
culturists, and  has  been  serviceable  in  reclaiming 
the  land  from  its  origin  il  wildness.  His  home  is 
in  Brooklyn  Township  on  a  choice  farm,  whose 
line  improvements  are  the  result  of  his  persistent 
labor,  and  he  owns  besides  a  large  body  of  land  in 
Viola  Township. 

Mr.  Gilmore  was  born  in  the  city  of  New  York, 
July  4,  1826.  His  father,  John  Gilmore,  was  born 
in  the  North  of  Ireland,  and  was  the  son  of  an- 


other John  Gilmore,  who  is  also  supposed  to  have 
been  a  native  of  the  northern  part  of  Ireland,  and 
was  of  Scottish  ancestry.  He  was  a  resident  of 
Ireland  for  many  years,  but  finally  came  to  Amer- 
ica and  settled  in  New  York.  He  subsequently 
sent  for  his  family,  but  the  vessel  on  which  they 
sailed  was  wrecked,  and  his  wife  and  two  sons  per- 
ished. Two  daughters  were  saved  and  afterward 
made  their  home  in  New  York  City.  During  the 
latter  part  of  his  life,  the  grandfather  of  our  sub- 
ject lived  with  his  son  John  in  Brooklyn  Town- 
ship. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  only  twelve  years 
old  when  he  left  his  home  in  the  Emerald  Isle  and 
came  to  this  country,  and  the  next  few  years  of 
his  life  were  spent  in  New  York  City,  where  he 
learned  the  trade  of  a  morocco  dresser.  He  was 
there  married  to  Hannah  Smith,  who  had  come 
from  Ireland,  her  native  country,  to  America  with 
her  parents.  In  1830  Mr.  Gilmore  turned  his 
back  on  the  metropolis  of  the  United  States  and 
sought  the  primeval  forests  of  the  Territory  of 
Michigan,  where  he  designed  to  build  up  a  new 
home.  Accompanied  by  his  family,  he  traveled  by 
way  of  the  Hudson  River  to  Albany,  from  there 
by  canal  to  Buffalo,  thence  by  lake  to  Detroit, 
where  he  took  a  team  and  journeyed  into  the  in- 
terior of  the  country  a  distance  of  twenty  miles, 
and  bought  a  tract  of  timber  on  which  he  located. 
He  found  the  country  in  an  extremely  wild  con- 
dition, bears,  deer  and  other  wild  animals  roaming 
at  will  through  the  woods  and  on  the  prairies,  and 
Detroit  was  but  a  hamlet,  with  no  signs  of  its  pres- 
ent size  and  importance. 

Mr.  Gilmore  cleared  thirty-five  acres  of  his  land 
during  his  five  year's'  residence  in  Michigan,  and 
then  disposed  of  it  at  a  good  price  and  came  to  Ill- 
inois in  1835.  The  removal  was  made  with  teams 
and  a  part  of  the  household  goods  were  brought 
along.  The  family  camped  by  the  wayside  at 
night,  or  whenever  needful,  and  at  other  times 
made  their  way  as  rapidly  as  possible  to  their  des- 
tination. Arriving  at  Chicago,  then  a  small  vil- 
lage, the  father  left  the  others  in  camp  near  by, 
and  set  out  on  foot  to  explore  the  country  for  a 
suitable  location,  William  Guthrie,  a  veteran  of 
the  Black  Hawk  War,  going  with  him.  They  vis- 


486 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


ited  Lee  County,  which,  at  that  time,  had  not  been 
organized,  and  they  found  /achariah  Malugin 
holding  sole  possession  of  this  part  of  the  country 
as  its  only  inhabitant.  He  was  holding  claim  to  a 
large  tract  of  land,  and  Mr.  Gilmore  bought  a 
share  of  his  claim  for  $50,  including  a  part  of  Mal- 
ugin's  Grove.  He  returned  for  his  family,  and  com- 
pleted for  their  dwelling  a  cabin,  for  which  the 
logs  had  been  put  together,  and  he  rived  boards 
for  the  roof  and  split  boards  for  the  door  and 
floor.  No  nails  entered  into  the  construction  of 
the  building,  and  the  chimney  was  a  rude  affair  of 
sticks  and  clay  with  a  stone  foundation.  Deer 
and  other  kinds  of  game  were  plentiful  and  the 
Indians  still  lingered  around  their  old  hunting 
grounds.  Dayton,  thirty  miles  distant,  was  the 
nearest  milling  point,  and  there,  also,  was  the 
nearest  smithy.  There  were  no  railways  for  years 
and  Chicago  was  the  nearest  place  where  the  pio- 
neers could  go  to  sell  their  wheat  and  other  pro- 
duce, and  obtain  necessary  supplies  in  return.  Mr. 
Gilmore  resided  on  his  farm  some  years,  and  he 
then  built  a  public  house  on  tire  Chicago  &  Dixon 
Road,  and  for  some  time  provided  entertainment 
for  man  and  beast,  winning  much  popularity  and 
becoming  quite  generally  known  in  his  character 
of  mine  host.  He  subsequently  removed  to  Men- 
dota  and  made  his  home  there  the  remainder  of  his 
life,  though  his  death  occurred  in  California 
shortly  after  he  went  there  to  visit  a  daughter. 
His  wife  died  at  the  home  of  our  subject.  They 
were  for  many  years  devoted  members  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  which  they  joined  at 
Malugin'?  Grove  in  1837,  being  among  the  origi- 
nal number  that  formed  the  church. 

A  lad  of  nine  years  when  the  family  came  to 
this  State,  our  subject  had  not  completed  his  edu- 
cation, and  so  attended  the  pioneer  schools  of  this 
county,  that  were  taught  in  a  log  house,  which 
was  provided  with  furniture  made  by  hand, 
the  seats  being  made  of  boards  with  wooden  pins 
for  legs,  and  a  board  placed  on  wooden  pins  that 
were  driven  into  holes  bored  in  the  wall  served  as 
a  writing-desk  for  the  pupils.  His  experience  at 
home  was  much  like  that  of  other  farmers'  boys, 
and  he  was  not  very  old  when  he  began  to  make 
himself  useful  on  the  farm.  He  remained  an  in- 


mate of  the  parental  household  until  1850,  when 
he  joined  the  hundreds  of  emigrants  that  were  pass- 
ing continually  through  the  State  on  their  way  to 
California  in  search  of  gold.  He  set  out  on  the 
long  and  momentous  journey  over  the  plains  on 
March  4th  with  ox-teams,  going  with  others,  and 
crossed  the  Mississippi  at  Rock  Island,  while  the 
Missouri  was  crossed  at  Council  Bluffs.  No  white 
settlers  were  encountered  between  the  latter  river 
and  Salt  Lake,  the  stronghold  of  the  Mormons,  but 
buffaloes  were  often  seen  in  countless  numbers. 
Arriving  at  Ilangtown,  September  6,  Mr.  Gilmore 
soon  began  to  mine,  and  was  thus  engaged  there 
until  December,  1853,  when  he  started  on  his  re- 
turn home  with  the  proceeds  of  his  hard  labors, 
and  coming  by  way  of  the  Isthmus,  touched  at 
Kingston  and  Jamaica,  and  finally  landed  at  New 
York  City. 

After  he  came  back  from  his  sojourn  .on  the 
frontier,  our  subject  quietly  settled  himself  to 
farming  on  eighty  acres  of  land  in  Brooklyn 
Township,  that  his  father  had  given  him,  and 
which  is  included  in  his  present  farm.  He  first 
erected  a  suitable  dwelling,  and  has  been  contin- 
ually making  other  improvements,  so  that  he  has 
an  attractive  place,  and  from  his  finely  tilled  fields 
he  reaps  abundant  harvests.  His  farm  has  been 
added  to  by  the  purchase  of  more  land,  and  now 
comprises  two  hundred  and  ninety-five  acres  of 
well-drained  and  very  fertile  soil.  He  has,  besides 
four  hundred  acres  of  swamp  land  in  Viola  Town- 
ship, which  will,  with  improvement,  become  fine 
farming  land. 

Mr.  Gilmore  has  been  twice  married.  In  Feb- 
ruary, 1855,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Mary  Frost,  a 
native  of  Maine  and  a  daughter  of  Daniel  and 
Eulalie  Frost.  Mrs.  Gilmore  died  in  October,  1865. 
Mr.  Gilmore  was  married  in  1867  to  his  present 
wife,  formerly  Miss  Ixniisa  Fiske,  a  native  of  Can- 
ada and  a  daughter  of  John  Fiske.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Gilmore  have  seven  children  living,  namely: 
Robert,  Nellie,  Arlow,  Carrie,  Fred,  Josephine  and 
Harry.  Carrie,  the  second  daughter,  is  the  wife  of 
the  Rev.  Wallace  Fiske. 

Our  subject  and  his  wife  are  people  whose  many 
sjvnial.  kindly  characteristics  have  won  them  a 
warm  place  in  the  hearts  of  thoir  neighbors  and 


m 


JESSE  6EEMER. 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


489 


other  friends,  and  in  them  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Church  finds  two  of  its  most  exemplaiy  mem- 
bers. Mr.  Gilmore  was  for  many  years  a  Republi- 
can, but  his  strong  feelings  in  regard  to  temper- 
ance have  carried  him  over  to  the  Prohibition- 
ists. 

f_ANNAH  J.  (VAN  AUKEN)  BEEMER,  wid- 
Ijjl  ow  of  the  late  Jesse  Beemer,  is  a  most  wor- 
u^0r  thy  representative  of  the  noble  pioneer 
(jjy)  women  of  Lee  County,  without  whose  help 
and  encouragement  their  fathers,  husbands  and 
brothers  could  not  have  accomplished  what  they 
did  in  the  development  of  this  region,  and  in  lay- 
ing the  foundation  of  a  prosperous  community, 
she  is  one  of  the  oldest  settlers  now  living  within 
the  limits  of  the  county,  and  is  contentedly  pass- 
ing the  declining  years  of  a  well-spent  life  in  the 
old  home  in  AVyoming  Township  which  she  and 
her  husband  established  here  in  pioneer  times. 

Mrs.  Beemer  was  born  in  Sussex  County  N.  J., 
June  8,  1821.  Her  father,  John  W.  Van  Auken, 
was  a  native  of  the  same  State  as  herself;  his  fath- 
er being  a  farmer,  and  passing  his  last  years  in 
Sussex  County.  John  Van  Aukeu  was  reared  and 
married  in  New  Jersey,  and  subsequently  moved 
from  there  to  Pennsylvania.  He  finally  came 
from  the  latter  State  to  Illinois,  and  lived  in 
Kane  County  until  after  the  death  of  his  wife,  and 
from  that  time  he  made  his  home  in  this  county 
with  his  daughter  of  whom  we  write  until  he  de- 
parted this  life  at  a  ripe  age.  His  wife,  who  bore 
the  maiden  name  of  Rachel  Rosenkrans,  was  like- 
wise a  native  of  New  Jersey. 

Our  subject  spent  her  girlhood  in  her  native 
State  and  when  a  3'oung  woman  accompanied  her 
parents  to  Pennsylvania.  She  was  carefully  in- 
structed in  the  duties  of  the  household,  and  re- 
mained an  inmate  of  the  home  of  her  parents  until 
she  was  called  upon  to  preside  over  one  of  her  own, 
her  marriage  with  Jesse  Beemer  taking  place  in 
1838.  He  was  a  native  of  Sussex  County  N.  J., 
and  a  son  of  Henry  and  Mary  Beemer.  He  was  an 
active  and  stalwart  young  farmer,  well  fitted  to 
23 


cope  with  the  pioneer  life  that  lay  before  him, 
and  in  his  young  bride  he  had  a  most  capable 
helpmate,  who  with  characteristic  cheerfulness, 
braveiy  and  devotion  to  the  husband  of  her 
.choice  shared  with  him  the  struggles  necessary  in 
the  making  of  a  home  in  the  wilderness,  and  light- 
ened for  him  by  her  constant  helpfulness  the  bur- 
den of  support  of  an  increasing  family  as  the 
years  passed  by.  Mr.  Beemer  bought  a  tract  of 
forest-covered  land  near  Buttermilk  Falls,  Penn., 
and  there  built  a  log  house  in  which  he  and 
his  bride  commenced  life  together.  He  cleared 
quite  a  tract  of  land,  and  was  engaged  in 
its  tillage  until  1847.  In  the  month  of  September, 
that  .year,  accompanied  by  his  wife  and  six  chil- 
dren that  had  been  born  to  them  in  their  old 
home,  he  started  across  the  country  with  a  team  to 
make  the  long  and  tiresome  journey  to  the  wilds 
of  Illinois,  where  he  had  determined  to  settle  to 
take  advantage  of  the  cheap  land  and  fertile  soil 
of  this  region.  After  six  weeks'  travel  the  family 
arrived  in  Lee  County,  which  they  found  in  a 
wild,  sparsely  settled  condition,  with  wolves,  deer 
and  other  wild  animals  roaming  over  land  that 
they  were  to  see  converted  into  valuable  farms  as 
the  years  sped  away,  and  where  they  were  one  day 
to  see  many  thrifty  towns  and  villages. 

After  his  arrival  here  Mr.  Beemer  bought  a  tract 
of  Government  land  on  section  6,  Wyoming 
Township,  and  there  being  no  house  on  the  place 
he  rented  a  home  at  Lauton 's  Grove  the  ensuing 
two  years.  In  the  meantime  he  built  the  residence 
which  is  occupied  by  his  widow,  drawing  the  lum- 
ber for  its  construction  from  Chicago,  as  there 
were  no  railways  here  for  some  years  after  his  set- 
tlement at  this  point,  and  that  city  was  the  nearest 
market  and  depot  for  supplies.  He  devoted  him- 
self closely  to  the  work  of  redeeming  his  land, 
constantly  making  improvements,  and  in  time  his 
farm  compared  with  the  best  in  every  particular, 
lie  and  his  wife  were  industrious  and  frugal,  made 
good  use  of  their  means,  surrounded  themselves 
with  every  needed  comfort,  enjoyed  the  respect 
and  friendship  of  their  neighbors,  and  had  as  much 
prosperity  and  happiness  as  falls  to  the  lot  of  or- 
dinary mortals.  Their  wedded,  life  of  nearly  half 
a  centurv  was  brought  to  a  o lose  July  5,  1886,  by 


490 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


the  death  of  the  well-beloved  husband.     In  dying 
he  left  behind  him  a  good  record  as  a  pioneer,  as  a 
citizen  and  in  all  the  relations  that  he  had  sus- 
tained towards  others.     His  portrait   is  presented 
in  connection   with   this  sketch  and   will  be    wel- 
comed by  his  large  circle  of  friends  who  reverence 
his  memory.     Airs.  Beerner  is  the   mother    of  four- 
teen children,  of  whom    all  married   but  one,   and   j 
eight  of  them  are  living  to  bless  and  comfort  the 
sunset  of  her  life,  namely, — Alpheus,  Rachel,  Ever-   ! 
ett,  Millard,  Mary,  Lydia,   Ida  and  John.     These   ! 
are  the  names  of  those    who  have  passed   away, — 
George,     Rosella,     Sarah,     Emma,     Lorella     and 
Charles.       Mrs.    Beemer     has    sixty-four     living   | 
grandchildren  and  ten  great-grandchildren. 


€IIARLES  II.  CARD  has  been  identified 
with  the  practical  farmers  of  Northern  Ill- 
inois for  many  years,  and  has  contributed 
his  quota  towards  the  development  of  its  marvel- 
ous agricultural  resources.  For  nearly  a  quarter 
of  a  century,  he  has  carried  on  his  operations  in  i 
l)e  Kalb  County,  111.,  where  he  had  a  good  farm. 
A  native  of  Cazenovia,  Madison  County,  N.  Y.,he 
was  born  April  28,  1822.  His  father,  Richard 
Card,  a  native  of  Rhode  Island,  was  an  early  settler 
of  Madison  County,  where  he  bought  a  tract  of  i 
land,  which  is  included  wholly  in  the  town  of  j 
Cazenovia.  He  was  a  blacksmith,  and  while  doing 
a  thriving  business  at  his  trade,  he  at  the  same 
time  superintended  the  improvement  of  his  farm 
and  resided  thereon  until  his  untimely  death  in 
1830  deprived  his  community  of  a  very  useful 
citizen.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  Annie 
Palmer,  and  she  was  a  daughter  of  John  Palmer. 
She  was  born  near  Hoosick,  N.  Y.,  and  died  in 
Corning,  N.  Y.,  in  1853.  She  was  the  mother  of 
nine  children  that  grew  to  maturity. 

He  of  whom  these  lines  are  written  passed  his 
early  life  in  his  native  town  and  was  educated  in 
the  public  schools.  He  lived  with  his  mother  until 
he  attained  his  majority.  He  inherited  a  part  of 
the  old  homestead  and  fanned  it  for  three 


years.  In  1848  he  paid  his  first  visit  to  Illinois, 
coming  hither  by  the  way  of  canal  and  lakes  to 
Chicago  and  then  proceeding  on  foot  to  De  Kalb 
County,  where  he  invested  in  a  tract  of  Govern- 
ment land  in  Shabbona  Township.  After  entering 
his  land,  he  returned  to  New  York  and  erected  a 
building  at  Corning,  which  he  devoted  to  the  gro- 
cery business  the  ensuing  two  years.  His  store 
and  stock  were  then  burned  and  he  accepted  a  po- 
sition as  baggage  master  on  the  Erie  Railway,  which 
place  he  occupied  two  years.  He  then  turned  his 
attention  to  carpentering. 

In  the  meantime  our  subject  had  not  forgotten 
the  impression  made  upon  him  on  his  visit  to  Ill- 
inois, as  to  the  many  superior  advantages  its  rich, 
virgin  soil  gave  to  a  wide-awake,  progressive' 
fanner  over  the  older  settled  portions  of  the 
country,  and  in  1854  he  came  back  to  locate  on 
his  land  in  Shabbona  Township.  He  at  once 
erected  suitable  buildings,  began  to  cultivate  his 
land,  and  in  the  twelve  years  that  he  lived  upon 
it  brought  it  into  a  fine  condition.  He  then  sold 
and  bought  the  place  where  he  now  resides  in  East 
Paw  Paw,  where  he  is  living  in  a  cozy  home,  sur- 
rounded by  every  evidence  of  comfort. 

March  14,  1843,  Mr.  Card  and  Miss  Julia  Green- 
man  were  united  in  marriage,  and  for  nearly  half 
a  century  they  have  traveled  life's  road  together, 
sharing  each  other's  joys  and  lightening  each  oth- 
er's sorrows,  and  securing  to  themselves  the  univer- 
.sal  respect  of  the  community,  where  they  have 
passed  so  many  years,  by  lives  oi  unselfish  devotion 
to  duty,  wherein  they  have  tried  to  do  as  they 
would  be  done  by.  Mrs.  Card  is  an  exemplary 
member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  She  is  a  na- 
tive of  the  same  town  in  which  her  husband  was 
born,  and  is  a  daughter  of  Gardner  Greenman,  who 
was  also  a  native  of  New  York,  his  birthplace  be- 
ing inKensselaer  County.  lie  moved  from  thereto 
Madison  County  when  a  young  man,  and  was  there 
married  to  Betsy  Savage,  a  native  of  Vermont  and 
a  daughter  of  John  Savage.  Her  father  is  thought 
to  have  been  born  in  Connecticut  and  to  hare 
removed  from  there  to  Vermont,  of  which  State 
he  was  a  resident  for  some  time.  He  subsequently 
weut  to  New  York  and  bought  a  farm  in  Cazeno- 
via Township,  upon  which  he  spent  his  remaining 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


491 


days.  His  wife  spent  her  last  years  with  her  chil- 
dren, and  died  at  the  home  of  her  daughter,  wife 
of  our  subject,  in  De  Kalb  County.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Card  have  three  children  living:  Lewis,  Etta,  and 
Edwin.  Lewis  married  Emma  Co:  greaves,  and 
they  have  two  children:  Albert  and  Charlie.  Etta 
married  Dr.  Joseph  Atherton,  and  they  have  two 
children:  Boyd  C.  and  Card  Leslie.  Addie,  the 
elder  daughter  of  our  subject,  married  N.  R.  Wheat 
and  died  April  17,  1889,  leavirrg  two  children:  El- 
sie and  Julia. 


E  T.  NOE  was  born  in  Willow  Creek 
Township,  May  21,  1855,  and  is  to-day  num- 
bered  among  the  substantial,  enterprising 
and  intelligent  farmers  who  are  so  ably  conducting 
the  rich  agricultural  interests  of  Lee  County.  He 
is  a  son  of  Cumrmngs  Noe,  a  pioneer  of  Illinois, 
who  was  a  factor  in  developing  the  resources  of 
the  northern  part  of  the  State,  and  for  many  years 
before  his  death  was  identified  with  the  farming 
interests  of  this  county. 

The  grandfather  of  our  subject,  Abraham  Noe, 
was  born  November  27,  1772,  in  the  city  of  Perth, 
Amboy,  and  was  married  August  10,  1795,  to 
Phebe  Condit,  who  was  born  August  7,  1776. 
Their  children  were  named  Hannah  D.,  Aaron  A., 
Jonathan  C.,  Myme  C.,  Jeptha  C.,  Cummings  M., 
Ebenezer  C.,  and  Richard  H. 

Cummings  Noe  was  born  at  Caldwell,  Essex 
County,  N.  J.,  July  20,  1809,  and  was  about  eight 
years  old  when  his  parents  went  from  there  to  the 
primeval  wilds  of  Ohio,  and  were  early  settlers  of 
that  section  of  the  country.  He  attended  the  rude 
pioneer  schools  of  those  early  days  of  the  settle- 
ment of  the  Buckeye  State,  which  were  taught  in 
log  houses  that  were  without  regular  windows, 
greased  paper  placed  over  a  hole  in  the  wall  serv- 
ing to  admit  the  light  instead  of  glass.  In  1834, 
in  the  full  vigor  and  flush  of  manhood,  he  too  be- 
came a  pioneer,  coming  to  Illinois  with  his  family, 
journeying  hither  witli  teams.  lie  first  located  in 
Tn/.owell  County,  but  a  year  later  he  removed  to 
Joe  Daviess  County,  going  there  with  a  team.  The 


following  year  he  again  pulled  up  stakes  and  took 
up  his  abode  in  Ogle  County,  his  wagon  being  a 
primitive  affair,  with  wheels  made  of  sections  of  a 
log.  For  eight  years  he  lived  there,  and  then  made 
still  another  move,  and  this  time  came  to  Lee 
County,  where  lie  dwelt  in  peace  and  contentment 
the  remaining  days  of  his  life. 

For  many  years  Mr.  Noe,  Sr.,  was  a  resident  of 
Willow  Creek  Township,  where  he  bought  a  tract 
of  Government  land  on  section  17,  and  gave  his 
attention  closely  to  ite  improvement,  his  first  work 
being  to  build  a  house  to  shelter  his  family.  He 
found  the  surrounding  country  in  a  wild  condi- 
tion, with  but  few  attempts  at  development,  and 
as  there  were  no  railways  here  for  some  years  after 
his  settlement,  lie  had  to  draw  his  grain  to  Chicago, 
seventy  miles  distant.  Deer  and  other  kinds  of 
game  were  plentiful. 

In  1879  Mr.  Noe  for  the  last  time  changed  his 
dwelling  place,  removing  to  Viola  Township  that 
year,  and  settling  on  a  farm  that  he  had  previously 
bought,  and  there  death  found  him  at  a  ripe  age 
in  1884.  His  wife  survives  him  and  still  makes  her 
home  in  Viola  Township.  She  was  also  a  native 
of  New  Jersey,  and  prior  to  her  marriage  her  name 
was  Martha  Parkhurst,  being  the  daughter  of  Ben- 
jamin and  Betsey  Parkhurst.  She  is  the  mother  of 
eleven  children:  Mary,  Emery,  Erastus,  William, 
Phebe,  Ruth,  Amos,  Martha,  Nancy,  Eli  and 
George.  William  and  Amos  were  brave  soldiers  in 
the  late  war,  members  of  Company  B,  Twenty-sev- 
enth Illinois  Infantry, and  both  gave  up  their  lives 
for  their  country  while  in  her  service. 

The  subject  of  this  biographical  review  was  given 
excellent  educational  advantages,  attending  first 
the  local  district  schools,  and  then  having  the 
benefit  of  eighteen  months'  study  in  the  college  at 
Weston,  Iowa,  that  has  since  been  removed  to  To- 
ledo. After  leaving  college,  his  taste  for  agricul- 
ture led  him  to  adopt  that  which  Horace  Greeley 
styled  the  "noblest  of  professions"  for  his  life 
work,  and  he  has  devoted  himself  principally 
to  farming.  He  remained  with  his  parents  until 
his  marriage,  affording  his  father  valuable  assist- 
ance in  carrying  on  his  farm,  and  he  then  settled 
on  the  farm  on  which  he  now  resides.  This  con- 
tains two  hundred  and  seven  acres  of  land,  that  is 


192 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


exceedingly  fertile,  is  under  good  cultivation, and 
is  provided  with  substantial  and  roomy  buildings 
for  every  needed  purpose.  Mr.  Noe  is  a  man  of 
exemplary  habits,  who  is  well  thought  of  by  the 
entire  community  where  he  has  been  known  as  boy 
and  man  since  his  birth.  He  is  a  veritable  Chris-  t 
tiau,  whose  life  is  guided  by  principles  of  honor 
and  honesty,  and  in  him  the  United  Brethren  i 
Church  has  one  of  its  most  consistent  members, 
who  favors  all  things  that  tend  to  the  moral  and 
social  elevation  of  his  township.  He  is  especially 
interested  in  temperance  reform,  and  is  a  stanch 
Prohibitionist. 

Mr.  Noe  is  happy  in  his  domestic  relations,  as  he 
secured  a  good  wife  by  his  marriage,  in  1878,  with 
Mrs.  Caroline  Yetter,  widow  of  Philip  Jacob  Yetter, 
and  a  daughter  of  Gotleib  and  Kosiua  Hochstras- 
ser.  Seven  children  have  blessed  their  union, 
namely:  Eda  L.,  Mary  M.,  Carrie  B.,  Laura  N., 
Clarence  C.,  Raymond  E.  and  Inez  C.  Mrs.  Noe 
has  two  children  living  by  her  first  marriage, 
George  H.  and  Rosina  P. 

Mrs.  Noe  was  born  at  Troy  Grove,  this  State,  of 
which  her  father  was  a  pioneer.  He  was  born  in 
Wurtemberg,  Germany,  November  9,  1820,  a  son 
of  Jacob  Hochstrasser.  He  was  reared  and  educa- 
ted in  the  Fatherland,  whence  he  came  to  this  coun- 
try in  the  prime  of  manhood  in  1847,  setting  sail 
from  Antwerp  and  landing  at  New  York  in  July, 
after  a  voyage  of  forty-two  days.  He  made  his 
way  to  New  Jersey,  and  was  employed  there  on  a 
farm  by  the  month  for  three  years.  In  1850  he 
came  to  Illinois  with  his  wife,  having  been  married 
in  Philadelphia  in  October,  1849,  to  Miss  Rosina 
Dimler,  who  was  also  a  native  of  Wurtemberg, 
Germany,  born  February  27,  1826,  to  Michael  and 
Rosina  Dimler,  likewise  natives  of  Wurtemberg. 
Her  father  spent  his  entire  life  in  the  oid  country, 
but  her  mother  came  to  America  in  1848,  and,  set- 
tling in  Philadelphia,  took  a  second  husband  in 
the  City  of  Brotherly  Love. 

Mr.  Hochstrasser  and  his  bride  journeyed  to 
their  new  home  on  the  broad  prairies  of  Illinois  by 
rail  from  Philadelphia  to  Pittsburg,  thence  by 
river,  canal  and  lake  to  Chicago,  and  from  there 
by  canal  to  La  Salle  County,  and  the  ensuing  two 
years  were  passed  in  Peru,  where  he  was  employed 


in  the  warehouses.  He  then  rented  a  farm  at  Troy 
Grove,  and  a  year  later  came  to  Lee  County,  lie 
bought  eighty  acres  of  land  in  what  is  now  Willow 
Creek  Township,  paying  £325  for  it,  and  at  once 
set  about  the  pioneer  work  that  lay  before  him  in 
further  developing  his  place,  on  which  a  log  house 
had  already  been  erected,  and  sixteen  acres  of  the 
land  broken.  During  his  many  years'  residence 
on  his  old  homestead,  he  made  many  valuable  im- 
provements, including  the  erection  of  a  good  set  of 
frame  buildings,  and  he  placed  his  original  pur- 
chase of  land  under  good  cultivation,  besides  buy- 
ing an  eighty-acre  tract  joining,  which  he  also  im- 
proved. In  1884  he  rented  his  farm,  and,  remov- 
ing to  Lee  County,  has  since  lived  there  in  hon- 
orable retirement.  He  and  his  good  wife  have 
been  blessed  by  four  children:  Caroline  (Mrs.  Noe), 
Mary,  wife  of  Jacob  Meyer;  Sophia,  wife  of  Carl 
Yetter;  and  Lucy,  wife  of  Peter  Wagner.  Mrs. 
Noe  and  her  parents  are  devoted  members  of  the 
Evangelical  Church. 


Wl 


WILLIAM  B.  TRUDE,who  has  been  a  resident 
of  Amboy  since  1855,  is  well  known  as  an 
old  engineer  in  the  passenger  service  of 
the  Illinois  Central  Railroad.  There  are  two 
families  of  this  name  in  the  United  States,  one  be- 
ing of  French  and  the  other  of  English  extraction. 
The  former  is  the  one  to  which  the  subject  of  this 
sketch  belongs. 

.John  Trude,  the  founder  of  the  name  in  America, 
was  impressed  into  the  French  navj"  at  the  age  of 
eleven  years  and  was  held  in  service  until  twenty- 
two  years  old.  On  his  return  home,  he  could 
learn  nothing  of  his  family,  and  as  the  Marquis 
Lafayette  was  preparing  to  depart  for  America, 
the  young  man  joined  him  as  an  adventurer  en- 
listing in  the  cause  of  the  colonies.  After  his  ar- 
rival upon  our  shores,  he  fought  in  the  battle  of 
the  Brandy  wine  and  other  engagements,  and,  at  the 
close  of  the  war,  settled  at  Horse  Neck,  R.  I.,  where 
he  married  an  American  lady  by  the  name  of 
Baker  and  lived  to  theadvanoed  age  of  nearly  ninety 
years,  lie  reared  a  family  of  four  sons  and  three 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


daughters:  one  son,  John,  settled  in  Chaiitauqua 
County,  N.  Y.;  another  son,  Nathan,  lived  and 
died  at  Watertown,  N.  Y.,  and  another,  William 
D.,  the  father  of  our  subject,  was  born  at  Horse 
Neck,  R.  I.,  June  21,  1790.  lie  married  Betsey 
Eldridge,  who  was  born  the  same  year  in  Washing- 
ton County,  N.  Y.  Her  father  was  a  Revolution- 
ary soldier,  and  fought  at  Crown  Point,  Benn ing- 
ton,  Stony  Point,  and  .Saratoga.  This  couple  re- 
sided in  St.  Lawrence  and  Niagara  Counties,  N.  Y., 
and  in  1854  came  to  Illinois  and  settled  at  St. 
Charles,  Kane  County,  where  they  passed  away  at 
the  age  of  seventy-eight  and  sixty-three  years  re- 
spectively. Their  family  consisted  of  eight  children : 
Amos,  a  farmer,  who  resided  at  Sycamore,  111.,  and 
there  died  in  1890;  James,  who  was  also  a  farmer, 
died  near  Galena,  this  State;  Alonzo  resides  in 
East  Sagiuaw,  Mich.;  Martin  is  a  resident  of  Cali- 
fornia; Phoebe  married  Sidney  Weldon  and  they 
make  their  home  in  Nebraska;  Susan  married  John 
Weldon  and  died  at  Mineral  Point,  Wis.;  Nancy  is 
the  wife  of  Sanford  Hays  and  resides  at  Freeport, 
111. 

Our  subject,  who  is  the  youngest  of  the  family, 
was  born  in  St.  Lawrence  County,  N.  Y.,  December 
29,  1831.  His  early  life  passed  upon  a  farm.  In 
1853  he  came  to  Illinois  and  stopping  at  St. 
Charles,  he  became  employed  as  a  fireman  on  a 
locomotive,  which  ran  on  a  branch  road  at  that 
place.  March  14,  1855,  he  came  to  Amboy  and 
entered  the  employ  of  the  Illinois  Central,  serving 
as  fireman  until  1862,  and  since  that  date  as  en- 
gineer. He  has  been  in  the  passenger  service  since 
1864,  his  run  being  between  LaSalle  and  Dubuque. 
He  was  married  in  1858  to  Candice  Rolf ,  daughter 
of  Aaron  and  Mary  Rolf,  who  was  born  in  Lisbon, 
St.  Lawrence  County,  N.  Y.,  December  25,  1836. 
Her  father,  Aaron  Rolf,  was  of  English  parentage 
and  was  a  native  of  Essex  County,  N.  Y.  He  was 
educated  for  the  medical  profession,  but  becoming 
dissatisfied  with  it  he  settled  on  a  farm  in  St. 
Lawrence  County,  becoming  one  of  its  most  hon- 
ored and  influential  citizens  and  being  frequently 
elected  to  public  office.  He  attained  the  advanced 
age  of  eighty-one  years.  To  this  worthy  couple 
nine  children  were  born,  all  of  whom  grew  to  ma- 
turity and  of  whom  the  following  record  is  given: 


William  died  at  Watertown,  N.  Y.;  Rosella,  now 
Mrs.  John  Loard,  resides  at  St.  Charles,  111.;  Nancy, 
who  married  Henry  Armstrong,  died  at  Ogdens- 
burg,  N.  Y.;  Elizabeth  became  the  wife  of  David 
Getty  and  resides  at  Amboy;  Sophia,  who  became 
the  wife  of  Samuel  Wells,  died  at  Baldwinsville, 
N.  Y.;  Winter  is  in  the  West;  George  was  accident- 
ally killed  in  the  yards  of  the  Chicago  iV  North- 
western Railroad  at  Chicago.  He  was  the  oldest 
engineer  in  the  service  of  that  company,  and  was 
an  earnest  Christian  gentleman.  Robert  resides  in 
Minnesota,  and  Candice,  the  wife  of  our  subject,  is 
the  youngest  child.  She  came  West  in  1855  to 
visit  her  brother  in  Chicago  and  remained  until 
the  date  of  her  marriage  with  Mr.  Trude. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Trude  are  the  parents  of  two  chil- 
dren: Fred  W.,  born  in  Amboy,  July  19,  1859, 
was  married  in  1881  to  Josephine  McCormick. 
They  have  one  son,  William  Fred,  who  is  a  con- 
ductor on  the  Illinois  Central  and  resides  at  Am- 
boy; Frank  E.  is  a  telegraph  operator  in  the  service 
of  the  Illinois  Central.  Mrs.  Trude  is  a  member 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  Mr.  Trude  is 
a  Royal  Arch  Mason  and  a  member  of  the  Brother- 
hood of  Locomotive  Engineers  and  also  of  the 
Ancient  Order  of  United  Workmen.  In  politics, 
he  is  a  Republican.  The  family  are  among  the 
best  known  and  most  highly  esteemed  citizens  of 
Amboy. 


W.  HEWITT,  M.  D.,  was  one  of 
the  ablest  and  most  distinguished  physi- 
cians  of  his  day  who  practiced  in  Lee 
County  many  years,  and  by  his  death  his  profes- 
sion was  deprived  of  one  of  its  noblest  representa- 
tives, and  his  community  met  with  a  sad  loss,  many 
a  household  mourning  for  the  beloved  and  honoied 
physician  whose  presence  had  so  often  brought 
healing,  and  whose  friendship  is  now  a  pleasant 
memory.  It  gives  us  pleasure  to  place  his  life 
record  on  these  pages,  together  with  that  of  his 
son,  Dr.  Henry  M.  Hewitt,  upon  whom  his  father's 
mantle  has  fallen,  and  who  has  already  attained 


494 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


distinction  as  ouc  of  the  most  learned  and  skillful 
physicians  of  this  part  of  the  State. 

Dr.  George  W.  Hewitt  was  born  in  Middleburgh, 
Franklin  County,  Pa.,  December  23,  1830,  a  son  of 
G.  W.  and  Margaret  (Conklin)  Hewitt,  to  whom 
were  born  four  sons  and  three  daughters.  His  par- 
ents were  wealthy,  and  left  each  of  their  children 
a  handsome  fortune.  Although  he  was  rich  and 
could  have  led  a  life  of  ease  and  luxury,  he  was  of 
far  too  active  a  temperament  for  that,  and  chose 
instead  to  enter  the  laborious  profession  of  a  physi- 
cian. He  began  his  studies  with  Dr.  Chew,  of  Bal- 
timore, Md.,  as  preceptor,  and  at  the  same  time  at- 
tended lectures  at  the  University  of  Maryland, 
from  which'  he  was  graduated  in  1854,  witli  high 
honor?,  having  attained  a  remarkable  degree  of 
proficiency  in  his  studies.  In  the  spring  of  the 
same  year,  he  came  to  Illinois  as  offering  a  wider 
field  for  the  exercise  of  his  talents  than  some  of 
the  older  States,  and  on  the  1st  of  May  opened  an 
office  at  Franklin  Grove.  He  was  untiring  in  his 
devotion  to  his  profession,  and  ere  long  became 
widely  known,  not  only  in  Lee  County  but  far  be- 
yond its  bounds,  as  a  physician  of  unusual  intelli- 
gence and  ability,  the  people  among  whom  he 
settled  early  recognizing  his  professional  merits, 
and  to  the  last  day  of  his  life  his  friends  and 
patrons  looked  upon  him  as  pre-eminently  the  best 
medical  adviser  in  this  section  of  the  country.  lie 
also  had  a  high  standing  among  his  brother  physi- 
cians as  one  who  kept  well  abreast  of  the  times, 
was  quick  to  perceive  the  value  of  new  methods, 
and  to  adopt  them  wherever  feasible  in  his  general 
practice,  which  was  large,  and  he  was  honored  by 
appointment  to  various  distinguished  positions 
in  connection  with  his  calling.  In  1871  he  was  a 
delegate  from  the  Illinois  State  Medical  Society  to 
the  American  Medical  Association,  and  besides 
being  a  member  of  the  latter  was  an  honorary 
member  of  the  California  Medical  Society.  His 
course  was  patriotic  during  the  war,  and  he  ren- 
dered valuable  service  to  the  Government  as  sur- 
geon of  the  Thirty-fourth  Illinois  Infantry, and  he 
was  a  member  of  Col.  Kirk's  staff  as  Brigadier- 
Surgeon  when  the  Colonel  was  promoted  to  the 
rank  of  Brigadier-General. 

On  September  26,   1856,    Dr.   Hewitt,  Sr..    was 


j  wedded  to  Caroline  Davis  Miller,  and  theirs  was  a 
:  true  marriage,  whose  happiness  was  uninterrupted 
until  the  death  of  the  beloved  wife  seven  years 
later,  November  19,  1863.  She  left  two  sons, 
Henry  M.  and  George  W.,  who  were  ageil  respect- 
ively five  and  three  years  when  they  were  so  sadly 
bereft  of  their  mother.  After  that  they  were  well 
cared  for  by  their  aunt,  Miss  Amanda  T.  Miller. 
George  W.  Hewitt  was  born  July  31,  1859.  He 
attended  medical  college  two  years  during  his 
youth,  but  on  account  of  ill  health  was  obliged  to 
give  up  his  ambition  to  be  a  physician,  and  turn- 
ing his  attention  to  the  study  of  law,  he  was  edu- 
cated for  that  profession  at  the  Union  Law  School, 
of  Chicago,  from  which  he  was  graduated  in  the 
Class  of  '82.  He  is  now  one  of  the  most  promi- 
nent  attorneys  of  Western  Iowa,  having  his  place 
of  residence  at  Council  Bluffs;  he  is  one  of  the 
leading  Masons  of  that  vicinity,  and  has  taken  the 
thirty-second  degree. 

The  elder  Dr.  Hewitt  was  scarcely  past  the  prime 

of  life,  and  it  seemed  as  if  many   more    years  of 

usefulness  lay  before  him,  when  his  brilliant  career 

\   was  terminated  by  his  untimely  death.    September 

i    1,  1879,  his  team  ran  away,  and  he  was  thrown  off 

!   a  bridge  to  the  stream  twenty  feet  below.     He  re- 

!   ceived  injuries  'from    which    he   only    partly   re- 

I   covered,  and  in  October,  1880  had  his  first  stroke 

of  paralysis.     January  5,  1881,    he  had   a  second 

stroke,  which  caused  his  death  on  the  12th  of  that 

month.     The  community  where  he  lived    for   so 

many  years  was  plunged  into  sorrow  at  his  demise, 

as  he  had  identified  himself  with  its  every  interest, 

and  was  always  foremost  in  all   that   pertained  to 

its  social  and  religious  life.     He  was  prominent  as 

a  Knight  Templar  Mason,  and  was  an  active  mem- 

ber  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  where  his  presence 

is  missed,  as  well  as  his  generous  benefactions  in 

promoting  its  every  good  work.     The  Doctor  was 

a  sound  man  of  business,  added  to   his    inherited 

property,   and    left  a    large  and  valuable  estate, 

which  has  been  ably  administered  by  his  son,  our 

subject. 

Henry  M.  Hewitt,  M.  D.,  was  born  August  24, 
1857.  He  was  given  a  liberal  literary  education 
at  the  Illinois  State  Normal  School  and  at  the 
Northwestern  University.  He  ranked  high  in 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


495 


scholarship  at  both  institutions,  and  laid  a  solid 
basis  for  his  medical  studies,  which  were  pursued 
at  Rush  Medical  College,  Chicago,  whence  he  was 
graduated  before  he  was  twenty-one  years  old.  As 
he  was  too  young  to  practice  his  profession,  lie 
further  fitted  himself  for  it  by  spending  one  win- 
ter in  the  hospitals  of  New  York,  and  then  he 
passed  ten  months  in  Europe  in  visiting  the  hos- 
pitals at  Ileidelburg,  Paris  and  London,  where  he 
gained  a  practical  experience  in  his  calling  that 
has  been  of  incalculable  value  to  him  since  his  re- 
turn, when  he  established  himself  at  Franklin 
Grove,  entering  upon  his  practice  here  at  his  old 
home  in  1879.  He  needed  no  introduction  to  the 
people  among  whom  his  boyhood  days  had  been 
pleasantly  passed,  who  regarded  him  with  favor 
for  his  own  sake,  as  well  as  for  that  of  the  father 
whom  they  so  revered.  He  early  showed  that  he 
had  inherited  in  a  full  degree  the  talents  that 
placed  his  father  at  the  head  of  the  profession,  and 
he  has  already  won  an  enviable  reputation  as  a 
very  successful  practitioner. 

'Dr.  Hewitt  was  married  October  17,  1883,  to 
Miss  Eliza  J.  Durkes.  She  is  a  native  of  Franklin 
Grove,  born  June  16,  1859,  and  is  a  daughter  of 
Conrad  Durkes.  Mrs.  Hewitt  is  a  lady  of  culture, 
having  been  finely  educated  in  the  famous  Mt. 
Holyoke  Seminary  for  girls,  at  Holyoke,  Mass., 
from  which  she  was  graduated  in  the  Class  of  '82. 
Her  pleasant  marriage  with  our  subject  has  brought 
them  three  children:  George  W.,  born  May  26, 
1885;  Mary  D.,  September  1,  188!),  and  Henry  M., 
Jr.,  November  16,  1891. 

The  Doctor  devoted  himself  so  assiduously  to 
his  beloved  profession  that  his  health  failed  while 
he  was  administering  to  the  ills  of  others,  and 
June  15,  1888,  he  abandoned  his  practice  to  travel 
to  California  to  recover  his  former  vigor.  He  was 
accompanied  by  his  wife,  and  for  twenty-two 
months  they  journeyed  over  the  Golden  State 
with  a  horse  and  buggy,  and  visited  all  parts  of  it. 
Returning  to  Franklin  Grove  April  1,  1890,  re- 
Mored  to  health  :iml  with  a  fresh  supply  of  strength 
to  enable  him  to  withstand  the  strain  of  his  pro- 
fessional life,  he  resumed  his  practice.  The  Doc- 
tor is  also  quite  :i  competent  business  man,  and 
manages  hi>  financial  affairs  with  consummate 


skill.  He  is  wealthy,  and  l>esides  his  property  at 
Franklin  Grove,  has  a  farm  in  Iowa,  and  a  ten-acre, 
five-year-old  orange  grove  at  Rial  to,  Cal.  His 
pleasant  social  qualities,  courtesy  and  considera- 
tion in  his  intercourse  with  all  with  whom  In- 
comes in  contact,  whether  of  high  or  low  degree, 
have  won  him  many  friends.  Politically,  he  is  a 
Republican,  and  his  connection  with  the  Masonic 
Society  is  as  a  Knight  Templar. 


EBENEZER  L.  CLAPP,  is  a  highly  respec- 
ted citizen  of  Lee  Center,  and  an  early  pio- 
neer of  this  county.  He  was  born  in 
Hampshire  County,  Mass,  in  1819  and  lived  there 
until  fifteen  years  of  age.His  father  was  proprietor 
of  an  hotel,  running  a  stage  and  also  carrying  on 
'farming.  When  our  subject  was  fifteen  years  old, 
he  went  to  New  York  City,  being  employed  for 
two  and  one  half  years  with  James  Hall  A  Co, whole- 
sale drygoods  merchants.  He  then  entered  the 
employ  of  Eno  <fe  Phelps,  in  the  same  business, 
remaining  with  him  for  about  two  years. 

About  this  time,  Mr.  Clapp  had  his  attention 
directed  to  Mobile,  Ala.,  to  which  place  he  went 
with  the  intention  of  going  into  business  there, 
but  not  being  satisfied  with  the  outlook  of  things 
he  changed  his  mind,  and  after  remaining  in  that 
city  for  six  months  went  to  Selmu,  Ala.,  and 
entered  the  employ  of  Johnson  it  Dore,  merchants, 
with  whom  he  remained  eighteen  months.  He 
then  returned  to  the  East  and  going  to  Hartford, 
Conn.,  engaged  in  business  for  some  five  years  in 
the  retail  trade.  At  the  expiration  of  this  time 
he  returned  to  New  York  and  opened  up  business, 
dealing  in  carpets,  boots  and  shoes,  for  some  three 
years.  He  then  sold  out  and  bought  a  retail  estab- 
lishment of  John  S.  Quick  which  he  carried  on  for 
some  years,  finally  disposing  of  it  and  forming  a 
partnership  with  Mr.  Nelson,  of  St.  Louis.  They 
were  together  in  business  for  some  years  and  then 
dissolved  partnership.  After  leaving  Eno  it  Phelps 
and  previous  to  engaging  in  trade  for  himself  he 
spent  two  years  in  Troy,  New  York. 

In  1847  Mr.  Clapp  l-alnt'  l"  Illinois,  locating    in 


496 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


this  county,  wliorc  in  company  with  his  father  he 
bought  some  four  hundred  acres  of  land,  where 
Lee  Center  now  stands,  and  on  which  he  built  a 
log  cabin,  and  has  resided  on  that  place  every  since. 
During  all  that  time  he  has  carried  on  farming 
and  has  also  dealt  largely  in  sheep,  having  brought 
the  first  of  these  animals  of  any  importance  to  Lee 
County. 

Mr.  Clapp  was  married  in  Utica,  N.  Y.,  to  Cath- 
erine Bull,  a  native  of  Wiustead,  Conn.,  and  they 
are  the  parents  of  five  children,  namely:  Fred  B.; 
Edwin  and  Ruggles  W.,  both  deceased;  Alice  L., 
and  Kate  E.  Mr.  Clapp  has  been  very  successful 
in  his  business  undertakings  and  his  farm  consist- 
ing of  sixty-two  and  one  half  acres,  is  highly 
improved  and  contains  good  buildings  and  all  con- 
veniences for  carrying  on  agricultural  pursuits. 
Mr.  Clapp  is  a  Republican  in  politics  and  he  and 
his  family  are  highly  esteemed  by  their  fellow-cit- 
izens. 

EACON    ISRAEL    F.    HALLOCK.      Lee 

County  may  well  be  proud  of  the  record 
of  her  pioneers,  who  were  earnest,  reso- 
lute, self-respecting,  self-helpful,  hard- 
working men,  well  fitted  to  cope  with  the  difficul- 
ties and  hardships  of  frontier  life,  and  performed 
a  great  work  in  developing  the  resources  of  the 
country.  Among  those  who  are  still  living  amid 
the  scenes  of  their  early  struggles  with  the  forces 
of  nature  that  have  produced  such  grand  results, 
enjoying  a  hale  and  cheerful  old  age,  is  Deacon 
Israel  Hallock,  and  his  fellow-citizens  in  Wyoming 
Township  and  elsewhere  do  him  honor  not  only 
as  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  this  region  and  one 
of  its  prosperous  farmers,  but  for  his  genuine 
worth  as  a  man  and  a  citizen. 

Our  subject  was  bom  June  1C,  1818,  in  Mt. 
Hope,  Orange  County,  N.  Y.,  and  is  descended 
from  some  of  the  early  families  of  that  State.  His 
father,  Joseph  Hallock,  was  born  in  the  same 
county  as  himself,  while  his  grandfather,  for  whom 
he  was  named,  was  born  in  Suffolk  County,  Long 
Island.  He  in  turn  was  the  son  of  another  Israel 


Hallock,  who  \v:is  also  :i  unlive  of  Suffolk  County, 
and  was  a  sou  of  one  Xebulon  Hallock,  who  was 
born  in  the  same  place  as  himself,  which  was  like- 
wise the  birthplace  of  his  father,  William  H.  Hal- 
lock.  The  father  of  the  latter  was  William  Hal- 
lock,  a  native  of  Long  Island,  and  a  son  of  Peter 
Hallock,  who,  says  tradition,  was  the  first  white 
settler  to  put  his  foot  on  the  Island.  He  was  of 
English  birth,  came  to  this  country  when  a  young 
man,  landed  at  Hallock's  Neck,  Southold,  Long 
Island,  in  1640,  and  there  dwelt  in  peace  and  con- 
tentment the  remaining  years  of  his  sojourn  on 
earth. 

The  great-grandfather  of  our  subject  removed 
from  Suffolk  County  to  the  main  land  during  the 
latter  part  of  his  life,  and  spent  his  remaining 
years  in  Orange  County.  The  grandfather  of  our 
subject  was  reared  and  married  in  Orange  County, 
the  maiden  name  of  his  wife  being  Reed.  He  was 
a  farmer,  and  carried  on  farming  in  Mt.  Hope 
Township,  where  he  died  in  fullness  of  time.  The 
father  of  our  subject  grew  to  man's  estate  in  his 
native  county,  and  in  due  time  took  unto  himself 
a  wife  in  the  person  of  Esther  Y oungs,  a  native  of 
Suffolk  County,  L.  I.,  and  a  daughter  of  Thomas 
and  Esther  (Comstock)  Youngs;  she  died  in  Orange 
County.  Mr.  Hallock  adopted  the  calling  of  a 
farmer,and  pursued  it  in  his  native  town  until  1835, 
when  he  left  Mt.  Hope  and  took  up  his  residence 
in  Luzerne  County,  Pa.  Thence  he  came  to  Illinois 
in  1841,  and  was  a  pioneer  of  Wyoming  Township, 
purchasing  of  his  son  a  claim  on  section  24.  His 
last  years  were  spent  here,  and  at  his  death  he  was 
laid  to  rest  in  the  cemetery  at  South  Paw  Paw. 
He  was  twice  married,  and  was  the  father  of  fifteen 
children.  He  served  in  the  War  of  1812. 

Our  subject  was  seventeen  years  old  when  he 
went  to  Pennsylvania  with  the  family,  and  he  re- 
mained an  inmate  of  the  parental  home  until  he 
married  and  established  one  of  his  own  in  1839. 
In  the  spring  of  1840  he  came  to  Illinois  with  his 
young  wife  to  try  his  fortunes  on  the  rich  soil  of 
the  Prairie  State.  They  journeyed  thither  with  a 
horse  and  wagon,  and  after  traveling  six  weeks 
and  five  days,  arrived  in  Stark  County,  where  he 
proposed  to  locate.  After  his  arrival  he  traded 
his  wagon  for  forty  acres  of  land,  and  borrowed 


Irft 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


499 


$50  with  which  to  pay  the  balance.  He  invested 
also  in  a  cow,  and  then  had  *3  left  with  which  to 
commence  housekeeping.  The  locality  where  he 
settled  was  very  unhealthful,  so  he  and  his  wife 
only  staid  there  three  or  four  months  and  then 
came  to  Lee  County  as  a  much  more  desirable 
place  of  residence.  They  found  this  part  of  the 
country  in  all  its  original  wildness,  with  but  few 
white  settlers,  and  the  land,  which  was  all  owned 
by  the  Government,  had  not  been  sub-divided. 

On  coming  to  Lee  County  Deacon  Hallock 
bought  a  claim  on  the  southwest  quarter  of  section 
24,  of  what  is  now  Wyoming  Township.  Three 
acres  were  fenced  and  broken,  but  there  were  no 
buildings  on  it.  His  first  work  was  to  erect  a  log 
house  in  which  he  wintered.  At  first  he  had  no 
team  to  work  with,  as  he  had  exchanged  his  horse 
for  his  land,  but  he  was  very  industrious,  and  soon 
had  the  wherewithal  to  buy  a  pair  of  steers,  which 
he  broke,  and  for  some  years  did  all  his  farm  work 
and  marketing  with  them.  In  the  spring  of  1841 
he  sold  his  claim  to  his  father,  and  made  a  claim  to 
a  tract  of  land  on  section  25,  the  same  township. 
He  built  a  log  house,  and  at  once  commenced  to 
improve  the  land.  He  worked  hard,  his  labors 
being  directed  by  good  judgment,  and  he  pros- 
pered accordingly.*  He  placed  all  his  land  under 
excellent  cultivation,  erected  a  neat  set  of  frame 
buildings,  and  planted  fruit  and  shade  trees,  in- 
cluding a  grove  of  beautiful  maples,  which  gave 
the  farm  its  name  as  "Maple  Grove  Farm."  When 
he  first  settled  on  the  place  there  were  no  railways 
in  this  part  of  the  country,  or  for  some  years,  and 
he  used  to  carry  his  grain  to  market  in  Chicago 
with  an  ox-team,  a  week  being  consumed  in  mak- 
ing the  round  trip.  In  1873  he  sold  his  home- 
stead, on  which  he  had  expended  so  many  years  of 
care  and  labor,  and  removed  to  the  place  he  now 
occupies  on  section  24,  Wyoming  Township,  the 
farm  improved  by  his  father-in-law,  Deacon  Or- 
lando Boardman.  His  residence,  a  view  of  which 
appears  on  another  page,  stands  on  the  ground 
where  the  Baptist  Church  was  organized. 

Deacon  Hallock  was  married  December  19,  1839, 
to  Miss  Persis  P.  M.  Boardman,  and  for  more  than 
half  a  century  they  have  walked  hand  in  hand, 
faithfully  sharing  the  joys  and  sorrows  falling  to 


their  lot,  and  giving  to  the  community  where  they 
have  lived  for  fifty-one  years  the  example  of  a  true 
wedded  life.  Of  the  children  born  unto  them  two 
grew  to  maturity,  Jane  Elizabeth  and  William  H. 
William  was  born  December  28,  1851,  and  was 
reared  and  educated  in  this  his  native  county.  He 
was  married  December  31,  1876,  to  Miss  Althea 
Ketchum,  and  died  January  19,  1883,  fcaving  two 
children,  Jessie  and  Franklin  William.  Jane  Eliz- 
abeth married  S.  A.  Tarr,  and  they  have  six  chil- 
dren: Franklin,  Reuben  and  Robert  (twins),  Mary, 
Thomas  and  Lida. 

Mrs.  Hallock  was  born  in  the  town  of  Corinth, 
Saratoga  County,  N.  Y.,  February  27,  1819.  Her 
father,  Orlando  Boardman,  was  a  native  of  Massa- 
chusetts, from  which  his  father,  Daniel  Boardman, 
went  to  the  primeval  wilds  of  Saratoga  County, 
and  was  a  pioneer  of  Corinth,  where  he  engaged 
in  the  drug  business,  passing  his  remaining  years 
there.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  Averill. 
Mrs.  Hallock's  father  grew  to  manhood  in  Saratoga 
County.  In  1827  he  went  from  there  to  Luzerne 
County,  Pa.,  and  operated  a  sawmill  and  carried 
on  a  thriving  lumber  business,  as  he  had  previ- 
ously done  in  Saratoga  County.  In  1840  he  be- 
came a  pioneer  of  Lee  County,  buying  a  tract  of 
Government  land  on  section  24,  Wyoming  Town- 
ship, which  he  developed  into  a  choice  farm,  and 
made  it  his  home  until  death  closed  his  eyes  June 
10,  1873,  in  the  sleep  that  knows  no  waking  this 
side  of  eternity.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife 
was  Mary  Brace,  and  she  was  a  daughter  of  Daniel 
and  Mary  (Rowland)  Brace.  She  was  born  in 
Saratoga  County  N.  Y.,  and  died  in  Luzerue 
County,  Pa.,  in  1832,  at  the  age  of  thirty-six 
years. 

Our  subject  is  a  self-made  man  in  the  truest 
sense  of  the  term,  and  well  deserves  the  success 
that  has  attended  his  efforts,  as  in  all  his  relations 
with  others  and  in  all  his  dealings,  he  has  borne 
himself  honorably — honesty,  truthfulness,  and  jus- 
tice his  guiding  principles  throughout  a  long  life 
that  has  passed  the  seventy-third  milestone  of  the 
journey  between  the  ciadle  and  the  grave;  his  wife 
is  also  more  than  seventy-three  years  old.  She 
was  attacked  by  a  stroke  of  paralysis  on  October 
3,  1891.  from  which  she  has  not  recovered  and 


500 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


she  is  in  a  very  feeble  condition  at  the  pres- 
ent writing  (1892.)  This  worthy  couple,  who  are 
deeply  respected  by  all  who  know  them,  are  earnest 
Christians,  and  for  forty-nine  years  have  been 
members  of  the  Baptist  Church,  in  which  he  has 
officiated  as  Deacon  for  forty-one  years. 


JEREMIAH  M.  MILLER  has  devoted  his 
life  to  farming  and  stock  raising,  and  has 
accumulated  a  comfortable  property,  which 
includes  one  of  the  best  farms  in  all  China 
Township.  A  Pennsylvanian  by  birth,  he  .first 
saw  the  light  of  day  December  4,  1845,  in  Somer- 
set County,  of  which  his  parents  and  grandparents 
on  both  sides  of  the  house  were  also  natives,  his 
ancesters  having  settled  there  probabty  at  some  pe- 
riod anterior  to  the  Revolution.  He  is  the  son  of 
Moses  W.  and  Catherine  (Livengood)  Miller,  who 
were  reared  and  married  in  the  county  of  their 
nativity.  The  former  was  a  son  of  William  Miller, 
and  the  latter  was  a  daughter  of  Peter  Livengood. 
The  parents  of  our  subject  left  their  old  home 
where  they  had  lived  so  many  years,  and  where 
the  father  had  been  actively  engaged  at  his  occu- 
pation as  a  farmer,  and  on  the  1st  of  May,  1868, 
came  to  Lee  County  and  took  up  their  residence 
on  section  14,  China  Township.  They  dwelt  there 
serenely  the  remainder  of  their  days,  and  passed 
from  the  scenes  of  earth  at  a  ripe  age,  his  deatli 
occurring  February  3,  1886,  and  hers  March  3, 
1888.  They  were  the  parents  of  twelve  children, 
of  whom  our  subject  was  the  fifth  in  order  of 
birth. 

His  boyhood  was  spent  on  his  father's  farm,  and 
there  he  learned  lessons  in  practical  farming,  which 
were  of  use  to  him  when  he  started  out  as  an  inde- 
pendent farmer.  He  lived  with  his  parents  until 
his  marriage  in  his  native  county  August  23, 
1863,  to  Miss  Priscilla  A.  Hoover,  a  daughter  of 
Frederick  and  Mary  (Arms)  Hoover,  who  were  na- 
tives respectively  of  Somerset  County,  Pa.,  and  of 
Walnut  Creek,  Ohio.  They  had  married  and  set- 
tled in  Somerset  County,  and  there  died  in  the 
course  of  time,  Mr.  Hoover's  death  taking  place 


May  2!),  1807,  and  Mrs.  Hoover's  February  22, 
1880.  They  were  the  parents  of  fifteen  children, 
of  whom  Mrs.  Miller  was  the  seventh.  She  was 
born  February  12,  1841. 

The  spring  following  his  marriage  Mr.  Miller 
settled  in  Saulsbury,  Somerset  County  and  resided 
there  until  the  spring  of  1866.  From  that  time 
he  has  been  identified  with  the  farmers  who  are  so 
ably  carrying  on  the  great  agricultural  interests  of 
Lee  County.  He  then  located  in  China  Township, 
where  he  still  lives.  lie  conducts  farming  and 
stock-raising  on  quite  an  extensive  scale,  and  is 
one  of  the  moneyed  men  of  his  adopted  township. 
On  another  page  of  this  volume  may  be  found  a 
view  of  his  homestead.  His  farm  is  very  favor- 

.  ably  situated  on  section  14  and  comprises  three 
hundred  and  three  acres  of  land  that  are  well  tilled 
and  highly  productive,  and  a  fine  set  of  first-class, 
roomy  buildings  adorn  the  place.  The  cattle  and 

!    horses  that  feed   in   the   pastures  are  of  excellent 

i    breeds  and  the  hogs  are  of  good  grade. 

Seven  children  have  been  born  unto  our  subject 
and  his  wife,  whom  they  have  named  William  II., 
Harvey  M.,  Alice  A.,  Arabella  E.,  Milton,  Calvin, 

i  and  Edith.  William  married  I-aura  Lookingland; 
Calvin  died  at  the  age  of  three  and  one-half 
months.  Mr.  Miller  is  a  Republican  in  politics 

'  and  is  faithful  to  the  party  of  his  choice.  He  is  a 
man  of  good  principles  and  habits,  a  good  neigh- 
bor, always  willing  to  accommodate  and  help  oth- 

i  ers,  and  his  fellow-townsmen  have  always  found 
him  straight-forward  and  even-handed  both  in 
word  and  deed. 


ILES  L.  GOODYEAR,  editor  and  pro- 
prietor of  the  Paw  Paw  Times,  is  a  bright 
young  journalist  who  has  already  made 
his  mark  in  his  profession.  He  is  a 
native  of  this  county,  a  scion  of  the  sturdy  pioneer 
stock  that  peopled  this  region  in  the  early  days 
of  its  settlement,  and  he  was  horn  on  the  parental 
homestead  near  Ea>t  Paw  Paw,  September  21, 
1866.  lie  is  a  son  of  Henry  A.  and  Elizabeth  C. 


POETRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


501 


Goodyear,  formerly  well-known  and  honored  res- 
idents of  this  county,  but  now  living  in  Scranton, 
Iowa. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  born  in  Cayuga 
County,  N.  Y.,  and  his  parents  were  Lloyd  and 
Mary  (Lepper)  Goodyear,  who  were  also  natives 
of  New  York.  They  continued  to  live  there  until 
1847,  when  they  came  to  Illinois  and  settled  near 
East  Paw  Paw,  where  the  grandfather  bought  a 
farm,  and  was  one  of  the  early  pioneers  of  this 
region.  He  managed  his  farm,  and  a  part  of  the 
time,  worked  at  his  trade  as  a  shoemaker,  and  there 
his  busy  life  was  brought  to  a  close  by  his  death  at 
a  ripe  age.  His  wife  spent  her  last  years  with 
their  son  James  in  East  Paw  Paw.  These  are  the 
names  of  the  seven  children  that  they  reared: 
Franklin,  Nelson,  Henry,  William,  John,  Elmira 
and  Olive.  Franklin  and  Nelson  did  faithful  ser- 
vice in  the  late  war,  and  both  sacrificed  their  lives 
for  their  country — the  former  returning  home 
sick,  and  dying  soon  after;  and  Nelson  dying  from 
the  effects  of  'a  wound  received  in  the  heat  of 
battle. 

The  father  of  our  subject  grew  to  a  stalwart 
manhood  in  his  native  State,  and  then  went  to 
Ohio  to  find  some  vent  for  his  energies.  In  Geauga 
County,  he  met  and  in  due  time  was  married  to 
Elizabeth,  a  daughter  of  Avery  and  Elizabeth 
(Martin)  French.  Her  parents,  who  were  natives 
of  New  York,  were  pioneers  of  that  county,  and 
there  she  was  born,  when  that  part  of  the  country 
was  but  little  more  than  a  wilderness.  Her  parents 
subsequently  removed  to  this  State,  and  were  early 
settlers  of  Shabbona,  in  De  Kalb  County.  In  1847 
the  father  and  mother  of  our  subject  came  to  Ill- 
inois, and  cast  in  their  fortunes  with  the  few  pio- 
neers that  had  already  settled  in  Lee  County.  Mrs.  j 
Goodyear  may  truthfully  be  regarded  as  one  of 
the  pioneer  educators  of  this  part  of  Illinois,  as 
she  was  prevailed  upon  to  take  charge  of  a  school 
shortly  after  she  came  here.  In  a  letter  written  to 
her  son  Miles,  of  this  biographical  review,  she  tells 
him  in  simple  and  earnest  language  of  the  emigra- 
tion of  herself  and  husband  thither — touches  j 
upon  the  hardships  that  the  pioneers  had  to  endure  j 
in  order  that  their  children  might  have  better 
homes,  higher  advantages  and  greater  opportun- 


ities than  they  themselves  had  had,  and  gives  us 
a  glimpse  of  the  times.  It  gives  us  great  pleasure 
to  transcribe  this  interesting  word  picture  of  pio- 
neer scenes  to  these  pages. 

"We  moved  to  Illinois  in  1847  from  Geauga 
County,  thirty  miles  from  Cleveland.  At  Cleve- 
land we  took  a  steamer  for  a  trip  around  the  lakes, 
and  arrived  at  what  is  now  the  great  city  of  Chi- 
cago on  the  morning  of  the  fourth  day.  Found 
only  a  few  buildings  there,  which  were  almost  de- 
luged in  mud  and  water,  for  'twas  rainy,  and  it 
looked  dreary  enough.  As  there  were  no  railways 
and  stage  from  Chicago  to  Dixou  only  ran  twice 
«  week,  we  had  to  look  around  for  a  conveyance. 
Found  a  man  that  had  brought  a  family  in,  and 
would  carry  us  to  our  destination  for  a  certain 
sum,  so  we  accepted  the  offer,  though  the  convey- 
ance was  an  old  lumber  wagon  with  board  seats, 
and  was  very  uncomfortable  to  ride  in.  The  roads 
were  very  bad  and  we  traveled  only  twelve  miles 
the  first  day.  Staid  that  night  at  Doty's  tavern, 
the  next  at  Aurora,  and  the  third  night  got  to  the 
home  of  my  parents  at  Shabbona. 

"We  stayed  there  a  couple  of  days,  and  in  the 
meantime  paid  a  visit  to  the  Indian  encampment 
of  old  Shabbona  and  his  tribe  in  the  grove  at 
that  place.  We  then  came  to  Paw  Paw,  which  at 
that  time  was  a  very  small  town,  with  no  stores  or 
places  of  business,  and  no  churches  or  places  of 
public  worship  save  at  South  Paw  Paw  in  a  small 
school  house. 

"A  new  school  house  has  just  been  built  and  en- 
closed at  West  Paw  Paw,  just  south  of  the  town 
right  among  the  hazel  brush,  and  teachers  being 
very  scarce,  1  was  engaged  to  teach  in  that 
building,  at  $1.50  a  week,  an  enormous  price 
they  thought  then,  and  board  around"  the  lis- 
trict  or  board  myself.  After  an  experience  of 
a  few  nights  of  the  former  mode,  I  chose  the 
latter.  Children  were  quite  numerous  for  a  new 
place,  and  were  quite  well  behaved  and  ready  to 
learn.  Society  was  like  that  in  other  new  places 
and  in  some  older  settlements,  drinking,  gambling, 
fighting  and  lawsuits  being  quite  common. 

"There  were  two  taverns  between  West  and  East 
Paw  Paw  one  just  out  of  town  kept  by  David 
Town;  another  further  east  kept  by  Mr.  Robinson. 


502 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


The  nearest  market  was  Chicago,  the  farmers  haul-       to  accept  a  position  MS 


ing  their  grain  and  produce  there  with  teams, 
sometimes  ox-teams  at  that,  taking  the  most  of 
the  week  to  make  the  journey,  and  camp- 
ing on  the  way  at  night  in  order  to  have  anything 
left  from  the  proceeds  of  their  sale£  Those  were 
trying  times  such  as  our  children  know  nothing 
about." 

We  may  add  to  this  that,  besides  her  good 
work  as  a  teacher,  the  mother  of  our  subject 
was  very  active  in  religious  matters,  and  assisted 
in  organizing  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  of 
which  she  was  one  of  the  original  members,  and 
was  thoroughly  identified  with  it  as  long  as  she 
lived  here. 

The  first  year  after  coming  here  the  father  of 
our  subject  worked  out  by  the  day,  and  then 
bought  a  tract  of  land  on  the  Chicago  and  Dixon 
Road,  and  resided  thereon  a  few  years.  In  1849 
he  joined  the  tide  of  emigration  flowing  across  the 
plains  and  mountains  to  California,  and  the  fol- 
lowing year,  weary  of  the  rough  camp  life  of  the 
frontiersman,  he  returned  to  Illinois,  coming  back 
by  the  way  of  the  Isthmus.  He  subsequently  went 
to  Missouri,  but  resided  there  only  a  short  time, 
for,  as  he  was  a  sound  Republican  and  no  friend  to 
slavery,  he  incurred  the  hostility  of  the  slave  hold- 
ers, and  was  ordered  to  leave.  Returning  to  Lee 
County,  he  settled  on  a  farm  in  Wyoming  Town- 
ship, and  was  quietly  engaged  in  agricultural  pur- 
suits until  1874,  when  he  abandoned  farming  to 
engage  in  mercantile  business  at  Paw  Paw.  He 
continued  at  that  until  1880,  and  then  sold  out, 
and  removing  to  Scranton,  Iowa,  has  been  a  res- 
ident of  that  place  ever  since.  He  and  his  wife 
have  seven  children  living  and  one  dead. 

Our  subject  was  reared  and  educated  in  his 
native  township,  attending  school  during  his  boy- 
hood at  Paw  Paw  and  East  Paw  Paw.  In  1879  he 
entered  upon  that  calling  that  has  led  him  to  the 
editor's  chair,  as  he  then  began  to  set  type  in  the 
office  of  the  Paw  Paw  Herald.  He  remained  there 
a  few  months,  and  then  went  to  Iowa  with  his 
parents,  and  found  employment  in  the  office  of 
the  Journal  at  Scranton.  lie  gained  valuable  ex- 
perience during  his  three  years  in  that  office,  and 
at  the  end  of  that  time  lie  came  back  to  Paw  I'.-iw 


foreman  in  the  Times  office. 
He  was  subsequently  promoted  to  be  superinten- 
dent of  the  job  printing  department  and  to  the 
post  of  general  local  editor  of  the  paper.  He  soon 
became  familiar  with  the  duties  of  his  positions, 
and  gained  such  a  comprehensive  knowledge  of 
how  to  conduct  a  paper  that  shall  be  successful 
from  a  literary  point  of  view  as  well  as  financially, 
that  he  was  justified  in  the  venture  that  resulted 
in  his  purchasing  the  Thnes,  with  the  publishing 
office  and  good-will  of  the  establishment.  He  is 
assisted  in  the  publication  of  the  paper  by  his 
bright  young  wife,  who  is  an  expert  compositor, 
and  helps  her  husband  in  various  other  ways. 
The  Times  is  issued  in  a  neat  and  attractive  form, 
the  local  news  is  written  up  in  an  interesting  man- 
ner, and  the  paper  is  in  high  favor  with  the  people 
among  whom  it  circulates  as  a  clean,  reliable  fam- 
ily newspaper,  replete  with  information,  giving  a 
careful  resume  of  the  doings  of  the  outer  world, 
and  as  its  merits  are  becoming  known  its  subscrip- 
tion list  is  constantly  lengthening.  -Editor  Good- 
year  is  a  pronounced  Republican  in  his  political 
opinions,  which  are  candidly  expressed  in  his  pa- 
per, while  a  fair  hearing  is  always  given  to  the 
advocates  of  other  parties.  He  is  active  in  local 
public  life,  and  is  serving  his  fourth  term  as  Town 
Clerk  of  Wyoming. 

Mr.  Goodyear  was  married  February  19,  1890,  to 
Miss  Lottie  Licher.  She  is  a  native  of  PawPaw,  and 
a  daughter  of  .lohn  and  Augusta  Licher.  Mrs. 
Goodyear  was  educated  in  the  schools  of  Paw  Paw, 
and  pursued  an  excellent  course  of  study  at  the 
High  School  under  the  careful  guidance  of  Prof. 
G.  W.  Andrew.  She  was  graduated  from  that 
institution  with  the  Class  of  '88,  and  taught 
school  successfully  from  that  time  until  her  mar- 
riage. 


BRAM  V.  CHRISTIANCE,an  old  and  re- 
spected resident  of  Malugin's  Grove.  w;is 
one  of  the  first  settlers  of  Lee  County, 
and  as  a  pioneer  who  has  contributed  to 
the  development  of  this  portion  of  Northern 
Illinois,  \vc  are  pleased  to  represent  him  in  this 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


503 


BuxiHAi'iur.u.  RKCOKD.  His  birthplace  is  two  and 
one-half  miles  east  of  Schenectady,  the  county 
seat  of  Schenectady  County,  N.  Y.,  and  he  was 
born  December  11,  1808.  His  father,  whose  given 
name  was  Evert,  was  a  native  of  the  same  county, 
a  son  of  Cornelius  Christiance,  who  was  for  sev- 
eral years  engaged  in  the  mercantile  business  in 
that  part  of  the  Empire  State.  In  1814  he  went  to 
Ohio,  and  was  employed  in  surveying  Government 
land  in  that  State  for  a  time.  He  returned  to  New 
York,  and  died  there. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  reared  and  mar- 
ried in  his  native  State,  and  for  some  years  before 
there  were  railways  or  canals,  he  was  engaged  in 
teaming  between  Albany  and  Buffalo,  driving  a  six- 
horse  team.  In  the  latter  part  of  his  life  he  came 
to  Illinois  and  his  closing  years  were  spent  with 
our  subject.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was 
Eva  Van  Epps,  and  she  was  a  native  of  the  State 
of  New  York,  a  daughter  of  Abram  Van  Epps, 
who  was  also  born  in  New  York,  the  town  of 
Medina,  Orleans  County,  being  his  birthplace.  He 
was  a  descendant  of  one  of  the  old  Dutch  families 
that  were  among  the  early  settlers  of  New  York. 
For  some  years  he  kept  a  tavern  in  Schenectady 
County,  and,  so  far  as  known,  spent  his  entire  life 
in  his  native  State.  The  mother  of  our  subject 
died  in  ScheHectady  County  in  1813. 

The  subject  of  this  life-record    was  a    child    of 
live  years  when  he  was  left  motherless.     When   he 
was  six  years  old,  his  grandfather  Christiance  took 
him  to  Ohio,  and  he  staid  with  him  while  he    was 
engaged  in  surveying  there.    Returning  to  his  na- 
tive State  with  his  grandfather,  he  grew   to  man- 
hood amid  the  familiar  scenes  of  his  native  county, 
and  in  due  time  took    unto  himself   a    wife,  and 
began  life  in  earnest.     He  resided  at  Medina,  Or- 
leans County,  for  a  time,  and  then  decided  to  come 
Westward,  and  the  summer  of  1835  found  him  on   ! 
his  way  to  Illinois  with  a   team.     He  arrived  at   j 
Malugin's  Grove  in  August,  and  saw  the  scene    of   | 
his  future  home  a  wilderness,  where  deer  and   all 
sorts  of  wild  game  roamed  at  pleasure  over  the  un-   ! 
cultivated  prairies  or  through   the  timber,  whence   ! 
often  at  night  the  howls  of  the  wolves  disturbed 
the  slumbers  of  the  few  settlei's  that  had   ventured   ' 
within  their  domain,  and  Indians  were  still  living  j 


in  the  very  grove  where  he  chose  the  location  of 
his  future  abode.  The  land  was  all  owned  by  the 
Government,  and  was  not  yet  surveyed,  and  Lee 
County  formed  a  part  of  Ogle  County.  There 
were  no  railways  for  a  number  of  years,  and  the 
people  had  to  go  all  the  way  to  Chicago  to  dispose 
of  their  crops  and  obtain  necessary  family  supplies. 

During  his  fifty-six  years'  residence  here,  Mr. 
Christiance  has  witnessed  a  great  change  in  the 
face  of  the  country,  has  seen  its  gradual  develop- 
ment to  a  finely  improved,  wealthy,  farming  com- 
munity, where  are  found  all  the  evidences  of  an 
advanced  civilization  in  its  many  and  varied  agri- 
cultural, manufacturing  and  commercial  interests. 
When"  lie  first  came  here,  he  made  a  claim  to  a  tract 
of  land  in  Malugin's  Grove,  and  at  once  erected 
his  pioneer  home,  the  typical  log  cabin  of  the  olden 
days  when  Illinois  was  a  frontier  State.  He  split 
shakes  to  cover  the  roof,  made  a  puncheon  floor, 
and  constructed  a  chimney  of  mud  and  sticks,  upon 
a  stone  foundation.  When  the  postottice  was  es- 
tablished at  Malugin's  Grove,  it  was  placed  in  his 
charge,  and  he  is  known  in  the  history  of  the 
county  as  one  of  the  first  Postmasters  appointed 
within  its  limits. 

Mr.  Christiance  was  first  married  sixty-one  years 
ago,  in  the  year  1831,  to  Caroline  Barhydt,  a  na- 
tive of  Schenectady  County,  N.  Y.  She  died  in 
1871,  after  a  married  life  of  forty  years.  Our  sub- 
ject has  five  children  living  of  that  marriage: 
Cornelius,  whose  birthplace  is  at  Malugin's  Grove, 
and  who  was  probably  tfie  first  white  child  born 
in  the  county;  George,  James,  Sarah  and  Caroline. 
The  second  marriage  of  Mr.  Christiance,  which 
took  place  in  1876,  was  to  Miss  Rosaline  A.  Elkins, 
a  native  of  Warsaw,  Wyoming  County,  N.  Y.,  and 
a  daughter  of  William  S.  Elkins,  who  was  born  in 
Vermont.  His  father,  Charles  A.  Elkins,  is  sup- 
posed to  have  been  a  native  of  the  Green  Moun- 
tain State  also,  and  he  went  from  there  to  the  wilds 
of  Genesee  County,  and  settled  in  that  part  of  it 
now  known  as  Wyoming  County,  becoming  a  pio- 
neer of  the  town  of  Perry,  where  he  followed  his 
occupation  as  a  cooper  until  his  demise.  The  fa- 
ther of  Mrs.  Christiance  learned  the  trade  of  a 
pump-maker,  and  carried  it  on  in  Perry  until  18f>4, 
when  lie  came  to  Illinois  to  spend  the  remainder  of 


504 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


his  life  in  this  State.  He  resided  at  Batavia,  Kane 
County,  a  few  years,  and  then  removed  to  Mendota, 
where  he  manufactured  pumps  until  his  earthly  ca- 
reer was  closed  in  death.  Th«  maiden  name  of  his 
wife  was  Betsy  J.  Nevins.  She  was  born  in  Ver- 
mont to  John  and  Susan  Nevins,  and  died  at 
Perry,  N.  Y. 


JOHN  LAWRENCE,  who  is  numbered  among 
the  early  settlers  of  Lee  County  of  1840, 
was  a  well-to-do  farmer  residing  on  section 
27,  Palmyra  Township.  His  life  was  a 
busy  and  useful  one  and  its  record,  we  feel  assured, 
will  prove  of  interest  to  many  of  our  readers.  He 
was  born  in  the  town  of  Duretfa,  Madison  County, 
N.  Y.,  Januar}'  10,  1814,  and  was  of  English  de- 
scent. His  grandfather,  .John  Lawrence,  lived  and 
died  in  the  Empire  State,  where  were  born  unto 
him  and  his  wife  several  children, among  the  num- 
ber Lawrence,  the  father  of  our  subject.  He  was 
born  in  Dutchess  County,  where  in  the  usual 
manner  of  farmer  lads  he  was  reared  to  manhood. 
There  he  also  wedded  Miss  Mary  De  Loan,  also  a 
native  of  that  county,  and  of  High  Dutch  descent. 
After  their  marriage  they  removed  to  Madison 
County,  N.  Y.,  where  as  farming  people  they  re- 
sided for  some  years.  Mr.  Lawrence  was  aeci- 
dently  killed,  while  moving  a  house,  at  the  age  of 
fifty.  His  widow  and  her  children  subsequently 
came  to  the  West  and  cast  their  lot  with  the  early 
settlers  of  Lee  County,  111.,  where  the  mother  died 
at  the  age  of  seventy  years.  She  was  a  sincere 
Christian  woman,  who  held  membership  with  the 
Baptist  Church  and  her  teachings  left  their  impress 
on  her  children.  Only  two  of  the  family  are  yet 
living:  our  subject  and  his  sister  Rachel,  who,now 
nearly  eighty  years  of  age,  is  living  in  Jordan 
Township,  Whiteside  County,  where  her  husband, 
John  Thompson,  engaged  in  farming  until  his 
death. 

We  now  take  up  the  personal  history  of  Mr. 
Lawrence,  who  spent  his  boyhood  days  upon  his 
father's  farm  and  in  his  youth  learned  the  trade  of 
a  shoemaker,  although  he  has  never  followed  it  for 


a  livelihood.  He  came  to  Illinois  a  single  man  and 
here  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Elizabeth 
Rodgers,  who  was  born  in  Dutchess  County, 
;  N.  Y.,  but  spent  the  days  of  her  maiden- 
j  hood,  until  coming  to  Illinois,  in  the  Prov- 
ince of  Ontario,  Canada.  At  the  age  of 
sixty  she  was  called  to  her  final  rest,  dying  at 
her  home  in  Palmyra  Township  at  the  age  of 
seventy-three,  in  the  faith  of  the  Baptist  Church, 
of  which  she  was  a  member. 

Mr.  I^awrence  was  again  married,  his  second 
union  being  with  Mi-s.  Mary  Mason,  nee  Parks, 
who  was  born  in  the  P^mpire  State,  July  24.  1833, 
and  when  three  years  old  was  brought  to  Lee 
Count}'  by  her  parents,  Hiram  and  Martha  (Moon) 
Parks,  both  of  whom  were  natives  of  Vermont 
and  descended  from  early  New  England  families. 
In  Franklin  County  they  were  married  and  lived 
upon  a  farm  until  after  the  birth  of  two  of  their 
children,  when  they  emigrated  Westward,  locating 
on  Government  land  in  Palmyra  Township,  this 
county.  Mr.  Parks  there  improved  a  good  farm, 
which  he  made  his  home  until  his  death  in  1883, 
at  the  age  of  seventy-five  years.  In  religious  be- 
lief he  was  a  Baptist  and  in  political  sentiment  a 
Republican.  Mrs.  Parks  is  yet  living,  and  although 
now  eighty-three  years  of  age,  is  still  well  pre- 
served. She,  too,  is  a  member  of  the  Baptist  Church, 
and  her  home  is  with  her  daughter,  Mrs.  Lawrence. 
It  was  in  1851,  that  Mary  Parks,  in  Palmyra  Town- 
ship, became  the  wife  of  Rodney  Mason,  a  native 
of  New  York,  who  was  brought  by  his  parents  to 
Illinois  when  a  youth.  He  made  farming  his  life 
work  and  continued  that  occupation  until  called 
to  the  home  beyond  at  the  age  of  forty-four  years. 
He  was  a  hard-working  man,  upright  and  honor- 
able in  all  his  dealings  and  left  to  his  children  an 
untarnished  name.  Blanche,  the  daughter  of  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Mason,  is  now  the  wife  of  A.  D.  Chap- 
man; and  Ellis,  the  son,  who  wedded  May  Reed,  is 
now  living  in  Northwestern  Iowa. 

Fifty  years  have  passed  away  since  John  Law- 
rence came  to  this  county,  with  the  history  of 
which  he  has  since  been  prominently  identified. 
He  aided  largely  in  its  growth  and  development, 
watched  with  interest  its  progress  and  ever  gave 
his  support  to  those  interests  calculated  to  benefit 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


he  community  or  promote  the  general  welfare.  In 
>olitics  lie  was  a  Republican.  Having  lived  an  up- 
ight  life — a  life  above  reproach — he  certainly  de- 
•erves  a  representation  among  the  honored  pio- 
icers,  leading  business  men  and  best  citizens  of  his 
idopted  county.  He  departed  this  life  September 
-'6,  18!)1,  leaving  many  warm  friends  to  mourn  his 

OSS. 


aHAHLES  F.  FURLKY,  one  of  the  respected 
citizens,  progressive  farmers  and  extensive 
stock-raisers  of  Palmyra  Township,  residing 
m  section  5,  is  a  native  of  Washington  C'ounty, 
tfd.  His  grandfather,  William  Furley,  was  of  Eng- 
ish  extraction,  and  lived  and  died  in  Pennsylvania, 
icar  Chambersburg.  He  was  a  man  of  remarkable 
•igor,  seeming  to  possess  an  iron  constitution,  and 
cached  the  advanced  age  of  seventy-four  years. 
Ie  married  Miss  Susan  Snook,  who  was  born  in 
Maryland,  of  German  parentage,  and  died  in  Cham- 
lersburg,  Pa.,  at  the  age  of  eighty  years,  some  time 
fter  the  death  of  her  husband.  Their  son,  James 
V.,  was  the  father  of  our  subject.  In  Maryland, 
iis  native  State,  he  was*reared  to  manhood,  and  in 
lie  Mexican  War  he  served  his  country  as  one  of 
ts  soldiers.  Possessing  a  mechanical  turn  of  mind, 
ie  learned  the  trade  of  carriage-making  and  located 
t  Gettysburg,  Pa.,  where  he  carried  on  business 
or  some  years  in  that  line.  lie  afterward  engaged 
xtensively  in  stock-dealing,  and  at  the  same  time 
>'as  engaged  in  making  chains,  quite  a  prominent 
ndustry  at  that  time,  but  is  now  living  a  retired 
fe  in  Polo,  111.,  where  he  located  about  1887.  He 
<  now  sixty-nine  -years  of  age.  His  wife,  whose 
naiden  name  was  Mary  J.  Black,  is  also  well  ad- 
anced  in  years,  being  sixty-three  years  old.  Her 
imily  is  noted  for  longevity.  Her  father,  Fred- 
rick A.  Black,  is  still  living  in  Frederick  County, 
Id.,  and  although  he  is  now  eighty-eight  years 
f  age,  is  still  hale  and  hearty,  and  can  climb  the 
lountains  of  that  region  with  comparative  ease, 
lis  wife  died  of  dropsy  a  number  of  years  ago. 
Ie  is  now  married  to  his  third  wife.  In  a  family 


of  nine  children,  of  whom  three  sons  and  five 
daughters  are  yet  living,  Charles  Furley  is  the  sec- 
ond in  order  of  birth.  In  the  county  of  his  nativ- 
ity his  education  was  acquired,  and  at  the  age  of 
eighteen  he  there  learned  the  trade  of  a  chain-maker 
and  blacksmithing  and  coach-making,  also  did  gen- 
eral supply  work.  On  coming  to  Illinois  in  1871, 
he  established  a  smithy  in  Prairie ville,  which  he 
carried  on  for  some  years  in  connection  with  farm- 
ing. 

As  a  companion  on  life's  journey,  Mr.  Furley 
chose  Miss  Sarah  II.  Harvey,  their  union  being  cel- 
ebrated in  Carroll  County,  on  the  21st  of  April, 
1873,  where  the  lady  was  born  in  1854.  Liberal 
educational  advantages  were  afforded  her,  and  she 
has  a  cultured  mind  and  many  accomplishments. 
Her  parents.  William  and  Permelia  (Green)  Harvey, 
were  natives  of  Indiana,  who  came  to  Illinois  after 
their  marriage,  and  were  among  the  early  settlers 
of  Carroll  County,  where  the  father  developed  a 
farm  from  raw  land  that  he  had  procured  from  the 
Government.  They  spent  their  remaining  days 
thereon,  and  both  died  in  middle  life.  During  her 
maidenhood  Mrs-  Furley  engaged  in  teaching,  and 
met  with  excellent  success  in  that  undertaking. 
She  is  now  Postmistress  of  Prairieville,  to  whicli 
position  she  was  appointed  by  President  Cleveland. 
Her  predecessor  was  her  husband,  who  is  a  Repub- 
lican in  politics,  while  she  is  a  Democrat  in  politi- 
cal views.  Mr.  Furley  has  also  held  other  local 
offices,  has  been  Chairman  of  the  Republican  Com- 
mittee and  takes  an  active  interest  in  the  success  of 
his  party,  doing  all  in  his  power  to  promote  its 
welfare.  Himself  and  wife  are  numbered  among  the 
best  people  of  the  township,  and  Guy,  their  only 
child,  is  an  intelligent  and  well  educated  young 
man,  and  is  now  a  student  at  the  Normal  School, 
in  Dixon. 

Mr.  Furley  now  devotes  much  of  his  attention 
to  stock-raising.  His  farm  is  a  valuable  property, 
well  improved  with  good  buildings,  and  the  neat 
appearance  of  the  place  indicates  the  thrift  and 
enterprise  of  the  owner.  He  also  owns  thirty-three 
acres  of  fine  land  adjoining  the  corporation  limits 
of  Prairieville,  and  this  is  also  highly  improved. 
As  a  stock-raiser,  he  has  a  reputation  which  any  in 
that  line  might  well  envy.  Mr.  Furley  is  the  owner 


506 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


of  "Harold  Ch  ief ,"  which  is  a  half-brother  to  "Maud 
S.,"and  also  has  upon  his  farm  twenty-five  head  of 
highly  bred  horses.  lie  has  now  made  his  home  in 
Palmyra  Township  for  nineteen  years,  and  during 
that  period  his  life  has  been  such  as  to  win  him 
the  confidence  of  those  with  whom  business  rela- 
tions have  brought  him  in  contact,  and  the  warm 
personal  regard  of  many  friends. 


jl^UGH  DUFFY  has  shown  marked  ability  as 
lf)r  a  farmer  by  transforming  the  one  hundred 
vbg?  and  thirty-eight  acres  of  land  now  included 
\jjg)  in  his  homestead,  situated  on  section  15, 
Nelson  Township,  into  a  fruitful,  highly  cultivated 
farm,  which  is  amply  supplied  with  modern  im- 
provements and  all  the  appliances  and  machinery 
for  facilitating  agricultural  labors.  Mr.  Duffy  de- 
votes his  farm  partly  to  the  dairy  business,  which 
is  quite  an  important  source  of  income,  and  partly 
to  raising  grain  and  stock,  he  has  also  for  many 
years  conducted  a  lucrative  business  as  a  well- 
•  digger. 

Our  subject  was  born  in  October,  1829,  in  County 
Monaghan,  Ireland,  in  the  parish  of  Anna  Mullen, 
in  the  town  of  Carntree,  his  birthplace  being 
within  a  mile  of  the  ancestral  home  of  Gen.  Jack- 
son's father  and  grandfather.  The  parents  of  our 
subject,  Philip  and  Ann  (Coyle)  Duffy,  were  life- 
long residents  of  that  Irish  county  and  were  de- 
scendants of  the  old  Celtic  stock.  Both  died  when 
comparatively  young,  his  death  occurring  in  1840, 
at  the  age  of  forty  years,  and  hers  at  the  age  of 
thirty-five  years.  They  were  members  of  the 
Catholic  Church  and  were  true  Christian  people, 
who  were  greatly  respected  by  their  neighbors. 
The  father  was  a  farmer  by  occupation. 

Our  subject  was  but  ten  years  old  when  his 
mother  died,  and  only  eleven  years  of  age  when 
his  father  closed  iiis  eyes  in  death.  This  sad  be- 
reavement left  him  dependent  on  his  own  resources 
for  a  livelihood.  Fortunately,  the  little  Irish  lad 
was  made  of  good  stuff  that  could  withstand  the 
buffets  of  the  world.  He  had  a  resolute  will,  an 
unfaltering  courage  and  a  cheerful,  hopeful  dispo- 


sition. He  was  active  and  health}',  had  been  trained 
to  industrious  habits,  notwithstanding  his  youth- 
fulness,  and  was  ready  at  all  times  to  perform  any 
kind  of  honest  labor.  To  a  mind  like  his,  the 
United  States  presented  many  attractions,  and  in 
1847  he  carried  out  his  determination  to  emigrate 
to  this  country,  sailing  from  Liverpool  March  22, 
in  the  "Wisconsin,"  which  was  commanded  by 
Capt.  Mumford.  He  landed  in  the  city  of  New 
York  on  the  20th  of  April,  after  an  unusually  quick 
passage  for  those  times.  The  next  two  years  of 
his  life  were  passed  at  Warwick,  R.  I.,  and  he  then 
came  Westward  in  the  year  1849,  and  has  since 
lived  in  Lee  County.  He  was  well  equipped  for 
the  pioneer  life  of  those  days,  as  we  have  seen,  and 
has  made  his  mark  as  a  pioneer  to  whom  all  honor 
is  due.  He  has  not  only  witnessed  the  great 
changes  that  have  taken  place  since  he  first  set 
foot  on  this  soil,  but  he  has  had  a  hand  in  bringing 
about  the  gradual  development  of  the  county  into 
a  rich  and  highly  improved  agricultuial  center. 

In  1851  Mr.  Duffy  made  his  first  purchase  of 
land,  to  which  he  has  since  added  other  land.  The 
fine  farm  that  he  now  owns  is  the  result  of  his  un- 
tiring labors.  He  has  erected  a  substantial,  com- 
modious barn,  fitting  it  up  with  all  the  conven- 
iences in  general  use  to-day,  and  he  has  put  up 
other  well-arranged  buildings.  Together  with  his 
farming  he  carries  on  quite  an  extensive  dairy 
business,  using  thirty  cows  for  the  purpose.  For 
many  years  he  has  been  a  well-digger,  having  all 
the  necessary  machinery,  and  has  dug  over  one 
hundred  deep  wells.  As  in  all  things  else,  Mr. 
Duffy  is  independent  in  politics,  having  a  mind  of 
his  own,  and  is  bound  by  no  party  ties.  He  is  a 
thoroughly  good  citizen,  loyal  in  thought  and  act 
to  his  adopted  country.  His  fellow-townsmen  al- 
wa3rs  find  him  genial  and  obliging  in  his  inter- 
course with  them  and  fair  in  his  dealings.  The 
religion  of  his  ancestors  is  dear  to  him,  and  he  and 
his  family  are  Catholics. 

The  marriage  of  our  subject  with  Miss  Isabel 
Hammill  was  solemnized  at  Dixon.  Mrs.  Duffy  was 
born  ;md  reared  in  the  same  county  where  her  hus- 
band had  his  birth.  Her  parents,  Patrick  and  Cath- 
erine (Dailey)  Hammill  lived  and  died  in  Ireland, 
her  father  attaining  the  venerable  age  of  ninety- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


509 


seven  years,  while  her  mother  was  in  the  prime  of 
life  when  her  death  occurred.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Duffy 
have  experienced  sorrow  in  their  wedded  life  in 
the  death  of  six  of  their  children,  all  dying  quite 
young,  who  were  named  Mary  A.,  Philip,  Patrick, 
Katie.  IsaM  and  Frank.  The  children  spared  to 
bless  and  cheer  their  declining  years  are  John, 
Alice,  Patrick  and  Henry.  John,  who  works  in  the 
condensed  milk  factory  at  Dixon,  married  Miss 
Kate  McManus.  Mrs.  Duffy  departed  this  life  at 
her  home  in  Nelson  Township,  December  28, 1891, 
aged  sixty-three  years. 


eOLLINS  DYSART,  a  representative  of  a 
noted  pioneer  family,  is  one  of  the  fore- 
.  most  native-born  sons  of  Lee  County,  and 
belongs  to  the  number  who  are  to-day  among  its 
most  enlightened  and  enterprising  citizens,  and 
are  prominent  in  various  walks  of  life.  He  is  one 
of  the  most  successful  of  the  young  farmers  and 
stock-raisers  of  this  part  of  Illinois,  and  has  a  large 
and  finely  appointed  farm  on  sections  7  and  8, 
Nachusa  Township,  stocked  with  horses,  cattle  and 
swine  of  standard  breeds.  He  is  serving  his  first 
term  as  a  member  of  the  Lee  County  Board  of 
Supervisors,  and  as  an  incumbent  of  this  important 
office  displays  an  aptitude  for  public  life  that 
makes  him  a  valuable  civic  official. 

Our  subject  was  born  on  the  farm  on  which  he 
makes  his  home,  November  7,  1858.  He  is  a  son 
of  Philip  Dysart,  who  lias  long  been  an  honored 
citizen  of  this  county,  and  is  now  living  in  retire- 
ment in  the  city  of  Dixon,  in  his  pleasant  home 
at  No.  303  West  Third  Street.  His  native  place  is 
in  Huntingdon  Co.,  Pa.,  and  he  is  a  son  of  James 
Dysart.  who  was  ;i  Pennsylvanian  by  birth,  and 
the  son  of  an  Irishman,  who  was  of  Scotch-Irish 
blood,  and  came  from  one  of  the  leading  families 
of  the  North  of  Ireland.  James  Dysart  grew  to 
maturity  in  Fail-field  County,  his  native  State. 
and  in  early  manhood  moved  to  Huntingdon 
County,  whence  he  came  to  Illinois  in  the  '40s,  and 
entered  large  tracts  of  land  in  this  county,  which 


sons.  He  became  a  prominent  and  wealthy  pioneer 
of  this  section,  and  died  here  when  an  old  man. 

Philip  Dysart  lived  in  his  native  county  for 
some  years  after  attaining  man's  estate,  and  then 
came  to  Lee  County  in  1852.  He  did  not  at  the 
time  settle  on  the  farm  on  sections  7  and  8,  Na- 
chusa Township,  taken  by  his  father  some  years 
before,  but  in  1855  located  thereon  and  broke  the 
first  sod  of  its  fertile  soil.  With  characteristic 
energy  he  worked  to  develop  it  into  a  good  farm, 
and  soon  had  a  good  set  of  farm  buildings  erected 
and  everything  about  the  place  in  good  order.  He 
made  it  his  home  until  1883,  when  he  left  it  in 
charge  of  his  son  and  retired  to  Dixon. 

After  coming  to  this  county,  Mr.  Dysart  was 
married  to  Miss  Ruth  Igou,  who  is,  like  himself,  a 
native  of  Pennsylvania,  born  in  Blair  County. 
After  the  death  of  her  mother,  in  that  State,  the 
family  came  to  Illinois,  and  the  father,  Jacob 
Igou,  died  in  1879  in  the  town  of  Lamoille,  at  the 
home  of  his  son.  Mrs.  Dysart  was  young  when 
she  came  to  Illinois,  and  is  the  only  surviving 
member  of  the  family.  Both  she  and  her  husband 
are  well  and  active,  retaining  much  of  their  old- 
time  vigor,  and  may  be  said  to  be  "growing  old 
gracefully."  They  are  prominent  in  social  circles, 
having  many  friends  and  acquaintances,  who  have 
teen  attracted  to  them  by  the  genuine  worth  of 
their  characters. 

Collins  Dysart  is  the  eldest  of  the  three  children 
born  to  his  parents,  and  he  and  Clyda  E..  who  is 
with  her  parents  in  Dixon,  are  the  only  survivors. 
Their  sister  Ina,  former  wife  of  C.  B.  Crawford, 
Postmaster  at  Nachusa,  died  in  September,  1889, 
aged  twenty-nine  years.  Our  subject  lias  always 
lived  on  the  farm  that  is  now  his.  1  n  the  local 
public  schools  he  laid  the  foundation  of  a  sound 
education,  which  was  extended  at  Mt.  Morris 
Seminary  and  Cornell  College,  Mt.  Vernon,  Iowa, 
which  lie  attended  sonic  two  years.  He  also  had 
a  good  training  in  all  that  pertains  to  his  calling, 
and  not  only  does  he  keep  well  abreast  of  the 
times  in  regard  to  current  events  and  all  things 
that  are  of  interest  to  an  intelligent,  inquiring 
mind,  but  he  keeps  himself  well  informed  as  to  the 
progress  of  agriculture  in  regard  to  new  methods 


24 


510 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


Although  having  had  control  of  this  farm  since 
1880,  Mr.  Dysart  did  not  purchase  it  until  about 
1891.  Its  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of 
choice  farming  land  are  under  a  high  state  of  cul- 
tivation, and  its  improvements  rank  with  the  best 
in  the  neighborhood.  Mr.  Dysart  raises  stock  ex- 
tensively, and  has  a  fancy  for  thoroughbreds.  In 
cattle,  he  has  a  fine  herd  of  Polled  Aber- 
deen Angus  of  high  grade.  He  is  a  young  man  of 
much  force  and  independence  of  character,  frank 
and  manly  withal,  and  popular  with  his  fellow-citi- 
zens. He  is  an  ardent  Republican  in  his  politics, 
and,  as  before  mentioned,  is  identified  with  the 
public  life  of  his  native  county  as  a  member  of  its 
board  of  Supervisors,  representing  Nachusa  County- 

Our  subject  was  married  in  Rock  Island  County, 
near  Milan,  to  Miss  Ida  M.  Johnson,  a  daughter 
of  Mathew  T.  and  Helen  E.  (McClean)  Johnson. 
Her  parents  are  natives  of  New  York,  born  and 
reared  near  Ithaca,  and  after  marriage  they  came 
to  this  State.  They  arc  now  well-to-do  citizens  of 
Rock  Island  County,  where  they  still  make  their 
home  on  the  farm  that  they  have  improved  near 
Milan.  In  that  home  Mrs.  Dysart  was  born  April 
25,  1860.  She  was  finely  educated  at  Cornell  Col- 
lege, Mt.  Vernon,  Iowa.  She  is  a  member  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  is  earnestly 
interested  in  its  progress.  The  pleasant  household 
circle  of  our  subject  and  his  amiable  wife  is 
completed  by  their  two  children,  to  whom  they 
have  given  the  names  of  Ruth  H.  and  George  II. 

The  attention  of  the  reader  is  invited  to  the 
lithographic  portrait  of  Mr.  Dysart,  represented 
on  an  accompanying  page. 

V *=EE*==* /' 


PINLEY  McMARTIN,  one  of  the  prominent 
and  representative  citizens  of  Dixon,  doing 
business  as  a  money  broker  and  real -estate 
agent,  has  been  identified  with  the  history  of  the 
community   since    1864,  and   taken    a    prominent 
part  in  the  upbuilding  and  progress  of    the    town 
and  county. 

Mr.  McMartin   was  born  in  Amsterdam,  Mont- 


gomery County,  N.  Y.,  May  22,  1819,  and  is  of 
Scotch  descent.  His  grandfather  was  a  Scotchman, 
who  spent  his  entire  life  in  his  native  land,  and 
was  a  prominent  citizen  of  the  community  where 
he  resided.  His  son,  Finley  McMartin,  the  father 
of  our  subject,  was  reared  to  manhood  in  Scotland, 
and  acquired  a  military  education.  He  became 
Captain  of  a  company  of  English  soldiers,  and  was 
sent  to  irritate  and  keep  in  subjection  the  Irish, 
but  when  he  found  out  what  would  be  required  of 
him  he  would  not  consent  to  do  his  duty  as  was 
expected  by  the  English  peers,  and  so  resigned. 
He  then  came  to  the  United  States  and  settled 
on  a  farm  near  Amsterdam,  N.  Y.,  where  he  lived 
for  many  years,  his  death  occurring  at  the  age  of 
sixty.  He  had  married  a  Scottish  lady,  Henrietta 
Bell,  daughter  of  a  prominent  Presbyterian  minis- 
ter, and  she,  too,  died  at  the  old  home  in  Amster- 
dam in  1851,  a  few  years  after  her  husband's 
death,  being  then  seventy-five  years  of  age.  Both 
were  members  of  the  Scotch  Associate  Reformed 
Church,  and  in  their  lives  exemplified  their  re- 
ligion. Three  of  their  children  are  yet  living : 
Finley,  of  this  sketch;  John,  of  Amsterdam,  N.  Y.; 
and  Mrs.  Ayers,  of  Denver,  Col. 

Our  subject  was  one  of  the  self-made  men  of 
this  county.  He  began  life  for  himself  at  the 
early  age  of  fourteen  years,  at  which  time  he 
learned  the  trade  of  a  woolen  manufacturer,  work- 
ing at  that  industry  and  at  carpet  weaving  until 
1846,  when  with  a  friend  he  embarked  in  business 
as  a  photographer,  making  pictures  by  the  old 
process  known  as  daguerreotype.  They  did  busi- 
ness in  Virginia  for  some  time,  after  which  Mr. 
McMartin  went  to  Oxford,  Ohio,  and  entered  the 
employ  of  P.  P.  Roots,  a  cloth  manufacturer. 
After  a  few  months  he  was  assigned  to  the  man- 
agement of  Mr.  Roots'  mill  at  Connersville,  Ind., 
where  he  was  engaged  in  buying  wool  and  selling 
the  finished  cloth.  Subsequently  he  was  employed 
in  a  woolen  mill  in  Dayton,  Ohio,  until  December, 
1848,  when  he  returned  to  his  native  city,  and 
afterward  went  to  New  York.  With  the  *  1,500 
which  he  had  saved  from  his  earnings  in  former 
years,  he  now  purchased  goods,  which  he  loaded 
on  a  sailing  vessel,  and  on  the  8th  of  March,  1849, 
started  for  San  Francisco,  Cal.,  by  the  Cape  Horn 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


511 


route.  The  vessel  reached  its  destination  in  Sep- 
tember. As  the  sailors  deserted  the  ship,  Mr. 
McMartin  helped  to  discharge  the  cargo.  The 
Western  metropolis  was  then  a  town  composed  of 
adobe  houses  and  cabins  on  stilts.  It  was  most 
difficult  in  those  days  to  get  goods  transferred 
from  one  place  to  another.  They  transferred  the 
cargo  to  another  l>oat  and  took  it  up  to  Sacramento. 
Finally  he  secured  a  four-horse  team  and  a  por- 
tion of  his  stock  was  taken  to  Auburn.  That 
which  could  not  be  loaded  onto  the  wagon  was 
left  in  tents  in  San  Francisco,  and  a  fire  breaking 
out,  all  was  destroyed.  The  party  with  which  Mr. 
McMartin  had  come,  opened  up  a  mine  in  that 
locality,  where  they  worked  until  the  following 
spring,  and  then  went  up  the  Tuba  River,  where 
our  subject  engaged  in  gold  digging  until  he  had 
acquired  quite  a  little  fortune.  After  eighteen 
months  spent  in  the  mines,  he  returned  to  New 
York  City  by  way  of  the  Isthmus  route  in  1851, 
and  thence  went  to  his  old  home  in  Amster- 
dam. On  the  return  trip  they  had  stopped  in 
Havana,  Cuba,  where  they  celebrated  the  first 
day  of  the  year  1852. 

Mr.  McMartin  soon  after  again  traveled  West- 
ward, but  his  journey  was  not  of  such  length 
as  that  which  he  had  just  made.  In  1853  he 
located  in  Washington  County,  Iowa,  where, 
with  the  gold  he  had  dug  in  California,  he  built 
a  flouring  and  saw  mill  on  Skunk  River,  and 
continued  its  operation  for  nine  years.  During 
that  time,  in  Lancaster,  Iowa,  he  was  united  in 
marriage  with  Miss  Martha  E.  Russell,  a  native  of 
Greenville,  Tenn.,  and  a  daughter  of  Thomas  and 
Nancy  (Galbraith)  Russell,  the  former  born  in 
Scotland  and  the  latter  in  Ireland.  Both  were 
members  of  the  old  Presbyterian  Church,  with 
which  their  ancestors  had  been  connected  for  long 
years.  During  youth  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Russell  had 
come  to  this  country  and  were  married  in  Tennes- 
see, where  a  family  of  children  were  born  unto 
them.  Removing  to  Illinois,  they  located  in  Hen- 
derson County,  and  some  years  later  went  to 
Keokuk  County,  Iowa.  Both  died  in  Brighton, 
that  State.  Mr.  Russell  at  the  age  of  fifty-eight 
years,  and  his  wife  when  seventy-five  years  of  age. 
Of  their  children,  four  are  yet  living,  namely: 


Mrs.  Rosanna  Kemp, a  widow,  now  living  in  Iowa; 
William  H.,  a  resident  farmer  of  Washington 
County,  Neb.;  Martha,  wife  of  our  subject;  and 
Thomas,  a  fruit-grower  of  California. 

Unto  Mr.  and  Mrs.  McMartin  were  born  five 
children,  but  only  two  are  now  living:  Thomas 
B.,  who  married  Jennie  Bowen  and  is  living  in 
Sioux  Falls,  S.  Dak.,  where  he  is  doing  an  exten- 
sive business;  and  Ellie  B.,  a  well-educated  and 
accomplished  young  lady,  at  home.  Clementine 
died  at  the  age  of  twenty-five  years,  leaving  a 
husband  to  mourn  her  loss;  Carrie  died  at  the  age 
of  twenty-three  years;  and  Charles  died  in  infancy. 

Mr.  McMartin  is  a  supporter  of  Republican 
principles,  and  his  wife  is  a  member  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church.  In  his  business  affairs  he  has 
prospered,  and  is  now  numbered  among  the  sub- 
stantial citizens  of  Dixon.  For  some  years  he  has 
carried  on  operations  as  a  money  broker,  and  is 
now  also  engaged  as  a  real-estate  dealer.  He 
owns  three  good  dwellings  on  Sixth  Street  near 
Peoria  Street,  and  two  on  Third  Street,  together 
with  his  own  pleasant  and  commodious  residence 
situated  at  the  corner  of  Everett  and  Wilkinson 
Streets.  He  also  built  in  Dixon  a  woolen  factory 
and  a  flouring  mill,  both  of  which  he  carried  on  for 
some  years.  As  before  stated,  he  has  been  closely 
connected  with  the  growth  and  upbuilding  of 
Dixon,  and  is  ranked  among  her  progressive  busi- 
ness men  and  best  citizens. 


BENJAMIN  F.  ELLSWORTH  is  the  son  of 
an  early  settler  of  this  county,  and  is  him- 
self one  of  its  pioneers  who  has  done  no 
small  share  of  the  work  of  development 
that  lias  made  this  one  of  the  best  improved  agri- 
cultural regions  of  Northern  Illinois.  His  farming 
interests  are  located  in  Willow  Creek  Township, 
and  his  farm,  with  its  well.tilled  fields  and  sub- 
stantial buildings,  is  comparable  with  the  best  in 
this  section. 

Our  subject  comes  of  good  old  New  England 
stock,  and  is  a  native  of  that  part  of  the  country, 
Pownal.  I5eiiningt<>n  County.  Vt.,  his  birthplace. 


512 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


and  January  2,  1826,  the  date  of  his  birth.  His 
father,  Isaac  C.  Ellsworth,  is  supposed  to  have  been 
horn  in  the  same  town,  and  he  was  a  son  of  one  of 
the  early  settlers  of  that  county,  James  Ellsworth, 
who  was  a  fanner.  He  spent  the  latter  part  of  his 
life  in  the  State  of  New  York. 

Isaac  Ellsworth  learned  the  trade  of  a  hatter 
when  he  was  young,  and  followed  that  occupation 
in  Pownal.  In  1842  he  removed  to  Ohio,  taking 
with  him  his  wife  and  six  children,  traveling  by 
team  to  Troy,  by  Erie  Canal  to  Buffalo,  by  Lake 
Erie  to  Cleveland,  and  thence  by  team  to  Parkman, 
in  Geauga  County.  lie  bought  a  farm  near  Park- 
man, and  carried  it  on  until  1846,  when  he  sold  it, 
and  again  started  out  into  the  world,  having  de- 
cided to  establish  a  new  home  in  the  Prairie  State 
and  take  advantage  of  its  wondrously  fertile  soil. 
He  came  to  his  destination  by  the  way  of  the 
lakes  to  Chicago,  and  from  that  city  with  a  team  to 
Paw  Paw.  He  invested  in  a  tract  of  Government 
land  two  miles  north  of  Paw  Paw,  and  resided 
thereon  many  years,  devoting  himself  to  agricult- 
ure. When  the  infirmities  of  age  came  upon  him 
he  went  to  live  with  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Butler,  at 
Malugin's  Grove,  and  she  cared  for  him  until  he 
closed  his  eyes  in  death.  The  maiden  name  of  his 
wife  was  Theodosia  Billings.  She  was  born  in 
Bennington  County,  Vt.,  and  died  on  the  home 
farm  near  Paw  Paw  in  1850.  She  was  the  mother 
of  seven  children. 

Our  subject  passed  his  early  life  amid  the  pleas- 
ant scenes  of  his  birth,  and  when  his  parents  re- 
moved to  Ohio  he  accompanied  them,  and  con- 
tinued with  them  until  the  fall  of  1845.  In  the 
month  of  September  of  that  year,  he  started  with 
an  ox-team  to  perform  the  tiresome  journey  to 
Illinois,  where  he  had  determined  to  try  life.  He 
was  a  month  on  the  way  from  the  time  of  his  set- 
ting forth  until  his  arrival  at  Sugar  Grove,  in 
Kane  County,  where  he  spent  the  winter.  In  the 
following  spring  he  came  to  Lee  County,  which  he 
found  to  be  little  more  than  a  wilderness,  witli  but 
few  white  inhabitants;  the  most  of  the  land  owned 
by  the  Government  and  for  sale  at  $1.25  an  acre; 
deer  and  other  wild  animals  roaming  where  are 
now  fruitful  farms,  and  there  were  no  railways  or 
other  means  of  communication  with  the  outr-ide 


world,  except  the  timber,  and  Chicago,  many  miles 
distant,  was  for  some  years  the  nearest  market  and 
depot  for  supplies. 

Mr.  Ellsworth  farmed  with  his  father  until  his 
marriage,  and  then  bought  a  farm  joining  the  old 
homestead.  In  the  fall  of  1859  he  sold  his  prop- 
erty in  this  county,  and  went  to  Kansas,  making 
an  overland  journey.  He  bought  land  in  Miami 
County,  but  as  it  was  at  the  time  of  the  border 
troubles,  and  as  he  was  a  well-known  sympathizer 
with  the  anti-slavery  element,  that  territory  was  a 
very  unsafe  abiding  place  for  him,  and  in  1861  he 
wisely  returned  to  Illinois.  After  coming  back  to 
Lee  County  he  worked  his  father-in-law's  farm  for 
a  year,  and  at  the  end  of  that  time  bought  a  farm 
in  Viola  Township.  He  lived  upon  it  until  1865, 
and  then  renting  it  came  to  Willow  Creek  Town- 
ship, and  purchased  a  home  on  section  17.  He  was 
soon  appointed  Postmaster  of  the  Willow  Creek 
Postofflce,  and  acted  in  that  capacity  the  ensuing 
eight  years,  giving  general  satisfaction  to  all  con- 
cerned, and  managing  the  affairs  of  the  office 
promptly,  methodically  and  carefully.  In  1874  he 
bought  another  farm  in  Viola  Township,  and  spent 
a  few  months  in  its  cultivation.  Selling  that  place 
he  again  took  up  his  abode  in  Willow  Creek,  but 
only  for  a  short  time,  as  in  the  spring  of  1875  he 
returned  once  more  to  Viola  Township,  and  again 
purchased  a  farm  within  its  precincts,  which  he  re- 
tained in  his  possession  until  1878,  when  he  sold  it 
and  from  that  time  has  been  a  continuous  resident 
of  Willow  Creek.  In  1879  he  bought  his  present 
farm,  which  comprises  one  hundred  and  thirty-five 
acres  of  land,  neatly  fenced  into  fields  of  con- 
venient size,  amply  supplied  with  buildings  of  a 
good  class,  and  everything  about  the  place  in  good 
order,  betokening  excellent  management. 

In  1857  Mr.  Ellsworth  and  Miss  Maria  Holton 
were  united  in  marriage.  Mrs.  Ellsworth  is,  like 
her  husband,  a  native  of  Vermont,  and  she  is  a 
daughter  of  Wesson  and  Hepsabeth  (Dnrin)  Hol- 
ton. Her  pleasant  wedded  life  with  our  subject 
has  brought  them  two  sons,  Earl  W.,  who  died  at 
the  age  of  six  years  and  Edmund  II.  He  married 
Miss  Carrie  Wagner,  and  they  have  two  children, 
Angie  Leona  and  Gladys. 

Mr.    Ellsworth    has  honorably    discharged    the 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


513 


duties  of  citizenship,  and  in  politics  has  been  an 
unfailing  supporter  of  the  Republican  party  from 
its  very  beginning.  He  is  held  in  genuine  con- 
sideration by  the  entire  community,  as  in  his  ca- 
reer he  has  shown  himself  to  be  a  straightforward, 
right-thinking  man,  always  ready  to  do  another  a 
kindness  and  to  extend  his  help  and  sympathy  to 
all  in  trouble. 

Mrs.  Ellsworth  tells  of  the  time  during  her 
younger  days  when  she,  together  with  the  young- 
sters of  the  neighborhood,  used  to  attend  singing 
school  with  a  wagon  and  ox-team. 


PANIEL  J.  WETHERBEE,  one  of  the  promi- 
nent and  influential  citizens  of  Lee  County, 
who   after   having   followed    a  commercial 
career  for  many  years   is  now  practically  living  a 
retired  life  on  his   farm    on    section    18,   Nachusa 
Township,  dates  his  residence  in  the  county   from 
1854.     Being  both  widely   and    favorably   known 
we  feel  assured  his  sketch  will  prove  of  interest  to 
many  of  our  readers. 

Mr.  Wetherbee  was  born  in  Northfield,  Vt,  in 
1826,  and  is  of  English  and  Welsh  lineage.  His 
paternal  grandfather,  Daniel  Wetherbee,  was  also  a 
native  of  the  Green  Mountain  State,  and  comes  of 
an  old  New  England  family  of  Colonial  days, 
whose  members  were  prominent  figures  during  the 
early  history  of  our  country.  In  the  Revolution- 
ary War  he  aided  the  Colonies  in  throwing  off  the 
yoke  of  British  tyranny.  It  was  in  Reading,  Vt., 
that  he  lived  for  many  years  and  died  at  an  ad- 
vanced age.  His  son,  Rev.  Josiah  Wetherbee, 
father  of  our  subject,  was  reared  on  the  old  home- 
stead farm  near  Reading,  and  acquired  a  good 
practical  education.  He  became  a  prominent  Free- 
will Baptist  and  for  many  years  engaged  in 
preaching  in  Vermont  and  New  Hampshire.  In 
his  latter  years  he  came  to  Illinois  and  died  at  the 
home  of  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Shultz,  of  this  county, 
in  February,  1884,  when  past  the  age  of  ninety- 
one  vi'ars.  l'|>  to  the  last  he  retained  his  physical 
and  mental  faculties  almost  unimpaired.  A  man 
of  superior  intelligence,  he  kept  hiinx'lf  well  in- 


formed and  ever  took  an  active  interest  in  public 
affairs.  He  was  a  warm  friend  to  all  moral  and 
educational  interests  and  in  early  days  was  a 
stanch  Abolitionist,  when  it  almost  cost  a  man  his 
life  to  declare  himself  an  opponent  of  slavery. 
Neither  fear  nor  favor  could  make  him  swerve 
from  his  principles  and  his  steadfastness  of  pur- 
pose won  him  the  high  regard  of  all.  His  wife, 
whose  maiden  name  was  Abigail  Jones,  was  born 
in  Reading,  Vt.,  of  Welsh  descent  and  died  in  the 
old  Granite  State  in  the  summer  of  1854,  at  the 
age  of  seventy  years.  She  too,  was  a  life-long 
member  of  the  Free-will  Baptist  Church,  and  a 
lady  of  many  excellencies  of  character.  The  only 
daughter  of  the  family,  Maria,  wife  of  J.  H. 
Shultz,  died  in  Nachusa  Township.  A  brother  of 
our  subject,  Dr.  I.  J.  Wetherbee,  is  President  of 
the  Dental  College,  of  Boston,  Mass..  and  has  a 
large  practice  in  that  cit)-,  where  he  stands  at  the 
head  of  his  profession. 

Daniel  J.  Wetherbee,  in  New  Hampshire,  mar- 
ried Sarah  A.  Gilman,  a  second  cousin  of  Gen. 
Cass.  For  a  second  wife,  he  chose  Mrs.  Ange- 
line  McDonald,  nee  Zehring,  their  union  being  cele- 
brated in  Ohio.  The  lady  was  born  in  German- 
town,  that  State,  and  is  a  daughter  of  John  and 
Anna  (Suavely)  Zehring,  natives  of  the  Buckeye 
State  and  Pennsylvania,  respectively.  They  were 
married  in  Ohio,  and  Mr.  Zehring  became  a  mer- 
chant of  Germantown,  where  he  did  business  for 
some  years.  He  died  at  au  advanced  age  in  Jersey 
City,  N.  J.,  and  his  widow  is  now  living  in  Middle- 
town,  Ohio,  at  the  age  of  seventy  years.  He  was  a 
great  worker  in  the  Sunday-school  and  lived  an 
honorable,  upright  life,  being  a  Universalist  in 
religious  belief.  His  wife  is  a  member  of  the 
Methodist  Church,  and  is  a  Iad3-  of  prominence  in 
the  community  where  she  makes  her  home. 

It  was  in  1853,  that  Mr.  Wetherbee  came  to  Illi- 
nois and  after  spending  a  winter  in  Elgin  and  one 
summer  in  Princeton,  he  located  in  Grand  Detour. 
He  there  engaged  as  a. commercial  traveler  with  L. 
Andrews,  proprietor  of  the  plow  works  at  that 
place,  witli  whom  he  remained  for  eleven  years, 
traveling  extensively  over  the  Northwest.  lie 
afterward  bwaino  connected  with  the  Moline 
Plow  Company,  of  Moline,  111.,  with  which  he  re- 


514 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


inained  for  more  than  eighteen  years,  having 
under  his  control  a  great  many  of  the  States  both 
West  and  South.  During  that  period  his  head- 
quarters were  in  Moline.  More  than  thirty  years 
of  his  life  have  been  passed  as  a  commercial  trav- 
eler and  probably  no  other  salesman  has  traversed 
so  great  an  amount  of  territory  in  a  given  time. 
He  sold  more  plows  than  any  man  in  the  trade 
and  did  many  hundred  thousand  dollars  worth  of 
business  for  his  employers,  whose  confidence  he 
shared  in  a  remarkable  degree.  It  is  said  that  he 
sold  plows  enough  for  the  Moline  Plow  Company 
to  bridge  the  Atlantic.  At  length,  as  he  was  be- 
coming well  advanced  in  life,  he  resigned  his 
position,  severed  his  connection  with  his  employ- 
ers and  retired  to  private  life. 

Mr.  Wetherbee  and  his  estimable  wife  now  re- 
side on  his  farm  in  Nachusa  Township,  which 
comprises  nearly  three  hundred  acres  of  land.  He 
spends  his  time  in  looking  after  the  interests  of 
his  property.  A  commodious  and  substantial  resi- 
dence is  surrounded  by  beautiful  shade  trees  and  it 
seems  as  though  nature  had  made  this  a  resort  for 
one  who  wished  to  live  retired  amid  the  enjoy- 
ments of  a  country  life.  In  politics,  Mr.  Wether- 
bee  is  a  stanch  Republican.  Himself  and  wife  are 
held  in  the  highest  regard  by  all  who  know  them 
and  move  in  the  best  circles  of  society. 


flL^  ENRY  W.  REMMERS  is  a  farmer  and  stock- 
Ifjl)  raiser  living  on  section  36,  Nelson  Town- 
t*b0r'  ship,  where  he  has  developed  a  very  fine 
tfjjl))  farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of 
land  that  is  exceedingly  fertile,  is  provided  with 
well-built  farm  buildings  that  are  complete  in  their 
arrangements,  and  the  place  is  fully  stocked  with 
cattle,  horses,  and  swine  of  the  best  grades. 

Like  many  another  good  citizen  of  this  country, 
our  subject  is  of  foreign  birth.  He  claims  the  Grand 
Duchy  of  Oldenburg,  in  the  northern  part  of  Ger- 
many, as  the  land  of  his  nativity,  and  he  was  there 
born,  November  16,  1832,  on  the  same  little  farm 
which  had  been  in  the  family  for  some  generations, 
and  had  been  the  birthplace  of  his  father,  M:immi> 


Remmers,  and  also  of  his  grandfather,  Henry  W. 
Remmers.  The  latter,  with  his  wife,  who  was  an 
Oldenburg  lady,  died  in  middle  life.  Both  were 
stanch  Lutherans  in  religion. 

The  father  of  our  subject  carried  on  farming  on 
a  small  scale  on  the  old  family  homestead,  and  was 
doing  well  at  his  calling  when  death  terminated 
his  busy  life  at  the  early  age  of  forty  years. 
He  had  married  Margaretta  Onken,  who  was  also 
a  native  of  Oldenburg,  and  she  too  died  at  the  age 
of  forty  years,  on  the  farm  where  her  entire  wedded 
life  was  passed.  Both  she  and  her  husband  were 
true  to  the  faith  of  their  fathers,  and  were  members 
of  the  Lutheran  Church. 

Our  subject  is  one  of  four  children,  all  of  whom 
are  now  living  in  this  country.  He  grew  to  a  stal- 
wart youth  amid  the  tranquil  scenes  where  he  had 
first  opened  his  eyes  to  the  light  of  day,  and  ob- 
tained a  sound  education  in  the  good  schools  of 
his  native  province.  As  soon  as  he  was  old  enough, 
he  entered  the  German  army,  in  accordance  with 
the  customs  of  his  country,  and  for  two  years  did 
duty  as  a  soldier.  He  heard  much  of  the  United 
States  of  America,  which  possessed  a  great  attrac- 
tion for  him,  as  he  reflected  that  here  was  a  land 
where  he  could  more  surely  make  his  way  to  an  in- 
dependent competency  than  in  the  old  country, 
and  in  the  spring  of  1866  he  emigrated  to  these 
shores,  sailing  from  the  port  of  Bremerhaven,  in 
the  steamship  "Veser."  He  landed  in  New  York  City, 
whence  he  came  to  Dixon,  and  during  the  ensuing 
four  years  was  variously  employed  in  Lee 
County.  At  the  end  of  that  time  he  went  to  Mis- 
souri, and  for  five  or  six  years  thereafter  was  en- 
gaged in  farming  on  a  small  farm  in  Nodaway 
County,  that  State.  Returning  then  to  Lee  County, 
he  has  ever  since  been  identified  with  its  farming 
interests,  purchasing  his  present  farm  in  Nelson 
Township,  in  1876,  and,  as  we  have  seen,  he  has 
been  much  prospered.  He  was  a  comparatively 
poor  man  when  he  first  came  here  from  the  Father- 
land, but  has  accumulated  a  goodly  amount  of 
property,  and  is  well  fortified  against  poverty. 

Mr.  Remmers  was  fortunate  in  his  selection  of 
a  wife  in  the  person  of  Miss  Anna  Bremer,  to  whom 
he  \\.-is  married  in  Harmon  Township.  Two  chil- 
dren complete  their  pleasant  household:  Mamie 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


515 


A.  and  William  H.  Mrs.  Remmers  is  a  native  of 
the  same  German  province  as  her  husband,  and 
was  born  January  13,  1847,  one  of  the  six  chil- 
dren of  Edeo  and  Etta  (Ahmels)  Bremer,of  whom 
four  are  living.  AVhen  she  was  six  years  old,  her 
parents  came  to  the  United  States  and  settled  on  a 
farm  in  Sugar  Grove,  Palmyra  Township,  this 
county,  and  later  removed  to  Harmon  Township, 
where  the  father  did  good  pioneer  work  in  the  im- 
provement of  a  farm.  He  was  an  excellent  farmer, 
and  when  he  died  at  the  age  of  sixt3r-six  years,  his 
township  lost  one  of  its  most  worthy  citizens.  His 
wife,  who  is  nearly  three-score  years  of  age,  makes 
her  home  with  her  children.  She  is  a  consistent 
Christian  and  a  Lutheran  in  religion. 

Mr.  Rcmmers  is  a  man  of  sturdy,  stable  chaiac- 
ter,  who  is  perfectly  able  to  think  and  act  for  him- 
self, and  carries  his  independence  into  his  politics, 
exercising  his  right  as  a  free  American  citizen  to 
support  whichever  party  he  pleases  and  to  vote  for 
those  candidates  he  deems  best  fitted  for  oftice. 
His  reputation  is  of  the  best,  and  none  know  him 
but  to  esteem  him.  In  his  religious  belief  he  ad- 
heres to  the  faith  of  his  fathers,  and  both  he  and 
his  wife  are  active  members  of  the  Lutheran  Church. 


<jl/  EMUEL  BOURNE.  It  is  interesting  to 
11  (©  trace  the  ancestry  of  this  gentleman,  who 
jLJsi  is  engaged  in  business  at  Amboy  as  a 
grocer,  back  to  its  first  representatives  in  America. 
The  first  member  of  the  family  to  seek  a  home  in 
the  United  States  was  Richard  Bourne,  who  in 
1640  emigrated  from  Devonshire,  England,  to 
Massachusetts,  where  he  settled  in  Sandwich  (now 
Bourne),  Barnstable  County.  His  descendants  at 
the  present  date  are  residing  in  Boston  and  that 
place  which  is  now  called  Bourne  in  honor  of  the 
various  members  of  the  family  who  have  resided 
there  and  contributed  to  its  progress. 

Benjamin  Bourne,  father  of  our  subject,  was  a 
large  farmer  and  land-owner,  his  possessions 
amounting  to  some  three  thousand  acres.  He  fre- 
quently held  public  ofiices,  being  Justice  of  the 
Peace  many  years  and  also  serving  efficiently  as  a 


member  of  the  Legislature  during  several  terms. 
At  the  close  of  an  honorable  and  upright  life,  de- 
voted to  the  discharge  of  public  duties  and  private 
affairs,  he  passed  quietly  away  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
nine  years.  The  paternal  grandfather  of  our  sub- 
ject, Benjamin,  was  a  physician  and  surgeon,  who 
enjoyed  a  lucrative  practice  in  Sandwich,  and,  as 
the  surrounding  country  was  sparsely  settled,  his 
practice  extended  over  a  large  territory. 

Unto  Benjamin  Bourne  and  his  wife  Lucinda 
were  born  ten  children.  Our  subject,  who  was  the 
youngest,  was  born  in  Sandwich,  Mass.,  January  21, 
1830.  He  passed  his  boyhood  upon  a  farm  and,  at 
the  age  of  fifteen  years,  went  to  Westbrook,  Me.i 
where  he  attended  school.  Later  he  was  a  student 
in  a  college  in  Oxford  County,  the  same  State,  and, 
after  completing  his  college  course,  engaged  in 
teaching  during  one  winter  in  the  old  Bay  State. 
From  there  he  proceeded  to  New  York,  and  was  en- 
gaged as  clerk  in  Albany  for  Uri  Burt,  who  at 
that  date  owned  the  largest  brewery  in  the  United 
States.  After  serving  in  that  capacity  for  one 
year,  he  went  to  Springfield,  Mass.,  and  took  charge 
of  a  wholesale  house  for  Mr.  Burt,  for  two  years. 
He  then  removed  to  Maine,  where  for  a  short  time 
he  was  engaged  in  mercantile  pursuits. 

Thence  in  1855  Mr.  Bourne  removed  to  Amboy 
and  became  the  first  station  agent  for  the  Illinois 
Central  Railroad  at  this  place,  being  thus  employed 
for  eight  years.  Then,  in  partnership  with  J.  S- 
Briggs,  he  was  engaged  in  the  drug  and  grocery  busi- 
ness for  about  three  years,  and  withdrew  from  the 
firm  to  purchase  an  interest  in  a  dry-goods  and 
grocery  business,  under  the  firm  name  of  Hawks  & 
Bourne.  At  the  expiration  of  seven  years,  the 
senior  member  of  the  firm  sold  his  interest  to  our 
subject,  who  has  since  continued  sole  proprietor. 
For  several  years  he  was  the  proprietor  and  owner 
of  two  stores,  a  grocery  and  a  dry-goods  establish- 
ment, but  he  now  conducts  the  former  alone. 

The  marriage  of  Mr.  Bourne  took  place  in  April 
1858,  when  Miss  Anna  M.,  daughter  of  David  C. 
Smith,  became  his  wife.  Mrs.  Bourne  was  born  in 
Alabama,  in  1843,  and  of  her  union  with  our  sub- 
ject six  children  have  been  born,  namely:  Franklin 
S.,  who  is  with  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  at  Den- 
vor,  Col.;  Anna  L.,  who  is  at  home;  Frederick  C., 


516 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


book-keeper  for  his  father;  Alice  A.,  Helen  A.  and 
Lemuel  II.,  all  of  whom  still  remain  under  the 
parental  roof  and  are  prominent  among  the  young 
people  of  the  community.  The  family  finds  a 
religious  home  in  the  Episcopal  Church  and  con- 
tributes liberally  to  charitable  enterprises. 

In  his  social  relations  Mr.  Bourne  is  a  member  of 
the  Masonic  fraternity  :md  his  political  affiliations 
bring  him  into  the  Republican  party,  to  the  prin- 
ciples of  which  he  firmly  adheres.  His  fellow- 
citizens  have  honored  him  with  several  offices  of  a 
local  nature  and  he  has  contributed  greatly  to  the 
development  of  the  city.  Besides  his  property  in 
Lee  County,  he  is  the  owner  of  a  fine  farm  in  Iowa, 
which  yields  him  a  good  income.  In  his  business 
enterprises  he  has  been  very  successful,  and  al- 
though he  came  here  with  limited  means,  he  has  be- 
come well-to-do.  His  establishment  is  large  and  his 
trade  extensive,  as  a  result  of  the  superior  quality 
of  his  stock,  the  fairness  of  his  transactions  and 
the  reliability  of  his  dealings. 


RS.  CATHERINE  SCHOTT,  residing  on 
section  18,  Bradford  Township,  is  a  most 
estimable  woman,  who,  with  her  husband, 
now  deceased,  came  to  this  county  some 
forty  years  ago  and  has  witnessed  and  aided  in  its 
progress  and  development.  Her  maiden  name  was 
Catherine  Weber,  and  she  was  born  in  Hesse-Darm- 
stadt, Germany,  October  13,  1835.  In  1851  she 
came  with  her  parents  to  America.  They  settled 
in  La  Salle  County,  this  State.  Here  Mrs.  Schott 
lived  until  she  was  married  in  1853  to  John  Schott, 
who  was  born  in  Germany,  August  2,  1817. 
The  young  couple  settled  in  Bradford  Township, 
where  Mr.  Schott  died  December  27,  1878.  He 
was  an  honest  and  industrious  man,  who  by  his 
own  exertions  had  accumulated  a  comfortable  pro- 
pert}'  of  two  hundred  and  sixty -seven  acres  of  land, 
on  which  he  erected  an  excellent  set  of  buildings, 
and  carried  on  agricultural  pursuits.  Eleven 
children  were  born  to  our  subject  and  his  wife,  of 


whom  seven  lived  to  maturity,  as  follows:     Anton, 
Lizzie,  Catherine,  John,  Philip,  Mary,  Ludwina. 

Mrs.  Schott,  who  is  a  most  estimable  woman,  has 
reared  her  family  with  great  care  and  they  are 
well  repaying  her  love  and  devotion.  She  is  now 
enjoying  the  comforts  of  a  pleasant  home,  which 
she  assisted  her  husband  in  providing  by  her  econ- 
omy and  industry  in  the  early  days  of  their 
wedded  life. 


ILLIAM  L.  SIIEAP,  one  of  the  young 
farmers  of  Lee  County,  residing  on  sec- 
tion 10,  China  Township,  was  born  in 
Montour  County,  Pa.,  September  28,  1862.  His 
parents  were  William  R.  and  Harriet  E.  (Brink) 
Sheap,  natives  of  Pennsylvania,  the  former  being 
born  in  Montour  County.  The  father  grew  to 
manhood  in  his  native  State,  and  then  came  to 
Lee  County.  He  worked  as  a  farm  laborer  for 
awhile,  but  when  his  father  died  he  returned  to 
Pennsylvania,  bought  the  old  homestead  and  car- 
ried on  his  occupation  as  a  farmer  prosperously, 
until  death  terminated  his  useful  life,  December 
25,  1866.  His  worthy  wife  survived  him  until 
February  29,  1876,  when  she  too  passed  away, 
having  spent  her  last  years  in  Carroll  County,  111. 
They  had  two  children,  one  son  and  a  daughter, 
the  latter  of  whom  died  in  childhood. 

Our  subject  was  but  four  years  old  when  he  was 
bereft  of  a  father's  care,  and  he  then  came  to  Ill- 
inois and  lived  with  his  grandfather,  Isaiah  Brink 
in  this  county,  spending  a  part  of  the  time  with 
his  step-father,  Joseph  Turnbaugh,  in  Carroll 
County,  until  he  grew  to  manhood.  He  was  mar- 
ried in  China  Township,  January  1,  1884,  to  Miss 
Nellie  I.  Nichols.  Two  children  have  blessed  their 
union:  Hattie  A.  and  Ethel  V.  Mrs.  Sheap  is  a 
native  of  Lee  County,  bora  November  17,  1863, 
in  China  Township,  coining  of  pi'oneer  stock,  and 
a  daughter  of  the  late  Andrew  J.  Nichols,  who  was 
a  well-known  farmer  of  this  vicinity  for  many 
years. 

Andrew  Nichols  was  born  in  Niagara  County, 
N.  Y.,  June  23,  1826.  When  lie  was  eighteen 


'-  ' 

OF  THE 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


519 


years  old  be  ctvini'  to  this  county  with  his  parents, 
.lolm  iiiul  Maritta  (Leach)  Nichols,  who  settled 
west  of  Franklin  Grove  Township,  and  there 
passed  their  remaining  years.  Andrew  made  his 
home  witli  them  until  he  married  and  established 
a  home  of  his  own  in  China  Township  in  1852. 
lie  was  exceedingly  industrious,  and  worked  to 
such  good  purpose  that  he  transformed  his  land 
on  section  10  into  a  rich  and  well-tilled  farm, 
comprising  one  hundred  and  seventeen  acres,  on 
which  he  erected  ample  buildings,  and  everything 
about  the  place  gave  evidence  of  careful  and 
thrifty  management.  On  the  old  homestead, 
where  for  nearly  thirty-six  years  the  most  impor- 
tant part  of  his  life  had  been  well  spent,  he  died 
June  21,  1888,  leaving  behind  him  a  good  record  as 
a  most  excellent  man,  a  good  citizen  and  a  kind 
husband,  father  and  neighbor. 

Mr.  Nichols  was  married  twice.  His  first  mar- 
riage, which  was  solemnized  in  February,  1852, 
in  China  Township,  was  with  Miss  Mary  Ann 
Miller,  who  was  probably  born  in  New  York.  She 
died  March  15,  1867.  Mr.  Nichols  was  afterward 
married  to  Nancy  Wilson,  who  died  in  China 
Township,  July  14,  1881.  There  were  no  children 
by  the  second  marriage.  These  five  children  were 
born  of  the  wedded  life  of  Andrew  J.  and  Mary 
Ann  Nichols:  Ida  E.;  Frank ic  D.,  who  died  when 
three  years  old;  Flora  N.,  the  wife  of  George 
Stultz;  Nellie  I.,  the  wife  of  William  L.  Sheap, 
our  subject;  and  Ruby  A.,  the  wife  of  Willis 
Riegle. 


1).    HART.     Happy    is    the    man 

on&  life  that  lias  been  char" 

v^^y  acterized  by  uprightness  of  purpose,  integ- 
rity <>f  principle  and  whose  high  mental  and  moral 
standing  is  gratefully  recognized  by  his  fellow- 
men.  Such  a  man  is  Charles  I).  Hart,  and  this 
book  would  fail  in  its  purpose  of  recording  lives 
that  have  been  useful  and  worthy  of  note  were  it 
to  omit  mention  of  this  successful  career.  Lee 
County  proudly  claims  him  as  one  of  her  best  and 
most  enterprising  citizens,  :md  lie  is  the  fortunate 
possessor  of  a  line  estate  on  section  211,  Bradford 


Township.  By  a  proper  rotation  of  crops  the  land 
has  been  brought  to  a  high  degree  of  cultivation, 
while  various  buildings  have  been  erected  which 
best  subserve  the  purposes  of  an  agriculturist. 

During  the  early  part  of  this  century  there  re- 
sided in  Massachusetts  a  worthy  couple  whose 
names  were  Holloway  L.  and  Mary  (Carter)  Hart. 
They  were  natives  of  Franklin  County,  that 
State,  and  became  the  parents  of  three  children — 
Charles  D.,  Henry  B.  and  Mary  M.  The  only 
daughter  became  the  wife  of  Horace  Roberts  and 
died  in  New  York  City,  February  3,  1866.  After 
the  death  of  his  first  wife,  which  occurred  May  10, 
1835,  the  father  of  our  subject  was  a  second  time 
married,  March  16,  1836,  forming  a  matrimonial 
alliance  with  Eliza  L.  Root.  They  became  the  par- 
ents of  one  child — Sarah  E.,  who  died  when 
twenty-one  years  old.  Holloway  Hart  passed  his 
entire  life  in  the  old  Bay  State  and  finally  passed 
to  his  rest  in  Greenfield. 

Born  in  Shelburne,  Franklin  County,  Mass.,  Jan- 
uary 12,  1831,  Mr.  Hart  remained  in  his  native 
place  until  ten  years  of  age.  He  then  removed  to 
Greenfield,  Mass.,  where  he  grew  to  man's  estate 
and  engaged  in  the  cutlery  works  of  J.  Russell  for 
five  years.  He  later  went  to  Con  way,  same  State, 
and  after  working  there  for  a  twervemonth  re- 
turned to  Greenfield,  where  he  remained  until 
1855.  Having  resolved  to  see  something  of  the 
West,  he  came  to  Lee  County  in  the  spring  of  the 
above  named  year,  and  was  joined  by  his  wife  a 
few  months  later.  He  began  life  for  himself  by 
purchasing  a  tract  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres 
on  section  20,  from  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad 
Company,  and  at  once  set  about  improving  the 
same. 

When  Mr.  Hart  came  to  this  State  it  was  not  his 
intention  to  locate  here,  as  he  had  only  obtained  a 
leave  of  absence  from  his  employers  in  order  to 
visit  the  Western  countiy.  lie,  however,  no 
sooner  became  acquainted  with  this  section  then  he 
decided  it  was  the  place  for  him,  and  sending  for 
his  family  established  his  permanent  residence  in 
this  county.  That  his  energy  and  untiring  indus- 
try have  been  rewarded  is  evident,  when  we  state 
that  lie  is  now  the  owner  of  an  estate  consisting  of 
seven  hundred  and  twenty  acres.  It  has  been  ac- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


cumulated  entirely  by  the  exercise  of  his  good 
judgment  and  the  economy  and  frugality  which 
characterized  his  wife  as  a  helpmate  in  the  truest 
sense  of  that  word.  His  farm  is  now  exceedingly 
productive  and  under  most  admirable  cultivation 
and  the  passer-by  can  not  help  but  recognize  that  it 
is  in  the  possession  of  a  gentleman  who  thoroughly 
understands  his  business. 

The  gentleman  whose  name  stands  at  the  head 
of  this  sketch,  and  whose  portrait  is  presented  on 
the  accompanying  page,  was  married  in  Franklin 
County,  Mass.,  May  1,  1853,  at  which  date  Miss 
Lucy  R.  Jenkins  became  his  wife.  Mrs.  Hart  was 
born  in  Franklin  County,  July  4,  1835,  and  was  a 
capable  lady  and  well  fitted  to  be  the  companion 
and  helpmate  of  her  husband.  A  family  of  four 
children  have  been  granted  to  our  subject  and  his 
amiable  wife.  Ella  A.  died  in  Franklin  County, 
Mass.,  when  an  infant  of  three  months;  Charles  J. 
was  the  second  in  order  of  birth;  George  E.  also 
died  in  infancy;  and  Henry  S.  married  Miss  Kate  Al- 
brecht.  On  February  12,  1867,  Mrs.  Lucy  R.  Hart 
passed  from  earth  in  Bradford  Township. 

On  July  11,  1867,  Mr.  Hart  was  again  married, 
the  lady  of  his  choice  being  Miss  Catherine  S. 
Wright,  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  having  been 
born  in  Greenfield,  March  27, 1847.  To  them  have 
been  born  a  family  of  five  children,  viz:  William 
II.,  Frank  S.,  Mary  C.,  Mabel  M.  and  Lucy  A. 

Our  subject  has  been  elected  to  many  positions 
of  trust  and  responsibility,  and  in  every  office  has 
performed  the  duties  pertaining  thereto  in  a  most 
satisfactory  and  conscientious  manner.  He  was 
particular!}'  interested  in  educational  affairs  and 
for  twenty  years  was  a  member  of  the  School 
Board,  and  during  that  period  was  instrumental  in 
bringing  about  many  reforms  in  the  school  system, 
which  is  now  one  of  the  best  in  the  township.  He 
was  elected  Justice  of  the  Peace  early  in  the  '60s, 
holding  the  office  fora  long  term  of  years,  although 
not  continuously.  Mr.  Hart  takes  an  active  part 
in  politics  and  the  Republican  party  counts  him  as 
among  its  most  active  and  influential  workers.  In 
religious  matters  he  is  liberal  in  his  views.  He  has 
been  a  Mason  since  1868,  and  is  identified  with 
Franklin  Grove  Lodge,  No.  268. 

Few  residents  of  Leo  County   are    bolter  known 


and  none  more  highly  respected  than  Mr.  Hart  and 
his  excellent  wife,  who  are  esteemed  personally  for 
their  many  worthy  traits  of  character.  He  is  num- 
bered among  the  wealthy  agriculturists  of  the 
county,  and  contributes  liberally  of  his  means  to 
the  promotion  of  public  enterprises  as  well  as  the 
relief  of  the  needy. 


&M  LBERT  M.  CARPENTER  is  an  intelli- 
l@//J[l  gent  and  progressive  member  of  the  farm- 
jni  ing  community  of  Lee  County,  and  his 
fjjl  farm,  with  its  fertile  fields  that  are  under 
a  high  state  of  cultivation,  and  its  neat,  roomy 
and  conveniently  arranged  buildings,  pleasantly 
located  on  section  24,  China  Township,  is  one  of 
the  most  attractive  and  desirable  in  the  locality. 
In  Essex  County,  now  Union  County,  N.  J.,  is  the 
birthplace  of  our  subject,  and  he  was  born  April 
11,  1843.  Aaron  Carpenter  was  his  father,  and  he 
was  also  a  native  of  Union  County,  as  was  his  wife, 
Mary  Wade.  The  early  part  of  their  wedded  life 
was  spent  in  that  New  Jersey  county,  but  the}7 
subsequently  went  to  Morrow  County,  Ohio, 
whence  they  removed  a  short  distance  across  the 
line  into  Delaware  County,  the  same  State,  where 
Mr.  Carpenter  died  while  yet  in  life's  prime,  leav- 
ing two  children:  Albert  M.  and  Mary,  the  latter 
of  whom  is  now  the  widow  of  Harrison  Doty. 

He  of  whom  we  write  was  in  his  fifth  year  when 
his  parents  removed  to  Ohio,  where  he  grew  to 
man's  estate.  He  lived  at  home  until  he  was 
twenty-three  years  old.  and  then  paid  his  first  visit 
to  Lee  County.  He  stayed  here  a  year,  and  at 
the  end  of  that  time  returned  to  Ohio  to  claim 
his  promised  bride,  Miss  Melissa  Johnson,  who  was 
born  and  reared  in  Morrow  County,  that  State, 
her  birth  occurring  in  February,  1845.  The  cere- 
mony that  made  the  happy  young  couple  one  was 
performed  in  her  native  county  February  16,  1867. 
One  son  has  blessed  their  union,  WilbertM. 

After  marriage  Mr.  Carpenter  came  back  to  Illi- 
nois, bringing  with  him  his  wife,  and  they  spent 
the  next  nine  years  in  Ogle  County.  In  1876 
they  came  to  China  Township,  of  which  they  have 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


521 


ever  since  been  residents,  on  their  home  on  a 
choice  farm  on  section  24,  China  Township.  Mr. 
Carpenter  has  worked  with  characteristic  energy 
to  improve  his  farm,  which  contains  one  hundred 
and  twenty  acres  of  excellent  farming  land,  and  is 
in  fine  condition,  everything  about  the  place  being 
neat  and  orderly,  and  giving  conclusive  evidence 
of  a  skillful  hand  and  bright  mind  guiding  and 
directing  affairs. 

Mr.  Carpenter  is  a  man  of  much  force  and  decis- 
ion of  character,  is  clear  sighted  and  sagacious  in 
his  judgments,  and  his  neighbors  find  him  a  wise 
and  safe  counselor.  He  is  a  prominent  figure  in 
the  political  and  public  life  of  the  community, 
and  in  the  various  responsible  offices  that  he  has 
held  lie  has  always  worked  for  the  good  of  the 
township.  He  has  held  the  office  of  Township 
Assessor  for  two  terms;  he  has  been  Highway 
Commissioner  for  twelve  years,  and  School  Direc- 
tor and  Trustee.  In  politics  lie  is  a  Republican, 
and  is  an  earnest  advocate  of  his  party. 


EDWARD  E.  FISCHER.  Forty  years  ago 
Edward  Fischer,  then  a  youth  of  nineteen 
years,  left  the  German  Fatherland  to  found 
a  home  for  himself  on  American  soil.  He  selected 
the  great  Prairie  State  as  the  scene  of  his  future 
abode  and  life  work,  and  in  duo  time  purchased 
land  on  sections  32  and  33,  South  Dixon  Town- 
ship, which  under  his  care  has  become  one  of  the 
best  improved  and  most  desirable  farms  in  the  lo- 
cality, its  buildings  of  a  substantial  order,  its  rich 
1  natures  affording  sustenance  for  many  cattle  and 
horses  of  fine  breeds,  and  its  highly  tilled  fields 
yielding  abundant  harvests. 

Mr.  Fischer  was  born  December  18,  1831,  in  Mid- 
dle Hausen,  near  Erbert,  Saxe-Weimar,  coming 
of  good  German  stock,  a  son  of  Johan  D.  Fischer, 
and  a  grandson  of  John  G.  Fischer,  who  were  also 
natives  of  Middle  Hausen.  His  grandfather  was  a 
small  farmer,  who  lived  and  died  in  his  native 
Province,  his  death  occurring  at  the  age  of  eighty 
years.  lie  married  a  German  lady  of  Saxon  birth, 
who  was  also  a  life-long  resident  of  the  same  place 


as  her  husband.  Both  were  active  members  of  the 
Lutheran  Church. 

John  D.  Fischer  enlisted  in  early  manhood  to 
serve  under  Napoleon,  and  was  with  that  great 
leader  in  many  an  engagement,  acting  as  a  signaler 
and  bodj^-guard  to  the  General,  and  he  was  also  a 
skillful  musician.  At  one  time  he  was  captured 
by  the  enemy,  and  made  fast  to  his  horse  for  safe 
keeping.  But  he  managed  to  escape  to  the  timber 
where  he  cut  himself  loose  from  the  horse  with  a 
small  penknife,  and  made  good  his  escape  back  to 
his  regiment.  He  afterward  took  part  in  the 
famous  battle  of  Waterloo,  and  though  often  in 
the  thick  of  the  fight,  got  off  without  a  wound. 
He  subsequently  returned  to  his  home,  took  unto 
himself  a  wife,  and  settled  down  to  a  quiet  life, 
following  the  profession  of  a  musician  for  several 
years  in  the  place  of  his  birth,  and  acquiring  con- 
siderable local  fame  for  his  talent  in  instrumental 
music.  The  latter  part  of  his  life  he  devoted  to 
farming,  and  died  February  9,  1869,  at  a  ripe  old 
age,  being  nearly  eighty  years  old.  To  the  last  he 
retained  much  of  the  strength  and  vigor  of  his 
early  days,  and  his  death  was  caused  by  his  fall 
from  a  pear  tree.  His  first  wife,  mother  of  our  sub- 
ject, died  in  1847,  when  a  little  past  middle  age. 
She  was  a  native  of  the  same  province  as  himself, 
coming  of  a  good  German  family,  and  her  maiden 
name  was  Sophia  E.  Frenzel.  Her  parents,  Chris- 
topher and  Maria  (Lange)  Frenzel,  lived  and  died 
in  Saxe-Weimar.  They  were  prominent  members 
of  the  Lutheran  Church,  as  were  John  Fischer  and 
both  of  his  wives.  His  second  wife  was  Sophia  J. 
Ellinger,  who  was  born,  reared  and  died  in  Middle 
Hausen,  she  being  about  fifty  years  old  at  the  time 
of  her  death. 

Our  subject  is  the  youngest  but  two  of  the  seven 
children  born  to  his  mother,  of  whom  six  are  yet 
living.  His  sister  Augusta,  wife  of  William  Amme, 
died  in  Boone,  Iowa,  when  quite  full  of  years.  His 
brother  Henry  married  Minnie  Barth,  and  is  a 
farmer  in  Wittenbeck,  S.  Dak.;  Bern  hard  H.  mar- 
ried Elizabeth  Claassen,  now  deceased,  and  is  a  resi- 
dent of  Green  Mountain,  Iowa;  Doratha  M.  mar- 
ried Henry  Holzhaus,  and  they  live  at  the  old 
home  in  Germany;  Aiigu.-.f  \V.,  a  farmer  in  Boone, 
I  HUM.  married  Johanna  Kuppe;  Julius  J.,  a  farmer 


522 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


near  Yankton,  S.  Dak.,  married  Harriet  Albright. 

Edward  Fischer  had  the  benefit  of  the  excellent 
.school  system  of  his  native  country,  and  was  well 
prepared  as  regarded  his  education  to  start  out  in 
life  on  his  own  account  when  he  bade  farewell  to 
his  friends  and  the  beloved  scenes  of  his  birthplace 
to  sail  away  to  the  New  World,  embarking  at  Ham- 
burg, August  12,  1850,  on  the  "Progressive,"  of 
New  York,  and  landing  in  that  city  some  two 
months  later.  He  made  his  way  to  Sterling  in  this 
State,  arriving  there  November  12,  and  soon  found 
employment.  He  worked  out  by  the  month  in 
Whiteside  County,  and  also  rented  land  until  he 
came  to  this  county,  and  by  diligence  and  wise 
economy  he  laid  by  enough  money  to  enable  him 
to  become  independent,  and  in  1861  he  purchased 
the  land  in  South  Dixon  Township,  that  he  has 
since  developed  into  his  present  choice  farm,  all 
the  improvements  being  the  work  of  his  own  hand, 
so  to  speak.  His  farm  comprises  two  hundred  and 
forty  acres  of  highly  cultivated,  well  drained  and 
neatly  fenced  land,  upon  which  he  has  erected  a 
line  residence  and  other  suitable  buildings,  and  has 
set  out  beautiful  shade  trees,  which  have  grown  to 
a  good  size,  and  add  greatly  to  the  attractiveness 
of  his  place.  He  is  thrifty,  wide-awake  and  pro- 
gressive in  his  farming  methods,  and  raises  none 
but  the  most  approved  breeds  of  horses,  cattle  and 
swine,  for  which  he  always  finds  a  ready  market  at 
good  prices. 

During  his  residence  in  Whiteside  County,  our 
subject  sought  in  marriage  the  hand  of  Miss  Frie- 
dericke  K.  Dittmann,  and  they  were  wedded  Octo- 
ber 25,  1857.  Their  domestic  life  is  one  of  true 
felicity,  and  to  them  have  been  born  the  following 
children:  Caroline,  who  died  when  a  child;  Rosetta 
E.,  wife  of  Louis  Levan,  a  farmer  of  Marion  Town- 
ship; Eldena  II.,  a  farmer  of  South  Dixon  Town- 
ship, who  married  Miss  Emma  Diiis;  William  F., 
who  lives  with  his  parents;  Henry  A.,  a  resident 
of  South  Dixon,  who  married  Miss  Minnie  Drake; 
David  J.,  Mary  S.  I).,  and  Kate  C.,  the  latter  three 
at  home  with  their  parents.  The  children  are  all 
well-educated,  the  family  is  one  of  the  leading 
families  of  South  Dixon,  and  all  its  members  be- 
long to  the  Lutheran  Church.  Mrs.  Fischer  was 
horn  at  Bressow,  near  Berlin,  Germany,  September 


23,  1833,  and  came  to  this  country  when  a  young 
woman  in  1854,  making  her  home  in  Sterling,  this 
State,  for  some  years  after  that.  Her  parents  were 
Michael  and  Catherine  Dittmann,  who  were  born, 
lived  and  died  in  Prussia  when  old  people.  They 
were  stanch  members  of  the  Lutheran  Church. 
Mrs.  Fischer  and  her  sister,  Mrs.  Christina  Stras- 
burg,  who  makes  her  home  with  her,  are  all  of  the 
family  in  the  United  States.  They  have  two  broth- 
ers, William  and  Christian,  living  in  Prussia. 

Our  subject  has  made  his  influence  felt  in  this 
home  of  his  adoption  not  only  as  a  wise  and  skill- 
ful farmer,  but  as  an  intelligent  citizen,  who  has  a 
good  practical  knowledge  of  the  laws  and  political 
issues  of  the  country,  and  is  one  of  the  leading  lo- 
cal Democrats.  He  is  the  present  Assessor  of  South 
Dixon  Township,  which  important  office  he  has 
held  twelve  years,  administering  its  duties  with 
sagacity  and  discretion,  and  he  has  also  been  High- 
way Commissioner.  Although  he  is  sincerely  at- 
tached to  this  country,  and  is  intensely  loyal  to 
the  Government,  he  still  retains  his  natural  affec- 
tion for  his  native  land,  as  a  true  man  should,  and 
takes  pleasure  in  revisiting  his  old  home.  Twice 
he  has  recrossed  the  waters  to  Germany,  once  in 
1874,  and  again  in  the  winter  of  1890-91  he  spent 
three  months  there. 


PR.  JOEL  BACON  MERRLMAN,  one  of  the 
old  settlers  of  South  Dixon  Township, 
where  he  lives  in  retirement  with  his  son, 
Walter,  is  a  wealthy  and  distinguished  citizen  of 
Lee  County,  who  has  been  long  and  intimately  as- 
sociated with  its  rise  and  progress,  as  a  public- 
spirited  citizen  who  has  assisted  in  its  govern- 
ment, and  been  a  promoter  of  many  plans  for  its 
improvement;  and  as  an  enlightened  and  enter- 
prising farmer  and  stock-raiser,  who  has  redeemed 
many  hundred  acres  of  land  from  its  natural  con- 
dition, and  has  developed  one  of  the  finest  and 
best  equipped  farms  in  this  section  of  the  State> 
making  it  a  beautiful  and  attractive  home.  And 
his  possessions  are  by  no  means  confined  to  Illi- 
nois, as  he  has  a  large  landed  property  in  Iowa, 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


523 


and  has  been  active  in  the  agricultural  develop- 
ment of  that  Commonwealth. 

Dr.  Merriinan  is  of  New  England  birth  and  train- 
ing, and  numbers  among  his  ancestors  some  of  the 
Colonial  settlers  of  the  good  old  State  of  Connec- 
ticut, where  he  had  his  birth  in  Hartford  County, 
May  2,  1814.  The  Merrimans  originated  in  Eng- 
land, being  of  the  sturdy  old  Anglo-Saxon  stock. 

Nathaniel  Merriman  was  born  in  1614,  in  Eng- 
land, and  settled  at  New  Haven,  Conn.,  in  1639, 
and  died  in  1695,  aged  eighty  years.  John,  son  of 
Nathaniel,  was  born  1659.  Rev.  John  Merriman, 
son  of  John,  born  1691.  John  Merriman,  son  of 
Rev.  John  Merriman,  born  1728.  Chauncey  Mer- 
riman, son  of  John.  Anson  Merriman,  son  of 
Chauncey,  born  October  21,  1786,  died  September 
2,  1853.  Joel  Bacon  Merriman,  son  of  Anson  Mer- 
riman, born  May  2,  1814.  Walter  B.  Merriman, 
son  of  Joel  Bacon  Merriman,  born  November  5, 
1859;  and  the  first  to  come  to  this  country  was  Na- 
thaniel Merriman. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  Anson  Merriman. 
He  received  an  education  in  his  native  country, 
and  grew  to  be  a  bright,  brainy  man  of  much  ver- 
satility. He  was  in  turn  a  farmer,  manufacturer 
and  an  inventor  of  positive  genius,  and  more  than 
local  repute,  but  like  many  another  in  that  line,  he 
did  not  reap  the  reward  his  talents  merited.  lie 
invented  the  first  bolt  machine,  for  the  manufac- 
ture of  that  article,  now  in  such  universal  use,  and 
after  he  got  it  started  some  one  else  took  it  up  and 
made  the  fortune  that  ought  to  have  been  his.  He 
made  the  first  barrel  of  cement  ever  manufactured 
in  this"  country,  and  again  was  cheated  out  of 
wealth  that  seemed  almost  in  his  grasp,  and  others 
immediately  began  its  manufacture.  He  always 
remained  a  resident  of  Hartford  County,  and  when 
he  died  at  the  age  of  sixty-six,  he  was  greatly 
missed,  as  he  was  well  and  favorably  known  by  a 
large  circle  of  acquaintances,  among  whom  he  had 
many  old  and  tried  friends.  He  was  a  man  of 
honor,  upright  in  his  walk,  a  gentleman  in  the 
truest  sense  of  the  word,  and  no  one  ever  breathed 
aught  against  his  fair  name.  He  took  part  in  poli- 
tics, and  was  a  splendid  champion  of  various  re- 
form movements  current  in  his  day,  embracing  a 
principle  tor  the  sake  of  the  right,  and  never 


flinching  in  its  defence.  He  was  one  of  the  early 
Abolitionists,  and  was  also  a  sturdy  advocate  of 
temperance.  He  was  broad-minded  and  liberal  in 
his  religious  views,  beting  an  earnest  and  thought- 
ful Christian.  When  a  young  man,  he  was  promi- 
nent in  the  Baptist  Church,  of  which  he  was  a  Dea- 
con for  some  years,  but  later  in  life,  he  found  him- 
self more  in  sympathy  with  the  Unitarians,  joining 
a  Unitarian  Church,  and  was  connected  with  it  un- 
til his  death. 

The  maiden  name  of  the  mother  of  our  subject 
was  Jerusha  Bacon,  and  she,  too,  was  bom  and 
reared  in  Hartford  County,  coming  of  one  of  the 
first  families  of  Connecticut.  Her  parents  were 
natives  of  that  State,  and  were  prominent  members 
of  the  farming  community  of  Hartford  County, 
and  there  they  died  when  old  people,  Mr.  Bacon 
rounding  out  nearly  four-score  years.  He  was  a 
man  of  marked  force,  and  was  decidedly  in  favor 
of  all  things  that  tended  to  the  elevation  of  the 
community,  whether  spiritually  or  materially.  He 
and  his  wife  were  moral  and  upright,  and  Chris- 
tians in  the  truest  sense.  The  mother  of  our  sub- 
ject was  a  noble  woman,  of  many  virtues,  and  her 
death  occurred  at  the  birth  of  her  sixth  child, 
when  she  was  in  the  full  bloom  of  womanhood, 
being  only  thirty-two  years  of  age,  which  was  a 
sad  loss  to  her  household  and  many  friends. 

Dr.  Merriman  is  the  second  child  born  to  his  par- 
ents, and  the  only  other  surviving  members  of  the 
family  are  his  sisters,  Mrs.  Wallace  Judd,  of  Dixon, 
and  Mrs.  Chester  Claflin,  of  Berkshire  County, 
Mass.  He  was  carefully  trained  in  the  pleasant 
New  England  home  of  his  birth,  principles  of  right 
living  being  early  instilled  into  his  mind,  and  his 
scholarly  tastes  were  developed  by  a  liberal  educa- 
tion. He  decided  in  his  youth  to  be  a  physician, 
and  was  well  grounded  in  the  studies  of  his 
chosen  profession  in  the  Medical  Department  at 
Yale  College,  from  which  he  was  graduated  in 
1837.  He  at  once  established  himself  in  practice 
in  Berkshire  County,  Mass.  He  rose  rapidly  in 
his  calling,  but  after  ten  years  of  steady  service,  his 
health  began  to  fail,  and  he  removed  to  Long 
Island,  hoping  that  the  invigorating  air  of  the  sea 
shore  would  work  a  cure.  He  lived  there  some 
six  years,  but  the  demands  of  a  constantly  grow- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


ing  practice  so  wore  upon  his  physical  powers, 
that  he  determined  to  abandon  his  profession  al- 
together, and  seek  a  new  mode  of  life  on  the  broad, 
breezy  prairies  of  the  West  to  regain  his  wonted 
vigor. 

Selecting  Illinois  as  the  scene  of  his  future  home, 
the  Doctor  came  hither  in  1856,  and  began  his  new 
life  as  a  farmer  on  a  quarter  of  a  section  of  un- 
broken land  in  Lee  County,  of  which  he  has  ever 
since  been  a  resident.  He  entered  actively  upon 
the  improvement  of  his  first  purchase,  to  which  he 
immediately  added  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres 
more  of  wild  land,  which  he  had  put  under  the 
plow  at  once,  and  soon  after  that  bought  another 
tract  of  one  hundred  acres,  and  has  made  many 
other  investments  in  real  estate.  For  many  years 
he  kept  up  an  active  business  as  a  farmer,  giving 
careful  supervision  to  his  large  farming  and  stock 
interests,  and  he  has  owned  and  improved  the 
most  of  seven  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  land 
in  this  vicinity,  besides  many  hundred  acres  else- 
where. He  has  erected  large  and  finely  fitted  up 
farm  buildings  on  his  homestead,  including  a  hand- 
some and  well-appointed  residence,  which,  with  its 
pleasant  surroundings,  is  an  ornament  to  the 
neighborhood.  The  Doctor  has  owned  and  partly 
improved  eleven  hundred  acres  of  land  in  Hamil- 
ton County,  Iowa,  which  he  sold  for  a  large  sum  of 
money.  In  Plymouth  County,  Iowa,  he  has  an  ex- 
tensive and  valuable  stock  and  grain  farm,  embrac- 
ing an  entire  section  and  a  half  of  land,  which  is 
highly  cultivated  and  well  improved,  amply  pro- 
vided witli  buildings,  including  a  large  and  small 
farm  house,  good  barns,  etc. 

Our  subject  was  first  married  during  his  resi- 
dence in  Berkshire  County,  Mass.,  to  Miss  Eliza 
Curtis,  a  native  of  that  county.  She  bore  him  one 
child,  Grace.  She  is  now  the  wife  of  E.  W.  Curtis, 
of  Chicago,  and  they  have  three  children:  How- 
ard, Irving  and  Margaret.  The  Doctor's  marriage, 
which  took  place  after  his  removal  to  this  county, 
was  with  Miss  Elizabeth  Smith,  who  was  born  and 
reared  on  Long  Island,  N.  V.  She  died  when 
about  twenty-three  years  of  age,  leaving  a  son, 
Walter  Bacon,  who  is  now  one  of  the  leading 
young  farmers  of  South  Dixon  Township.  He  mar- 
ried Miss  Mattie  W.  Lee,  who  was  born  in  Penn- 


sylvania, and  came  to  Illinois  when  she  was  a 
young  lady.  They  have  three  children:  Vena, 
Guy  II.  and  Grace.  The  Doctor  chose  for  his 
third  wife  Aiigeline  Judd,  with  whom  lie  lived 
happily  for  more  than  a  third  of  a  century,  when 
she  closed  her  eyes  in  death  September  2,  1891, 
aged  seventy-four  years. 

When  lie  came  here  the  Doctor  desired  to  lay 
aside  his  profession  altogether,  but  he  was  not  al- 
lowed to  do  so  wholly,  as  his  reputation  as  a 
skilled  physician  had  preceded  him  and  he  had 
many  calls,  but  the  demands  of  his  business  would 
not  permit  him  to  practice  very  extensively.  He 
is  a  gentleman  of  ripe  culture  and  wide  experience, 
whose  knowledge  of  men  and  affairs  is  extensive, 
and  his  keen,  penetrating  wit,  calm,  evenly  bal- 
anced mind  and  business  acumen,  gave  him  from 
the  first  a  prominent  place  among  the  leading  men 
of  Lee  County,  with  whose  best  interests  his  name 
is  so  closely  identified.  In  him,  South  Dixon 
Township  has  one  of  its  most  honored  citizens, 
who  is  widely  known,  not  only  here,  but  elsewhere, 
through  his  business  connections  and  social  rela- 
tions. He  has  mingled  in  the  public  life  of  his 
community,  has  been  a  member  of  the  Lee  County 
Board  of  Supervisors,  and  has  held  the  office  of 
Justice  of  the  Peace  two  terms.  In  his  political 
views,  he  is  in  full  sympathy  with  the  Republican 
party. 


JACOB  HARDEN,  a  wealthy,  retired  farmer, 
living  on  one  of    his   farms  on  section  23, 
Nelson  Township,  has  been  long  and  honor- 
ably identified  with  the  men  of  Lee  County, 
who  have  been  instrumental  in  developing  the  re- 
sources  of  this    part  of  Illinois.     The    birthplace 
of  our  subject  is  in  Somerset  County,  Pa.,  near  the 
Mason  and  Dixon  line,  and  there  he  was  born  Feb- 
ruary 2,    1822.     His    father,  George  Harden,   was 
also  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  and  he  in  turn  was 
a   son    of    Isaac   Harden,    of  Pennsylvania   birth, 
whose    father,  David  Harden,  is   thought    to  have 
been  born  in  England,  but  the  most  of  his  life  W.MS 
p.Msscd    in  Iliis  country,  his  death    occurring  in  the 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


525 


Keystone  State  when  he  was  an  old  man.  His  son 
Isaac  grew  up  in  the  State  of  his  nativity,  and 
was  variously  engaged  as  a  farmer,  miner  of  coal, 
and  a  distiller,  running  a  distillery  in  the  early 
days  of  the  settlement  of  Somerset  County,  of 
which  he  was  a  pioneer.  He  died  there  in  North- 
ampton Township,  at  the  age  of  eighty-one,  falling 
dead  on  the  road  from  the  effects  of  a  stroke  of 
paralysis.  He  was  a  man  whose  many  good  traits 
made  him  greatly  respected  by  his  neighbors  and 
others.  He  was  twice  married.  His  first  marriage 
was  with  a  Miss  Neymeyer,  a  Pennsylvania  lady, 
of  English  descent.  She  died  in  the  prime  of  life 
when  her  sou  George,  the  father  of  our  subject, 
was  a  young  man.  Isaac  Harden  married  for  his 
second  wife  Catherine  Real,  of  Somerset  County, 
and  she  died  there  at  the  age  of  sixty  years  and 
more,  a  few  years  after  the  death  of  her  husband. 
George  Harden  was  one  of  a  family  of  four  sons 
and  three  daughters  born  to  his  mother.  One  of 
the  sons  was  a  soldier  in  the  War  of  1812,  and  all 
of  the  children  are  now  deceased.  The  father  of 
our  subject  was  reared  to  the  life  of  a  farmer  on 
his  father's  farm,  and  carried  on  his  occupation 
both  in  Pennsylvania  and  Maryland,  his  last  years 
as  well  as  his  first  being  spent  in  the  former  State, 
where  he  died  in  the  town  of  Wellersburgh,  Som- 
erset County,  at  the  venerable  age  of  eighty-six 
years.  He  was  always  a  Democrat  in  politics,  as 
was  his  father  before  him,  and  he  was  a  Lutheran 
in  religion.  He  held  a  Lieutenancy  in  the  Penn- 
sylvania State  Militia,  and  was  a  familiar  figure  in 
the  famous  home  musters  of  his  time.  He  was 
married  to  Miss  Hester  Uhl  in  the  county  of  Somer- 
set, where  she  was  born  and  reared,  her  early  home 
being  near  the  Mason  and  Dixon  line.  She  was 
less  than  three-score  years  of  age  when  she  died  in 
her  native  county,  and  left  behind  her  the  blessed 
memory  of  a  good  woman,  a  kind  wife  and  loving 
mother.  She  was  a  Lutheran.  Her  parents,  Jacob 
and  Mary  (Swartz)  Uhl,  were  natives  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  came  of  Holland  ancestry.  Their  en- 
tire lives  were  passed  in  Somerset  County,  where 
her  father  was  engaged  as  a  farmer,  miller  and 
tavern-keeper  until  his  death  at  the  age  of  sixty, 
his  wife  dying  when  seventy  years  old.  They  were 
prominent  members  of  the  Lutheran  Church. 


Our  subject  is  one  of  nine  children,  three  sons 
and  six  daughters,  one  of  the  latter  dying  young, 
and  now  he  and  his  sister,  Mrs.  Mary  Troutman,  a 
widow  living  in  Grundy  County,  Iowa,  at  an  ad- 
vanced age,  are  the  only  survivors  of  that  large 
family.  Mr.  Harden  was  twelve  years  old  when 
his  parents  took  up  their  residence  in  Allegany 
County,  Md.,  where  he  attained  his  majority,  and 
continued  to  live  until  1851,  when  he  returned  to 
his  native  State  and  county  and  resided  there 
some  three  years  prior  to  coming  to  this  State  in 
April,  1854.  He  obtained  a  quarter  of  a  section 
of  wild  land  from  the  Government,  which  by 
downright  hard  labor  he  has  transformed  into  one 
of  the  fine  farms  for  which  Nelson  Township  is 
justly  noted.  It  is  highly  cultivated  and  improved, 
is  amply  supplied  with  good  farm  buildings,  mod- 
ern machinery,  etc.  Besides  his  homestead  on  sec- 
tion 23,  Mr.  Harden  owns  eighty  acres  of  valuable 
land  on  section  24  of  the  same  township,  which  is 
also  well  improved.  He  has  accumulated  his  prop- 
erty by  his  untiring  industry,  directed  by  shrewd 
judgment,  good  powers  of  calculation,  and  ex- 
cellent business  tact.  Not  only  have  his  services 
been  of  value  as  an  intelligent  farmer,  but  he  has 
played  an  important  part  in  the  public  life  of  this 
section.  His  neighbors,  recognizing  his  ability 
and  the  rectitude  of  his  character,  have  pushed 
him  to  the  front  as  an  office-holder,  and  he  has 
held  several  responsible  positions  in  the  township, 
besides  representing  it  as  a  member  of  the  Lee 
County  Board  of  Supervisors.  His  fellow-citizens 
have  always  found  him  wise  in  council,  a  discreet 
and  safe  counsellor,  and  they  know  that  they  can 
trust  him  to  the  uttermost.  In  his  politics  he  is  a 
Democrat.  Religiously,  he  and  his  wife  and  chil- 
dren are  Lutherans. 

Mr.  Harden  was  married  in  the  county  of  his 
birth  to  Miss  Catherine  Cook,  and  for  forty-five 
years  they  have  shared  life's  joys  and  sorrows. 
Mrs.  Harden  is  a  noble  woman,  whose  warm, 
motherly  heart  goes  out  in  sympathy  to  any  in 
her  community  who  are  in  grief  or  are  suffering, 
and  she  is  mucli  beloved.  Somerset  County,  Pa., 
is  also  her  native  county,  and  December  20,  1825, 
is  the  date  of  her  birth.  She  was  reared  and  edu- 
cated and  married  in  the  place  of  her  nativity,  and 


526 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


is  a  daughter  of  Jacob  and  Catherine  (Harden) 
Cook,  who  were  natives  of  the  same  county  as 
herself,  and  were  of  German  and  English  ancestry 
respectively,  her  mother  being  born  of  New  Eng- 
land parents.  They  lived  and  died  on  a  farm 
when  full  of  years,  and  were  well-to-do  people. 
Mr.  Cook  was  for  some  years  a  contractor  and  had 
a  contract  on  the  National  Turnpike.  He  was  a 
large  land-owner,  and  a  successful  farmer.  Mrs. 
Harden  is  the  youngest  daughter  in  a  family  of 
seven  sons  and  three  daughters,  of  whom  six  are 
yet  living.  Her  marriage  with  our  subject  has 
been  blessed  to  them  by  the  birth  of  four  sons  and 
three  daughters,  of  whom  the  eldest  and  youngest 
daughters,  Martha  and  Josie,  are  dead.  The  others 
are  Dennis  C.,  of  whom  see  biography;  Malinda, 
wife  of  William  Troutman,  a  farmer  of  York 
County,  Neb.;  D.  G.,  a  merchant  of  Utica,  Reward 
County,  Neb.,  who  married  Miss  Minnie  Schulze; 
Emanuel  J.,  a  banker,  at  Stratton,  Hitchcock 
County,  Neb,  who  married  Martha  Geer;  and 
Jesse  8.,  a  bank  cashier  at  Wauneta  Ealls,  Neb. 


(![__  IRAM  UHL.  who  is  now  living  in  retire- 
[fjjr  ment  in  the  village  of  Nachusa  in  the  en- 
y±dy  joyment  of  a  comfortable  fortune,  may  be 
\$jg)  considered  one  of  the  pioneer  farmers  and 
stock-raisers  of  Lee  County,  although  not  among 
its  earliest  settlers,  as  his  valuable  farm  of  two 
hundred  acres  in  South  Dixon  Township  was  de- 
veloped by  him  from  its  original  wildness,  and  its 
improvements,  which  are  all  first-class,  are  the 
work  of  his  own  hands. 

Mr.Dhl  is  a  native  of  the  township  of  Hampton, 
Somerset  County,  Pa.,  his  birth  occurring  there 
September  21,  1828.  His  father,  Daniel  Uhl,  was 
also  born  in  that  county,  and  was  in  turn  a  son  of 
Jacob  Uhl,  who  was  a  German  and  came  to  Amer- 
ica with  two  brothers  some  time  during  the  last 
century,  he  and  one  of  his  brothers  settling  in 
Penns3rlvania,  and  the  other  one  locating  in  New 
York.  Jacob  Uhl  was  trained  to  the  life  of  a 
farmer  and  some  time  after  marriage  removed  with 
his  wife  and  children  to  Maryland,  where  he  lived 


until  his  deatli  in  Allegany  County,  many  years 
later,  at  the  advanced  age  of  ninety  years.  His 
wife  was  also  very  old  when  she  died  in  that  State. 
They  were  stanch  Lutherans  in  religion.  They 
reared  a  large  family  of  children,  nine  sons  and 
three  daughters,  all  of  whom  married,  and  the 
most  of  whom  lived  to  be  very  aged.  Daniel  Uhl, 
who  was  the  fifth  child  of  the  family,  died  in  Alle- 
gany County,  Md.,  in  1849,  at  the  age  of  fifty-six, 
he  being  the  youngest  of  his  brothers  and  sisters 
then  living.  His  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was 
Mary  Long,  survived  him.  Somerset  County  was 
likewise  her  birthplace,  and  she  was  descended 
from  «n  old  Pennsylvania  family.  After  the  death 
of  her  husband  she  came  with  her  son,  of  whom  we 
write,  to  Illinois  to  pass  her  remaining  years  and 
died  at  the  home  of  her  daughter,  Mrs.  Harden,  in 
Nelson  Township,  in  1866,  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
two.  Both  she  and  her  husband  were  conscientious 
members  of  the  Lutheran  Church  as  long  as  they 
lived. 

Our  subject  is  one  of  a  large  family,  several  of 
whom  are  yet  living.  He  came  to  settle  among  the 
pioneers  of  Lee  County  in  1852,  coming  from 
Maryland,  where  he  had  lived  since  he  was  nine 
years  old.  He  purchased  his  farm  in  South  Dixon 
Township  after  his  arrival  here  and  worked  hard 
to  put  it  into  its  present  condition.  In  1889  he 
rented  it,  and  has  since  lived  retired  in  the  village 
of  Nachusa.  His  services  as  a  shrewd,  clear-headed, 
sharp-sighted  farmer  have  been  valuable  to  his 
adopted  township,  and  he  has  also  done  his  duty 
as  a  public-spirited  citizen  in  helping  his  fellow- 
townsmen  in  the  management  of  public  affairs, 
having  held  the  various  local  offices  with  due  re- 
gard for  the  highest  interests  of  the  community. 
In  his  politics  he  is  a  thorough  Democrat,  and  hfs 
party  has  no  more  stanch  supporter  in  this  section 
than  he.  Religiously,  both  he  and  his  wife  arc 
active  members  of  the  Lutheran  Church,  and  have 
been  for  many  years. 

Mr.  I'lil  was  first  married  in  Allegany  County. 
Md.,  to  Miss  Maggie  Wilhelm,  who  was  born  and 
reared  in  that  county.  She  came  to  Lee  County 
with  her  husband  and  died  here  in  1858  when  in 
life's  prime,  leaving  four  children:  .Mary  1!..  wife 
of  P.  .1.  Smothers,  a  farmer  in  Page  County.  Neb.: 


^Y 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


529 


Ella  M.,  wife  of  Virgil  Buchanan,  a  farmer  in 
Oregon;  William  T.  and  Elizabeth,  who  died  young. 
Mr.  Uhl  was  a  second  time  married  in  Cumberland, 
Md.,  Miss  Nancy  J.  Hughes,  of  that  city,  becoming 
his  wife.  She  was  well  educated  in  the  schools  of 
that  place  and  there  met  her  husband.  Her  parents 
were  Joseph  and  Mary  Hughes,  who  were  life-long 
residents  of  Cumberland,  dying  there  when  very 
old,  he  being  eighty-six  and  she  eighty-two  when 
they  passed  away.  Nearly  all  their  lives  they  had 
been  members  of  the  Lutheran  Church.  Four 
daughters  have  blessed  the  present  marriage  of 
Mr.  Uhl,  as  follows:  Ida  M.,  wife  of  Chauncey  F. 
Hart,  who  rents  Mr.  Uhl's  homestead;  Bertha  A., 
Eva  A.,  and  Grace  G.,  the  three  latter  living  at 
home  with  their  parents. 


JACOB    SENNEFF,    a   retired   farmer,    liv- 
ing at  Eldena,  is  one  of  the  heroic  veteran 
soldiers  of  the  war  who  fought  so  long  and 
well  to  put  down  the  rebellion,  risking  liie 
and  all  that  they  held  dear  that  the  glorious  stars 
and  stripes  might  float  proudly  over  an  undivided 
country.     Although    much    disabled    by    the  for- 
tunes of  war,   he  returned  to   Lee  County  at  its 
close  and  in  after  3'ears  won  for  himself  an  honor- 
able place  among  the  most  thrifty  and  industrious 
members  of    the   farming    community   of   South 
Dixon  Township. 

The  portrait  of  Mr.  Senneff  accompanies  this 
biographical  outline.  He  was  born  in  Fayette 
County,  Pa.,  July  11,  1836,  and  is  a  son  of  William 
and  Phebe(Barnett)  Senneff,who  were  also  Pennsyl- 
vjjuians  by  birth,  and  died  on  a  farm  in  their  na- 
tive State,  the  mother  passing  away  in  1842, 
before  she  had  scarcely  attained  the  meridian  of 
life.  Her  parents  were  Germans,  who  emigrated 
to  this  country  and  died  in  Pennsylvania.  Wil- 
liam Senneff  came  to  Illinois  in  1874,  and  died  in 
Carroll  County  in  1876  when  past  eighty  years  old. 
He  had  been  a  third  time  married  and  had  out- 
lived his  last  wife  a  few  years.  They  were  all 
members  of  the  Evangelical  Association. 

Jacob  Senueff  grew    to  maturity    in    his   native 
26 


county,  and  in  1854  left  his  old  home  to  cope  with 
the  hardships  to  be  encountered  in  a  new  country 
that  had  not  long  been  settled,  Lee  County  being 
his  destination.  He  was  here  when  the  war  broke 
out,  and  filled  with  a  patriotic  desire  to  serve  his 
country  in  her  hour  of  need,  he  enlisted  in  Com- 
pany D,  Thirty-fourth  Illinois  Infantry,  that  was 
organized  in  September,  1861,  Col.  Kirk  and  Capt. 
Pratt  being  his  commanders,  both  of  whom  are 
dead. 

The  regiment  was  attached  to  the  Army  of  the 
Cumberland,  and  in  the  dreadful  years  that  fol- 
lowed saw  a  great  deal  of  hard  service,  in  all  of 
which  our  subject  gallantly  and  uncomplainingly 
bore  his  part.  He  was  with  his  comrades  at  Shiloh, 
and  marched  with  Gen.  Sherman  from  Atlanta  to 
the  sea,  doing  his  Share  of  the  fighting  in  the  nu- 
merous encounters  with  the  enemy.  Occasionally 
privations  and  sufferings  that  he  had  to  un- 
dergo proved  too  much  for  him,  and  he  would 
have  to  lie  in  the  hospital  for  a  time,  but  it  was  not 
until  Sherman 's  last  engagement  with  the  Confed- 
erates at  Bentonville,  N.  C.,  March  19, 1865,  that  he 
was  wounded,  that  battle  being  almost  fatal  to 
him,  for  while  in  the  thickest  of  the  fight  his 
right  arm  was  shot  off,  the  left  arm  was  broken 
.and  the  hand  disabled.  This  ended  his  career  as 
a  soldier,  but  as  the  war  was  so  near  its  close  he 
was  well  content,  as  he  had  done  his  duty  nobly. 
He  was  honorably  discharged  in  July,  1865.  A 
grateful  Government  grants  him  a  pension  of  $72 
a  month  for  what  he  did  and  endured  in  its  behalf. 

Since  he  left  the  army,  Mr.  Senneff  has  lived  in 
Carroll,  and  this  county,  taking  up  his  residence  in 
South  Dixon  Township,  in  1874.  He  owns  eighty 
acres  of  good  land  in  this  part  of  Illinois,  and  has 
sufficient  means  to  permit  of  his  living  in  retire- 
ment. He  and  Miss  Sarah  Fritz  were  happily  mar- 
ried in  this  county  and  they  have  four  children  to 
bless  their  declining  years,  namely:  Mary  .A.,  wife 
of  E.  M.  June,  of  Eldena;  Harvey,  who  married 
Miss  Mary  V.  Hefley,  and  lives  in  North  Dixon 
City;  Ellen  A.,  wife  of  George  W.  Mossholder,  of 
South  Dixon  Township;  and  Susan  V.  at  home 
with  her  parents. 

Mrs.  Senneff  was  born  in  Somerset  County,  Pa., 
and  came  to  Illinois  with  her  parents,  John  and 


530 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


(Mowrer)  Fritz,  in  1854.  The  family  settled  in 
South  Dixon  Township,  and  there  the  father  im- 
proved a  good  farm,  which  was  his  home  until  his 
death  at  the  ripe  old  age  of  eighty  years.  His  wife, 
who  has  attained  the  venerable  age  of  ninety-three 
years,  now  lives  with  her  daughter,  Mrs.  Herman 
Linderman. 

Mr.  Senneff  possesses  true  manliness  of  character, 
and  is  warm  of  heart  and  of  a  genial  disposition. 
In  his  political  views  he  votes,  as  he  fought,  with 
the  Republican  party.  He  and  his  wife  are  ear- 
nest Christians  and  members  of  the  Evangelical 
Association. 


€HARLES  II.  KEELER  publishes  the  Evening 
Star,  having  been  engaged  in  this  business 
since  March  28,  1891.  A  daily  and  weekly 
issue  is  published,  and  the  success  which  has  re- 
warded the  new  enterprise  foretells  its  future  pros- 
perity. The  paper  already  has  an  extended  circu- 
lation which  it  well  merits,  for  it  is  a  bright,  newsy 
sheet,  that  fulfills  all  the  requirements  of  a  modern 
newspaper. 

Mr.  Keeler,  a  native  of  Towanda,  Pa.,  was  born 
on  the  20th  of  March,  1841,  and  in  his  native 
State  the  days  of  his  boyhood  and  youth  were 
passed.  He  there  learned  the  printers'  trade 
which  lie  has  made  his  life  work,  and  was  after- 
wards connected  with  the  Sullivan  County  Demo- 
crat, of  La  Porte,  Pa.,  and  the  Herald,  of  Wellsboro, 
Pa.  His  career  as  an  editor  and  publisher  extends 
over  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century,  and  sixteen 
years  of  that  time  he  was  connected  with  the  Tioga 
County  Record,  published  at  Owego,  N.  Y.  That 
is  one  of  the  leading  papers  of  Tioga  County,  and 
under  the  management  of  Mr.  Keeler  acquired  its 
excellent  reputation. 

Mr.  Keeler  spent  six  months  in  Reno  City, 
Oklahoma,  and  will  ever  be  remembered  by  the 
citizens  of  that  section  as  the  man  who  prevented 
the  low  element  of  the  town  from  running  an 
election  in  the  absence  of  the  Mayor  and  all  of  the 
Aldermen,  himself  excepted.  Seeing  that  the 
roughs  were  taking  matters  into  their  own  hands, 


he  applied  to  Col.  Wade,  then  in  command  at  Ft. 
Reno,  three  miles  away,  who  called  out  the  United 
States  troops  and  routed  the  would-be  officers  of 
the  city.  On  the  return  of  the  Mayor,  a  regular 
call  was  made  by  him  for  a  new  election,  and  the 
Mayor,  upon  whom  they  had  special  designs,  was 
re-elected,  and  the  Aldermen,who  were  from  among 
the  best  citizens,  were  elected. 

In  Owego,  N.  Y.,  Mr.  Keeler  led  to  the  marriage 
altar  Miss  Minnie  .1.  Biles,  who  was  born  in  Wya- 
lusing,  Pa.  The  days  of  her  maidenhood  were 
spent  in  the  Keystone  State,  where  she  acquired  a 
good  education.  She  is  a  lady  genial  in  manner, 
kindly  in  disposition  and  has  won  many  friends 
during  her  residence  in  Dixon.  She  holds  mem- 
bership with  the  Presbyterian  Church,  but  Mr. 
Keeler  adheres  to  the  faith  of  the  Episcopal  Church. 
Just  before  coming  to  this  city  he  had  spent  about 
five  years  in  the  West,  in  Sunnier  County,  Kan., 
and  in  Oklahoma,  where  he  was  located  at  the 
opening  up  of  that  Territory  on  the  22d  of  April, 
1890,  witnessing  the  race  for  lands  and  lots  in 
Oklahoma,  and  joining  a  town  company  therein. 
On  coming  to  Dixon,  he  formed  a  partnership  with 
G.  E.  Bishop,  and  the  Star  Printing  Company  was 
organized,  with  Mr.  Bishop  as  general  superinten- 
dent and  Mr.  Keeler  as  editor  and  business  man- 
ager. Both  gentlemen  are  practical  printers  and 
capable  and  enterprising  business  men.  In  con- 
nection with  the  issue  of  this  paper,  they  estab- 
lished a  job  office  by  the  merging  together  of 
their  two  job  printing  offices,  and  now  employ- 
twelve  hands.  The  paper  is  strictly  independent 
in  politics,  and  is  devoted  to  the  publication  of 
local  and  general  news  of  interest  to  its  readers. 
On  the  24th  of  December,  1891,  Mr.  Keeler  bought 
out  the  interest  of  Mr.  Bishop,  and  now  carries  on 
the  business  alone.  For  some  years  Mr.  Keeler 
has  not  been  identified  with  any  political  party. 
Socially,  he  is  a  member  of  Friendship  Lodge,  No. 
7,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  of  Dixon,  and  is  Past  Sachem  of 
the  Improved  Order  of  Red  Men,  by  virtue  of 
having  served  as  Chief  of  Records  for  five  con- 
secutive years.  For  nearly  seven  years  he  has 
been  a  member  of  Branch  256,  of  the  Iron  Hall,  in 
Owego,  N.  Y.  A  valued  citizen  of  the  community. 
Mr.  Keeler  ever  gives  his  support  to  the  enter- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


531 


prises  calculated  to  prove  of  public  benefit  and 
uses  his  influence  for  their  furtherance.  His 
fidelity  to  public  trusts  is  shown  by  the  incident 
related  concerning  his  experience  in  Reno  City,  of 
which  he  was  one  of  the  first  Aldermen.  While 
in  that  city  there  were  seven  hundred  and  twenty 
houses  erected  in  ninety  days. 


JELLE  DUIS  is  one  of  our  most  capable  and 
successful  farmers,  and  has  extensive  farm- 
ing and  stock  interests  in  two  different 
townships  in  this  county,  those  of  South 
Dixon  and  Marion,  making  his  home  on  section  33 
of  the  first-named  township.  He  is  a  native  of  the 
Kingdom  of  Hanover,  Germany,  born  in  the  month 
of  September,  1834,  into  the  household  of  John 
and  Emma  Duis,  who  were  also  Hanoverians  by 
birth  and  ancestry,  their  respective  families  being 
represented  in  that  kingdom  for  many  generations, 
and  belonging  to  the  farm  laboring  class.  John 
Duris  was  seventy  years  old  when  he  died  in  his 
native  kingdom,  and  his  wife  was  eighty-four  years 
of  age  when  she  passed  away  from  the  scenes  of 
earth.  They  were  religious  people  and  were  mem- 
bers of  the  Lutheran  Church.  They  were  the  par- 
ents of  seven  children,  our  subject  being  the  fourth 
in  order  of  birth,  and  three  of  their  sons  fought  in 
the  German  army  as  regular  soldiers,  and  they 
also  took  part  in  the  Rebellion  of  1848. 

He  of  whom  we  write  obtained  a  very  good  ed- 
ucation in  the  schools  of  his  native  town,  and 
until  he  was  twenty-two  years  old  he  remained  in 
the  Fatherland.  At  that  age  he  went  forth  from 
home  out  into  the  world  to  fight  life's  battles  on  a 
foreign  soil,  having  resolved  to  settle  in  the  United 
States  of  America,  where  he  was  convinced  he 
would  be  more  prospered  than  in  his  own  land. 
April  16,  1857,  was  the  date  of  his  departure  from 
Bremerhaven  on  a  ship  bound  for  Baltimore,  Md., 
at  which  port  he  disembarked  six  weeks  later.  He 
came  thence  to  Peoria,  in  this  State,  and  a  few 
months  later  made  his  appearance  in  this  county, 
arriving  at  Dixon  July  14,  1857,  with  but  five 


cents  in  his  pocket  with  which  he  began  his  new 
life  in  a  strange  land,  among  a  strange  people.  He 
was  of  good  heart,  however,  and  made  capital  of 
his  sturdy  physique,  his  fine  muscle  and  intelligent 
capacity  for  labor.  He  was  first  employed  as  a 
workman  on  the  Northwestern  Railway,  and  at  the 
end  of  four  or  five  years  he  turned  his  attention 
to  farming,  beginning  as  a  renter.  After  some 
years  he  was  able  to  buy  land,  and  made  his  first 
purchase  in  South  Dixon  Township,  which  was  a 
tract  on  section  29,  entirely  devoid  of  improve- 
ments. He  worked  hard  and  economized  where 
economy  was  needed,  and  at  the  same  time  spent 
money  judiciously  in  developing  his  property,  and 
in  that  way  made  a  fortune.  He  has  a  choice  farm 
of  two  hundred  and  forty  acres  on  sections  28  and 
33,  South  Dixon  Township,  which  was  for  the 
most  part  unbroken  when  it  came  into  his  pos- 
session, but  is  now  nearly  all  under  the  plow,  and 
a  fine  set  of  farm  buildings  adds  greatly  to  the 
value  of  the  place.  He  has  recently  erected  one  of 
the  largest  and  most  conveniently  arranged  barns 
in  this  part  of  the  county,  its  dimensions  being 
50x112  feet,  with  a  basement  in  which  seventy- 
five  head  of  stock  can  be  easily  accommodated. 
Besides  this  farm,  Mr.  Duis  owns  one  hundred  and 
twenty  acres  of  good  land  in  Marion  Township. 

Four  years  after  his  arrival  in  Lee  County,  our 
subject  took  upon  himself  the  cares  and  responsi- 
bilities of  married  life,  having  induced  Miss  Cath- 
erine Ortgiesen  to  share  them  with  him,  their 
union  taking  place  in  South  Dixon  Township.  Mrs. 
Duis  is  also  a  native  of  Hanover,  Germany,  born 
in  that  country  in  1833.  She  was  educated  in  the 
German  schools  and  had  blossomed  into  woman- 
hood when,  in  1857,  she  came  to  this  country  with 
her  father,  George  Ortgiesen,  and  other  members 
of  the  family,  who  made  settlement  in  South  Dixon 
Township,  and  here  the  father  and  mother  died  in 
after  years.  For  the  parental  history,  see  biography 
of  George  Ortgiesen.  Mr.  Duis  is  one  of  eleven 
children,  of  whom  six  are  living,  and  all  are  in 
this  country.  She  is  the  mother  of  ten  children, 
of  whom  three  died  young.  The  seven  surviving 
are  Emma,  wife  of  Albert  Fisher,  a  farmer  in  South 
Dixon  Township;  George,  an  attorney  in  Missouri; 
Mary,  at  home  with  her  parents;  Tena,  wife  of  De- 


532 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


lancy  Southwell,  of  Honey  Creek  Township;  Mag- 
gie, a  seamstress,  residing  at  Dixon;  John  and 
Charles  at  home  with  their  parents.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Duis  are  members  of  the  Lutheran  Church,  contrib- 
uting generously  to  its  means  of  support,  and 
standing  high  in  its  councils.  They  live  simple 
unpretentious  lives,  giving  freely  of  their  abund- 
ance when  appealed  to  for  help,  and  the  people 
all  around  them  hold  them  in  cordial  esteem.  Mr. 
Duis  has  a  warm  regard  for  his  adopted  country, 
and,  as  concerns  its  politics,  takes  his  stand  with 
the  Democrats. 


JACOB  MARTIN  was  born  in  Sandwich, 
N.  II.,  December  29,  1806,  and  died  at  his 
home  in  Gap  Grove,  Palmyra  Township, 
August  29,  1881.  He  was  a  well-known 
and  highly-respected  citizen  of  this  community,  a 
history  of  which  would  be  incomplete  were  this 
sketch  omitted.  Mr.  Martin  was  descended  from 
an  old  New  Hampshire  family  of  prominence  in 
Sandwich,  where  his  father,  Jacob  Martin,  lived  and 
died.  In  all  local  interests  of  Strafford  County, 
he  took  an  active  part  and  himself  and  wife  were 
untiring  workers  in  the  temperance  cause.  Her 
maiden  name  was  Mary  Tyler,  and  she  was  alike 
well  and  favorably  known  in  Sandwich,  N.  H., 
and  in  this  county,  where  she  came  witli  her  family 
after  the  death  of  her  husband.  She  departed  this 
life  when  more  than  eighty  years  of  age  and  her 
remains  were  interred  in  the  cemetery  of  Gap 
Grove.  This  worthy  couple  had  a  large  family, 
but  none  are  now  living. 

Jacob  Martin  spent  the  days  of  his  boyhood  and 
youth  in  his  native  town,  leaving  New  Hampshire 
in  1836,  when,  with  his  mother,  he  came  to  Illinois. 
From  that  time  he  made  Lee  County  the  scene  of 
his  labors.  He  purchased  Government  land  in 
what  is  now  Gap  Grove,  and  from  the  wild  prairie 
developed  a  farm  which  has  since  been  the  home 
of  his  family  and  is  now  in  part  owned  by  his 
widow.  He  was  first  married  in  this  county 
to  Margaret  Curtis,  a  native  of  White  Creek, 
Washington  County,  N.  Y.,  born  September  10, 


1813.  When  quite  young  she  was  left  an  orphan- 
Liberal  educational  advantages  were  afforded  her 
and  for  some  years  before  her  marriage  she  engaged 
in  teaching  in  Lee  County,  being  employed  as  a 
teacher  of  French  and  German  in  tiie  High  School 
of  Dixon.  An  intelligent  and  cultured  mind  and 
a  natural  refinement  of  manner  made  her  a  leader 
in  the  best  social  circles,  and  won  her  many  warm 
friends  who  sincerely  mourned  her  death.  She 
passed  away  while  in  the  prime  of  life,  dying  of 
dropsy,  and  five  children  were  left  to  mourn  the 
loss  of  a  mother.  William  was  burned  to  death 
when  three  years  old  by  his  clothes  catching  fire; 
Emma  died  of  croup  when  five  months  old;  Helen  is 
living  with  Mrs.  Martin ;  Addie  Josephine  is  the 
wife  of  Judge  Alfonso  Morgan,  County  Judge,  re- 
siding in  Oregon,  Mo.;  and  Howard,  who  wedded 
Miss  Ida  Cowen,  of  Nebraska,  is  a  resident  farmer 
of  Palmyra  Township. 

Mr.  Martin  was  again  married,  his  second  union 
being  with  Belle  F.  Drynan,  who  was  born  in 
County  Renfrew,  Province  of  Ontario,  Canada,  in 
1839.  Her  father,  William  Drynan,  was  a  native 
of  Edinburg,  Scotland,  who,  having  pursued  a  col- 
legiate course  of  study  in  his  native  city,  crossed 
the  Atlantic  when  twenty-one  years  of  age.  He 
secured  Government  land  in  the  Province  of  Onta- 
rio, where  he  met  and  married  Elizabeth  McMur- 
chie,  who  was  born  in  the  North  of  Ireland,  and 
came  to  America  with  her  parents  during  childhood. 
By  the  united  efforts  of  husband  and  wife  they 
acquired  a  handsome  property,  but  in  the  prime 
of  life  Mr.  Diynan  was  called  to  his  final  rest, 
leaving  his  widow  with  six  children.  She  was 
afterward  again  married,  becoming  the  wife  of  the 
Rev.  William  G.  Johnstoue,  a  Scotchman  by  birth, 
who  graduated  from  the  Edinburg  College  and 
could  fluently  speak  eight  different  languages.  He 
was  a  Congregational  minister.  In  1853,  with  his 
wife  and  step-children,  he  came  to  Illinois,  locating 
at  (Jap  Grove,  and  preached  in  Lee  and  Whiteside 
Counties  until  his  death,  which  occurred  at  the  age 
of  three-score  years.  His  wife  survived  him  some 
time,  and  died  of  dropsy  at  Gap  Grove,  December 
23,  1890,  when  seventy-six  years  of  age.  She  had 
always  enjoyed  remarkable  health  until  a  short 
time  before  her  death,  when  she  had  an  attack  of 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


533 


la  grippe  which  terminated  her  life.  In  religious 
views  she  was  a  member  of  the  Congregational 
Church.  The  five  children  of  her  first  marriage 
yet  living  are:  George,  who  wedded  Kate  Burrus 
and  owns  and  operates  the  homestead  in  the 
Province  of  Ontario;  Sarah,  widow  of  Fletcher 
Ilutton,  whose  sketch  appears  elsewhere;  Mrs. 
Martin,  wife  of  our  subject;  Robert  J.,  Postmaster 
of  Gap  Grove  and  a  farmer  of  Palmyra  Township, 
who  married  Rachel  Delph,  of  Lancaster  County, 
Pa.;  and  Mary  B.,  wife  of  George  A.  Seymour,  of 
Dwight,  111. 

Mr.  Martin  possessed  the  business  qualities  essen- 
tial to  success  and  by  his  industry  and  enterprise 
left  his  family  in  comfortable  circumstances  at  his 
death.  He  was  a  Republican  in  politics  and  took 
a  warm  interest  in  the  growth  and  success  of  that 
party.  His  widow  is  still  living  on  the  old  home- 
stead.' She  is  a  member  of  the  Congregational 
Church  and  a  lady  of  many  excellences  of  char- 
acter. In  the  family  were  six  children,  namely: 
Lillian  A.,  who  formerly  engaged  in  school  teach- 
ing, is  now  the  wife  of  Samuel  Hurleman,  a  farmer 
of  Gap  Grove;  Retta  is  at  home;  Elizabeth,  who 
for  six  years  was  a  stenographer,  is  now  the  wife 
of  Frank  Beckwith,  a  hardware  merchant  of  Kan- 
sas City,  Mo.;  Frank  L.,  who  married  Hettie  Geer, 
of  Sterling,  is  a  resident  farmer  of  Palmyra  Town- 
ship; Charles  L.  wedded  Miss  Rose  Baker,  and  is 
now  living  in  Gap  Grove;  and  Eugene  is  at  home. 


ROF.  E.  C.  SMITH,  principal  of  the  North 
Division  High  School  of  Dixon,  is  one  of 
the  oldest  educators  in  years  of  service 
in  Illinois  and  lias  a  reputation  as  an  in- 
structor among  the  test  in  the  State.  He  is  now 
living  near  the  city  in  a  pleasant  country  home, 
where  he  owns  a  good  farm  of  one  hundred  acres.  A 
native  of  Essex  County,  N.  Y.,  he  was  born  in 
1829,  and  is  a  son  of  Lieut.  Almeron  Smith.  The 
paternal  grandfather,  Maj.  Nathan  Smith,  was  a 
native  of  Manchester,  Vt..  and  belonged  to  one  of 
the  highly  respected  New  England  families.  His 
people  wore  of  Welsh  and  Irish  extraction.  Amid 


the  hills  of  his  native  State  he  was  reared  to  man- 
hood and  became  one  of  the  Green  Mountain  Boys 
of  Revolutionary  fame,  lie  served  as  a  commis- 
sioned officer  in  the  War  for  Independence,  and 
it  was  at  his  home  that  Ethan  Allen  formed  his 
plans  for  the  capture  of  Ticonderoga,  in  which  the 
Major  participated.  He  spent  his  last  days  in 
Shoreham,  Vt.,  dying  at  an  advanced  age.  He 
and  his  wife,  who  was  a  Vermont  lady,  were  both 
active  workers  in  the  Baptist  Church. 

Lieut.  Smith,  father  of  our  subject,  was  a  na- 
tive of  the  Empire  State  and  won  his  title  in  the 
War  of  1812.  He  married  Lois  Larrabee,  a  na- 
tive of  Vermont,  who  with  her  family  removed  to 
Essex  County,  N.  Y.,  while  her  husband  was  fight- 
ing the  British  in  the  War  of  1812.  That  was  the 
home  of  Lieut,  and  Mrs.  Smith  for  some  years, 
but  later  they  went  to  Washington  County,  N.  Y., 
and  later  came  to  Illinois,  locating  in  Savannah, 
where  the  Lieutenant  died  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
one  years.  His  widow  passed  away  three  years  later, 
dying  at  the  home  of  Mrs.  Dr.  Kendrick,  of  Wau- 
kesha,  Wis.,  when  in  her  seventieth  year.  They 
had  long  been  members  of  the  Baptist  Church, 
and  Mr.  Smith  served  as  Deacon  for  long  years. 
He  was  quite  a  prominent  citizen  in  the  commu- 
nities where  he  resided,  and  for  twenty-eight 
years  served  in  public  offices  in  Essex  County, 
N.  Y.  In  1833  he  represented  his  district  in  the 
State  Legislature,  being  elected  to  the  office  by 
the  Whig  party.  In  the  Smith  family  were  seven 
children,  but  with  the  exception  of  our  subject 
only  one  is  now  living — the  Rev.  Dr.  Justin  A. 
Smith,  who  resides  at  Morgan  Park,  and  is  the 
editor  of  the  Standard,  of  Chicago,  the  leading 
Baptist  paper  of  the  West.  lie  is  an  eminent 
preacher  of  that  church  and  well  known  in  its 
circles. 

Prof.  Smith  was  reared  under  the  parental  roof 
and  at  the  age  of  seventeen  taught  his  first  school. 
In  the  village  of  Granville,  Washington  County, 
N.  Y.,  where  his  education  had  been  chiefly  ac- 
quired, he  taught  for  two  years  and  then  came  to 
the  West.  His  first  teaching  in  Illinois  was  on 
the  Fox  River,  at  Geneva,  in  a  little  log  school- 
house  of  the  most  primitive  style  of  times.  Sub- 
sequently he  had  U-on  employed  for  three  years 


534 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


as  principal  of  the  Rock  Seminary  ere  he  came  to 
Dixon  in  1859.  He  heard  the  first  class  in  the 
old  Dixon  Collegiate  Institute,  which  has  been 
non-existing  for  many  years,  and  in  1862  became 
a  teacher  in  the  public  schools.  With  the  South 
Side  schools  he  was  connected  from  that  time 
until  1886,  when  he  became  principal  of  the  North 
Side  School,  which  position  he  still  occupies.  He 
lias  grown  in  favor  from  year  to  year  since  he 
came  to  Dixon  and  has  won  laurels  of  which  he 
may  well  be  proud.  Prof.  Gastman,  of  Decatur, 
111.,  and  Prof.  Howland,  late  Superintendent  of 
the  public  schools  of  Chicago,  are  the  only  two 
men  in  the  State  that  have  filled  educational 
chairs  in  their  respective  cities  as  long  as  Prof. 
Smith  has  been  connected  with  the  schools  of 
Dixon. 

The  Professor  has  been  twice  married.  He 
wedded  Miss  Elizabeth  A.  Mason,  of  Granville, 
N.  Y.,  where  their  union  was  celebrated,  and  where 
the  lady  had  followed  teaching.  After  residing 
in  the  West  for  several  years  she  died  in  Dixon, 
in  the  faith  of  the  Baptist  Church,  leaving  two 
children — Dr.  H.  O.,  a  homeopathic  physician  now 
engaged  in  practice  in  Shakopee,  Minn.,  married 
Ada  Meacham,  a  native  of  Vermont;  and  Edward, 
who  operates  his  father's  farm.  His  wife  was 
formerly  Miss  Ada  Russ,  of  Philadelphia,  Pa.  In 
Dixon  Mr.  Smith  was  again  married,  his  second 
union  being  with  Miss  Saraphina  Gardner,  daugh- 
tei  of  Dr.  Charles  and  Mary  (Pierce)  Gardner.  Her 
father,  a  prominent  physician,  graduated  from 
Dr.  Thomas'  Botanical  College,  and  for  many  years 
resided  in  Lee  Center,  having  an  extensive  prac- 
tice throughout  this  community.  He  died  near 
Chamberlain,  S.  Dak.,  well  advanced  in  years.  His 
wife,  who  was  a  native  of  Rhode  Island,  died  near 
Dixon  some  years  previous.  Both  were  members 
of  the  Episcopal  Church. 

Mrs.  Smith,  wife  of  our  subject,  has  spent  her 
entire  life  in  Lee  County,  where  she  was  born.  She 
is  a  lady  of  intelligence  and  culture,  and  many  of 
her  articles  written  for  different  magazines  possess 
much  merit.  She  belongs  to  the  Episcopal  Church 
and  takes  great  interest  in  its  work.  Mr.  Smith 
has  been  a  Deacon  in  the  Baptist  Church  for  many 
years,  and  with  the  exception  of  four  years  has 


been  Superintendent  of  the  Sunday-school  in 
Dixon  since  1852.  He  has  represented  it  in  the 
different  conventions  of  the  church  and  was  chair- 
man of  the  committee  that  called  the  first  State 
Sunday  School  Convention  of  Illinois.  The  call 
was  made  in  1868,  and  the  convention  organized 
in  Dixon  the  following  year.  In  politics,  the 
Professor  is  a  Republican. 

Unto  Prof.  Smith  and  his  wife  have  been  born 
three  children — Kenneth,  Percy  and  Anna.  The 
eldest  is  fitting  himself  to  enter  the  new  Baptist 
University,  now  building  in  Chicago.  It  is  said  that 
there  is  a  work  suited  to  each  individual,  and  if 
he  engage  in  that  labor  success  will  crown  his  ef- 
forts. Accepting  this  theory  as  true,  we  would 
say  that  Prof.  Smith  found  that  work  to  which 
he  was  peculiarly  adapted.  He  seems  to  possess 
special  talent  for  the  work  in  which  he  is  engaged, 
and  success  has  indeed  been  with  him. 


EV.  WILLIAM  H.  CLAT WORTHY,  an 
honored  minister  of  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Church,  who  has  practically  retired 

|)from  his  profession,  and  now  devotes  him- 
self to  farming  and  stock-raising,  has  a  pleasant 
home  in  Harmon  Township,  and  is  numbered 
among  the  most  respected  citizens  of  Lee  Count}'. 
He  was  born  in  Cornwall,  England,  April  4, 
1839,  one  of  the  eleven  children  of  John  and  Jane 
(Jefford)  Clatworthy,  seven  of  whom  grew  to 
maturity,  and  of  those,  two  came  to  the  United 
States:  our  subject  and  his  sister  Martha,  now  Mrs. 
Wixom,  of  Harmon.  The  father  was  a  civil  and 
mining  engineer,  and  was  employed  in  the  mines 
of  England.  Both  he  and  his  wife  were  earnest 
members  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church,  the 
father  being  leader  of  the  choir. 

Our  subject  worked  in  silver,  iron  and  copper 
mines  in  his  native  country  in  early  life.  He 
received  careful  religious  instruction  from  his 
parents,  and  at  the  age  of  seventeen  became  a 
member  of  the  church.  He  manifested  a  great  in- 
terest in  the  church,  and  was  soon  recognized  as 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


535 


one  of  its  most  active  and  efficient  workers.  Wish- 
ing to  consecrate  himself  more  entirely  to  the 
cause  of  religion,  he  studied  theology,  fitted  him- 
self for  the  ministry,  and  at  the  age  of  twenty-four, 
entered  upon  the  duties  of  his  sacred  calling.  He 
preached  the  gospel  on.  circuits  in  Devonshire  and 
Cornwall  until  1869,  when  he  left  England  and 
came  to  the  United  States,  landing  at  New  York, 
October  2.  He  was  accompanied  hither  by  his 
family,  and  making  their  way  directly  to  Chicago, 
they  buried  a  little  daughter  there  who  had 
sickened  and  died  after  arriving  in  this  country. 
From  Chicago  the  family  proceeded  to  Lilxjrty- 
ville,  Lake  County,  where  Mr.  Clatworthy  worked 
as  a  farm-hand  during  the  season  of  1870.  In  the 
fall  of  that  year,  he  resumed  his  ministerial  duties, 
and  was  assigned  to  the  church  at  Sycamore.  A 
year  later,  he  took  charge  of  the  work  at  Indian 
Creek  and  Ophir,  where  societies  of  his  faith  had 
been  established,  and  he  preached  very  acceptably 
to  the  people  of  those  places  for  six  years.  He 
then  went  to  Harmon,  and  for  six  years  filled  the 
pulpit  at  that  place. 

While  he  was  actively  engaged  in  the  ministry, 
Mr.  C'latworthy  purchased  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  of  his  present  farm  in  1879,  removed  to  it 
and  devoted  his  leisure  to  tilling  the  soil.  He 
has  made  many  improvements,  and  has  greatly  in- 
creased the  attractiveness  and  value  of  the  place 
since  it  came  into  his  possession  by  planting  many 
beautiful  shade  trees,  some  of  which  have  attained 
a  diameter  of  from  twelve  to  fifteen  inches.  He 
has  a  neat  and  substantial  house,  and  necessary 
farm  buildings,  and  has  his  farm  well  stocked  with 
cattle  and  horses  of  good  grades.  In  the  fall  of 
1885,  he  went  from  his  old  pastorate  at  Harmon 
to  Lyndon,  and  for  two  years  had  charge  of  the 
church  in  that  village.  He  then  retired  from 
active  work  in  the  ministry  to  his  farm,  and  has 
since  been  exclusively  engaged  in  its  management, 
occasionally  filling  the  pulpit  in  different  parts  of 
the  vicinity. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Clatworthy  was  united  in  mar- 
riage with  Miss  Elizabeth  A.  Crocker,  in  Devon 
shire.  England,  in  186:5.  She  is  a  native  of  that 
English  shire,  born  March  26, 1839,  and  a  daughter 
of  Richard  and  Mary  (Decker)  Crocker.  She  had 


two  brothers  who  came  to  the  United  States:  Will- 
iam, a  farmer  in  Webster  County,  Iowa;  and 
John,  who  died  in  Chicago.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Clat- 
worthy have  been  greatly  blessed  in  their  mar- 
riage by  the  birth  of  ten  children,  of  whom  seven 
are  living.  Their  son,  William  II.,  is  a  Presby- 
terian minister  in  Hastings,  Neb.;  their  daughter 
Mary  is  the  wife  of  Charles  Woodburn,  of  Sterling, 
111.,  who  is  reporter  of  the  Circuit  Court;  Emily 
is  the  wife  of  David  T.  Hill,  of  Harmon;  and 
Alfred,  Carrie,  Rosena  and  Ernest  G.  are  at  home 
with  their  parents. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Clatworthy  are  very  pleasant,  in- 
telligent people,  whom  it  is  a  pleasure  to  meet, 
and  they  are  very  highly  thought  of  by  the  people 
among  whom  they  have  made  their  home.  A  man 
of  true  piety  and  deep  religious  convictions,  a 
Christian  in  word  and  deed,  Mr.  Clatworthy  has 
not  only  done  good  work  in  the  church,  but  he 
has  thrown  the  weight  of  his  influence  on  the 
side  of  morality  and  right  living  at  all  times,  and 
has  made  the  community  better  for  his  residing  in 
it.  He  has  never  sought  public  office,  but  has 
taken  a  sincere  interest  in  the  politics  of  his 
adopted  country,  and  is  a  sound  Republican. 


jALPII  PAUL  KETTLEY,  a  representative 
farmer  and  resident  of  Willow  Creek  Town- 
ship, was  born  in  Denbighshire,  Wales,  May 
1,  1828.  His  father,  John  Kettley,  was  a 
native  of  Staffordshire,  England,  and  there  grew 
to  manhood  and  married,  but  after  the  death  of  his 
first  wife,  he  removed  to  Wales,  and  spent  the  rest 
of  his  life  in  Denbighshire.  The  maiden  nan-e  of 
his  second  wife,  mother  of  our  subject,  was  Ann 
Paul.  She  was  born  in  Wales  and  spent  her  entire 
life  in  the  land  of  her  birth.  Her  father,  Ralph 
Paul,  who  was  a  sailor,  was  also  a  native  of  Wales, 
and  ended  his  days  in  that  country. 

Our  subject  and  his  brother  Edward  were  the 
onlv  members  of  the  family  that  came  to  America. 
The  latter  is  engaged  in  the  boot  and  shoe  business 
in  Compton.  this  count}-.  Ralph  Kettley  was 
reared  among  his  native  hills,  and  his  parents  being 


536 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


in  limited  circumstances,  he  was  early  thrown  on 
his  own  resources.  At  the  age  of  sixteen,  he  was 
apprenticed  to  learn  the  trade  of  boot  and  shoe 
maker,  and  after  serving  one  year,  did  journey- 
work.  In  1846  he  went  to  Liverpool,  and  was 
employed  at  his  trade  there  until  1849.  Ambi- 
tious to  better  his  condition,  on.  the  28th  of 
August,  that  year,  he  took  an  important  step  in 
life,  which  has  undoubtedly  led  him  to  his  present 
prosperity.  That  was  the  date  of  his  setting  sail 
for  the  New  World  from  Liverpool  in  the  ship 
"Guy  Mannering."  He  landed  at  New  York 
twenty-eight  days  later,  and  proceeded  directly  to 
Chicago,  which  at  that  time  was  a  comparatively 
small  town,  with  no  indications  in  its  swampy  en- 
vironments of  its  present  size  and  importance  as 
one  of  the  great  metropolitan  cities  of  the  world,  and 
Northern  Illinois  was  but  sparsely  settled.  There 
were  no  railways  in  the  State,  and  all  communica- 
tion with  the  interior  was  either  by  private  con- 
veyance, stage  or  canal. 

When  Mr.  Kettley  arrived  in  this  country,  his 
entire  wealth  consisted  of  about  the  sum  of 
$200  in  cash,  but  he  was  well  endowed  otherwise 
with  the  energy,  perseverance  and  capacity  for  hard 
work  that  serve  a  man  better  than  money  often- 
times. He  sought  and  found  employment  at  his 
trade  in  Chicago,  where  he  remained  until  1852, 
when  he  went  to  Peoria  and  was  engaged  in  mak- 
ing shoes  in  that  city  the  following  three  years. 
His  next  move  was  to  this  county,  where  he  made  a 
new  departure  by  turning  farmer.  He  bought  a 
tract  of  Government  land  in  Wyoming  Township, 
upon  which  there  were  no  improvements  whatever, 
so  that  he  did  not  settle  upon  it,  but  rented  an  im- 
proved farm,  and  shortly  after  sold  the  land  that 
he  had  entered.  He  continued  fanning  as  a  renter 
a  few  years,  and  then  bought  the  farm  he  now 
owns  and  occupies,  that  contains  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres  of  arable  land  on  sections  19  and  30,  of 
Willow  Creek  Township.  He  has  the  entire  tract 
under  a  high  state  of  cultivation,  has  planted  fruit 
and  shade  trees,  and  erected  a  neat  set  of  frame 
buildings,  the  improvements  comparing  favorably 
with  any  in  the  county. 

In  1851  Mr.  Kettley  was  married  to  Eliza  Beder, 
a  native  of  England,  in  whom  he  has  a  faithful 


wife,  who  looks  carefully  after  the  well-being  of 
her  household.  They  have  seven  children  living: 
William,  .John,  Thomas,  Lizzie,  Julia,  Hattie  and 
Mary. 


01CIIOLAS  MOSSHOLDER,  who  is  a  veter- 
an of  the  late  war,  with  an  honorable  rec- 
ord for  bravery  and  devotion  to  the  cause 
of  his  country  won  in  some  of  the  hardest,  fought 
battles  of  the  rebellion,  is  a  very  successful  farmer, 
one  of  the  foremost  in  his  line  of  business  in  South 
Dixon  Township,  where  he  has  a  beautiful  farm 
and  a  very  attractive  home  on  sections  17  and  20. 
He  is  a  son  of  the  late  Jacob  Mossholder,  who  was 
a  prominent  pioneer  of  this  section,  beginning  his 
life  here  on  :i  slightly  improved  farm  of  two  hun- 
dred and  forty  acres,  on  which  stood  a  sod  stable  and 
board  shanty.  He  made  a  good  home  and  died 
here  in  1876  a  rich  man,  having  acquired  a  large 
property.  For  a  further  account  of  him  see  biog- 
raphy of  William  H.  Mossholder. 

Our  subject  is  the  second  son  and  child  of  the 
family  of  eight  children  born  unto  his  parents — : 
five  sons  and  three  daughters.  The  survivors  of 
the  family  are  himself,  his  brother  William,  Mrs. 
Catherine  Heckman  and  Mrs.  Eva  Allen,  all  of 
whom  are  living  on  farms  in  this  township.  He 
was  bora  in  Somerset  County,  Pa.,  August  16, 
1837,  and  was  nineteen  years  of  age  when  the  fam- 
ily came  to  this  county  in  1856.  He  has  since 
been  a  resident  of  this  township,  and  an  interested 
witness  of  almost  its  entire  growth  from  a  tract  of 
wild  prairie.  He  has  occupied  his  present  farm 
twenty-two  years,  and  it  has  been  his  property  for 
fifteen  years.  The  one  hundred  and  thirty-eight 
acres  included  in  the  farm  are  under  the  best  of 
cultivation,  and  many  additional  improvements 
have  been  made  since  it  has  been  in  his  possession. 
He  has  recently  erected  a  handsome  set  of  farm 
buildings;  his  residence,  a  view  of  which  is  presented 
on  another  page,  is  of  a  beautiful  and  modern 
style  of  architecture,  and  his  new  barn  is  a  substan- 
tial and  roomy  structure,  36x60  feet  in  dimen- 
sions. Able  management,  thrift  and  unwonted 


THE  II2RARY 

OF  THE 
!:HiVcBX«H 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


539 


skill  in  carry  ing  on  farming  operations  arc  manifest 
on  every  hand,  and  have  given  our  subject  a  fine 
reputation  as  an  agriculturist.  He  has  otherwise 
been  of  benefit  to  his  community  as  a  man  of  ex- 
emplary habits  and  true  Christian  principles,  who 
has  been  influential  in  promoting  the  religious  and 
social  interests  in  the  township  in  his  capacity  as  a 
consistent  member  of  the  Evangelical  Church. 
His  political  views  are  in  consonance  with  the  doc- 
trines of  the  Republican  partv. 

Mr.  Mossholder  served  long  and  well  in  the  army 
during  the  most  trying  years  of  the  Rebellion,  en- 
listing August  9,  1862,  in  Company  A,  Seven ty- 
fiftli  Illinois  Infantry,  and  with  his  regiment 
joined  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland.  His  company 
and  regiment  fought  desperately  at  the  battle  of 
Perryville,  Ky.,  and  lost  heavily  in  their  encoun- 
ter with  the  enemy.  The  next  engagement  in 
which  he  and  his  comrades  participated  was  at  Stone 
River;  then  followed  Chickamauga,  Lookout  Moun- 
tain and  Missionary  Ridge;  after  that,  Buzzard's 
Roost,  and  while  in  the  heat  of  the  contest  on  that 
field;  Mr.  Mossholder  was  shot  through  the  right 
thigh.  While  recovering  from  that  wound  he  was 
compelled  to  lie  in  the  hospital  at  Nashville, 
Tenn.,  three  months,  and  was  subsequently  de- 
tailed to  duty  in  that  institution  for  the  space  of 
six  months.  By  that  time  the  war  was  over,  and 
he  received  his  discharge  June  12,  1865,  and  re- 
turning from  the  South  to  his  home  in  this  county, 
has  ever  since  been  engaged  in  tilling  the  soil,  rais- 
ing stock,  etc. 

Our  subject  was  first  married  in  this  township  to 
Miss  Isabella  Evens,  adopted  daughter  of  Will- 
iam E.  Ketchem,  by  whom  she  was  reared  in  New 
York,  her  native  State,  and  with  whom  she  came 
to  this  township,  in  the  latter  years  of  her  girlhood, 
she  died  in  July,  1876,  when  only  twenty-eight 
years  old,  leaving  behind  her  an  unspotted  name 
and  a  record  as  a  true  Christian,  who  had  been 
a  valued  member  of  the  Evangelical  Association. 
She  was  the  mother  of  Jour  children,  of  whom  two 
are  dead,  Emma  J.,  and  Bertha  A.,  the  former 
dying  at  the  age  of  twelve  years,  and  the  latter 
when  a  small  child  of  eighteen  months.  William 
J.,  who  was  well  educated  in  the  public  schools, 
and  married  Hattie  Rhodes  affords  his  father  valu- 


able assistance  in  managing  his  farm;  Mary  F.,  a 
very  bright  young  lady,  is  at  home  with  her  father. 
Mr.  Mossholder  was  a  second  time  married  in  this 
township,  Miss  Hattie  E.  Young  becoming  his  wife. 
She  was  born  in  Somerset  County,  Pa.,  in  1852, 
and  was  the  daughter  of  Peter  and  Lucinda  (Mar- 
teena)  Young,  who  were  also  natives  of  Pennsyl- 
vania. Thejr  came  from  that  State  to  this  in  1865, 
and  settled  on  a  farm  in  Nelson  Township,  where 
Mr.  Young  died  in  1872  at  the  age  of  fifty-six 
years.  His  widow,  who  was  born  in  1828,  is  still 
living  on  the  old  homestead,  and  in  spite  of  her 
years  is  active  and  capable,  and  retains  her  mental 
faculties  in  all  their  pristine  vigor.  She  has  been  a 
member  of  the  Lutheran  Church  all  her  days,  and 
her  husband  was  also  a  member  of  that  church. 
Mrs.  Mossholder  lived  with  her  parents  until  her 
marriage,  and  was  well  trained  in  household  duties. 
Her  death  in  1879,  when  she  was  but  twenty-eight 
years  old,  was  a  sad  blow  to  her  family,  as  she  had 
ever  been  an  affectionate  daughter,  and  was  a  good 
wife  and  tender  mother.  She  was  greatly  missed 
in  the  Lutheran  Church,  of  which  she  was  a  devo- 
ted member.  She  left  two  children,  Jemima  Grace, 
and  Charles  II.,  both  of  whom  are  with  then- 
father. 


JLLIAM  GROVE  is  a  veteran  of  the  late 
war  who  has  been  a  member  of  the  farming 
community  of  Lee  County  ever  since  he 
left  the  army,  and  has  done  as  good  service  in  the 
interests  of  agriculture  and  in  the  improvement  of 
the  farm  that  he  now  owns  and  occupies  in  Willow 
Creek  Township.  He  was  born  in  Frederick 
County,  Md.,  September  15,  1834,  and  is  a  son  of 
William  Grove,  who  was  also  a  native  of  Maryland. 
His  father,  Jacob  Grove,  is  supposed  to  have  been 
of  English  birth,  and  to  have  emigrated  to  Amer- 
ica in  his  early  manhood,  and  ever  after  to  have 
lived  in  Maryland  until  death  closed  his  mortal 
career. 

William  Grove  was  reared  and    married    in  his 
native  State,  Cornelia  Clay  becoming  his  wife.     She 


540 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


was  also  of  Maryland  birth,  and  was  a  daughter  of 
John    Clay,  who   was   a  nephew  of  Henry  Clay. 
Before  the  introduction  of    railways,    Mr.  Grove 
was  employed  in  teaming  between  different  points 
in   Maryland  and  Pennsylvania,  driving  a   six- 
horse  team  and  transporting  produce,  merchandise, 
etc.     In  1837  he  became   a  pioneer  settler   of  Mt. 
Vernon,  Ohio,  where  he  carried  on  his  old  business 
for  a  time,  and    was   then    engaged    in  a  foundry 
during  the  remainder  of  his  residence  there.     I 
1847  he  removed  to    Seneca  County  and  leased 
tract  of  timber  land  nine  miles   from  Tiffin.     II 
built  on  the    land,   cleared  several  acres  and  pu 
them  under  cultivation.     A  few  years  later  he  wen 
to  Fulton  County,   and,  after  renting    land  there 
for  a  time,  bought   a  farm   upon   which    he  dwelt 
until  1865,  when  he  sold  it  in  order  to  spend  his 
declining  years  in  this  county,  where  he  died  at  a  . 
ripe  age.     He  was  a   brave   soldier  in  the  War  of 
1812.     His  wife   preceded   him   in     death    many 
years,  dying  during  their  residence  in  Mt.  Vernon, 
in  1844.     They  reared  ten  children  to  lives  of  use- 
fulness. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  very  j'oung  when 
he  commenced  to  assist  his  father  in  clearing  land 
and  tilling  the  soil,  and  he  continued  thus  helping 
him  until  1863.  In  the  month  of  December,  that 
year,  he  threw  aside  his  work  to  take  part  in  the 
war,  and  on  many  a  hard-fought  battlefield  dis- 
played true  soldierly  valor  and  won  a  good  record 
for  faithful  performance  of  duty,  wherever  placed. 
He  went  to  the  front  as  a  member  of  Company  II, 
One  Hundredth  Ohio  Infantry,  and  remained  with 
his  regiment  until  after  the  close  of  the  Rebellion. 
He  took  part  in  the  battles  of  Missionary  Ridge 
and  Chickamauga,  was  with  Sherman  in  his  march 
to  Atlanta,  and  fought  in  the  various  engagements 
with  the  enemy  on  the  way  and  in  the  siege  and 
capture  of  that  city,  and  was  with  his  regiment  in 
the  battles  of  Franklin  and  Nashville.  He  was 
honorably  discharged  from  the  service  in  July, 
1865. 

Returning  to  his  old  home  in  Ohio  after  the 
war,  in  the  same  year,  Mr.  Grove  came  to  this 
county  and  bought  a  farm  in  Willow  Creek  Town- 
ship. Three  years  later  he  sold. that  place,  and 
bought  his  present  farm  in  the  same  township,  and 


is  conducting  his  agricultural  operations  very  prof- 
itably. His  land  is  exceedingly  fertile,  is  under 
admirable  tillage,  and  is  supplied  with  all  the  nec- 
essary buildings  and  machinery.  In  the  manage- 
ment of  his  farm,  he  shows  himself  to  be  a  compe- 
tent farmer,  with  a  good  understanding  of  the  best 
methods  for  prosecuting  his  calling,  and  he  stands 
well  in  his  community  as  a  fair  and  honest  dealer 
and  a  most  worthy  citizen. 

Mr.  Grove  has  by  no  means  been  without  the 
help  of  a  good  wife,  as  he  was  married  in  1861  to 
Miss  Amanda  Gee,  a  native  of  Seneca  County,  Ohio, 
and  she  has  done  her  share  of  the  work  in  the  mak- 
ing of  their  home.  They  have  nine  children, 
whom  they  have  named  Emma,  Cornelia,  Nora, 
Ada,  Ella,  George,  John,  Nellie  and  Clyde. 


&m  RTHUR  P.  WASSON.  In  the  dual  occu- 
llOl  pations  of  farmer  and  engineer,  Mr.  Was- 
j  &  son  finds  a  good  opportunity  for  the 
^jl  exercise  of  his  fine  physical  powers  and 
sound  common  sense.  Since  October,  1887,  he  has 
been  employed  as  engineer  of  the  Illinois  Central 
Railroad  and  in  connection  therewith  has  superin- 
tended not  only  his  farm  of  one  hundred  and 
eighty  acres,  but  more  than  two  hundred  acres  in 
addition.  As  the  reader  ma}-  imagine,  his  life  is  a 
busy  one  and  contains  few  leisure  hours.  He 
resides  on  section  15,  Amboy  Township,  and  al- 
though he  has  been  a  railroad  man  during  the 
greater  part  of  his  active  life,  he  has  yet  found 
time  to  control  his  farming  operations  and  main- 
tain first-class  improvements  on  his  place. 

Among  the  early  settlers  of  this  county  were  the 
parents  of  our  subject,  Lorenzo  D.,  and  Aurelia 
H.  (Gaylord)  Wasson,  natives  of  New  York. 
About  1837  they  located  in  Amboy  Township, 
when  the  country  around  was  almost  in  its  prim- 
eval condition  and  scarce!}-  a  furrow  had  been 
turned.  With  the  development  of  the  township 
they  were  closely  identified  and  contributed 
largely  to  its  growth,  becoming  well  known  as 
brave  pioneers  and  generous  and  hospitable  people. 
The  mother,  who  still  lives,  lias  long  survived  Mr. 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


541 


Wasson  who  died  in  July,  1857.  They  had  a  family 
of  three  children,  one  sou  and  two  daughters,  to 
whom  they  gave  as  good  advantages  as  the 
sparsely  settled  country  would  permit. 

After  the  death  of  Lorenzo  D.  "Wasson,  the 
father  of  our  subject,  his  mother  was  again  married, 
becoming  the  wife  of  Judge  Alonzo  Kinyon.  Their 
five  living  children  are:  Winnie  L.,  Alonzo  G., 
Sheridan  G.,  Ivy  A.,  and  Ransom.  Judge  Kinyon 
died  in  Plankinton,  Dak.,  July  16,  1891.  He  was 
a  man  who  held  important  public  offices  and  was 
widely  known  and  universally  respected  for  his 
high  abilities  and  unflinching  integrity.  At  one 
time  he  was  a  leading  attorney  of  Amboy  and  repre- 
sented his  district  in  the  Legislature  for  two  terms 
in  succession.  He  was  also  Judge  of  the  Court  of 
Common  Pleas  and  eminent  for  the  justice  of  his 
decisions  and  his  knowledge  of  the  law. 

The  oldest  in  the  family  is  the  subject  of  this 
biographical  notice,"and  was  born  in  Amboy  Town- 
ship, May  3,  1849.  He  grew  to  manhood  and  has 
passed  the  greater  portion  of  his  life  in  his  native 
place.  For  several  years  he  was  a  resident  of 
Fond  du  Lac,  Wis.,  but  returned  to  his  native  State, 
convinced  that  for  a  home  there  was  no  place 
like  Lee  County.  He  was  married  in  his  early 
manhood,  February  22,  1862,  in  Amboy  Township, 
to  Miss  Elizabeth  M.,  daughter  of  James  and  Clara 
(Kinyon)  Sprague.  Mr.  Sprague,  who  was  a 
native  of  Vermont,  and  his  wife,  who  was  born  in 
New  York,  spent  the  first  years  of  their  wedded 
life  in  the  Empire  State,  whence  they  removed  to 
Boone  County,  111.,  and  from  there  to  Lee  County, 
in  1861. 

Mr.  Sprague  spent  the  remaining  years  of  his 
life  in  this  county  where  lie  died  in  October,  1878. 
His  wife  had  passed  away  many  years  before  his 
demise,  her  death  occurring  in  Clinton,  Wis.,  in 
the  latter  part  of  the  '60s.  Mrs.  Wasson,  who  was 
the  youngest  among  three  children,  was  born  in 
Boone  County,  111.,  July  23, 1847,  and  accompanied 
her  parents  to  Lee  County  in  her  girlhood.  Of 
her  union  with  Mr.  Wasson,  seven  children  have 
been  born,  namely:  Oddy  A.,  Lorenzo  D.,  Ar- 
thur G.,  Winn  S.,  Paul  G.,  Ivy  A.,  and  Luetta  M. 
Mr.  Wasson  operates  about  four  hundred  acres,  of 
which  he  owns  one  hundred,  and  this  work,  in  con- 


nection with  his  duties  as  engineer,  allows  him 
little  opportunity  for  social  recreation. 

When  he  was  about  nineteen  years  old  Mr. 
Sprague  entered  the  employ  of  the  Illinois  Central 
Railroad  as  fireman  and  continued  in  that  position 
until  about  1872,  when  he  became  conductor  on 
the  Chicago  &  Rock  Falls  Railroad  (now  Chicago, 
Burlington  &  Quincy),  his  run  being  between 
Amboy  and  Sterling.  After  one  year  in  that  con- 
nection he  became  an  employe  of  the  Western 
Minnesota  Railway  Company  (now  the  Chicago, 
Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul)  and  continued  with  them 
as  engineer  for  one  year.  He  then  settled  on  a 
farm  near  Amboy  and  there  resided  until  the  fall 
of  1873,  when  he  removed  to  Fond  du  Lac,  Wis., 
and  was  employed  as  engineer,  conductor  and  as- 
sistant superintendent  of  the  Fond  du  Lac,  Amboy 
&  Peoria,  now  operated  by  the  Chicago,  Milwau- 
kee &  St.  Paul  Railway  Company. 

Mr.  Wasson  was  in  Fond  du  Lac  about  three 
years,  and  afterward  held  the  position  of  engineer 
on  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Railroad 
about  two  years.  He  then  returned  to  Amboy  and 
engaged  in  farming  until  October,  1887,  when  he 
accepted  the  position  of  engineer  on  the  Illinois 
Central  Railroad.  For  several  years  he  has  occu- 
pied this  place  and  performs  his  duties  with  un- 
usual capability  and  great  efficiency.  He  enjoys 
the  highest  respect  of  Ins  fellow-citizens,  and  is  a 
man  of  probity  and  honor. 


JOHN  TROUTH,  a  retired  farmer  now  living 
with  his  son-in-law,  Daniel   Schuck,  in  Pal- 
myra  Township,  came   to   Lee  County  in 
1858,   and    during   the  years   which   have 
since  come  and  gone  has  made   his  home  in    this 
township.     He   first  improved    a   good  farm   on 
section  18,  and  some  years  later,   in  1869,  he  pur- 
chased land  on  sections  17  and  20,  a  fine  property 
which  is  still    in    his  possession.     It  is  highly  im- 
proved with  good  buildings,  most  of    which  were 
erected  by  him.     In  all  his  business  undertakings 
he  has  been  quite   successful,  and  the   prosperity 
which  has  come  to  him   as    the   just  reward  of  his 


542 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


labors,  now  enables  him  to  spend  his  declining 
years  in  retirement  from  all  care. 

Mr.  Trouth  is  of  German  birth.  He  was  born 
in  Rheinpfalz,  Bavaria,  August  25,  1819,  and 
there  his  father,  John  G.  Trouth,  was  also  born, 
and  followed  farming  until  1832,  when,  with  his 
older  son,  he  crossed  the  Atlantic,  landing  in  New 
Orleans,  where  he  died  very  suddenly  of  Asiatic 
cholera,  which  was  then  epidemic.  The  son  went 
north  to  Philadelphia,  where  he  died  soon  after- 
wards of  the  same  disease.  Mr.  Trouth  was  a 
member  of  the  Lutheran  Church  and  at  the  time 
of  his  death  was  about  forty  years  of  age.  Mrs. 
Trouth,  whose  maiden  name  was  Margaret  Sundall, 
was  born  in  the  Fatherland  in  1793,  and  never 
left  that  country,  her  death  occurring  in  her  native 
province  in  January,  1 880.  She  was  never  again 
married  after  her  husband's  death,  but  remained 
true  to  his  memory.  She  reared  her  children  and 
saw  them  all  well  started  out  in  life. 

Our  subject  is  now  the  only  surviving  member  of 
a  family  of  three  sons  and  two  daughters.  In  his 
youth  he  learned  the  trade  of  a  tailor,  which  he  fol- 
lowed in  his  native  land  and  has  worked  in  that  line 
to  some  extent  in  this  country.  In  Germany  he 
wedded  Miss  Mary  E.  Getts,  who  was  born  July  18, 
1818,  and  was  reared  in  the  same  province  as  her 
husband.  Their  home  was  brightened  by  the  pres- 
ence of  five  children,  after  which  they  crossed  the 
briny  deep  to  America  in  1858,  in  a  sailing  vessel, 
which  weighed  anchor  at  Bremen  and  reached 
New  York  after  a  voyage  of  forty  days.  Contin- 
uing their  journey  by  land  they  at  length  arrived 
in  Dixon,  111.  Mr.  Trouth  then  had  but  $16 
in  his  pocket.  Determination  and  enter- 
prise, however,  stood  him  instead  of  capital  and 
with  the  assistance  of  his  faithful  wife  he  began 
earning  a  livelihood  and  worked  his  way  upward 
to  a  position  of  affluence.  When  he  had  saved  a 
small  sum  of  money,  he  purchased  land  and  began 
farming  on  his  own  account,  carrying  on  hisopera- 
tions  until  he  found  himself  the  owner  of  a  fine 
farm  and  possessed  of  a  handsome  property. 

Unto  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Trouth  were  born  seven 
children ;  George  W.,  who  works  in  a  milk  factory, 
married  Louisa  Teal,  who  is  now  deceased;  John 
married  Cecilia  Elmer  and  resides  in  Dixon;  Jacob 


married  Susa  Hess  and  is  a  resident  farmer  of  Pal- 
myra Township;  Anna  M.,  is  the  wife  of  Daniel 
Schuck,  a  representative  farmer,  who  owns  a 
good  home  on  section  26,  Palmyra  Township; 
Carrie  is  the  wife  of  Manuel  Hess,  an  agriculturist 
of  Whiteside  County;  and  Fred  liyes  with  his 
brother,  George  W. 

In  1887  Mr.  Trouth  was  called  upon  to  mourn 
the  loss  of  his  wife,  who  died  on  the  13th  of  June. 
She  was  a  true  and  faithful  wife  and  mother,  who 
ever  had  the  interests  of  her  family  at  heart  and 
was  a  consistent  member  of  the  Lutheran  Church. 
Our  subject  also  belongs  to  the  Lutheran  Church  in 
Prairieville,  and  to  its  support  has  contributed 
liberally.  In  politics,  he  is  a  Republican  and  is  well 
informed  concerning  the  issues  of  the  day.  In  the 
enjoyment  of  a  well-earned  rest,  he  expects  to  s]>end 
the  remainder  of  his  life  in  the  county  of  his 
adoption,  where  he  is  so  widely  and  favorably 
known. 


THE  W  J.  SHIPPERT  is  a  general  farmer 
and  stock-raiser  who  is  carrying  on  his 
operations  with  marked  success  on  sections 
19  and  20,  Nachusa  Township,  where  he 
has  a  farm  whose  improvements  are  modern  and 
substantial,  and  its  one  hundred  and  forty-two 
acres  are  under  a  high  state  of  cultivation.  He  is 
a  German  by  birth,  born  in  Wurtemberg,  May  3, 
1843,  but  much  of  his  life  has  been  passed  in  the 
United  States,  as  he  was  only  eleven  years  old 
when  lie  came  here,  and  he  is  as  true  in  his  allegi- 
ance to  this  Government  as  if  he  were  native  and 
to  the  manor  born.  He  is  the  third  child  and 
second  son  of  Frederick  and  Louisa  (Slippf)  Ship- 
Pert,  natives  of  Wurtemberg,  and  of  pure  German 
ancestry. 

After  marriage  and  the  birth  of  the  most  of  their 
children,  Frederick  Shippert  and  his  wife  emigrated 
to  this  country  in  1854,  going  first  to  London,  Eng- 
land, where  they  embarked  on  a  ship  bound  for 
New  York,  and  after  landing  in  that  city  they  pro- 
ceeded to  Luzerne  Countj-,  Pa.  There  the  father 
died  in  I860  at  middle  age,  his  birth  having  token 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


r»43 


place  February  19, 1813.  His  widow  afterward  came 
to  Illinois,  and  now  makes  her  home  with  her  son 
John,  in  South  Dixon  Township.  She  was  born  Jan- 
uary 16,  1814,  but  is  still  quite  active  and  retains 
her  mental  faculties  well.  She  was  reared  in  the 
Lutheran  faith,  and  all  her  life  has  been  a  mem- 
ber of  a  church  of  that  denomination,  as  was  her 
husband  also. 

The  first  ten  years  of  his  life  in  this  country  our 
subject  spent  in  Pennsylvania,  and  the  education 
commenced  in  the  German  schools  was  completed 
in  the  schools  of  Luzerne  County.  In  1864  he 
came  to  Illinois  when  he  was  just  entering  upon 
niiinhood,  and  since  that  time  has  founded  a  home 
in  Lee  County.  For  a  few  years  he  was  engaged 
at  Amboy  and  Dixon  in  the  harness  making  trade, 
which  he  learned  in  the  latter  city  and  at  Sterling. 
lie  subsequently  abandoned  that  to  try  his  hand  at 
farming,  in  which  he  has  met  with  good  success. 
In  1872  he  purchased  his  present  farm  in  Nachusa 
Township,  and  has  wrought  a  great  change  in  its 
appearance  since  he  took  possession  of  it.  Every- 
thing about  the  place  is  in  good  order,  the  build- 
ings are  roomy  and  well  built,  and  an  ample  sup- 
ply of  the  best  kinds  of  farming  machinery  facili- 
tates the  labors  of  carrying  on  the  farm  properly. 
The  place  is  well  adapted  to  general  farming,  and 
our  subject  has  it  stocked  with  cattle,  horses  and 
swine  of  the  breeds  that  the  farmers  of  this  vicin- 
ity have  learned  to  be  the  most  profitable  to  raise 
for  general  purposes. 

After  coming  to  this  county,  Mr.  Shippert  fell  in 
with  a  charming  young  school  teacher,  whose  pre- 
possessing appearance  and  sensible  manner  so  im- 
pressed him  that  lie  sought  her  hand  in  marriage. 
She  did  not  say  him  nay,  and  for  several  years 
has  been  the  presiding  genius  of  his  home,  to  him 
a  true  wife,  and  to  their  children  a  tender  mother. 
A  sou  Warren  A.,  and  a  daughter,  Ada  M.,  com- 
plete their  household,  the  son  helping  his  father 
in  the  management  of  the  farm. 

Mrs.  Shippert  was  Mary  D.  Ileimbaugh  in  her 
maiden  days,  and  she  was  born  in  Luzerne  County, 
Pa.,  March  31,  1847.  She  was  only  a  year  old 
when  she  was  brought  to  this  county  by  her  par- 
ents, Elias  and  Irena  (I lollister)  Ileimbaugh,  who 
were  also  natives  of  Luzerne  County,  being  of 


German  and  New  England  descent,  although 
the  parents  were  likewise  born  in  Pennsyl- 
vania. They  were  among  the  pioneers  of  this 
count}',  and  were  among  the  first  to  make  settle- 
ment in  what  is  now  Nachusa  Township,  where 
they  opened  up  a  new  farm.  The  father  died  on 
his  homestead,  October  6,  1874,  at  the  age  of  fifty- 
two  years,  and  his  community  was  deprived  of  a 
highly  prized  citizen,  whose  character  for  morality, 
truthfulness  and  all  that  goes  to  make  a  good  man, 
was  high;  he  was  a  worthy  member  of  the 
Evangelical  Association,  to  which  his  good  wife 
still  belongs.  She  is  living  at  a  venerable  age 
with  her  daughter,  Mrs.  Shippert.  Our  subject's 
wife  grew  up  under  good  home  influences  with  her 
parents,  and,  being  a  bright  and  apt  scholar,  ob- 
tained such  an  education  in  the  common  schools 
that  she  was  early  fitted  to  enter  the  profession  of 
a  teacher,  and  taught  in  this  township  for  some 
years  prior  to  her  marriage.  She  and  her  husband 
are  members  in  high  standing  of  the  Evangelical 
Association  in  South  Dixon,  and  by  simple,  unpre- 
tentious lives  show  the  value  of  their  Christianity. 
They  are  hospitable  and  entertaining  in  their  home 
life,  and  their  neighbors  know  well  where  to  look 
for  help  and  sympathy  in  time  of  trouble.  Mr. 
Shippert  is  a  Republican  in  politics,  and  is  one  of 
the  best  citizens  of  his  adopted  township. 


EC.  JOHNSON,  a  retired  farmer  and  nursery- 
man who  now  resides  on  West  First  Street 
in  Dixon,  where  he  has  made  his  home 
since  1878,  claims  New  York  as  the  State  of 
his  nativity.  Chemung  County  was  the  place  of 
his  birth  and  May  5,  1840,  the  date.  He  was 
there  reared  and  educated  and  for  many  years 
made  his  home  in  that  locality.  His  parental 
grandfather,  Ezekiel  Johnson,  was  one  of  the  early 
settlers  of  Chemung  County.  In  an  early  day  he 
there  located  and  in  the  midst  of  the  forest  hewed 
out  a  farm,  upon  which  he  spent  the  remainder  of 
his  days,  living  to  be  almost  one  hundred  years 
old.  lie  had  l>een  twice  married  and  by  his  first 


544 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


wife  had  eleven  children,  all  of  whom  were  reared 
to  manhood  and  womanhood,  were  married  and  had 
families  of  their  own,  residing  in  a  locality  famil- 
iary  known  as  Johnson's  Hollow.  Of  this  family 
two  are  yet  living — Mrs.  Pricilla  Prosenous 
and  Mi's.  Richard  Prosenous  both  residents  of 
Chemung  County,  N.  Y.  The  father  of  our  sub- 
ject was  the  eldest  of  the  family.  lie,  too,  was 
born  in  the  Empire  State,  and  was  only  four 
years  of  age  when  his  father  located  in  Chemung 
County,  where  the  days  of  his  boyhood  and  youth 
were  passed.  In  fact,  his  entire  life  was  spent  in 
Johnson's  Hollow,  where  he  passed  away  at  the  age 
of  sixty-five  years.  Like  the  other  members  of  the 
family  he  made  farming  his  life  occupation  and  in 
the  pursuit  of  that  business  won  a  handsome  com- 
petence. In  Tompkins  County,  N.  Y.,  David 
Johnson  married  Miss  Hannah  Bangs,  a  native  of 
that  county  who  died  after  the  birth  of  their  only 
child,  our  subject.  David  Johnson  again  married 
and  by  his  second  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was 
Caroline  Rodgers,  reared  a  family.  She  is  also 
now  deceased. 

Under  the  parental  roof  E.  C.  Johnson  was 
reared  to  manhood,  his  days  being  passed  in  the 
usual  routine  of  farm  labor.  In  the  public  schools 
of  the  neighborhood  he  acquired  his  education  and 
not  until  he  came  to  the  West  did  he  leave  his  na- 
tive county.  For  a  number  of  years  he  engaged 
in  the  nursery  business,  following  the  same  at  Al- 
mora  and  Horsehead  at  the  same  time.  Desiring 
to  come  West  he  severed  his  business  connections 
in  the  Empire  State  and  as  before  stated,  took  up 
his  residence  in  Dixon  in  1878,  succeeding  to  the 
nursery  business  of  E.  C.  Smith,  which  had  been 
established  by  Joseph  Little  whose  sketch  appears 
elsewhere  in  this  work.  For  ten  years  he  devoted 
his  energies  to  that  line  'of  trade  and  furnished 
employment  to  several  traveling  salesmen.  He 
made  his  business  a  signal  success  and  at  the  end 
of  that  decade  retired  from  the  nursery  business 
and  has  since  been  dealing  in  western  lands. 

In  Chemung  County,  N.  Y,,  Mr.  Johnson  was 
united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Sarah  McKinney,  who 
was  born  in  Belvidere,  111.,  and  reared  in  P,r:ivcr 
Dam,  N.  Y.  She  was  the  only  child  of  William  :md 
SalinaM.  (Holmes)  McKinney.  who  with  their  fam- 


ily came  to  Michigan  in  1869,  settling  in  Cass  Coun- 
ty, where  the  father  departed  this  life  in  1888,  at 
the  age  of  seventy-three  years.  By  trade  he  was  a 
carpenter  and  builder.  His  wife,  who  still  sur- 
vives him,  makes  her  home  with  Mrs.  Johnson  and 
although  now  seventy-two  years  of  age  is  still 
hale  and  hearty.  Although  she  has  resided  in  Dix- 
on but  a  few  years  she  has  already  won  a  host  of 
friends,  in  whose  esteem  she  ranks  high. 

Unto  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Johnson  have  been  born  six 
children,  but  they  have  lost  three — Bangs,  Herbert 
and  Jennie,  all  of  whom  died  in  childhood.  Dana 
C,,  Verna  J.  and  Deja  B.  are  yet  at  home.  The 
mother  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Church  and 
in  political  /aith  Mr.  Johnson  is  a  Republican. 
They  are  both  widely  and  favorably  known  in  this 
locality  and  their  circle  of  friends  is  indeed  an  ex- 
tensive one. 


EDMUND  B.  CLARK,  who  has  been  iden- 
tified with  the  industrial  interests  of  Dixon 
for  the  last  twenty  years  as  a  house  and 
sign  painter,  and  is  carrying  on  a  lucrative  busi- 
ness in  his  line,  is  a  native  of  the  State  of  Ver- 
mont, and  was  born  in  the  pretty  town  of  Chel- 
sea, August  20,  1830.  His  father,  William  C. 
Clark,  was  born  in  the  town  of  Barre,  Mass.,  and 
was  the  son  of  Edmund  Clark,  who  is  thought  to 
have  been  of  English  birth  and  antecedents.  In  the 
early  part  of  his  life,  probably  during  the  latter 
part  of  the  eighteenth  century,  he  came  to  this 
country,  and  at  first  located  in  Massachusetts.  He 
subsequently  removed  to  Vermont  and  engaged  in 
the  mercantile  business  at  Eden,  Lamoille  County, 
but  his  last  days  were  passed  in  the  town  of  Cam- 
bridge. 

William  C.  Clark  went  from  his  native  State  to 
settle  among  the  green  hills  of  Vermont,  and 
established  himself  as  a  merchant  at  Chelsea. 
From  there  he  went  to  the  town  of  Eden,  whence 
he  removed  in  1846  to  Albany,  N.  Y.,  and  was 
employed  in  the  mercantile  business  in  that  city 
for  a  time.  His  next  move  was  to  Manchester, 
N.  II..  in  is-is  «.r  1H4!»,  and  after  that  he  was  en- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


545 


gaged  as  a  traveling  salesman,  representing  a  Bos- 
ton house  part  of  the  time,  and  he  made  that 
his  home  until  his  untimely  death  in  1859.  The 
maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  Mary  Hibbard,  and 
she  was  a  native  of  Brookfleld,  Vt.,  a  daughter  of 
Oliver  and  Abigail  Hibbard.  She  spent  her  last 
days  with  her  children  in  Havre  de  Grace  and 
Philadelphia,  dying  in  the  latter  city  in  January, 
1868.  She  reared  these  five  children:  Edmund 
B.,  Oliver  II.,  Daniel  W.,  William  L.  and  Martha. 

He  of  whom  we  write  obtained  a  good  educa- 
tion in  his  youth,  attending  a  part  of  each  year 
until  he  was  seventeen  years  old.  He  then  com- 
menced learning  the  trade  of  a  cabinet-maker  at 
Hyde  Park,  Vt.,  serving  an  apprenticeship  of  a 
year  and  a  half  in  that  place,  and  then  he  went  to 
Nashua  to  serve  the  rest  of  his  time.  In  1846  he 
went  to  Albany,  N.  Y.,  and  for  six  months  was  a 
clerk  in  a  general  store.  After  that  he  acted  in 
the  same  capacity  in  New  York  City  for  a  few 
months,  but  was  obliged  to  resign  his  position  on 
account  of  ill-health.  Returning  to  Albany,  he 
remained  there  until  1848,  and  then  went  back  to 
New  York  to  learn  the  trade  of  window-shade 
painting,  and  was  thus  employed  nearly  a  year, 
and  then  finished  learning  the  trade  at  Albany. 
We  next  hear  of  him  at  Derby  Line,  Vt.,  busily 
working  at  his  trade.  Six  months  later  he  went 
to  Manchester,  N.  H.,  to  carry  on  his  calling. 

In  the  spring  of  1850,  Mr.  Clark  took  up  his 
residence  in  the  city  of  Boston,  and,  forming  a 
partnership  with  A.  C.  Sturtevant,  engaged  in  the 
manufacture  of  window  shades  for  some  time. 
Three  years  from  the  time  he  went  to  Boston  he 
returned  to  Manchester,  and  was  there  a  few 
months  prior  to  going  to  Lowell,  Mass.,  where  lie 
opened  a  shop  and  carried  on  his  occupation  in 
that  city  a  year.  At  the  expiration  of  that  time 
he  sold  his  business,  and  for  a  year  was  engaged 
in  the  manufacture  of  window  shades  at  Man- 
chester, doing  custom  work.  After  that  lie  trav- 
eled a  few  months  with  Dr.  Boyington,  a  noted 
lecturer  on  geolog}1. 

When  he  left  the  Doctor,  Mr.  Clark  returned 
once  again  to  Manchester,  and  was  a  resident  of 
that  city  until  1H.-.7,  and  then  Philadelphia  was 
his  abiding  place  for  awhile,  and  sul>si><|ii<>ntlv  a 


year  was  spent  in  the  quaint  town  of  Lancaster, 
Pa.  Back  again  then  to  Manchester,  and  there  he 
lived  until  the  close  of  the  war.  In  that  year  he 
went  to  New  York  City  once  more  for  a  few 
months,  and  then  made  his  way  to  Baltimore, 
Md.,  where  he  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of 
window  shades  fora  short  time.  Six  months  later 
we  find  him  at  Havre  de  Grace,  in  the  same  State, 
and  there  he  was  engaged  in  ornamental  painting 
and  frescoing  for  some  years.  In  1869  he  left 
the  South,  and,  coming  to  Dixon,  began  life  here 
as  a  sign  painter.  So  well  did  he  prosper  in  that 
that  he  was  encouraged  to  locate  in  this  city  perma- 
nently, and  in  1871  he  opened  an  office,  and  has 
ever  since  devoted  himself  to  house  and  sign 
painting,  etc.,  and  has  all  the  business  that  he 
can  attend  to,  as  he  has  many  patrons  who  appre- 
ciate his  neat  and  artistic  work. 

Mr.  Clark  was  first  married  in  1854,  to  Miss 
Laura  Smith,  a  native  of  Maine.  She  died  in 
Manchester,  N.  H.,  in  1855,  after  a  brief  wedded 
life.  Our  subject  was  married  to  his  present  wife 
in  1857,  and  they  have  made  for  themselves  a 
home  that  is  cozy,  comfortable  and  pleasant.  Mrs. 
Clark  was  formerly  Frances  A.  Osgood,  and  is  a 
native  of  New  Hampshire.  Our  subject  possesses 
many  traits  of  character  that  make  him  a  desirable 
citizen,  a  good  neighbor  and  sincere  friend,  and  a 
kind  husband.  His  interest  in  politics  is  centered 
in  the  Democratic  party,  of  which  he  is  a  firm  sup- 
porter. 


ENRY  C.  SCHMUCKER  is  well  known  in 
Lee  and  adjoining  counties  for  the  promi- 
nent part  he  has  taken  in  raising  the  stand- 
ard of  the  stock  bred  in  this  section  of  Illi- 
nois, he  having  made  a  specialty  of  Morgan  horses 
and  Short-horn  cattle;  and  his  perfectly  ap- 
pointed stock  farm  on  section  22,  Nelson  Town- 
ship, with  its  attractive  modern  improvements, 
compares  with  the  best  model  farms  of  the  State. 
Our  subject  was  born  in  Somerset  County,  Pa., 
Augusts.  1840,  a  son  of  Jacob  Sdimucker,  who 
was  a  native  of  the  same  county  as  himself,  his 


546 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


birthplace  being  in  Somerset  Township,  on  a  farm 
which  was  being  developed  from  the  wilderness 
by  his  father,  Christian  Schmucker,  who  had  come 
to  that  place  from  Eastern  Pennsylvania  in  the 
early  days  of  its  settlement,  and  there  died  at  the 
venerable  age  of  eighty-five  years.  lie  had  mar- 
ried a  Miss  Casebeer,  who  was  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Dutch  stock,  and  she  too  died  on  the  old  home- 
stead. She  was  a  Lutheran  in  her  religion,  while 
her  husband  belonged  to  theMennonite  Church. 

Jacob  Schmucker  was  trained  to  the  life  of  a 
farmer  amid  the  primitive  surroundings  of  the  pio- 
neer home  into  which  he  had  been  born.  In  due 
time  he  was  married  in  his  native  township  to 
Miss  Catherine  Kring,  who  was  also  born  and 
reared  in  Somerset  County,  and  was  a  daughter  of 
George  Kring,  who  lived  and  died  on  a  farm  in  that 
part  of  Pennsylvania  when  an  old  man.  He  and 
his  wife  were  true  to  the  religion  of  their  ancestors 
which  had  been  promulgated  by  the  great  re- 
former, Martin  Luther,  and  they  were  devoted 
members  of  the  church  of  that  faith  for  many  years. 
In  1882  Jacob  Schmucker  and  family  came  to  Illi- 
nois, and  he  obtained  a  farm  in  Franklin  Grove, 
which  was  his  home  the  remainder  of  his  life,  his 
worthy  career  being  closed  by  death  at  the  age  of 
sixty-six.  His  wife  survived  him  only  four  years, 
and  then  she  too  died  at  the  age  of  sixty-eight. 
They  were  true  Christians  of  high  moral  character, 
and  were  earnest  members  of  the  Albright  Church. 

Henry  C.  Schmucker,  to  whom  these  lines  prin- 
cipally refer,  is  the  second  of  thirteen  children,  of 
whom  five  sons  are  yet  living.  One  son,  George, 
was  a  private  in  the  Union  Army  during  the  war, 
and  fell  while  bravely  fighting  in  one  of  those 
battles  around  Chattanooga,  Tenn.,  thus  sacrificing 
his  life  on  the  altar  of  his  country.  Our  subject 
came  to  this  county  in  1865,  in  the  full  flush  of 
manly  vigor,  and  well  fitted,  both  physically  and 
mentally,  for  the  hard  work  that  lay  before  him  in 
carrying  out  his  ambition  to  win  an  honorable 
place  among  the  foremost  farmers  of  that  region. 
During  the  first  few  years  of  his  residence  here,  he 
lived  on  rented  farms  in  Franklin  Grove,  and,  so 
well  did  he  do,  he  was  enabled  to  purchase  the  land 
comprising  his  present  farm  on  section  22,  Nelson 
Township,  in  1871.  From  that  time  it  lins  teen 


his  home,  and  he  has  made  all  the  improvements 
that  have  so  increased  its  value  since  it  came  into 
his  possession.  The  substantial  buildings  that  he 
has  erected  are  among  the  finest  farm  buildings  in 
the  county.  Eight  years  ago  lie  built  a  handsome 
modern  residence,  and  seven  years  ago  he  put  up 
a  large  barn,  that  is  a  model  of  its  kind  in  its 
arrangements,  etc.  His  farm  includes  a  quarter  of 
a  section  of  land,  that  is  exceedingly  fertile,  and 
has  been  brought  under  a  high  state  of  cultivation. 
It  is  admirably  adapted  in  all  respects  to  stock 
raising  purposes,  and  Mr.  Sell  mucker  has  paid  great 
attention  to  that  line  of  business,  and  his  fine 
Morgan  horses  and  Short-horned  cattle  are  not 
surpassed  by  any  other  herds  of  similar  breeds  in 
this  part  of  the  State.  At  the  head  of  the  valu- 
able stud  of  horses  is  the  famous  Morgan  stallion, 
"Morgan  General,"  who  possesses  in  a  marked  degree 
the  intelligence,  spirit,  build,  speedy  action,  and 
other  good  points  that  distinguish  his  good  race, 
and  he  is  a  great  favorite  hereabouts. 

Our  subject  and  Miss  Christeanna  Walter  cele- 
brated their  marriage  March  22,  1863,  near  the 
place  of  his  birth  in  Somerset  County,  Pa.,  which 
was  also  the  native  county  of  the  bride,  who  is  a 
daughter  of  Jacob  M.  and  Elizabeth  (Ankney) 
Walter.  Her  parents  were  natives  of  Pennsylvania, 
and  settled  among  the  pioneers  of  Somerset  County, 
where  Mr.  Walter  had  a  grist  and  saw  mill,  and 
developed  a  good  farm.  He  was  very  well-to-do 
in  his  day.  Both  he  and  his  wife  were  members 
of  the  Lutheran  Church.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Schmucker 
have  had  three  children,  two  of  whom  are  deceased. 
George,  a  promising  youth  died  at  the  age  of 
sixteen.  Their  son  Frank  is  a  clerk  for  Brown 
Bros,  at  Dixon,  and  their  daughter,  Ella  M.,  who 
was  the  wife  of  AVilliam  Ilorten,  of  Dixon,  died  at 
her  residence  in  Dixon  on  the  12th  of  September, 
1891,  leaving  one  child,  Christie,  a  bright  little 
girl  who  is  being  reared  by  our  subject. 

Mr.  Schmucker  is  looked  up  to  by  his  fellow-cit- 
izens as  a  man  of  strong  sense  and  clear  brain, 
whose  judgment  in  all  matters  pertaining  to  his 
line  of  business  is  to  be  depended  upon.  He  has 
been  Road  Commissioner,  and  no  man  in  the  town- 
ship is  more  ready  to  give  substantial  encourage- 
ment to  all  feasible  plans  for  public  improvement 


Tffc 


A 

£?  A  5 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


549 


than  he.  In  politics,  he  is  no  uncertain  follower 
of  the  Republican  party,  but  he  gives  it  his  hearty 
support.  He  and  his  wife  stand  high  in  the  mem- 
bership of  the  Albright  Church,  and  enter  earnestly 
into  its  good  work  of  elevating  the  religious  status 
of  the  community. 


PETER  EISENBERG.  The  citizens  of  Illinois 
who  have  come  from  Germany  have  almost 
invariably  brought  with  them  such  traits 
and  habits  of  life  as  have  rendered  them  of 
value  in  their  new  home.  Their  industry  and 
frugality  and  their  rugged  perseverance  have 
helped  them  to  achieve  such  a  degree  of  success  as 
enhances  the  prosperity  of  their  neighbors.  Such 
an  one  we  find  in  the  gentleman  whose  portrait  is 
presented  on  the  opposite  page  and  whose  name 
stands  at  the  head  of  this  brief  sketch.  His  beauti- 
ful home  is  located  on  section  22,  Bradford  Town- 
ship, and  is  one  of  the  most  attractive  in  the 
county. 

Our  subject  was  bom  in  Hesse-Cassel,  German y, 
March  22,  1831,  and  is  the  son  of  Asmon  and 
Christine  (Sebrar)  Eisenberg,  who  came  to  the 
New  World  in  1852  and  made  this  township  their 
abiding-place  until  their  death.  They  had  become 
the  parents  of  a  family  of  four  children,  one  son 
and  three  daughters.  Our  subject  was  the  young- 
est member  of  the  family  and  accompanied  his 
parents  to  America.  He  remained  under  the  pa- 
rental roof  and  contributed  to  the  support  of  the 
family  until  his  marriage,  July  1,  1855,  at  which 
date  Miss  Catherine  Anna  Jane  Bower  became  his 
wife,  their  marriage  taking  place  in  Bradford 
Township.  Mrs.  Eisenberg  was  a  native  of  Bavaria, 
Germany,  where  her  birth  occurred  in  April,  1832. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Eisenberg  have  been  blest  with  a 
family  of  eleven  children,  namely:  Bertha,  Chris- 
tine, George,  John  G.,  William  T.,  Henry  W., 
Adam,  Minnie,  Mary,  Emma  M.  and  Charley. 
Bertha  died  in  infancy;  Christine  is  the  wife  of 
John  Vauple;  George  married  Mary  Fas-ui;  John 
27 


G.  married  Lizzie  Gresse;  Henry  W.  married  Katie 
Sindlinger;  Adam  married  Mary  Burnham. 

Our  subject  has  been  the  incumbent  of  numer- 
ous township  offices  and  the  duties  of  every  posi- 
tion which  it  has  been  his  to  fill,  have  been  carried 
out  in  the  most  satisfactory  and  conscientious  man- 
ner. He  has  held  the  office  of  Overseer  of  High- 
ways and  while  in  that  position  did  efficient  service 
to  the  traveling  public,  and  was  also  on  the  School 
Board  as  Director.  Politically  he  casts  his  vote 
and  influence  with  the  Republican  party,  whose 
platform  embodies  his  principles  regarding  our 
Government.  He  is  always  found  willing  and 
ready  to  do  what  he  can  for  the  furtherance  of 
beneficial  measures  in  his  community.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Eisenberg  are  members  in  good  standing  of 
the  Evangelical  Church. 

That  Mr.  Eisenberg  is  one  of  the  most  prominent 
farmers  in  Lee  County  will  be  readily  seen  when 
we  mention  that  he  is  the  owner  of  eight  hundred 
acres  of  beautiful  land,  most  of  which  lies  in  Brad- 
ford Township.  His  enterprise  and  intelligence 
enables  him  to  cultivate  his  property  so  as  to  bring 
about  the  best  results  and  in  every  department  of 
his  work  as  an  agriculturist  he  is  meeting  with  the 
success  which  his  busy  life  so  well  deserves.  His 
family  move  in  the  best  circle  of  society  in  the 
county  and  he  does  not  hesitate  to  give  credit  to 
his  excellent  wife  for  her  share  in  thus  aiding  him 
to  his  present  standing  among  the  wealthy  land- 
owners of  Lee  County. 


I OHN  H.  McWETHY.  The  McWethy  fam- 
ily conies  of  good  old  Scotch  ancestry,  the 
subject  of  this  notice  being  of  the  fourth 
generation  in  this  country.  His  grandfather 
was  Silas  McWethy,  who  was  born  in  this  country 
of  Scotch  parents,  in  Wyoming  County,  N.  Y., 
where  he  was  reared  to  farm  pursuits.  After  all 
his  family  were  reared  and  his  wife  had  died,  he 
went  to  Michigan  and  there  died  at  the  age  of 
three-score  years  and  -ten.  He  was  the  father  of 
six  sons  and  one  daughter. 

The  father" of  our  subject,  Henry  McWethy,  was 


550 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL    RKCOR1). 


the  fourth  child  of  his  father's  family.  He  was 
born  in  Wyoming  Count}1,  X.  Y.,  and  was  reared 
on  the  farm,  learning  everything  that  will  make  a 
good  tiller  of  the  soil.  He  was  married  in  his  na- 
tive county  to  Miss  Olive  Hale,  who  was  born  and 
reared  in  Canandagua  County,  N.  Y.,  and  a  daugh- 
ter of  Vermont  parents.  Her  father  settled  in 
Wyoming  County  at  an  early  da}'  and  there  spent 
his  last  years,  as  did  his  wife.  lie  was  a  soldier  in 
the  War  of  1812.  After  Henry  McWethy  and  his 
wife  were  married,  they  began  to  farm  in  Wyo- 
ming County  and  there  all  their  children  were  born, 
reared  and  educated.  He  and  his  wife  both  lived 
to  pass  three-score  years  and  were  active  members 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  having  lived 
the  most  of  their  life  in  Wyoming  County.  The 
father  was  formerly  a  Democrat  but  later  became 
a  Republican  and  died  in  that  party. 

John  II.  McWethy  is  the  fifth  child  in  order  of 
birth  in  his  father's  family,  there  being  ten  chil- 
dren— four  sons  and  six  daughters.  He  first  saw 
the  light  in  Warsaw  Township,  Wyoming  County, 
N.  Y.,  March  2,  1836.  He  was  brought  up  as  a 
farmer's  boy  and  received  his  rudimentary  educa- 
tion in  the  common  schools.  He  was  married  in 
Lester  Township,  Livingston  County,  N.  Y.,  to 
Miss  Hattie  E.  Sheldon.  Mrs.  McWethy  was  bom 
in  Massachusetts,  May  7,  1831,  and,  when  twenty- 
one  years  old,  located  in  Livingston  County  with 
her  parents,  Catlin  A. and  Eunice  (Fargo)  Sheldon, 
they  having  come  from  Berkshire  County,  Mass. 
The  father  and  mother  came  to  this  county  with 
their  daughter,  Mrs.  McWethy,  in  1861,  and  with 
her  resided  until  their  death  which  occurred  at  the 
ages  of  seventy-eight  and  seventy-three  years  res- 
pectively. They  were  members  of  the  Congrega- 
tional Church  before  coming  to  Lee  County,  at 
which  time  they  united  with  the  Presbyterian 
Church. 

Mrs.  McWethy  is  the  elder  of  two  children  born 
to  her  parents,  her  brother  Samuel  now  being  a 
farmer  in  Ida  Grove,  Ida  County,  Iowa.  He  mar- 
ried Roxie  Bingham,  of  New  York  State.  Mrs.  Mc- 
Wethy was  educated  in  her  native  county  in  Massa- 
chusetts and  is  an  intelligent  and  well-informed 
woman  and  is  a  true  wife  and  a  loving  mother. 
This  couple  have  had  born  to  them  three  children: 


Charles  E.  is  working  in  a  shoe  factory  at  Dixon; 
George  P.  married  Miss  Mary  Ayers  and  rcsidi's 
on  a  farm  in  this  township,  and  William  C.,  who 
assists  his  father  on  the  farm.  The  parents  of  this 
family  are  consistent  and  conscientious  members 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  in  which  they  are  held 
in  the  highest  respect.  Mr.  McWethy  is  a  stanch 
Republican  in  his  political  views  and  cast  his  first 
Presidental  vote  for  Abraham  Lincoln.  This 
gentleman  owns  a  good  estate  of  one  hundred  and 
three  broad  and  fertile  acres,  situated  on  section  1 , 
Palmyra  Township,  which  he  has  under  excellent 
cultivation  and  where  he  has  lived  since  1864. 


PERNANDO  H.  CHAFFEE,  a  capitalist,  now 
living  in  retirement  from  business  at  Paw 
Paw,  has  a  place  in  the  history  of  the  rise 
and  progress  of  Lee  County  as  one  of  its  men  of 
action  and  clear-sighted  enterprise,  who,  while  ac- 
cumulating wealth  for  themselves,  have  materially 
assisted  in  raising  the  financial  status  of  this  sec- 
tion of  the  State. 

Mr.  Chaff ee  is  of  sterling  New  England  ancestry, 
and  in  that  part  of  the  country  he  first  saw  the 
light,  November  21,  1827  in  the  pretty  town  of 
Athens,  among  the  hills  of  Windliam  County,  Vt. 
His  father,  Eber  Chaff  ee,  was  also  a  native  of  Wind- 
ham  County,  of  which  his  father,  who  was  torn  in 
New  England  in  1769,  was  a  pioneer.  He  was  a 
shoemaker  and  a  farmer,  and  carried  on  both  oc- 
cupations, lie  owned  a  farm  in  Athens,  which  he 
occupied  many  years,  and  he  died  in  his  adopted 
State  in  1857,  at  a  venerable  age.  The  maiden 
name  of  his  wife  was  Elizabeth  Stickney.  She  was 
born  in  New  England,  May  3,  1777,  the  daughter 
of  a  Revolutionary  soldier,  and  she  died  in  July, 
1860. 

The  father  of  our  subject  learned  the  trade  of  a 
tanner,  and  followed  it  among  his  native  hills  a 
few  years.  In  1840  he  emigrated  from  his  New 
F.ngland  home  to  the  Prairie  State,  accompanied 
bv  his  wife  and  children,  traveling  with  a  team 
across  the  Green  Mountains  to  Troy,  N.  Y.,  from 
there  by  the  Erie  Canal  to  Buffalo,  and  thence  by 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


551 


the  lakes  to  Chicago,  which  they  found  to  be  a 
nourishing  village,  founded  in  the  swamps,  with  a 
population  of  some  five  or  six  thousand  souls. 
From  the  future  metropolis  of  the  West,  the  family 
proceeded  with  teams  to  the  present  site  of  Comp- 
ton,  in  Kane  County.  At  that  time  all  the  land  in 
that  section  of  the  State  was  owned  by  the  Govern- 
ment, the  surveys  not  being  completed.  Mr. 
Chaffee  bought  a  squatter's  claim  to  a  tract  of  land, 
paying  him  for  the  improvements,  which  consisted 
of  a  double  log  house  and  a  few  acres  of  the  land 
broken  ready  for  cultivation.  After  taking  pos- 
session of  the  log  house,  the  father  entered  actively 
upon  the  task  before  him  of  reclaiming  his  land 
from  the  wilderness,  and  experienced  the  hardships 
and  privations  that  usually  fall  to  the  lot  of  pio- 
neers in  a  newly,  settled  country,  where  deer  and 
other  kinds  of  wild  game  betokened  that  civiliza- 
tion had  not  made  much  progress  in  that  region, 
as  was  further  attested  by  the  absence  of  railways 
and  the  distance  of  markets,  he  and  his  fellow- 
pioneers  having  to  go  all  the  way  to  Chicago  with 
their  teams  when  they  wished  to  dispose  of  their 
grain  and  obtain  family  supplies.  He  was  a  resi- 
dent of  that  county  until  his  demise,  which  closed 
an  honorable  career  as  a  citizen  and  a  pioneer 
farmer  of  Northern  Illinois.  His  faithful  com- 
panion also  died  on  the  home  farm.  She  bore  the 
maiden  name  of  Annie  Davis,  was  a  native  of  Ver- 
mont, and  a  daughter  of  Thomas  and  Sarah  (Rich- 
mond) Davis,  who  were  natives  of  New  England. 
Fernando  H.  Chaffee,  the  subject  of  this  bio- 
graphical review,  was  a  lad  of  thirteen  years  when 
he  accompanied  his  parents  in  their  emigration 
from  the  hills  of  his  native  State  to  the  prairies  of 
this,  and  he  remembers  well  the  incidents  of  the 
pioneer  life  under  whose  influences  he  attained  a 
strong,  self-surticient  manhood.  He  is  one  of  the 
oldest  settlers  of  Northern  Illinois,  now  residing 
in  Lee  County.  Before  he  came  here,  he  had  be- 
gun liis  education  in  the  public  schools  of  Vermont, 
and  after  coming  here,  he  was  a  pupil  in  the  pio- 
neer schools  of  Kane  County,  that  were  held  in 
rude  log  houses,  that  had  seats  made  of  slabs, 
which  were  supported  by  wooden  pins,  and  they 
had  no  desks  in  front.  He  commenced  early  in 
his  boyhood  to  make  himself  useful  in  doing 


such  farm  work  as  he  could,  and  he  made  his  home 
with  his  parents  until  1852.  Like  many  another, 
he  then  Iried  his  fortunes  in  California,  starting 
with  others  in  the  month  of  April,  with  teams, 
crossing  the  Mississippi  at  Lyons  and  the  Missouri 
at  Council  Bluffs,  and  from  there  traveling  over  a 
desolate  region  of  uninhabited  plains  and  lofty 
mountains,  the  Mormons  at  Salt  Lake  City  being 
about  the  only  settlers  in  all  that  vast  expanse  of 
country  between  the  Missouri  River  and  California. 
Buffaloes,  deer,  elk,  and  other  wild  animals  were 
encountered  in  large  numbers,  and  Indians  were 
occasionally  seen.  Arriving  in  the  Golden  State 
in  August,  Mr.  Chaffee  engaged  in  mining  the 
greater  part  of  the  ensuing  four  years,  with  rea- 
sonably good  results,  and,  satisfied  with  his  gains, 
in  1856  he  returned  home. 

The  next  two  years  after  he  came  back  from  the 
Pacific  Coast,  Mr.  Chaffee  resided  in  Compton, 
whence  lie  came  to  Lee  County  in  1858,  and  set- 
tled on  a  tract  of  land  in  Wyoming  Township, 
which  he  had  entered  from  the  Government  before 
going  to  California.  He  erected  suitable  build- 
ings, improved  the  land,  planted  fruit,  shade  and 
onamental  trees,  thus  adding  to  the  attractiveness 
of  the  place,  and  lived  there  until  1883.  In  that 
year, he  again  went  to  California,  taking  his  family 
with  him  this  time,  but  his  life  was  saddened  while 
there,  as  sickness  came,  and  two  of  his  children 
went  on  that  silent  journey  whence  no  traveler 
returns.  So,  after  a  brief  sojourn  in  that  State, 
the  remaining  members  of  the  family  came  back  to 
Lee  County,  and  our  subject  has  since  lived  re- 
tired, engaging  in  no  active  business,  but  spending 
his  time  in  looking  after  his  private  interests, 
which  are  extensive.  He  owns  four  hundred  and 
eighty-four  acres  of  choice  farming  land  in  Wyo- 
ming Township,  eighty  acres  in  Kansas,  and  one 
hundred  acres  in  Southern  California. 

Mr.  Chaffee  was  a  second  time  married  July  15, 
1858,  to  Miss  Delia  Barber,  in  whom  he  has  a  de- 
voted wife,  who  has  lessened  for  him  the  sorrows 
of  life  and  added  to  its  joys.  Mrs.  Chaffee  was 
born  near  Montreal,  Canada,  in  September,  1837. 
Her  father,  Lahiia  Barber,  was  a  native  of  Ver- 
mont, but  in  the  early  part  of  his  life  he  settled  in 
Canada,  and  was  there  married  to  Anna  Nichols, 


552 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


who  was  likewise  a  native  of  Vermont.  Her  father 
was  a  Scotchman,  who  had  first  located  in  Vermont 
after  coming  to  America,  but  had  subsequently  re- 
moved to  Canada.  Some  time  after  marriage,  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Barber  went  to  New  York,  and  after  a 
residence  there  of  seven  years,  came  to  Illinois  in 
1847.  From  that  time  until  death  claimed  them, 
they  made  their  home  on  a  farm  that  he  purchased 
at  Compton,  in  Kane  County,  both  living  to  a  ripe 
old  age,  he  dying  in  May,  1883,  and  she  preced- 
ing him  to  the  life  beyond  in  1880. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Chaffee  have  had  ten  children,  of 
whom  these  five  are  living:  Edmund,  Elmer  S., 
Wilbur  T.,  Ella  M.  and  Minnie  A.  Our  subject 
and  his  wife  are  firm  believers  in  the  value  of  a 
liberal  education  and  besides  giving  their  chil- 
dren a  careful  training  in  the  home,  have  given 
them  the  advantages  of  the  best  schools,  and  the 
four  younger  children  are  students  of  Lake  Forest 
Seminary.  Edmund,  who  has  a  rare  talent  for 
music,  went  to  Europe  after  completing  his  course 
at  Aurora  Seminary,  and  for  three  years  he  has  de- 
voted himself  to  the  study  of  his  beloved  art 
under  the  instruction  of  the  most  competent 
masters  of  Germany.  Mr.  Chaffee  has  one  daugh- 
ter, Abbie  F.,  by  a  former  marriage,  who  is  now 
the  wife  of  William  H.  Faber  and  resides  in  Wyom- 
ing Township,  Lee  County,  111. 


§ERNHARD  DUFFY,  deceased,  was  for  many 
years  a  leading  agriculturist   of    Palmyra 
Township,  and  when  called  to  his  final  rest 
his  death  was   deeply  mourned    by  many 
friends.     A  native   of  the  Emerald   Isle,  he    was 
born  in  County  Monoghan,  April  25,  1832.  lie  lost 
his  father,  John  Duffy,  when  only  seven  years  of 
age.     The  death  of  Mr.  Duffy,  Sr.,  occurred  while 
in  the  prime  of  life  and  resulted  from  injuries  re- 
ceived by  causing  his  horse  to  jump  a  picket  fence, 
lie  was  a  fanner  and  followed  that  occupation  in 
pin-suit  of  fortune.     His  wife,  whose  maiden  name 
was  Ellen  Lenon,  died  when  Bernhard  was  eighteen 
years   of  age.     Both    she  and   her   husband    were 
members  of  the  Catholic  Church. 


Our  subject,  with  his  brother  Patrick,  who  is 
now  living  in  the  South,  and  his  sister  Bridget,  now 
Mrs.  Engcl,  of  Clinton,  111.,  came  to  this  country 
together  soon  after  the  death  of  the  mother.  From 
Dundalk  they  went  to  Liverpool  and  thence  sailed 
to  New  York.  From  that  city  Mr.  Duffy  came  to 
Dixon.  The  year  1851  witnessed  his  arrival  and 
the  commencement  of  his  life  in  the  West.  As  he 
was  in  very  limited  circumstances,  he  began  to 
work  at  farm  labor  which  he  continued  until  he 
had  saved  a  sufficient  sum  to  purchase  land  and 
begin  farming  for  himself.  He  further  completed 
his  arrangements  for  a  home  by  his  union  with 
Miss  Mary  Williams,  celebrated  in  Dixon  in  1878. 
The  lady  was  born  in  Bilston,  Staffordshire,  Eng- 
land, in  1862,  and  is  a  daughter  of  William  and 
Mary  (McCucn)  Williams.  Her  father  was  born  in 
London  in  1823,  and  in  Staffordshire  wedded  Miss 
McCuen,  a  native  of  Ireland,  who  was  reared  and 
educated  in  England.  After  the  birth  of  their  two 
children  the  parents  came  with  their  family  to  the 
United  States  in  1868,  locating  first  in  Massachu- 
setts. Subsequently  they  removed  to  Pennsylva- 
nia, and  some  years  later  came  to  Dixon,  111.,  Mr. 
Williams  purchasing  a  farm  near  that  city  where 
he  and  his  wife  spent  the  remainder  of  their  days. 
Her  death  occurred  October  3,  1884,  and  about  two 
years  later,  on  the  22d  of  July,  1888,  the  husband 
was  called  to  his  final  rest.  Both  were  consistent 
Catholics  and  were  well  and  favorably  known 
throughout  this  community.  Their  three  children 
are  yet  living,  namely:  Mrs.  Duffy,  of  this  sketch; 
Agnes,  who  is  employed  as  a  saleslady  in  the  store 
of  Stearns  Brothers,  of  Dixon;  and  William,  who 
also  makes  his  home  in  that  city. 

After  his  marriage,  Mr.  Duffy  resumed  his  farm 
labors  and  the  land  which  he  purchased  he  placed 
under  a  high  state  of  cultivation,  also  placed  many 
improvements  upon  it  which  greatly  enhanced  its 
value  and  its  attractive  appearance.  The  farm, 
which  comprises  one  hundred  acres,  is  still  the 
property  of  Mrs.  Duffy,  under  whose  management 
it  is  operated.  She  is  a  capable  business  woman, 
energetic  and  industrious,  and  her  property  yields 
her  a  good  return.  The  home  of  this  worthy 
couple  was  blessed  with  two  children,  sons.  John 
and  Edward,  who  are  still  with  their  mother. 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


553 


On  the  1st  of  .Inly,  1890,  Mr.  Duffy  met  with  an 
accident  which  resulted  in  his  death.  lie  was 
thrown  from  a  load  of  hay  by  the  fork  failing  to 
act  aright,  and  falling  to  the  floor  was  partially 
paralyzed.  The  accident  resulted  in  complete 
paralysis  and  he  died  thirty-six  hours  later.  His 
family  lost  a  faithful  husband  and  father,  the 
Catholic  Church  a  consistent  member  and  active 
worker,  and  the  county  a  public-spirited  and  valued 
citizen  who  alwa3-s  bore  his  part  in  public  affairs 
and  took  an  active  interest  in  everything  pertain- 
ing to  the  welfare  and  upbuilding  of  the  com- 
munity. Mrs.  Duffy  has  recently  built  a  beautiful 
home  on  Peoria  Avenue  in  Dixon,  where  she  now 
resides  with  her  two  sons.  She  is  a  member  of  the 
Catholic  Church  and  has  many  warm  friends 
throughout  this  community. 


ANIEL  REI CHARD  has  a  farm  of  two 
hundred  acres  of  land  of  surpassing  fer- 
tility on  section  13,  Palmyra  Township, 
which  was  a  tract  of  wild  prairie  when  it 
came  into  his  possession  nearly  forty  years  ago. 
He  had  come  to  the  county  in  that  year,  and 
though  he  found  it  not  far  advanced  from  a  state 
of  nature,  his  quick  eye  perceived  its  immense 
possibilities,  and  foreseeing  that  it  would  one  day 
be  a  veritable  paradise  for  farmers,  he  determined 
to  avail  himself  of  its  many  advantages,  and  make 
a  home  in  this  beautiful  locality.  Accordingly,  he 
selected  his  land,  which  he  has  since  turned  into  a 
highly  productive  farm,  and  being  a  carpenter  of 
much  native  skill,  he  has  placed  upon  it  improve- 
ments that  rank  with  the  best  in  the  township,  his 
farm  buildings  being  of  a  neat  style  of  architecture, 
commodious  in  dimensions,  and  well  built. 

Mr.  Reichard  was  born  in  Upper  Mt.  Bethel 
Township,  Northampton  County,  Pa.,  April  9,  1829. 
His  father,  Samuel  Reichard.  was  also  a  native  of 
the  Keystone  State,  born  in  Bucks  County,  as  was 
his  father,  whose  name  was  Philip  Reichard.  The 
latter  was  probably  of  German  parentage.  He 
was  a  farmer  and  a  mechanic,  and  was  engaged  at 
both  all  his  life.  He  died  in  Northampton  County 


at  the  age  of  fifty-two  years.  His  wife,  Mary 
Kichland,  was  a  native  of  the  same  county  as  him- 
self, and  came  of  similar  stock.  Her  death  oc- 
curred in  Northampton  County  when  she  was 
eighty  years  old.  Both  she  and  her  husband  were 
stanch  Lutherans  in  religion.  Samuel  Reichard 
was  but  a  child  when  his  parents  removed  from 
his  native  county  to  Northampton  County,  where 
he  was  reared  to  the  life  of  a  farmer,  and  spent  the 
remainder  of  his  life  in  the  township  in  which  his 
father  had  settled  when  it  was  new,  his  death  oc- 
curring in  1852,  at  the  age  of  fifty-two  years. 
Ilis  wife,  who  bore  the  maiden  name  of  Catherine 
Weidman,  was  born,  reared  and  married  in  that 
county,  coming  of  German  and  French  ancestry. 
She  is  yet  living  in  her  native  township,  and 
though  she  is  very  old,  having  been  born  in  the 
early  part  of  this  century,  1801,  she  is  yet  active 
and  capable,  doing  her  own  work  at  the  age  of 
ninety-one  years.  She  has  led  a  consistent  Chris- 
tian life,  and  is  a  member  of  the  German  Reformed 
Church,  to  which  her  husband  belonged  while  liv- 
ing. 

Our  subject  is  one  of  eight  children,  five  sons 
and  three  daughters,  all  of  whom,  but  one,  growing 
to  maturity,  and  five  of  them  are  still  living.  He 
is  the  only  one  of  the  family  that  resides  in  Illi- 
nois. He  remained  with  his  parents  until  he  at- 
tained his  majority,  and  in  the  meantime  learned 
the  trade  of  a  carpenter,  which  he  found  very  use- 
ful in  his  pioneer  life  in  this  county,  although  he 
practically  abandoned  that  calling  after  lie  came 
here,  pursuing  it  chiefly  for  his  own  convenience 
in  making  his  improvements,  much  of  the  work  on 
his  buildings  being  done  by  his  own  hands.  He 
came  here  in  1853,  and  only  labored  as  a  carpenter 
and  mechanic  until  he  secured  his  land  and  turned 
his  energies  to  farming.  He  has  made  his  mark 
here  as  a  sagacious,  wide-awake  farmer,  and  has 
gained  the  full  esteem  of  his  fellow-townsmen, 
among  whom  he  has  lived  in  peace  and  amity  for 
more  than  three  decades.  He  takes  a  lively  inter- 
est in  politics,  and  in  him  the  Democrats  have  a 
stanch  advocate. 

Mr.  Reichard  was  married  to  Miss  Elizabeth  .1. 
Krcsler,  whom  he  had  known  from  childhood.  Up- 
per Mt.  Bethel  was  also  her  native  place,  and  there 


554 


PORTKAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


she  was  born  in  October,  1831.  She  grew  there  to 
womanhood  and  lived  on  the  old  homestead  until 
her  marriage.  Her  mother,  Susan  (Emery)  Kresler, 
is  still  living  there,  and  though  very  aged  is  still 
energetic  and  able  to  do  a  great  deal.  She  is  a 
member  of  the  Lutheran  Church,  .is  was  her  hus- 
band, Charles  Kresler.  He  was  a  life-long  resident 
of  Northampton  County,  which  is  also  her  native 
county,  and  he  was  past  sixty  years  old  when  he 
died. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ileichard  are  the  parents  of  nine 
children,  of  whom  one  died  in  infancy.  The  others 
are:  Susan  F.,  wife  of  Albertus  Miller,  a  farmer  near 
Cherokee,  Iowa;  Job  lives  at  home  and  assists  his 
father  in  running  the  farm;  Libby,  wife  of  William 
Seavey,  a  farmer  in  Pine  Creek  Township,  Ogle 
County;  Samuel,  at  home  with  his  parents;  Sarah, 
wife  of  C.  B.  Wise,  of  Woosung;  William  W.,  a 
carpenter;  Mary  and  Edith  are  at  home;  and  Katie, 
wife  of  J.  A.  Kite,  of  Andrew,  Iowa. 


«||BRAHAM  J.  HORNER  is  actively  engaged 
(&/  I  in  farming  and  stock-raising  in  South 

IJ  ifi  Dixon  Township,  where  he  has  a  good 
||f  farm  of  one  hundred  and  fortyrfour  acres, 
advantageously  situated  on  the  Chicago  Road, 
three  and  one-half  miles  from  the  city  of  Dixon, 
and  lying  partly  on  section  14,  upon  which  are  the 
neat  and  roomy  farm  buildings. and  the  remainder 
on  section  11. 

Mr.  Homer  was  born  in  Somerset  County,  Pa., 
April  9,  1839,  a  son  of  John  Horner,  and  a  grand- 
son of  John  Horner,  Sr.,  both  of  whom  were  na- 
tives of  Somerset  County,  the  latter  being  of' Ger- 
man parentage,  his  father  and  mother  having  come 
to  America  sometime  during  the  last  century,  and 
were  among  the  early  settlers  of  Somerset  County, 
where  they  died  when  very  old.  John  Horner, 
Sr.,  died  in  his  native  county  at  an  advanced  age, 
having  passed  his  entire  life  there  as  a  farmer.  He 
was  married  twice,  and  his  fourteen  children  were 
all  the  result  of  his  first  union.  He,  both  of  his 
wives  and  his  children  were  all  members  of  the 
German  Baptist  Church.  The  father  of  our  sub- 


ject was  the  eldest  of  the  seven  sons  and  seven 
daughters  born  to  his  parents,  all  of  whom  but 
two,  who  are  living  in  Pennsylvania,  are  now  de- 
ceased. He  was  but  forty-four  years  old  when  he 
died  in  the  town  where  he  was  bom.  He  was  a 
man  of  considerable  ability,  whom  his  fellow-citi- 
zens looked  up -to,  and  he  was  very  active  in  local 
politics  and  public  life,  having  held  nearly  all  the 
township  offices.  A  Whig  in  early  manhood,  on 
the  formation  of  the  Republican  party  he  fell  into 
its  ranks,  and  was  one  of  its  most  earnest  sup- 
porters until  his  untimely  death.  He  was  a  great 
worker  in  the  German  Baptist  Church.  He  was 
married  in  his  native  county,  to  Mary  Beachley, 
who  was  born  in  Pennsylvania,  as  were  her  par- 
ents, and  was  of  German  descent.  She  too  passed 
away  while  yet  in  the  prime  of  life,  dying  one 
year  before  her  husband,  at  the  age  of  forty-one 
years.  Nearly  all  her  life  she  was  a  consistent 
member  of  the  German  Baptist  Church. 

He  of  whom  we  write  was  the  second  of  a  fam- 
ily of  seven  children,  of  whom  five  are  yet  living. 
lie  spent  his  boyhood  amid  the  scenes  of  his  birth, 
and  was  a  young  man  when  the  late  war  broke  out. 
Six  different  times  when  the  Government  required 
additional  troops  and  ordered  a  draft,  his  name 
was  among  the  list  of  those  eligible  for  soldiers, 
but  it  was  not  drawn  at  all.  He  was  seventeen 
years  old  when  he  first  came  to  this  State,  but  he 
did  not  settle  here  permanently.  He  came  to  Lee 
County  in  1865,  and  has  since  made  his  home  here. 
He  purchased  his  homestead  in  1880,  and  has  much 
increased  its  value  by  his  mode  of  cultivation,  and 
by  the  excellent  improvements  that  he  is  con- 
stantly adding.  He  raises  a  good  class  of  stock, 
and  is  prospering  in  all  his  undertakings,  as  he  de- 
serves to  do,  as  he  is  a  worker,  is  careful  in  the 
management  of  his  affairs,  is  judicious  in  his  ex- 
penditures, and  keeps  his  credit  good  by  prompt 
payments.  He  stands  well  in  the  community  as  a 
fair-minded,  open-hearted  man,  who  is  accommo- 
dating and  friendly  in  his  relations  with  his  neigh- 
bors, and  is  a  good  husband  and  indulgent  father 
in  private  life.  lie  seems  to  have  inherited  his 
father's  political  views,  and  to  have  transmitted 
them  to  his  eldest  son,  as  both  are  consistent  Re- 
publicans, as  was  John  Horner  before  them. 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


555 


When  Mr.  Homer  came  to  Illinois,  he  left  be- 
hind him  a  young  girl  who  had  born  and  reared 
near  his  old  home,  and  to  whom  he  had  become  at- 
tached as  they  grew  up  together,  and  in  due  time 
he  returned  to  his  native  State  to  claim  the  fulfill- 
ment of  her  promise  to  become  his  wife.  Her  name 
was  Elizabeth  Lint,  and  she  was  a  daughter  of  near 
neighbors  of  his  father's  Peter  and  Elizabeth  (Fil- 
»on)  Lint.  Her  parents  were  natives  of  the  Key- 
stone State,  whence  they  came  to  Lee  County, 
after  their  children  Were  born  and  had  grown 
up.  Mrs.  Lint  died  at  Dixon  some  years  ago  when 
past  sixty-four  years  old.  Peter  Lint  is  now  liv- 
ing in  South  Dixon  Township,  and  is  more  than 
seventy  years  old.  He  is  a  member  of  the  German 
Baptist  Church,  as  was  his  last  wife,  he  having 
been  twice  married.  Mrs.  Homer  lived  with  her 
parents  until  her  marriage.  She  is  the  mother  of 
ten  children,  of  whom  these  three  are  deceased:  an 
infant;  Cyrus,  who  was  killed  at  the  age  of  six 
years  and  three  months,  by  a  pile  of  lumber  falling 
on  him;  and  Emma,  who  was  but  two  months  old 
when  she  died.  The  surviving  children  are:  Min- 
erva, wife  of  Charles  Byron,  a  farmer  in  South 
Dixon  Township;  Franklin,  at  home,  assisting  his 
father  in  the  management  of  the  farm;  Ida,  Lillie, 
Hattie,  Charles  H.  and  Sadie  M.,  all  of  whom  are  at 
home  with  their  parents.  Mrs.  Horner  and  her 
children  are  active  working  members  of  the  Luth- 
eran Church. 


0*^  AMUEL  H.  PATTERSON  has  won  a  high 
^^#     reputation    as  a  skillful   and    wide-awake 
'VL£-H/   farrner  since  ne  came  to  this  county  in  the 
opening  years  of   manhood.     He   is  con- 
ducting a  good  business    in  raising  and  feeding 
stock  and  in  tilling  the  soil,  the  farm  that  he  owns   ! 
and  operates  being  pleasantly  situated  on  section    | 
14,  South  Dixon   Township.     Our   subject  claims   \ 
Pennsylvania  as  his  native  State,  his  birthplace  in    [ 
Adams  County,  and    the  date  of    his  birth  April   j 
17,  1855.     He  was  reared  to  the  life  of  a  farmer, 
not  far  from  the  tragic  scenes  of  the  battle  of  Get-   ' 
tyshurg.     lie  was   twenty-one  years  old  when  he   ] 


ity  in  1876,  and  for  eight  years 
thereafter  he  was  diligently  engaged  in  farming 
in  Nachusa  Township,  coming  from  there  to  this 
township  at  a  later  period.  He  purchased  his  farm 
in  this  locality  in  the  fall  of  1889  and  moved  onto 
it  in  the  spring  of  1890.  One  hundred  and  forty- 
five  acres  of  excellent  farming  land  constitute  the 
entire  area  of  the  farm,  whose  pastures  and  fields 
are  very  fertile,  and  a  neat  and  well-built  set  of 
farm  buildings  adorns  the  place.  Our  subject  raises 
graded  stock,  and  also  buys  and  feeds  other  stock 
to  a  considerable  extent.  He  is  doing  finely  from 
a  financial  point  of  view,  as  he  has  a  good  capacity 
for  business,  never  neglects  a  favorable  opportun- 
ity to  make  money  legitimately,  gives  his  affairs 
close  attention  and  maintains  sound  credit  in  re- 
gard to  paying  his  bills.  He  is  open-minded  and 
free-hearted,  manly  and  upright,  and  is  popular 
among  his  associates.  His  political  creed  is  that  of 
the  Republican  party,  of  which  he  is  an  ardent  ad- 
vocate. 

Our  subject  is  a  son  of  George  Patterson,  whose 
sad  fate  forms  one  of  the  touching  and  heart- 
rending stories  of  the  war.  He  was  a  native  of 
Adams  County,  Pa.  When  only  five  years  old,  he 
lost  his  father  and  was  reared  by  his  mother  whose 
maiden  name  was  Upley,  she  being  of  German 
birth  and  antecedents.  She  survived  her  husband 
many  years  and  died  near  Gettysburg,  in  1864,  at 
the  age  of  seventy-two  years.  She  was  a  truly 
good  and  pious  woman,  and  both  she  and  her  hus- 
band were  members  of  the  Lutheran  Church. 
George  Patterson  was  one  of  four  children  born  to 
his  mother.  His  father  had  two  children  by  a  for- 
mer marriage.  He  lived  with  his  mother  in  his 
native  county  all  through  his  youth,  and  was 
reared  to  the  life  of  a  farmer.  He  was  trained  to 
industrious  habits,  and  in  early  manhood  had  suf- 
ficient means  to  marry,  his  chosen  wife  being  Miss 
Julia  Pitzer,  who  was  likewise  a  native  of  Adams 
County,  and  came  of  German  stock,  although  her 
parents  were  Pennsy.lvanians  by  birth.  After  their 
marriage,  George  Patterson  and  his  bride  began  life 
together  on  a  small  farm  not  far  from  the  histori- 
cal battle-ground  of  Gettysburg.  They  were  living 
there  when  the  war  broke  out,  and  Mr.  Patterson 
watched  its  course  with  patriotic  interest.  He  had 


556 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


arranged  his  affairs  and  placed  himself  in  a  posi- 
tion to  join  the  Union  Army,  when  one  of  the 
most  terrible  battles  of  the  Rebellion,  if  not  of  all 
history,  was  fought  near  his  home.  On  one  of 
those  awful  days  when  the  contest  between  the 
Yankees  and  their  Southern  foes  was  raging,  Mr. 
Patterson,  while  looking  after  his  father-in-law's 
property,  got  too  near  the  rebel  lines  and  was 
captured,  a  nephew,  about  twenty  years  of  age, 
who  accompanied  him,  also  being  taken.  He  was 
sent  as  a  prisoner  of  war  to  the  South,  and  for 
a  time  was  confined  to  Salisbury,  whence  he  was 
transferred  to  Libby,  and  for  twenty-two  months 
he  suffered  all  the  horrors  of  life  in  rebel  prisons. 
He  was  finally  released,  and  returning  home  nearly 
starved  and  more  dead  than  alive,  he  had  the  an- 
guish to  find  that  his  beloved  wife,  being  unable 
to  get  a  word  from  him  and  believing  him  to  be 
dead,  had  sunk  under  the  weight  of  her  grief  and 
died  of  a  broken  heart  one  mouth  after  his  capture. 
She  was  then  in  the  prime  of  life,  and  left  five 
children  motherless,  the  youngest  being  only  seven 
months  old.  Our  subject  is  the  oldest  but  one  of 
the  three  sons  and  two  daughters  thus  sadly  bereft, 
and  he  is  the  only  one  that  makes  his  home  in  the 
State  of  Illinois.  The  others  are  living  and  are 
married  and  well  settled  in  life. 

Starvation,  exposure  and  disease  while  a  pris- 
oner, and  the  severe  strain  to  which  he  :~as  sub- 
jected in  his  anxiety  for  the  welfare  of  his  loved 
ones,  so  impaired  Mr.  Patterson's  health,  that  he 
never  recovered  his  former  vigor,  and  he  died  ere 
he  had  attained  the  meridian  of  life,  his  death  oc- 
curring in  the  fall  of  1871,  at  the  age  of  forty-two 
years,  four  months  and  thirteen  days. 

Samuel  Patterson,  our  subject,  was  married  in 
Nachusa  Township  to  Miss  Mary  E.  Spangler,  who 
is  a  native  of  the  same  Pennsylvania  county 
where  he  had  his  birth,  and  she,  too,  was  born  near 
the  historic  town  of  Gettysburg,  first  opening  her 
eyes  to  the  light  of  the  world  June  5,  1857.  She 
was  a  young  woman  when  she  came  from  her 
native  place  to  Nachusa  Township,  in  1872,  with 
her  parents,  John  and  Susan  (Herbst)  Spangler. 
They  are  now  deceased,  having  died  in  the  home 
that  they  established  in  the  afore- mentioned  town- 
ship, Mr.  Spangler  departing  this  life  in  1889,  at 


the  age  of  seventy-two,  and  his  wife  dying  in  1887 
at  the  age  of  sixty-four.  They  were  natives  re- 
spectively of  Adams  and  York  Counties,  Pa.,  marry- 
ing in  the  former  county  and  living  there  until 
they  came  to  Illinois.  They  were  of  German  an- 
cestry and  were  members  of  the  Lutheran  Church, 
as  were  also  George  Patterson  and  his  wife. 
Mr.  Spangler  was  a  Democrat,  and  Mr.  Patter- 
son a  true  Republican.  The  wife  of  our  subject 
is  one  of  six  children,  of  whom  but  one  other  is 
now  living,  her  brother,  Jacob  A.,  a  farmer  of  Na- 
chusa Township,  who  is  married  and  well  fixed  in 
life.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Patterson  have  been  blessed  in 
their  marriage  by  these  four  children :  Emma  S., 
John  C.,  Charles  H.  and  Clara  E. 


§IMOTHY  A.  BUTLER,  a  successful  farmer 
residing  on  section  6,   Palmyra  Township, 
is  numbered  among  the  pioneer  settlers  of 
the  county  of    1838.     He    is   a   native   of   Long 
Island  and  was  born  March  2,   1814.     The   family 
is  of  Scotch  origin,  but   the    father,   John   Butler, 
was  born   in    the    North    of   Ireland,    his   parents 
spending   their   last   days   on    the    Emerald   Isle. 
They  were  members  of   the    Presbyterian    Church 
and  John  Butler  was  reared  in  that  faith. 

When  a  young  lad  and  accompanied  by  his 
his  brother  William,  still  younger  than  himself, 
John  Butler  started  for  America,  leaving  parents 
and  home,  to  seek  a  country  in  which  liberty  pre- 
vailed. The  two  brothers  settled  on  Long  Island 
and  turned  their  attention  to  agricultural  pur- 
suits. John  Butler  was  there  married  to  Miss 
Nancy  Abbott,  who  was  born  and  reared  on  Long 
Island,  where  her  parents  lived  and  died.  The 
children  of  the  Butler  family  also  opened  their 
eyes  to  the  light  of  day  there  and  in  1831  accom- 
panied their  parents  to  Delaware  County,  N.  Y., 
where,  amidst  the  hills,  they  were  reared.  Several 
yi-ars  later  both  parents  passed  away,  the  father  at 
the  age  of  sixty-four  years,  while  the  mother 
reached  the  allotted  age  of  three-score  years  and 
ten.  They  were  both  members  of  the  Christian 


RES. OF  GARDNER  W.  THOMPSON,  SEC. 26., ALTO  TR.LEE  CO..ILL. 


RESIDENCE  OF  T.  A.  BUTLER     SEC.G.,  PALMYRA  TR,  LEE  CO., ILL 


. 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


.r>;-)!  I 


Church,  and  in  politics  Mr.  Butler  was  a  supporter 
of  Democratic  principles. 

With  one  exception  our  subject  is  the  youngest 
in  a  family  of  four  sons  and  one  daughter.  The 
latter  grew  to  womanhood,  was  married  and  at  her 
death  left  a  family  of  children.  The  eldest  son, 
Stephen  Wright,  after  long  years  spent  in  the  min- 
istry of  the  Christian  Church,  is  now  living  a  re- 
tired life  near  Binghamton,  Greene  County,  N.Y.; 
Charles,  also  a  Christian  minister,  is  now  liv- 
ing retired  in  the  Empire  State;  Timothy  A.  is  the 
next  younger;  and  William,  also  a  preacher  of  the 
Christian  Church,  is  a  resident  of  Greene  County, 
N.  Y. 

The  days  of  his  boyhood  and  youth  Timothy 
Butler  passed  largely  on  Long  Island  and  in  Dela- 
ware County,  and  since  1838  he  has  been  a  citi- 
zen of  Lee  County,  111.  After  arriving  at  years  of 
maturity  he  led  to  the  marriage  altar  Miss  Rox- 
anna  Stewart,  who  was  born  in  this  county,  De- 
cember 15,  1834,  and  is  a  daughter  of  Benjamin 
and  Marjorie  (Morgan)  Stewart,  both  of  whom 
were  natives  of  the  Empire  State.  They  came  to 
Illinois  when  young  and  were  married  in  Sanga- 
mon  County,  whence  they  removed  to  Lee  County, 
becoming  pioneer  settlers  of  Palmyra  Township. 
Locating  on  Government  land  at  Gap  Grove,  Mr. 
Stewart  developed  a  farm.  His  wife  died  while 
on  a  visit  in  Sangamon  County,  and  he  passed 
away  in  Southern  Missouri  in  1881,  having  at- 
tained the  allotted  age  of  three-score  years  and 
ten.  They  were  both  members  of  the  Baptist 
Church  and  Mr.  Stewart  exercised  his  right  of 
franchise  in  the  behalf  of  the  Republican  party 
In  their  family  were  five  daughters  and  one  son. 
Mrs.  Butler  was  quite  young  when  she  lost  her 
mother,  and  was  reared  in  Palmyra  Township 
where  she  has  made  her  home  since  her  marriage. 

( )f  this  union  have  been  born  seven  children, 
but  two  died  in  early  childhood.  Lillian  is  now 
the  wife  of  Anson  Brauer,  a  resident  farmer  of 
Sterling  Township,  Whitejide  County,  Perditta  is 
the  wife  of  John  Small,  who  is  engaged  in  agricul- 
tural pursuits  in  Palmyra  Township;  Otho  .1.  mar- 
ried Sarah  Goushart  and  is  living  in  Powesheik  , 
Iowa;  Catherine  and  Nona  are  still  at  home. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Butler   began   their   domestic    life 


upon  the  farm  which  is  still  their  home  and  upon 
which  the  husband  has  resided  since  1839.  It 
comprises  one  hundred  aud  thirty -six  acres  of  arable 
land  that  yields  a  golden  tribute  to  his  care  and 
cultivation,  and  in  addition  to  this  he  also  has  an- 
other hundred  acres  elsewhere  in  the  township.  In 
politics  he  is  a  stanch  advocate  of  the  principles  of 
Democracy.  In  the  truest  sense  of  the  word  he  is  a 
self-made  man,  for  it  is  entirely  by  his  own  efforts 
that  he  has  achieved  his  success  in  life.  He  is  now 
numbered  among  the  substantial  farmers  of  the 
community  and  is  recognized  as  a  valued  citizen 
who  is  both  public  spirited  and  progressive. 

In  connection  witli  this  biographical  notice  may 
be  found  a  view  of  the  comfortable  residence  of 
Mr.  Butler. 


ARDNER  W.  THOMPSON.  This  prominent 
citizen,  whose  well-managed  farm  is  pleas- 
antly located  in  Alto  Township,  is  a  native 
of  Pennsylvania.  He  was  born  July  11,  1841,  in 
that  part  of  Pittston  now  included  in  Jenkins 
Township,  Luzerne  County.  His  father,  Isaac 
Thompson,  who  is  distinguished  as  being  the  oldest 
man  now  living  in  Lee  County,  was  born  on  the 
same  farm  that  was  the  birthplace  of  the  son,  the 
date  of  his  birth  being  November  18,  1796. 

The  grandfather  of  our  subject,  James  Thompson , 
was  born  in  county  Antrim,  Ireland,  and  in  turn 
was  a  son  of  one  John  Thompson,  a  native  of 
Scotland,  whence  he  removed  to  Ireland  and  from 
that  country  came  to  America  in  Colonial  times. 
He  located  fourteen  miles  from  Philadelphia,  the 
place  of  his  residence  now  probably  being  included 
in  the  city  or  its  suburbs,  and  there  he  spent  the 
remainder  of  his  days.  The  maiden  name  of  his 
wife  was  Margaret  Richey.  She  was  a  native  of 
Scotland,  like  her  husband,  and  passed  the  latter 
part  of  her  life  in  Pennsylvania.  They  were  both 
members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  always 
remained  true  to  the  faith  of  their  ancestors. 

The  grandfather  of  our  subject  came  to  America 
with  his  parents  when  he  was  four  years  old,  and 
fought  bravely  for  the  country  of  his  adoption 
during  the  Revolution.  He  lived  in  Berks  County 


560 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RFX'ORD. 


a  short  time  after  the  war,  and  then  removed  to 
Luzerne  County  and  was  one  of  the  pioneers  of 
Pittston  Township.  He  purchased  a  tract  of  tim- 
ber laud,  cleared  a  farm,  and  resided  there  until 
his  demise  at  a  ripe  age.  The  maiden  name  of  Ins 
wife  was  Susanna  Skelton.  She  was  born  eighteen 
miles  from  Philadelphia  and  was  a  daughter  of 
William  and  Jane  Skelton,  natives  of  Wales,  who 
came  to  America  prior  to  the  Revolution,  and 
located  near  Philadelphia  among  people  of  their 
own  faith,  they  being  members  of  the  Society  of 
Friends.  The  grandmother  of  our  subject  died  on 
the  home  farm. 

Isaac  Thompson,  the  father  of  our  subject,  was 
reared  amid  the  primitive  surroundings  of  the 
pioneer  home  of  his  parents  in  his  native  county. 
In  his  early  days  there  were  no  railways  or  canals, 
and  Easton,  sixty  miles  from  his  home,  was  the  near- 
est market  and  depot  for  supplies.  The  people  lived 
principally,  or  entirely,  off  the  products  of  their 
farms.  Mr.  Thompson  relates  that  in  1823  he 
went  with  a  team  to  move  a  family  to  a  distant 
town,  and  on  his  return  brought  back  a  load  of 
salt,  for  which  he  paid  six  cents  a  bushel.  At  that 
time  there  were  but  two  houses  on  the  present  site 
of  Syracuse,  the  great  salt  centre.  In  his  young 
manhood  anthracite  coal  was  first  discovered,  and 
Judge  Fell,  of  Wilkes  Barre,  was  the  first  to  experi- 
ment with  it  and  demonstrate  its  usefulness  for 
fuel.  The  father  of  our  subject  inherited  the  old 
homestead  and  lived  thereon  until  1858,  when  he 
sold  it,  and  the  ensuing  five  years  made  his  home 
in  Abingdon,  Lackawanna  County.  Returning  at 
the  end  of  that  time  to  Pittston  Village,  he  bought 
property  there,  and  resided  in  that  locality  until 
1866.  In  that  year  he  came  to  Lee  County  and 
has  lived  here  continuously  since.  He  has  attained 
the  venerable  age  of  ninety-five  years,  and  his  long 
life,  which  approaches  so  nearly  the  century  mark, 
has  been  useful  and  honorable,  his  record  being 
that  of  an  upright  man.  He  is  a  welcome  inmate 
of  the  home  of  his  son,  from  whom  he  has  never 
been  separated,  and  his  declining  years  are  sur- 
rounded by  every  comfort  that  filial  care  can  be- 
stow. 

June  18,  1818,  Mr.  Thompson  was  married  to 
Maria  Wilcox,  who  was  born  in  Dutches*  County. 


N.  Y.,  and  was  a  daughter  of  Isaac  and  Nancy 
(Newcornb)  Wilcox.  This  beloved  companion  and 
clu'iished  wife,  who  walked  by  his  side  for  nesirly 
sixty-seven  years,  died  in  April,  1885.  In  her 
early  married  life  she  did  all  her  cooking  by  the 
fireplace,  and  her  children  were  clad  in  homespun 
that  was  the  product  of  her  own  hands,  as  she  was 
an  adept  in  carding,  spinning  and  weaving.  She  was 
the  mother  of  fifteen  children ,of  whom  thirteen  grew 
to  manhood  and  womanhood,  namely:  Matilda, 
Jane,  Almond,  Alva,  Crandall,  David,  Ezekiel,  Isaac, 
Henry,  George  Elizabeth,  Rhoda  and  Gardner, 
and  of  these  eight  are  now  living.  The  father  of 
our  subject  has  in  all,  living  and  dead,  over  fifty 
grandchildren,  twenty-two  great-grandchildren  and 
two  great-great-grandchildren,  who  are  twins. 

Gardner  W.Thompson,  of  this  sketch,  was  reared 
and  educated  in  Pennsylvania,  and  lived  there 
until  1864,  since  which  time  he  has  been  a  con- 
tinuous resident  of  Lee  County.  He  has  always 
lived  with  his  parents  or  they  with  him.  lie 
occupies  an  assured  place  among  the  thrifty,  capable 
farmers  and  stock-raisers  of  Alto  Township,  and 
the  farm  that  he  now  owns  and  makes  his  home 
was  entered  from  the  Government  by  his  brother, 
Alva.  It  is  situated  on  section  36,  and  contains 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land,  under  admir- 
able tillage,  and  supplied  with  a  good  class  of 
modern  improvements.  On  another  page  of  this 
volume  appears  a  view  of  the  commodious  resi- 
dence and  other  farm  buildings. 

In  1873,  Mr.  Thompson  and  Miss  Mary  K. 
Howell  were  united  in  marriage.  Mrs.  Thompson 
was  born  near  Paw  Paw,  and  is  a  daughter  of  Will- 
iam and  Sarah  (Rogers)  Howell.  Her  pleasant 
wedded  life  with  our  subject  has  brought  them  one 
son,  Frank  Gardner.  Our  subject  has  an  active, 
well-balanced  mind,  is  gifted  with  rare  common 
sense,  and  possesses  in  a  full  degree  other  traits  of 
character  which  win  confidence.  His  fellow-citizens, 
placing  great  reliance  upon  his  judgment  and 
ability  to  manage  affairs  to  the  best  advantage, 
early  called  him  to  public  life,  and  for  fifteen  con- 
secutive years  he  represented  Alto  Township  on 
the  County  Board  of  Supervisors.  Politically  he 
has  always  been  identified  with  the  Republican 
party. 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


eHARLES  L.  HATCH,  who  is  a  native  of  Lee 
County,  is  now  one  of  its  prominent  farm- 
ers and  stock-raisers.  lie  lias  a  large  and 
well-conducted  farm  in  Sublettc  Township,  includ- 
ing the  old  homestead  where  he  was  horn  Decem- 
ber 12,  1848.  His  paternal  ancestry  were  New 
England  people,  and  his  great-grandfather  was  for 
many  years  a  resident  of  Hartford,  Conn.  His 
mother's  family  was  also  of  New  England  stock, 
and  his  maternal  grandfather  was  one  of  the  first 
settlers  of  Cavendish,  Vt. 

Sherman  L.  Hatch,  who  is  now  living  in  retire- 
ment from  active  business  in  the  home  of  his  son, 
our  subject,  was  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  this 
region,  acquired  wealth  while  aiding  in  the  devel- 
opment of  the  agricultural  resources  of  the  county, 
and  is  entitled  to  a  high  place  among  the  pioneers 
who  laid  the  solid  foundation  of  its  present  pros- 
perity. He  was  born  in  Cavendish,  Vt.,  July  25, 
1807,  a  son  of  Sherman  and  Caroline  (Lovell) 
Hatch,  of  the  same  place.  He  grew  to  manhood 
amid  the  pleasant  scenes  of  that  Vermont  town, 
and  joining  the  State  Militia,  was  Captain  of  his 
company.  At  the  age  of  thirty,  he  resolved  to  see 
what  the  West  had  to  offer  him,  and  he  made  his 
way  to  Chicago,  thence  to  Milwaukee,  and  from 
there  to  Janesville,  Wis.  He  there  embarked  in  a 
boat  with  seven  others,  and  made  a  voyage  down 
the  Rock  River,  stopping  at  Rockford,  Dixon  and 
Prophetstown.  The  little  party  remained  over 
night  in  Iowa,  opposite  the  mouth  of  the  Rock 
River,  and  the  next  day  Mr.  Hatch  returned  up 
the  river  to  Dixon,  where '  he  arrived  in  June. 
Erom  there  he  went  to  the  home  of  Charles  E.  In- 
gals,  who  had  settled  at  Lee  Centre,  and  on  his 
way  he  stopped  at  the  dwelling  of  Mr.  Whittaker, 
which  was  the  only  house  that  he  saw  after  leav- 
ing Dixon.  After  a  short  stay  with  Mr.  Ingals, 
Mr.  Hatch  proceeded  to  Suhlette  Township,  and 
here  on  section  7  he  found  an  abandoned  claim 
that  suited  him,  and  completing  the  unfinished  log 
cabin  that  stood  on  it,  he  lived  in  it  until  his  re- 
turn to  his  native  State  in  the  fall  of  the  year. 

The  following  spring  of  1838,  Mr.  Hatch  was 
married  to  Miss  Lucy  Brown,  a  native  of  Chester, 
Vt.  Returning  to  his  new  home  in  the  West  with 
his  bride,  he  found  his  claim  occupied.  He  ap- 


pealed to  the  Squatters' Tribunal,  and  they  decided 
that  he  should  pay  the  usurper  $150  in  considera- 
tion of  the  improvements  he  had  made,  or  the  gen- 
tleman should  pay  him  $125  and  retain  possession 
of  the  premises.  Mr.  Hatch  chose  to  pay  the  $150, 
and  regained  his  humble  home.  The  cabin  was 
primitive  in  its  construction,  with  a  floor  of  earth. 
In  1839  Mr.  Hatch  laid  a  floor  of  split  rails,  cov- 
ered with  cornstalks.  He  claimed  two  hundred 
and  forty  acres  of  land,  but  not  being  able  to  col- 
lect money  that  he  had  loaned,  he  could  not  pay 
for  that  amount  when  it  came  into  the  market,  and 
so  had  to  content  himself  with  eight3r  acres  for  a 
time.  In  1846  he  built  a  frame  house  on  his  place, 
and  in  1852  erected  a  commodious  brick  house 
and  a  large  barn,  the  lumber  for  the  latter  build- 
ing being  brought  from  Chicago.  He  met  with 
more  than  ordinary  success  in  his  operations,  mak- 
ing a  goodly  fortune,  and  besides  becoming  the 
possessor  of  five  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land 
had  much  personal  property.  In  1890  he  gener- 
ously divided  the  same  among  his  four  children, 
giving  our  subject  four  hundred  acres  of  the  home- 
stead, and  the  others  land  and  money  of  like  value. 
His  declining  years  are  passing  serenely  in  the 
home  of  his  son, of  which  he  is  a  welcome  member, 
and  where  he  is  surrounded  by  every  comfort  that 
can  make  his  life  pleasant. 

The  mother  of  our  subject  died  in  November 
1876,  leaving  four  children,  of  whom  this  is  the 
record:  Harriet  L.  was  born  in  December,  1839, 
and  is  now  the  wife  of  Erancis  Gardner,  of  Sub- 
lette;  Caroline  Louise,  bora  December,  1840,  mar- 
ried James  Garrctt,  of  Ash  ton;  Julia  A.,  born  De- 
cember, 1845,  married  Joseph  W.  Latta,  of  Dixon; 
and  Charles  L.,  is  our  subject. 

He  of  whom  this  biography  is  written  was  given 
excellent  educational  advantages  in  his  youth, 
laying  the  foundation  of  his  education  in  the 
schools  at  Sublette,  and  afterward  pursuing  a  good 
course  of  study  in  the  academy  at  Lee  Center. 
After  leaving  school  he  taught  two  winters,  but 
his  attention  has  been  mostly  given  to  farming 
and  stock-raising,  in  which  lie  is  eminently  success- 
ful. His  father  gave  him  a  valuable  property,  but 
a  part  of  his  wealth  is  of  his  own  accumulation, 
and  his  landed  possessions  amount  to  six  hundred 


562 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


and  eighty  acres.  His  improvements  are  of  the 
best  and  his  estate  is  in  a  fine  condition.  His  well- 
cared-for  stock  is  of  high  breeds,  and  commands  a 
ready  market  whenever  offered  for  sale.  Mr.  Hatch 
is  a  cool  calculator,  iscautious  in  his  dealings  when 
prudence  is  required,  and  at  the  same  time  is  quick 
•to  take  advantage  of  all  legitimate  means  of  mak- 
ing money,  and  is  one  of  the  solid  men  of  his 
township.  In  politics  he  cleaves  to  the  Republi- 
can party.  He  has  been  Road  Commissioner  and 
School  Director,  and,  whether  as  an  office-holder  or 
private  citizen,  has  always  done  what  lie  could  for 
the  benefit  of  the  community.  Religiously  he  is  of 
the  Congregational  faith,  and  is  generous  in  his 
support  of  the  church. 

Mr.  Hatch  was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss 
Catherine  Barse  in  1874.  Mrs.  Hatch  is  a  native 
of  Detroit,  Mich.,  and  a  daughter  of  William  and 
Maria  Louise  Barse.  The  following  is  a  record  of 
the  four  children  lx>rn  to  her  and  our  subject: 
Lucy  M.  was  born  in  April,  1875;  Hayes  L.,  in  May, 
1877;  Kittle  L.,  in  March,  1885;  and  Charles  S.  in 
July,  1887. 

June  20,  1890  our  subject's  place  was  visited  by 
a  cyclone,  which  destroyed  all  outbuildings,  etc., 
causing  a  damage  of  $5,000. 


JOHN  B.  WILLMAN  has  been  exceedingly 
prospered  in  the  pursuit  of  his  calling  as  a 
farmer,  and  is  now  the  fortunate  owner  of 
two  choice  farms,  the  one  upon  which  he 
makes  his  home  lying  in  Willow  Creek  Township, 
and  the  other  in  Viola  Township.  '  Mr.  Williams 
was  born  in  the  province  of  Lorraine  when  it  formed 
a  part  of  France,  his  birth  occurring  December  17, 
1839.  His  father,  who  bore  the  same  name  as  him- 
self, was  also  a  native  of  that  province,  as  far  as 
known,  and  was  a  son  of  one  Humphrey  Willman, 
who  was  born  in  the  same  locality,  and  is  supposed 
to  have  spent  his  entire  life  there  as  a  farmer. 
The  father  of  our  subject  learned  the  trade  of  a 
brick  and  stone  mason,  and  continued  to  follow 
it  in  his  native  France  throughout  his  life.  He 
married  Nancy  Antoine.  a  native  of  the  same 


place  as  himself,  and  three  children   were    born   to 

I  them:- Nancy,  Mary  and  John  B.  After  the  death 
of  the  father,  the  mother  came  to  this  country  and 
spent  the  most  of  her  remaining  years  with  our 
subject.  She  died  at  Seneca.  La  Salle  County,  at  a 
venerable  age. 

He  of  whom  we  write  was  the  only  son  of  his 
parents,  and  he  was  early  deprived  of  a  father's 
care.  He  was  four  and  a  half  years  old  when  he 
came  to  America  with  his  mother  in  1844.  and  has 

I  no  distinct  recollection  of  other  than  his  adopted 
country.  His  mother  was  a  pioneer  of  La  Salle 

j  County,  settling  not  far  from  the  present  site  Of 
the  town  of  Sandwich,  where  she  bought  thirty  - 

i  three  acres  of  land.  That  section,  and  in  fact  all 
of  Northern  Illinois,  was  but  little  settled  at  that 
time,  and  the  greater  part  of  the  land  was  owned 
by  the  Government,  and  has  since  been  sold  for 
$1.25  an  acre.  A  few  years  later,  Mrs.  Willman 
bought  land  near  Ottawa,  and  John  assisted  in 
doing  the  farm  work,  he  having  begun  early  in 
life  to  gain  experience  in  that  line.  In  1853  the 
family  crossed  the  plains  and  mountains  to  Cali- 
fornia, in  the  hope  to  better  their  fortunes,  start- 
ing from  La  Salle  County  and  making  the  entire 
journey  with  ox  teams.  At  that  time  there  were 
but  very  few  white  settlers  between  the  Missouri 
River  and  the  Pacific  Coast  except  the  Mormons 
at  Salt  Lake,  while  deer,  elk  and  buffaloes  were- 
encountered  in  large  numbers.  After  six  months' 
traveling  the  weary  little  party  arrived  at  Sacra- 
mento, and  there  our  subject  found  employment 
in  a  hotel  for  eleven  months.  At  the  end  of  that 
time  he  went  to  the  mines  and  tried  his  luck  at 
digging  gold,  at  which  he  was  engaged  with  vary- 
ing success  until  1858.  Tiring  of  the  rough  fron- 
tier life,  he  came  back  to  Illinois  by  the  way 
of  the  Isthmus.  The  following  year  he  returned 
to  California,  and  was  busily  engaged  in  mining 
fora  year  and  a  half.  Returning  to  this  State,  he 
came  to  Lee  County  and  invested  in  the  farm  in 
Willow  Creek  Township  upon  which  he  resides. 
It  contains  one  hundred  and  fifty  and  one-half 
acres  of  fruitful  land,  which  is  under  the  best  cul- 
tivation, and  is  amply  provided  witli  buildings  of 
a  good  class  and  modern  farm  machinery.  His 
farm  in  Viola  Township  comprises  eighty  acres  of 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


563 


fine  land,  and  is  in  all  respects  a  well-ordered  place. 

Mr.  Willman  has  had  considerable  experience 
in  various  ways  and  has  profited  by  it,  and  is 
justly  regarded  as  one  of  our  progressive  fanners, 
who  has  a  clear  understanding  of  his  business, 
and  knows  how  to  carry  it  on  so  as  to  reap  the 
best  results.  He  and  his  amiable  wife  are  highly 
regarded  by  their  neighbors  and  others  in  their 
community.  They  entered  upon  their  wedded 
life  May  6,  1864,  and  to.  them  have  been  born 
these  seven  children:  Amerriba  E.,  wife  of  James 
Yocum,  David,  Ella,  John,  Emrna,  Lucetta  and 
Bessie.  Mrs.  Willman  is  a  member  of  the  United 
Brethren  Church,  and  is  a  woman  of  true  Christian 
character. 

Mrs.  Willman  bore  the  name  of  Miss  Matilda 
Norton  prior  to  her  marriage,  and  was  born  near 
London,  Province  of  Ontario,  Can.  Her  father, 
David  Norton,  was  also  a  Canadian  by  birth.  His 
father  is  thought  to  have  been  born  in  Vermont, 
removing  from  there  to  Canada  during  some 
period  of  his  early  manhood  and  settling  at  West- 
minister, where  he  resided  until  his  death.  He 
married  Sarah  Mudge,  who  died  at  Westminister. 
Mrs.  Willman 's  father  grew  up  in  Canada  and 
resided  there  until  1859,  when  he  removed  to  St. 
Clair  County,  Mich.  He  lived  there  until  1862, 
and  then  coming  to  Illinois,  he  located  at  Ross 
Grove,  De  Kalb  County.  In  1873  he  went  back  to 
Michigan,  and  was  a  resident  of  Traverse  City  until 
1886,  but  after  the  death  of  his  wife  in  that  place, 
he  returned  to  Ross  Grove,  and  has  since  lived 
with  his  children.  The  maiden  name  of  Mrs.  Will- 
man's  mother  was  Rachael  Manning.  She  was 
born  nine  miles  from  the  city  of  Toronto,  Can., 
and  was  a  daughter  of  Jacob  and  Betsey  (Palen) 
Manning. 


JAMES    B.    CHARTERS,    ex-Postmaster    at 
Dixon,  is  one  of  its  foremost  citizens,  who 
for  many  years  has  been  thoroughly  identi- 
fied   witli    the   best    interests   of   city   and 
county,  contributing  to  the  success  of  various  en- 
terprises   that    have    materially    heightened    their 


prosperity,  and  taking  a  prominent  part  in  the 
administration  of  public  affairs  as  an  cncumbent 
of  various  important  civic  offices. 

Our  subject  was  born  in  the  city  of  Belfast,  Ire- 
land, July  1 1,  1831.  His  father,  Alexander  Char- 
ters, was  also  a  native  of  that  city,  and  was  born 
July  7,  1800.  His  father,  who  bore  the  same  name 
as  himself,  was  a  native  of  Ireland,  and  came  of 
one  of  the  old  Scotch  families  that  colonized  the 
northern  part  of  that  country.  He  was  a  mer- 
chant and  was  engaged  in  business  at  Belfast  for 
many  years,  spending  his  entire  life  on  his  native 
isle. 

The  father  of  our  subject  came  to  America  at 
the  age  of  seventeen,  and  entered  upon  a  success- 
ful business  career  as  a  clerk  in  New  York  City, 
and  later  as  a  member  of  the  firm  of  J.  &  A.  Char- 
ters, manufacturers  and  importers  of  linen.  He 
made  several  trips  across  the  ocean  to  Ireland  in 
the  interests  of  business,  and  one  such  occasion 
was  made  memorable  by  his  marriage  in  his  native 
city  to  Miss  Ellen  Boomer,  who  was  a  daughter  of 
one  of  the  old  families  of  that  city,  which  was 
also  her  birthplace.  Her  father,  James  Boomer, 
was  likewise  a  native  of  Belfast,  and  he  started 
the  first  manufactory  in  that  place,  which  he  at 
first  devoted  to  the  manufacture  of  cotton  cloth, 
but  subsequently  changed  into  a  linen  factory. 
He  continued  a  resident  of  Belfast  until  death 
closed  his  life,  and  deprived  his  city  of  a  citizen 
who  had  rendered  valuable  service  in  promoting 
its  industrial  growth. 

Mr.  Charters  continued  in  business  in  New  York 
until  the  panic  of  1837  threatened  to  ruin  all  the 
manufacturing  and  mercantile  interests  of  the 
country,  and  he  found  it  advisable  to  wind  up  his 
affairs  in  that  city  if  he  would  preserve  his  money 
and  his  business  integrity,  and  in  the  spring  of 
1838  he  came  to  the  Rock  River  country  to  begin 
life  anew  in  "fresh  fields  and  pastures  new,"  far 
from  the  rush  and  turmoil  of  the  great  metropo- 
lis. He  entered  a  tract  of  Government  land,  finely 
located  three  miles  from  the  present  site  of  Dixon, 
and  in  the  course  of  time  built  up  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  homes  in  Illinois,  which  was  known  far 
and  wide  as  "Hazelwood,"  and  was  famous  for  its 
iinlxMindod  hospitality.  Its  genial  host,  familiarly 


564 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


known  as  the  "Governor,"  was  a  typical  Irish 
gentleman,  frank,  generous-hearted  and  open- 
handed,  always  courteous  and  considerate  in  his 
treatment  of  others,  and  he  understood  the  art  of 
entertaining  to  perfection.  He  had  an  extensive 
acquaintance  and  held  a  warm  place  in  the  hearts 
of  all  about  him. 

James  B.  Charters,  of  this  biographical  review, 
was  but  an  infant  when  Ins  mother  died,  and  lie 
was  reared  by  his  maternal  grandparents,  who  cared 
for  him  tenderly.  He  received  his  early  education 
in  the  schools  of  Belfast,  and  at  the  age  of  seven- 
teen entered  Trinity  College,  in  Dublin,  one  of 
the  most  noted  institutions  of  learning  in  Great 
Britain,  from  which  he  was  graduated  in  the  Class 
of  '53.  Ambitious  to  fit  himself  for  the  legal 
profession,  he  -then  went  to  London  and  studied 
law  in  the  Inner  Temple.  Immediately  after  com- 
pleting his  studies,  he  came  to  America  to  join  his 
father  at  Hazelwood,  and  at  once  commenced  the 
practice  of  law.  From  that  time  to  this  he  has 
made  his  home  in  this  county,  and  has  won  a  high 
place  among  the  men  of  decisive  character,  learn- 
ing and  business  acumen  who  have  played  so  im- 
portant a  part  in  the  rise  and  progress  of  this 
section  of  the  State.  He  has  been  interested  in 
various  enterprises,  and  has  given  much  time  to 
affairs  of  public  moment,  as  his  fellow-citiztns 
have  frequently  induced  him  to  accept  some  re- 
sponsible office.  He  has  served  as  Mayor  of  Dixon, 
and  in  1877  was  elected  County  Judge.  In  1887 
he  was  appointed  Postmaster  at  Dixon,  and  the 
fact  that  he  has  retained  the  position  three  years 
since  the  change  of  administration  attests  not  only 
his  popularity,  but  is  sufficient  evidence  that  the 
office  is  managed  in  a  systematic,  business-like 
manner,  everything  connected  with  it  being  kept 
in  good  order,  and  it  is  a  source  of  gratulation 
to  the  people  of  this  city  that  one  so  able  and 
trustworthy  should  have  charge  of  this  important 
Federal  office.  In  politics,  Mr.  Charters  has  always 
been  a  stanch  champion  of  the  policy  of  the  Demo- 
cratic party.  Socially,  he  belongs  to  the  following 
organizations:  Friendship  Lodge,  No.  7,  A.  F.  & 
A.  M.;  Nachusa  Chapter,  No.  56,  R.  A.  M.;  and 
Dixon  Connnandery,  No.  21.  K.  T. 

Mr.  Charters   has  been   twice   married.     I  le   w:i> 


married  the  first  time  in  1853  to  Miss  Fanny  J. 
Charters,  a  daughter  of  Samuel  and  Jane  (Cregier) 
Charters.  Their  wedded  life  of  thirty  years  was 
brought  to  a  close  by  her  death  in  1883.  Our  sub- 
ject was  united  in  marriage  to  his  present  wife, 
formerly  Miss  Blanche  Soule.  July  9,  1885. 


OSES  D.  HUBBARD  has  the  distinction  of 
being  the  oldest  living  citizen  that  was 
bom  and  now  resides  in  Palmyra  Town- 
ship. His  home  is  on  sections  33  and  34, 
where  he  has  a  fine  farm  embracing  one  hundred 
and  forty  acres.  It  has  been  his  place  of  residence 
since  the  21st  of  April,  1865,  and  in  the  years  that 
have  since  followed  he  has  met  with  excellent  suc- 
cess in  bis  business  dealings. 

The  birth  of  Mr.  Hubbard  occurred  on  the  old 
homestead  at  Gap  Grove,  November  18,  1837,  and 
he  is  the  only  child  of  Oliver  A.  and  Eliza  (Martin) 
Hubbard.  His  father  was  born  in  New  Hampshire 
in  1804,  and  after  his  marriage  emigrated  West- 
ward. With  the  early  settlers  of  Lee  County,  111  .  he 
cas  this  lot,  locating  at  Gap  Grove  in  Palmyra  Town- 
ship, where  he  purchased  a  claim  and  later  entered 
land.  For  a  short  time  only  did  he  enjoy  his  new 
home,  his  death  occurring  in  1840.  Some  eight 
years  later  Mrs.  Hubbard  became  the  wife  of  W.  W. 
Tilton,  one  of  the  pioneer  settlers  of  Lee  County, 
and  he  now  resides  at  Gap  Grove,  where  although 
he  is  now  seventy-five  years  of  age,  he  follows 
farming.  Mrs.  Tilton  died  the  llth  of  January, 
1892  in  her  eighty-second  year.  She  was  a 
member  of  the  Congregational  Church.  By  her 
second  marriage  she  had  two  children  —  Mrs.  Ilor- 
tense  Gilbert,  now  deceased;  and  Frank  who  oper- 
ates the  farm. 

Our  subject  has  spent  almost  his  entire  life  in 
this  community.  His  primary  education,  acquired 
in  the  common  schools,  was  supplemented  by  a 
course  of  study  in  Hopkinton,  N.  H.  At  the  first 
call  for  troops  to  put  down  the  Rebellion  he  en- 
listed on  May  24th,  1861,  as  a  member  of  Company 
B,  Thirteenth  Illinois  Infantry,  the  first  volunteer 
regiment  that  was  sworn  into  the  United  States  ser- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


565 


vice.  Its  Colonel  was  John  B.  Wyman,  and  the 
first  commander  of  Company  B,  was  Capt.  D.  R. 
Biislniell,  who  was  killed  at  the  battle  of  Ringgold, 
his  successor  being  Capt.  George  B.  Brown,  now  of 
Sterling,  111.  The  regiment  was  organized  at 
Dixon  and  assigned  to  the  Fifteenth  Army  Corps 
of  the  Army  of  the  West.  For  nearly  a  year  it 
was  quartered  in  Rolla,  Mo.,  and  did  some  import- 
ant service  in  that  locality.  The  troops  partici- 
pated in  the  battle  at  Wilson's  Creek,  later  met 
the  enemy  at  Lookout  Mountain  and  at  Ringgold, 
where  Col.  Wyman  fell.  Again  the}'  were  under 
fire  at  Chattanooga  and  Vicksburg  and  in  other 
engagements.  During  a  considerable  portion  of 
the  time  Mr.  Hubbard  was  on  detached  duty  and  was 
in  active  service  for  about  twenty-one  months. 
During  the  first  year  he  had  an  attack  of  measles, 
which  resulted  in  the  loss  of  his  voice  for  about 
eighteen  months.  This  prevented  his  re-enlist- 
ment after  the  expiration  of  his  first  term  but 
nevertheless  lie  remained  with  his  regiment  for 
some  time  longer.  He  was  a  faithful  soldier  ever 
found  at  his  post  of  duty  and  received  an  honor- 
able discharge,  on  account  of  physical  disabilit}'. 

Since  his  return  to  the  North  Mr.  Hubbard  has 
given  his  attention  to  the  cultivation  of  his  farm 
and  by  his  industrious  and  enterprising  efforts  has 
become  one  of  the  well-to-do  citizens  of  the  com- 
munity. He  was  first  married  in  his  native  town- 
ship to  Miss  Blanche  A.  Coe,  who  was  born  in  Pal- 
myra Township,  April  1,  1852,  and  was  a  daughter 
of  Henry  A.  and  Elmina  (Moon)  Coe.  Her  father 
was  a  native  of  the  Empire  State,  and  became  one 
of  the  early  settlers  of  Palmyra  Township,  where 
he  spent  an  active  and  useful  life  as  a  farmer.  His 
wife  passed  away  some  years  previous  to  his 
death.  The  death  of  Mrs.  Hubbard  occurred  July 
15,  1884.  She  was  a  faithful  and  loving  wife  and 
mother,  a  kind  neighbor  and  at  her  death  many 
friends  mourned  her  loss.  She  left  six  children; 
Nona,  now  the  wife  of  Frank  Ryder,  of  Ashland, 
Wis.;  Alonzo,  Bert,  Olive,  Clinton  and  Edna. 

Mr.  Hubbard  has  since  been  again  married,  his 
second  union  being  with  Miss  Julia  Brauer,  who 
was  born  in  Nelson  Township  in  1864.  Her  father, 
Louis  Brauer,  a  native  of  Germany,  left  the  Father- 
land for  America  when  a  young  man  and  took  up 


his  residence  in  Lee  County,  111.,  where  he  married 
Louisa  Toel.  Their  domestic  life  began  on  a  farm, 
where  Mr.  Brauer  made  his  home  until  his  death 
in  1872.  His  widow  yet  resides  in  Palmyra 
Township.  Both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hubbard  are  well 
known  throughout  this  community  and  by  their 
many  friends  are  held  in  high  esteem.  He  is  a 
Democrat  in  politics  and  socially  is  a  Mason,  be- 
longing to  Friendship  Lodge,  No.  7,  A.  F.  &  A.M.; 
Nachusa  Chapter,  No.  56.  R.  A.  M.;  and  Dixon 
Commandery,  No.  2 1 ,  K.  T.,  all  of  Dixon.  He  also 
holds  membership  with  Post  No.  221,  G.  A.  R. 
The  cause  of  education  finds  in  him  a  warm  friend 
and  his  children  were  provided  with  good  advan- 
tages in  that  direction.  He  takes  a  commendable 
interest  in  everything  pertaining  to  the  welfare  of 
the  community  in  which  he  has  so  long  made  his 
home  and  with  whose  history  he  has  been  pro- 
minently identified  for  many  years.  Genial  by 
nature  and  kindly  in  disposition  he  easily  wins 
friends  and  his  hospitable  home  is  ever  open  for 
their  reception. 


^pjf  LFRED  S.  DIMICK,  a  real-estate  dealer, 
IIS  money  leaner  and  insurance  agent  of 
II  IS  Dixon,  has  been  engaged  in  business  in 
Hf  this  city  since  1860.  He  is  ranked  among 
the  leading  business  men  of  the  'community,  and 
one  of  the  public-spirited  and  progressive  citizens 
of  Lee  County.  For  more  than  six  years  he  has 
carried  on  operations  in  his  present  line,  having 
embarked  in  the  business  in  1885.  The  same  suc- 
cess which  attended  him  in  other  directions  has 
again  followed  his  foot-steps,  and  among  the  sub- 
stantial men  of  Dixon  is  numbered  Albert  Dimick. 
The  Dimick  family  is  of  English  origin  and  was 
established  in  America  during  early  Colonial  days. 
Lot  and  Jonathan  Dimick,  the  great-grandfather 
and  grandfather,  spent  their  entire  lives  in  Mans- 
field, Conn.,  their  birthplace,  and  followed  the  oc- 
cupation of  farming.  The  latter  married  Alexis 
Storrs,  a  native  of  Mansfield,  who  came  of  an  old 
New  England  family,  and  died  in  her  native  town 
at  an  advanced  age.  The  father  of  our  subject, 


566 


PORTRAIT  AM)  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


Jabez  S.  Dimick,  was  bom  in  Mansfield,  Conn.,  and 
when  a  young  man,  emigrated  to  Massachusetts, 
where  he  acquired  a  knowledge  of  cloth  finishing 
and  pressing  and  also  did  fancy  dyeing.  He  was 
overseer  for  many  years  in  those  departments  of 
factories,  and  did  his  last  work  in  that  line  in  Lei- 
cester. In  1867  he  came  with  his  wife  to  Dixon, 
and  spent  his  last  days  in  the  home  of  his  son, 
where  lie  died  in  1873,  at  the  age  of  seventy-three 
years.  He  was  a  good  citizen  and  a  man  of  noble 
character.  Under  the  auspices  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  he  was  reared,  but  afterward  became  a 
Methodist  and  was  a  devoted  member  and  liberal 
supporter  of  that  church  until  his  death.  In  Wor- 
cester, Mass.,  he  had  married  Miss  Betsy  G.  Dun- 
bar,  who  came  of  a  long-lived  family  of  Scotch 
origin,  that  in  an  early  day  was  founded  in  Wor- 
cester. She  is  yet  living  at  the  age  of  eighty- 
seven  years,  her  home  being  with  our  subject.  Her 
life  has  been  that  of  a  consistent  Christian,  and  she 
is  beloved  by  all  who  know  her. 

The  maternal  grandfather  of  Mr.  Dimick,  Eben- 
ezer  Dunbar,  was  born  in  Leicester,  Mass.,  where  he 
spent  nis  entire  life,  and  died  at  the  advanced  age 
of  one  hundred  years  and  seven  months.  Sickness 
or  disease  had  never  undermined  his  constitution 
or  broken  down  his  health,  but  the  flame  of  life 
grew  fainter  and  fainter,  and  at  last  flickered  and 
went  out.  He  married  Polly  Golden,  a  native  of 
Worcester  County,  and  a  daughter  of  Col.  Golden, 
of  Revolutionary  fame.  Her  father  was  for  many 
years  a  prominent  citizen  of  the  county,  and  a 
Deacon  in  the  Baptist  Church,  as  was  also  Ebenezer 
Dunbar.  The  father  of  the  latter,  Abner  Dunbar, 
was  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  Worcester  County, 
Mass.,  where  he  died  an  old  man.  He  was  also  one 
of  the  heroes  of  the  Revolution,  and  married  a 
niece  of  Gen.  Warren,  who  won  his  title  in  the 
same  war. 

We  now  take  up  the  personal  history  of  our  sub- 
ject, who  was  bora  in  Leicester,  Mass.,  in  1825. 
His  education  was  acquired  in  the  common  schools 
and  at  Leicester  Academy,  and  when  twenty-two 
years  of  age  he  left  home  to  begin  life  for  himself. 
Going  to  Wilkes  Barre,  Pa.,  in  1847,  he  spent  ten 
years  at  that  place  in  the  bOot  and  shoe  trade,  and 
in  1K57  came  to  I.ee  County,  III.,  whore  for  three 


years  he  engaged  in  business  as  a  farmer  and  coal 
dealer.  In  1860  he  opened  a  boot  and  shoe  store, 
and  after  four  years  built  a  business  block  on  First 
Street,  near  the  corner  of  Hennepin  Avenue,  which 
lie  occupied  until  1885.  He  worked  up  an  excel- 
lent trade  and  also  did  a  fine  jobbing  business  for 
some  years.  The  latter  business,  however,  proved 
disastrous.  By  the  courteous  treatment  of  his  cus- 
tomers, and  fair  and  honest  dealing  he  secured  a 
liberal  patronage  which  he  well  merited.  Not  wish- 
ing to  live  in  idleness,  when  he  sold  out  his  shoe 
store  in  1885,  he  embarked  in  his  present  line  as 
real-estate  dealer  and  loan  and  insurance  agent. 
His  son  is  now  associated  with  him  as  partner,  the 
latter  having  his  headquarters  in  Cedar  County, 
Neb.,  while  our  subject  controls  affairs  in  this  com- 
munity. 

Ere  leaving  the  East,  Mr.  Dimick  was  married 
in  Wilkes  Barre,  Pa.,  to  Miss  Emma  M.  Levering, 
a  native  of  the  Keystone  State,  and  a  daughter  of 
Dr.  Abraham  Levering,  who  was  born  in  France 
and  came  to  America  with  his  parents  when  quite 
young.  Having  been  carefully  reared  and  highly 
educated,  he  became  an  eminent  physician,  and  for 
many  years  was  known  as  a  great  cancer  specialist. 
He  had  an  extensive  and  lucrative  practice  in  Mon- 
roe County,  Pa.,  where  he  also  served  as  County 
Treasurer  for  five  terms,  and  where  for  the  last 
twenty  years  of  his  life  he  served  as  Associate 
Judge,  filling  the  office  with  credit  to  himself  and 
satisfaction  to  his  constituents,  as  was  attested  by 
his  continued  re-election.  He  died  of  paralysis  at 
the  age  of  seventy  years.  He  was  a  refined  pol- 
ished gentleman  who  won  the  respect  of  all  and  in 
religious  belief  was  a  Moravian.  He  wedded  Miss 
Mary  Rogers,  an  intelligent  and  cultured  lady  of 
Pennsylvania  and  a  daughter  of  Dr.  Rogers,  who 
was  long  one  of  the  most  prominent  physicians  of 
Northampton  County,  Pa.  He  was  the  preceptor 
of  Dr.  Gross,  the  well-known  physician  of  Phila- 
delphia, and  Dr.  Levering  also  studied  under  his 
direction  for  some  years. 

Mrs.  Dimick,  the  wife  of  our  subject,  was  afforded 
excellent  educational  advantages,  and  is  a  lady  of 
fine  attainments  and  many  virtues.  By  her  mar- 
riage have  been  born  six  children:  Mary  E.,  wife 
of  II.  C.  Burrows,  who  is  Superintendent  of  the 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


569 


iron  works  of  Lancaster,  Pa.,  and  a  son  of  the  late 
Thomas  II.  Burrows,  ex-Secretar}'  of  State  of 
Pennsylvania,  under  Gov.  Ritner;  Eugene  L.,  who 
engaged  in  the  real-estate  and  insurance  business 
in  Harrington,  Cedar  County,  Neb.,  married  Georgia 
Herrick,  niece  of  the  late  Col.  Henry  Noble,  of 
Dixon;  Harry  C.  is  a  commercial  agent  for  the 
Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Railroad,  and  re- 
sides in  Pittsburg,  Pa.;  .Fred  D.,  who  wedded  Ada 
Walp,  of  Meadville,  Pa.,  now  deceased,  is  time 
keeper  and  telegraph  operator  for  the  Pullman  Car 
Company  of  Pullmai^IlI.;  and  Nettie  and  Delia 
are  at  home. 

Mr.  Dimick  is  a  Republican  in  politics,  and  his 
wife  is  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  No 
family  is  held  in  higher  regard,  and  their  rank  in 
social  circles  is  among  the  best.  Our  subject  has 
long  been  connected  with  the  business  interests  of 
Dixon,  where  he  has  won  prosperity  by  industry, 
enterprise  and  the  exercise  of  correct  business  prin- 
ciples, and  has  a  host  of  friends  throughout  this 
community. 


PANIEL  SMITH.  Doubtless  to  the  majority 
of  our  readers  this  name  is  a  familiar  one 
and  the  portrait  presented  on  the  opposite 
page  perpetuates  for  coming  generations  the  fea- 
tures of  a  highly  respected  citizen  of  Dixon,  who 
passed  from  the  busy  scenes  of  earthly  toil  April 
18,  1888.  The  Province  of  Ontario,  Canada,  was 
his  native  home,  and  October  28,  1844,  the  date  of 
his  birth.  When  only  two  years  of  age,  he  le- 
moved  to  Michigan  with  his  parents,  Almanzo  and 
Temperance  Smith,  the  family  locating  on  a  farm 
about  ten  miles  from  Flint. 

There  the  father  and  mother  died  when  well  ad- 
vanced in  years.  Amid  the  wild  scenes  of  pioneer 
life  their  son,  Daniel,  was  reared  to  manhood  and 
was  early  inured  to  the  hard  labors  of  the  farm. 
His  educational  advantages  were  only  those 
afforded  by  the  common  schools  of  the  new  coun- 
try, but  he  acquired  a  good  fund  of  knowledge  for 
himself  by  reading,  experience  and  observation. 


When  a  young  man,  he  came  to  Dixon  and  from 
that  time  until  his  death  was  identified  with  the 
best  interests  of  the  city. 

It  was  here  that  Mr.  Smith  was  united  in  mar- 
riage with  Adelaide  Mead,  one  of  Dixon 's  daugh- 
ters, and  an  intelligent  lad}7,  possessed  of  excellent 
business  and  excutive  ability,  which  is  shown  by 
her  management  of  the  property  left  her  by  her 
husband.  '  Her  parents,  Heman  and  Jane  (Dodge) 
Mead,  were  natives  of  Canada,  and  there  resided 
until  after  their  marriage,  when  they  came  to  Lee 
County,  111.,  residing  upon  a  farm  until  after  all  of 
the  children  but  one  were  born.  Subsequently,  Mr. 
Mead  sold  that  property  and  came  to  Dixon,  where 
he  and  his  wife  spent  the  remainder  of  their  lives, 
both  being  called  to  their  final  rest  when  about 
sixty  years  of  age.  They  were  prominent  members 
and  active  workers  in  the  Methodist  Church  and 
the  poor  and  needy  found  in  them  a  friend.  In 
politics,  Mr.  Mead  was  first  a  Whig  and  afterward 
a  Republican.  He  was  highly  esteemed  as  a  valued 
citizen  and  his  death  proved  a  great  loss  to  the 
community.  Several  children  of  the  family  are 
yet  living,  among  the  number  being  Mrs.  Sherwood 
Dixon. 

For  many  years  Mr.  Smith  engaged  in  business 
as  a  liveryman  and  also  bought  and  sold  horses. 
For  about  twelve  years  his  brother,  Charles,  who 
is  also  now  deceased,  was  associated  with  him  and 
the  firm  built  up  a  most  excellent  trade.  Mr. 
Smith  purchased  the  property  and  carried  on  what 
was  known  as  the  Nachusa  Horse  Barn  for  some 
time.  He  gave  his  entire  time  and  attention  to  his 
business  and  by  courteous  treatment  of  his  custom- 
ers and  fair  and  honest  dealing  secured  a  liberal 
patronage.  He  was  an  excellent  judge  of  horses 
and  in  his  purchase  and  sales  added  not  a  little  to 
his  income.  At  his  death,  he  left  a  comfortable 
property  to  his  widow,  which  thus  relieves  her 
from  the  necessity  of  earning  her  own  livelihood. 

In  politics,  Mr.  Smith  was  a  Republican  but 
never  sought  or  desired  public  office.  He  led  a 
quiet,  unassuming  life,  faithfully  discharging  the 
duties  of  citizenship  and  devoting  his  energies 
exclusively  to  his  business.  The  excellencies  of 
liis  character  won  him  the  esteem  of  his  friends, 
who  were  not  few  in  number.  At  his  death,  he  left 


570 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


a  widow  and  one  son — Fred  E.,  a  young  man,  now 
twenty -one  years  of  age,  who  is  employed  by  the 
Grand  Detour  Plow  Company,  of  Dixon.  He  was 
educated  in  the  city  schools  and  possesses  many 
excellent  traits  of  character,  being  accounted  one 
of  the  promising  young  men  of  the  community. 


JOSIAH  P.  DANA,  deceased,  was  for  many 
years  numbered  among  the  leading  business 
men  of  Dixon  and  it  is  but  meet  that  he 
should  be  represented  in  this  work  among 
the  honored  pioneers  and  best  citizens  of  the 
county.  He  was  born  on  the  site  of  the  State 
Capitol  of  New  York,  on  the  llth  of  January, 
1819,  and  came  of  an  old  and  highly  respected  New 
England  family.  In  direct  line  the  ancestry  is 
traced  back  to  three  brothers  of  the  name  of  Dana 
— John.,  Joseph  and  Daniel — who  left  their  home 
in  England,  their  native  land, and  crossed  the  At- 
lantic with  some  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers.  They 
located  in  Massachusetts  and  Vermont  and  the  de- 
cendants  are  now  numerous.  The  grandfather  and 
great-grandfather  of  our  subject,  both  of  whom 
bore  the  name  of  Daniel  Dana,  were  natives  of 
Massachusetts,  and  served  as  soldiers  in  the  Revolu- 
tionary War,  participating  in  the  battle  of  Bun- 
ker Hill.  Merchandising  was  their  business  for 
many  years,  and  they  were  both  prominent  men  in 
the  community  where  they  made  their  home.  The 
family  has  been  one  devoted  to  commerce,  most  of 
its  sons  being  dry-goods  merchants. 

The  father  of  our  subject,  John  Wood  Dana, 
was  born  in  Warwick,  Mass.,  in  1788,  and  there 
married  Sophia  Pomroy,  a  native  of  the  Bay 
State.  They  removed  to  New  York  where  the 
father  engaged  in  merchandising  until  his  death. 
His  wife  died  in  New  York  City  at  an  advanced 
age.  Both  were  members  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church. 

As  Josiah  Dana  lost  his  father  when  nine  years 
of  age,  he  went  to  live  with  his  uncle,  Daniel  Dana, 
by  whom  he  was  carefully  reared  and  educated. 
There  he  found  a  home  until  twenty-two  years  of 
age,  when  he  came  Westward  to  try  his  fortune. 


For  a  time  he  resided  in  Chicago.  He  also  spent 
many  years  as  a  lumber  merchant  and  miller  on 
the  shores  of  Lake  Michigan,  and  afterwards  lo- 
cated in  Portage,  Wis.,  where  he  engaged  in  mer- 
chandising. Duringjiis  residence  in  that  city  he 
was  joined  in  wedlock  with  Miss  Winfred  Nixon, 
a  native  of  Staffordshire,  England,  where  her  par- 
ents, Enoch  and  Ann  (Kidd)  Nixon,  were  also 
born  and  spent  their  childhood.  After  their  mar- 
riage Mr.  Nixon  in  company  with  his  brother  John, 
engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  fine  crockery- ware 
in  Staffordshire,  England,  for  many  years.  At 
length,  accompanied  by  his  wife  and  six  children, 
he  crossed  the  briny  deep  to  America,  sailing  from 
Liverpool  to  New  Orleans,  where  he  arrived  after 
a  voyage  of  seven  weeks.  He  went  up  the  Mis- 
sissippi River  to  Montrose,  Iowa,  where  he  spent 
the  winter,  and  the  following  spring  removed  to 
Wisconsin,  purchasing  a  large  farm  near  Portage. 
In  the  hope  of  benefiting  his  impaired  health,  he 
had  determined  to  engage  in  agricultural  pursuits, 
but  his  death  occurred  a  few  years  later  from  the 
bursting  of  a  blood-vessel.  This  was  in  1855,  and 
he  was  about  forty-four  years  of  age.  A  man  of 
good  business  ability  he  had  made  of  his  life  a  suc- 
cess. His  wife  still  survives  him  and  is  now 
seventy -eight  years  of  age.  With  the  Methodist 
Church  she  holds  membership,  her  husband  hav- 
ing also  belonged  to  it. 

Unto  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dana  were  born  four  children, 
but  two  are  now  deceased:  Charles  D.,  who  died  in 
childhood;  and  Minnie  F.,  who  was  killed  in  the 
bridge  disaster  in  Dixon,  May  4,  1873,  when  seven 
years  of  age.  Kittie  M.,  an  accomplished  young 
lady,  graduated  from  the  Dixon  schools  and  the 
Northwestern  Normal.  Fred,  who  completes  the 
family,  is  still  at  home. 

From  Portage,  Wis.,  Mr.  Dana  came  to  Dixon 
in  1865  and  established  business  as  a  general  mer- 
chant. Having  inherited  the  business  ability  of  his 
ancestors,  he  worked  up  an  excellent  trade,  and 
the  liberal  patronage  which  rewarded  his  efforts 
brought  him  a  handsome  competence.  In  com- 
mercial circles  and  by  those  with  whom  business  rela- 
tions brought  him  into  contact  he  was  held  in  high 
esteem  and  was  recognized  as  one  of  the  progres- 
sive and  public-spirited  citizens  of  the  community. 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


571 


He  was  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
and  in  politics  was  a  stanch  Democrat.  At  his 
home  in  West  Dixon,  he  passed  away  January  20, 
1889,  respected  by  all  who  knew  him.  His  widow 
is  still  living  with  her  children  in  this  city,  where 
she  has  made  her  home  since  1865.  She  was  a 
faithful  companion  and  helpmate  to  her  husband 
and  since  his  death  has  managed  the  estate  which 
he  left  her.  Under,  the  auspices  of  the  Episcopal 
Church  she  was  reared  but  holds  membership  with 
no  society.  She  is  a  lady  of  many  excellencies  of 
character  and  herself  and  children  have  a  high 
social  standing. 

§  HERON  CUMINS,  capitalist,  and  President 
of  the  Grand  Detour  Plow  Co.,  is  at  the  head 
of  one  of  the  largest  and  most  important 
manufacturing  interests  of  Lee  County,  located  at 
Dixon.  To  his  tireless  and  watchful  care  in  the 
management  of  affairs,  to  his  remarkable  executive 
talent  and  unbounding  enterprise  is  due  in  a  great 
measure  the  upbuilding  of  this  immense  business 
since  he  became  identified  with  it  twenty-eight 
years  ago,  and  infused  into  it  new  life. 

Theron  Cumins  is  a  descendant  of  sturdy  New 
England  ancestry,  and  the  town  of  Tunbridge, 
Orange  County,  Vt.,  is  the  place  of  his  birth.  His 
father,  Joseph  Cumins,  was  likewise  a  native  of  the 
Green  Mountain  State,  and  was  engaged  in  mer- 
cantile pursuits  in  different  places  in  that  Com- 
monwealth until  1840,  when  he  removed  to  Ohio, 
going  with  teams  across  the  mountains  to  Whitehall, 
then  by  the  way  of  the  Champlain  and  Erie  canals 
to  Buffalo,  and  from  there  across  Lake  Erie  to  Fair- 
port,  Ohio.  He  gave  his  attention  to  his  old  busi- 
ness in  Geauga  County  some  years,  and  then  he 
and  his  wife  came  to  Illinois  and  made  their  home 
with  their  sons  at  Grand  Detour  until  they 
died.  The  maiden  name  of  the  mother  of  our  sub- 
ject was  Hannah  Converse,  and  she  was  also  a  na- 
tive of  Vermont. 

Our  subject  was  educated  in  the  public  schools, 
and  at  the  age  of  fifteen  became  a  clerk  in  his 
father's  store.  In  1842  he  paid  his  first  visit  to 


Illinois,  coming  by  the  most  expeditious  route  at 
that  time,  which  was  by  the  way  of  the  Great  Lakes 
to  Chicago,  and  from  there  he  journeyed  by  stage 
to  Grand  Detour,  a  village  on  the  Rock  River,which 
was  then  one  of  the  most  flourishing  manufacturing 
towns  in  all  Illinois,  while  Dixon  was  but  an  insig- 
nificant hamlet.  Our  subject  was  but  a  lad  then, 
and  his  only  capital  lay  in  his  energy,  ambition, 
and  excellent  capacity  for  steady  and  well-per- 
formed labor.  Thus  circumstanced,  he  accepted  a 
situation  as  clerk  in  a  general  store,  and  acted  in 
that  capacity  in  that  town  for  three  years.  At 
the  end  of  that  time  he  went  back  to  Ohio,  and  the 
ensuing  four  years  was  a  clerk  at  Newark.  Re- 
turning to  Grand  Detour  after  that,  he  formed  a 
partnership  with  his  brother  Solon,  and  for  two 
years  was  engaged  with  him  in  the  mercantile  busi- 
ness. We  next  hear  of  him  at  Bucyrus,  Ohio,  as  a 
contractor  for  the  construction  of  a  part  of  the 
Ohio  and  Indiana  Railway,  which  was  then  being 
built,  and  which  is  now  known  as  the  Pittsburg, 
Fort  Wayne  and  Chicago  Railway,  and  there  he 
laid  the  foundation  of  his  present  fortune. 

Mr.  Cumins  continued  in  business  as  a  contractor 
two  years,  and  then  came  once  again  to  Illinois, 
and  once  more  entered  into  business  at  Grand 
Detour,f  orming  a  partnership  with  Leonard  Andrus, 
who  was  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  plows  at 
that  place.  The  establishment  of  which  Major 
Andrus  was  the  head  had  been  founded  at  Grand 
Detour,  a  little  town  beautifully  located  on  the 
banks  of  Rock  River,  six  miles  from  Dixon,  by  him- 
self, in  conjunction  with  John  Deere,  who  after- 
wards founded  the  celebrated  manufactory  of  plows 
at  Moline,  with  whose  highest  interests  his  own 
were  identified  until  death  deprived  that  city  of 
its  most  loved  and  honored  citizen  in  May,  1886. 
at  the  venerable  age  of  eighty-two  years.  After 
Mr.  Deere  withdrew  from  the  firm,  the  Major  con- 
ducted the  business  by  himself  for  seven  or  eight 
years,  and  he  then  admitted  Col.  Amos  Bosworth 
into  partnership,  Col.  Bosworth  afterwards  took 
part  in  the  Civil  War  as  Lieutenant-Colonel  of  the 
Thirty-fourth  Illinois  Infantry,  and  gave  up  his  life 
for  his  country  in  March,  1862. 

The  prosperity  of  the  firm  received  a  serious 
check  by  the  burning  of  the  factory  in  October, 


572 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


1857.  Up  to  that  time  the  business  hud  been 
steadily  growing  and  increasing  its  facilities,  and, 
nothing  daunted  by  disaster,  the  firm  built  a  new 
and  larger  factory  on  the  ruins  of  the  old  one.  In 
August,  1863,  Maj.  Andrus  invited  the  co-opera- 
tion of  our  subject  in  conducting  the  business,  and 
they  became  partners  under  the  firm  name  of  An- 
drus ifc  Cumins,  continuing  together  until  the 
death  of  the  Major  in  February,  1867.  He  was  a 
man  of  high  character,  of  honorable  principles,  and 
his  death  was  a  loss  to  the  community.  When  our 
subject  became  a  member  of  the  firm,  his  partner 
was  in  poor  health,  and  the  management  of  the 
concern  devolved  principally  upon  Mr.  Cumins, 
and  he  proved  fully  equal  to  the  occasion,  carrying 
on  the  business  with  a  steady  hand,  looking  care- 
fully after  every  detail  of  manufacture,  and  keep- 
ing up  with  the  times  in  the  introduction  of  new 
methods  and  modern  machinery.  After  the  death 
of  his  partner  he  was  alone  until  June,  1869,  when 
the  late  Col.  H.  T.  Noble,  who  is  represented  else- 
where in  this  volume,  bought  an  interest  in  the 
business,  which  was  thereafter  conducted  under  the 
firm  name  of  T.  Cumins  and  Co.,  until  Mr.  Dodge 
was  admitted  into  partnership  in  June,  1874,  and 
the  style  was  changed  to  Cumins,  Noble  &  Dodge. 
In  June,  1879,  the  business,  which  had  assumed 
large  proportions,  was  incorporated  under  the  laws 
of  the  State  of  Illinois  as  the  Grand  Detour  Plow 
Company,  Theron  Cumins,  Henry  T.  Noble,  Orris 
B.  Dodge,  and  Charles  H.  Noble  being  the  incor- 
porators. 

In  1869  it  had  been  found  advisable  to  move 
the  works  to  Dixon  to  take  advantage  of  its  rail- 
way facilities,  and  thus  save  the  cost  of  transpor- 
tation from  Grand  Detour  to  that  point.  The  plant 
occupies  five  acres  of  ground  between  the  Chicago 
<fe  Northwestern  and  Illinois  Central  Railways, 
and  switches  from  both  railways  to  the  shops  and 
warehouses  admit  of  supplies  being  taken  directly 
to  them,  and  of  the  farming  implements  manufac- 
tured being  shipped  directly  from  the  factory.  The 
buildings  are  commodious  and  conveniently  ar- 
ranged, and  are  fitted  up  with  the  latest  improved 
machinery  for  every  purpose,  and  well  lighted  by 
electric  lights,  so  that  in  the  busy  season  the  factory 
can  be  operated  day  and  night.  A  large  number 


of  workmen  are  employed,  many  of  them  the  most 
skillful  and  experienced  mechanics  in  the  country. 
For  more  than  half  a  century  the  "Grand  Detour 
Plow"  has  been  in  use  among  the  farmers  of  the 
United  States,  who  prize  it  highly  as  an  implement 
of  superior  quality,  finish,  and  durability,  well 
adapted  to  any  soil,  and  there  is  not  a  Western 
State  where  it  is  not  in  use,  its  fame  even  extend- 
ing to  foreign  countries.  The  company  manufac- 
tures walking,  riding  and  gang  plows,  cultivators, 
harrows,  etc.,  and  as  they  are  of  the  most  approved 
style  and  are  made  of  the  best  material,  they  give 
general  satisfaction,  and  are  in  great  demand.  For 
the  past  few  years  Mr.  Cumins  has  given  but  little 
attention  to  the  business,  but  lives  practically  re- 
tired. Orris  B.  Dodge  and  Charles  H.  Noble  are 
the  active  managers  of  the  manufacturing  interests 
of  the  company.  Our  subject  is  closely  identified 
with  the  monetary  interests  of  this  city  as  a  director 
of  the  Dixon  National  Bank  and  as  one  of  the 
men  of  wealth,  who,  while  building  up  their  own 
fortunes,  have  been  largely  instrumental  in  making 
Dixon  a  rich  and  flourishing  industrial  centre.  In 
politics  as  on  all  questions,  whether  of  public  or 
private  import,  he  holds  sound  and  sensible  views 
and  is  unswerving  in  his  allegiance  to  the  Repub- 
lican party. 

Mr.  Cumins  has  a  very  attractive  home  in  this 
city,  replete  with  comfort  and  luxury,  and  to  the 
lad}7  who  presides  over  it,  formerly  Miss  Louisa  B. 
Gill,  he  was  married  in  1884.  Two  children  by  a 
former  marriage  complete  his  household. 


tf?^  EORGE  LAUER,  a  representative  of  one  of 
11  ^W?  tlie  Pioneer  families  of  Lee  County,  is  profit- 
^^51  ably  engaged  in  the  mercantile  business  in 
Sublette.  He  is  a  native  of  this  county,  and  is  a 
son  of  Andrew  and  Katie  (Strubel)  Lauer,  natives 
respectively  of  Bavaria  and  of  Hesse-Dramstadt, 
Germany.  His  father  was  for  many  years  ac- 
tively identified  with  the  agricultural  interests  of 
this  section,  but  he  is  now  living  in  retirement  in 
Sublette,  in  the  enjoyment  of  a  good  income. 
The  paternal  grandfather  of  our  subject  died  in 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


573 


Germany,  while  his  grandmother  came  to  the 
United  States  with  the  family  in  1848,  and  was  a 
resident  of  this  county  several  years,  until  her 
death  near  Sublette.  Andrew  Lauer  had  four 
brothers  and  one  sister  who  came  to  the  United 
States  and  one  brother,  Milthias,  who  remained 
in  Germany.  Those  who  came  to  this  coun- 
try are:  Adam  who  now  lives  in  Chicago;  Michael, 
also  a  resident  of  that  city;  George,  who  died  at 
Sublette;  Joseph,  who  was  accidentally  shot  and 
killed  in  Sublette  Township;  and  Mary,  who  mar- 
ried Joseph  Bear,  of  Northwestern  Iowa. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  born  in  July,  1819. 
He  left  the  Fatherland  in  1848,  in  company  with 
other  members  of  the  family,  to  seek  a  new  home 
on  American  soil.  He  was  then  in  the  prime  of 
early  manhood,  and  was  admirably  adapted  to  the 
life  of  a  pioneer  amid  the  wild  scenes  of  Lee 
County  in  the  early  years  of  its  settlement.  He 
applied  himself  assiduously  to  agricultural  pur- 
suits, and  in  due  time  became  the  proprietor  of 
four  hundred  and  forty  acres  of  finely  improved 
land.  He  resided  on  his  farm  until  1885,  and 
since  that  time  has  made  his  home  in  the  village 
of  Sublette.  He  is  a  faithful  member  of  the  Ro- 
man Catholic  Church,  and  is  universally  respected 
in  his  community.  He  was  deprived  of  the  com- 
panionship of  his  wife,  to  whom  he  was  wedded  in 
1851,  by  her  death  in  1875,  after  they  had  lived 
together  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century.  They 
reared  eight  children,  namely:  George;  Lizzie, 
wife  of  William  llalbrinier,  of  West  Brooklyn; 
Andrew  J.;  Maggie,  wife  of  George  Stephnitch; 
Mary,  wife  of  John  Malack;  Michael;  Kate,  wife 
of  John  Stepnitch;  and  Antone. 

George  Lauer,  who  forms  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  was  reared  on  his  father's  farm,  and  as- 
sisted in  carrying  it  on  until  he  attained  his  ma- 
jority, gaining  his  education  in  the  meantime  in 
the  local  district  schools.  He  pursued  farming 
until  1880,  and  then  adopted  his  present  calling  as 
a  merchant,  becoming  a  partner  of  Joseph  Betten- 
dorf,  under  the  firm  name  of  Bettendorf  <fe  Lauer. 
They  remained  together  until  the  following  year, 
when  Mr.  Lauer's  brother,  Andrew,  purchased  an 
interest,  and  the  business  was  thenceforth  con- 
ducted under  the  firm  name  of  Lauer  Bros,  until 


August  14,  1890,  since  which  time  our  subject  has 
been  sole  proprietor  of  the  store  and  is  managing 
the  business  by  himself.  He  has  a  well-ordered 
establishment,  carries  a  full  line  of  all  such  goods 
as  are  in  demand,  and  has  control  of  a  good  trade, 
both  in  the  village  and  with  the  people  of  the  sur- 
rounding country. 

Mr.  Lauer  was  married  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
eight  to  Miss  Mary  T.,  daughter  of  J.  George 
Malach,  (of  whom  see  biography),  and  is  a  native 
of  this  county.  Unto  them  have  been  born  six 
children,  as  follows:  George,  Mamie,  Leo,  John, 
Andrew  and  Roma. 

Mr.  Lauer  has,  besides  his  business  interests  and 
property  in  the  village,  one  hundred  and  fifteen 
acres  of  unimproved  land.  He  and  his  wife  and 
family  occupy  one  of  the  pleasantest  and  most 
.comfortable  homes  of  Sublette,  and  are  numbered 
among  the  most  highly  esteemed  people  of  .the 
community.  Since  he  became  a  resident  of  this 
village,  our  subject  has  taken  an  earnest  interest 
in  all  that  concerns  its  welfare,  and  he  has  been 
especially  helpful  in  educational  matters  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  School  Board,  which  position  he  has 
held  for  several  years,  although  he  does  not  aspire 
to  public  office.  In  politics,  he  has  always  kept 
faith  with  the  Democrat  party.  Religiously,  he  is 
a  Roman  Catholic  and  a  consistent  Christian  gen- 
tleman. 


PREDERICK  A.  SCHICK  has  become  wealthy 
through   his   operations  as   a   farmer  and 
stock-raiser  of  rare  ability,  and  his  farm  on 
section  10,  South  Dixon  Township,  is  one  of  the 
most  valuable  of  its  size  in  this  part  of  the  county, 
as  its  soil,  which  is  naturally  very  fertile,  has  been 
made  more  so  by  careful  cultivation;  it  is  capable 
of  sustaining  many  cattle,  horses  and  swine,  and  is, 
in  fact,  well  stocked;  and    its   improvements   are 
substantial  and  well  arranged. 

Our  subject  was  born  in  Saxony,  Germany,  in 
August,  1838.  He  is  of  pure  German  blood,  and 
is  a  son  of  Karl  Schick,  who  was  also  of  Saxon 


574 


POETRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


birth,  and  spent  his  whole  life  in  his  native  land, 
dying  in  1863  at  the  age  of  sixty-four.  He  was 
both  a  carpenter  and  a  farmer.  His  religion  was 
that  of  the  Lutheran  Church.  His  wife,  who  was 
likewise  a  life-long  resident  of  Saxony,  was  Mar- 
garet Lieprent  in  her  maiden  days.  She  fell  a 
victim  to  the  cholera  in  1866,  being  past  sixty 
years  of  age  at  the  time  of  her  death.  She,  too, 
was  a  member  of  the  Lutheran  Church. 

Our  subject  grew  up  on  a  farm,  and  obtained  a 
good  common-school  education  in  the  German 
schools.  He  was  not  quite  twenty-one  when  he 
left  his  early  home  to  seek  beyond  the  seas  the 
fortune  denied  him  in  his  own  country,  em- 
barking at  Bremerhaven  on  the  sailing  vessel 
"Thoretto,"  in  April,  1859,  for  the  United  States  of 
America,  and  lauding  at  New  York  City  after  a 
voyage  of  forty  days  and  forty  nights.  He  came 
thence  to  Dixon,  and  from  there  made  his  way  to 
Whiteside  County,  where  he  found  himself  a 
stranger  in  a  strange  land,  without  a  nickel  in  his 
pocket  that  he  could  call  his  own.  But  he  was  of 
good  courage,  and  immediately  set  about  finding 
some  work  whereby  he  could  support  himself.  He 
.  was  successful  in  his  search  for  employment, 
prudently  saved  his  money  to  invest  in  land,  and 
made  his  first  purchase  of  realty  in  Whiteside 
County.  He  soon  after  came  to  Lee  County  and 
bought,  in  1860,  a  farm  of  eighty  acres,  and  in 
1880  bought  his  present  farm  in  South  Di'xon 
County.  He  located  upon  it  the  following  year, 
and  has  since  made  of  it  a  very  fine  piece  of 
property,  placing  its  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres 
under  careful  cultivation,  and  making  every  pos- 
sible improvement,  so  that  it  ranks  in  its  appoint- 
ments among  the  best  in  the  township.  He  was  a 
poor  man  when  he  came  to  this  county,  but  he  has 
made  himself  rich  by  paying  strict  attention  to 
his  business,  conducting  it  systematically,  and  by 
employing  the  methods  of  tilling  the  soil  best 
adapted  to  his  land,  and  by  that  wise  economy 
that  knows  when  to  spend  money  to  advantage,  as 
well  as  when  frugality  is  the  better  part.  His 
adopted  county  has  found  in  him  a  good  citizen, 
who  has  contributed  his  share  to  its  growing 
wealth  and  prosperity,  and  takes  a  true  interest  in 
its  welfare.  He  is  very  well  posted  in  the  politics 


of  his  adopted  country  and  has  a  decided  prefer- 
ence for  the  Democratic  party.  His  religious 
affiliations  are  with  the  Lutheran  Church,  of  which 
he  and  his  wife  are  both  active  members. 

Mr.  Schick  was  first  married  in  Whiteside 
County,  to  Miss  Margaretta  Ortgiesen,  a  native  of 
Germany,  who  came  te  this  country  with  her 
parents.  (For  parental  history  see  sketch  of 
George  Ortgiesen).  She  was  young  when  she 
died  after  the  birth  of  one  child,  William,  who 
died  two  years  later.  The  second  marriage  of  our 
subject,  which  took  place  in  South  Dixon  Town- 
ship, was  to  Miss  Appalonia  Center,  who  was  born 
in  Rhine  Byron,  Germany.  She  came  to  America 
when  twenty  years  old,  and  from  that  time  until 
the  day  of  her  death  in  Dixon,  in  1874,  at  middle 
age,  she  was  a  resident  of  Lee  County.  She  left 
no  children.  Mr.  Schick  was  a  third  time  married 
in  Germany,  he  having  returned  to  his  native 
land  in  1874,  and  in  the  Saxon  Province  where  he 
was  born  he  was  wedded  to  Miss  Wilhelmina 
Kafer.  She  was  also  born  and  reared  in  Saxony, 
and  is  a  daughter  of  Karl  and  Doretha  (Gotha) 
Kafer,  who  are  now  living  in  their  old  home  in 
Germany,  both  being  past  four-score  years  of  age. 
Mrs.  Schiek  is  at  present  visiting  them.  The  fam- 
ily are  all  members  of  the  Lutheran  Church.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Schick  have  six  children,  all  of  whom 
are  at  home,  and  are  named  as  follows:  Elsie  B., 
Charles  A.  F.,  Alvin  C.,  Edward  A.,  Ella  D.,  and 
August  W. 


JLTENBY  H.  HOOVER,  who  is  engaged  in 
ifjV  general  farming  on  section  19,  Palmyra 
uzdy  Township,  has  made  his  home  on  this  farm 
(^)  since  the  spring  of  1874.  In  the  autumn 
of  1872  he  had  come  to  the  county  after  having 
spent  six  months  in  Whiteside  County,  111.  He 
had  emigrated  to  this  State  from  Pennsylvania, 
where,  previous  to  that  time,  his  entire  life  had 
been  passed.  He  was  born  on  the  18th  of  Novem- 
ber, 1826,  in  Lancaster  County,  and  is  of  German 
descent,  his  grandparents  having  been  natives  of 
the  Fatherland.  Jacob  Hoover,  a  resident  farmer 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


575 


and  a  native  of  Lancaster  County,  wedded  Miss 
Mary  Herr,  who  was  also  born  in  that  county,  of 
German  parentage.  Upon  a  farm  they  began 
their  domestic  life,  and  their  home  was  blessed  by 
the  presence  of  five  children  who  grew  to  mature 
years,  our  subject  being  among  the  number.  Four 
of  the  family  are  still  living.  The  parents  spent 
their  entire  lives  in  the  Keystone  State,  but  did 
not  live  to  advanced  ages.  Mr.  Hoover  passed 
away  in  his  thirty-eighth  year  and  his  wife  died  at 
the  age  of  forty-seven.  She  was  a  member  of  the 
New  Light  Church. 

Henry  Hoover  was  the  fourth  child  born  unto 
this  worth}-  couple,  and  is  the  only  one  living  in 
Illinois.  His  early  life  passed  uneventfully,  he 
working  upon  his  father's  farm  in  the  summer 
months,  while  in  the  winter  season  he  attended  the 
public  schools.  After  arriving  at  the  years  of 
maturity,  he  was  married  in  the  township  of  his 
birth  to  Miss  Christiana  Huber,  who  was  born  on 
the  18th  of  October,  1828,  in  Lancaster  County, 
where  the  days  of  her  maidenhood  were  passed. 
Her  father,  Christian  Huber,  was  of  German  descent 
and  married  Anna  Shaub.  They  continued  to 
make  their  home  in  Pennsylvania,  where  the 
father  died  at  the  age  of  three-score  years,  and  the 
mother  had  also  passed  her  sixtieth  birthday  at 
the  time  of  her  death.  Both  were  members  of 
the  Mennonite  Church,  and  were  highly  respected 
people. 

Upon  a  farm  in  the  State  of  their  nativity,  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Hoover  began  their  domestic  life,  and 
their  home  was  blessed  by  the  presence  of  two 
children.  The  elder,  B.  Franklin,  is  a  teacher  of 
recognized  ability,  and  is  now  engaged  in  bee 
keeping,  which  business  he  has  followed  since  1884. 
He  has  now  an  apiary  containing  about  one  hun- 
dred colonies,  and  having  made  a  thorough  study 
of  the  business  he  is  meeting  with  good  success 
in  his  undertaking.  The  daughter  of  the  family, 
Anna  M.,  is  now  engaged  in  the  millinery  business 
in  Sterling,  at  the  corner  of  Third  Street  and 
First  Avenue. 

During  the  twenty  years  that  have  elapsed  since 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hoover  came  to  Lee  County,  they 
have  formed  an  extensive  acquaintance  in  this 
locality,  and  their  many  excellencies  of  character 


have  won  them  high  regard.  They  are  classed 
among  the  best  citizens  of  this  community,  and  are 
well  deserving  of  representation  in  this  volume 
among  the  honored  pioneers  and  leading  residents 
of  the  county.  Our  subject  is  a  progressive  and 
enterprising  farmer,  who,  by  close  attention  to  his 
business  and  fair  and  honest  dealing,  has  won  a 
comfortable  competence. 


OLIVER  P.  JOHNSON  is  a  representative  of 
a  family  that  has  been  identified  with  the 
agricultural  interests  of  this  State  from  the 
early  years  of  its  settlement,  and  he  is  himself  a 
pioneer  of  Northern  Illinois,  and  one  of  the  early 
settlers  of  Lee  County,  where  he  is  now  living 
practically  retired  from  active  business  in  the 
pretty  village  of  West  Brooklyn,  though  he  still 
retains  his  large  and  finely  improved  farm  in 
Brooklyn  Township,  deriving  a  good  income  from 
its  rental. 

He  comes  of  good  old  Revolutionary  stock.  He 
was  born  in  the  town  of  Boston,  Erie  County,  N. 
.Y.,  October  21,  1812.  His  father,  who  also  bore 
the  name  of  Oliver,  was  a  native  of  Pennsylvania, 
where  his  father,  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  and  of 
English  blood,  had  settled  in  Colonial  times 'as  a 
pioneer.  He  entered  the  Continental  army  during 
the  Revolution,  and  gave  up  his  life  for  the  cause 
of  freedom.  His  wife  was  thus  left  a  widow  with 
four  small  children  to  care  for,  in  a  wild  country 
inhabited  by  hostile  Indians.  She  was  warned  by 
some  friendly  savages  that  the  red-skins  contem- 
plated an  uprising,  when  the  whites  would  be 
swept  away,  and  two  days  before  the  terrible  mas- 
sacre at  Wyoming,  she  left  that  fated  country  and 
was  safely  on  her  way  to  her  old  home  in  Massa- 
chusetts when  it  occurred.  She  located  near  Spring- 
field, and  there  reared  her  children.  In  her  last 
years  she  went  from  there  to  Erie  County,  and  died 
there  at  a  venerable  age. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  but  four  years  old 
when  he  was  left  fatherless,  and  he  returned  with 
his  mother  to  Massachusetts,  where  he  was  reared 
by  a  man  of  the  name  of  Williams,  who  lived  near 


576 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


Springfield.  He  was  married  in  that  State  to  Eliza- 
beth Sackett,  who  was  born  near  Springfield,  and 
was  a  daughter  of  Plain  and  Mary  Sackett.  In 
1796  he  removed  to  New  York  with  an  ox-team, 
and  settled  near  the  Hudson  River.  Five  years 
later  he  went  from  there  to  Erie  County,  and  lo- 
cated near  Boston  Township  on  a  tract  of  land  that 
he  purchased  of  the  Holland  Purchase  Company. 
He  built  a  log  house  in  the  primeval  forests,  and 
made  it  his  home  until  1821,  and  he  then  again 
started  forth  to  seek  fortune's  favors  on  the  fron- 
tier, making  his  way  across  the  wild  intervening 
country  by  the  way  of  the  Olean,  Alleghany  and 
Ohio  Rivers  to  Illinois,  landing  at  Shawneetown, 
having  set  out  on  the  journey  in  March.  He  lo- 
cated first  in  White  County,  but  a  year  later  re- 
moved to  what  is  now  Sangamon  County,  where 
he  bought  a  tract  of  land  six  miles  from  Spring- 
field, and  was  one  of  the  first  settlers  in  that  sec- 
tion. The  present  capital  of  the  State  was  then 
but  a  mere  hamlet  of  six  houses.  A  gristmill, 
operated  by  horse-power,  was  the  only  mill  for 
many  miles  around,  and  St.  Louis  was  the  princi- 
pal market  and  depot  for  supplies.  Deer,  elk,  an- 
telopes and  bears  were  very  plentiful  in  that 
sparsely  settled  wilderness.  The  people  were  prin- 
cipally home-livers,  subsisting  on  what  they  could 
raise  on  their  farms,  and  on  game,  while  the  women 
carded,  spun  and  wove  all  the  cloth  used  by  their 
families. 

Mr.  Johnson  was  actively  engaged  in  improving 
his  land  in  that  region  until  1827,  when  he  sold  it, 
and  removed  to  what  is  now  Logan  County,  where 
he  entered  nine  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  Gov- 
ernment land  fifteen  miles  northwest  of  Lincoln, 
and  three  miles  from  the  present  site  of  Atlanta. 
He  built  upon  it  and  developed  a  large  farm.  He 
had  the  misfortune  to  lose  his  wife  while  residing 
there,  and  shortly  before  her  death  he  bought  a 
home  in  Putnam  County,  where  he  lived  retired 
until  the  end.  To  him  and  his  wife  were  born  nine 
children,  of  whom  our  subject  is  the  sole  survivor. 

Oliver  P.  Johnson  was  eight  years  old  when  the 
family  sought  a  new  home  in  the  primeval  wilds 
of  this  State,  and  he  grew  up  under  pioneer  in- 
fluences. He  remained  with  his  parents  until  he 
was  twentv-one,  and  in  the  meantime  became  thor- 


oughly acquainted  with  farming  in  all  its  branches 
as  carried  on  in  those  da.ys,  before  the  introduction 
of  modern  machinery.  When  he  attained  his  ma- 
jority he  went  to  Galena  to  work  in  the  lead  mines 
and  was  employed  there  nearly  three  years.  In 
1836  he  took  up  his  residence  in  La  Salle  County, 
and  was  one  of  the  first  settlers  in  the  vicinity  of 
Earlville,  his  being  the  first  family  to  locate  at  the 
upper  end  of  the  grove.  The  land  was  all  owned 
by  the  Government,  and  had  not  been  surveyed 
He  made  a  claim  to  a  tract  that  pleased  him,  built 
a  log  cabin  in  the  grove,  and  one  year  later  sold 
his  claim,  and  went  to  what  is  now  De  Kalb 
County,  locating  at  Johnson's  Grove,  two  miles 
east  of  Shabbona.  At  that  time  Shabbona,  and 
his  tribe  of  Indians,  who  were  very  friendly  to  the 
whites,  inhabited  the  grove,  and  the  Chief  was  a 
frequent  visitor  at  Mr.  Johnson's  house.  At  that 
time  his  nearest  neighbors  were  at  Somanauk, 
seven  miles  distant,  and  deer,  prairie  wolves  and 
other  wild  animals  had  not  yet  fled  before  the  ad- 
vancing steps  of  civilization. 

After  a  year's  residence  in  De  Kalb  County,  Mr. 
Johnson  came  to  this  county  and  selected  a  loca- 
tion in  what  is  now  Brooklyn  Township,  and  he 
has  ever  since  lived  here.  At  the  time  of  his  set- 
tlement in  this  township,  all  the  land  in  Northern 
Illinois  was  owned  by  the  Government,  the  few 
settlers  holding  their  homes  as  claims.  He  devel- 
oped a  large  farm,  erected  a  fine  set  of  frame 
buildings,  and  his  improvements  have  added 
greatly  to  the  attractiveness  of  that  section  of  the 
township  in  which  his  homestead  is  situated.  He 
rented  his  farm  after  occupying  it  a  number  of 
years,  and  removing  to  the  village  of  AVest  Brook- 
lyn, has  continued  to  live  here  in  retirement  from 
active  business,  though  still  having  a  general  super- 
pervision  of  his  affairs.  He  is  a  man  of  business 
acumen,  of  practical  energy  and  decision  of  char- 
acter, and  these  traits  have  made  him  a  valuable 
helper  in  the  great  work  that  has  been  wrought  in 
the  reclamation  of  Lee  County  from  its  former 
wild  condition. 

Mr.  Johnson  has  been  fortunate  in  his  domestic 
relations,  as  by  his  marriage,  July  13,  1834,  to  Miss 
Elizabeth  Ross,  he  secured  a  wife  who,  during  the 
fifty-six  years  that  they  have  lived  together,  has 


l«6  lISRAfilf 
OF  THE 

I 


<7 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


been  to  him  all  that  that  word  implies,  always 
ready  to  help  him  with  wise  counsel  and  cheerful 
assistance.  Five  of  their  six  children  are  living, 
namely:  Joseph,  Elizabeth,  Charles,  Oliver  P.  and 
James. 

Mrs.  Johnson  was  born  in  Virginia,  March  19, 
1813,  and  is  a  daughter  of  Joseph  and  Jane  (Nor- 
man) Ross.  Her  father  was  a  native  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  was  a  son  of  James  Ross.  He  went  to  Vir- 
ginia when  a  young  man,  and  was  there  married  to 
a  young  lady  who  was  a  Virginian  by  birth.  From 
there  he  went  to  Ohio  in  1818,  thence  to  Indiana 
in  1828,  whence  he  came  to  Illinois  in  1833,  and 
was  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  La  Salle  Coui.ty. 
He  located  first  on  the  banks  of  Indian  Creek,  near 
where  the  village  of  Earlville  now  stands,  but 
three  years  later  he  removed  to  De  Kalb  County, 
and  became  a  pioneer  of  Ross'  Grove.  Some  years 
later  he  went  to  Texas,  and  spent  his  last  years  in 
that  State.  Mrs.  Johnson's  mother  died  in  Vir- 
ginia in  1815. 


jl?  AFAYETTE  REITZ  is  connected  with  the 
I  (?§,  agricultural  interests  of  two  counties  of 
JILJ^  Northern  Illinois,  Lee  and  Whiteside,  hav- 
ing valuable  farming  property  in  each,  and  making 
his  home  in  the  first  named  on  his  well  ordered 
farm  on  section  2,  Nachusa  Township.  Asa  repre- 
sentative and  honored  citizen  we  are  pleased  to 
present  his  portrait  and  biography.  He  was  born 
December  3, 1828,on  the  banks  of  the  beautiful  Sus- 
quehanna-  River,  in  Columbia  County,  Pa.  His 
parents,  John  H.  and  Elizabeth  (Fry)  Reitz,  were 
natives  of  Lehigh  County,  Pa.,  their  parents  also 
being  natives  of  that  State,  and  of  Dutch  ancestry. 
After  their  marriage  in  the  county  where  their 
childhood  had  been  passed,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Reitz  es- 
tablished a  comfortable  home  there,  and  he  carried 
on  the  trade  of  a  carpenter.  After  the  birth  of 
four  of  their  children,  they  took  up  their  abode  in 
Columbia  County,  and  a  few  years  later  he  turned 
his  attention  to  tilling  the  soil  on  the  banks  of 
the  Susquehanna  River,  and  improved  a  good  farm 


upon  which  his  death  occurred  in  1852,  at  the  age 
of  sixty-eight  years.  His  wife  survived  him  for 
nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century,  spending  her  last 
years  in  this  county,  and  dying  at  the  home  of  her 
daughter,  Mrs.  Thomas  Clayton,  in  Nelson  Town- 
ship, in  1876,  at  the  age  of  eighty-eight  years.  She 
retained  the  vigor  of  her  mind  and  body  until  the 
last.  Both  she  and  her  husband  were  life-long 
members  of  the  Lutheran  Church,  and  were  very- 
worthy  people. 

Our  subject  is  the  youngest  of  a  family  of  three 
sons  and  five  daughters,  of  whom  the  only  ones 
now  living  are  himself  and  three  of  his  sisters: 
Mrs.  Thomas  Clayton;  Mrs.  Benjamin  DeFraine, 
of  Dixon;  and  Mrs.  Abraham  Detwiler,  of  Clay 
County,  this  State.  Lafayette  Reitz  attained  his 
majority  in  his  native  county.  In  the  year  1856 
he  came  Westward  to  Illinois,  as  he  was  convinced 
that  the  prospects  for  acquiring  a  competency  were 
better  in  a  newly  settled  country  where  land  was 
cheap  and  remarkably  fertile,  than  in  the  older 
States  where  the  soil  had  been  tilled  by  successive 
generations  for  many  years.  He  sought  a  suitable 
location  in  Whiteside  County,  lived  one  year  in 
Jordan  Township,  then  spent  three  or  four  years 
in  Lee  County,  but  subsequently  returned  to 
Whiteside  County  in  1860,  and  bought  a  tract  of 
land  in  Genesee  Township. 

By  the  exercise  of  unremitting  toil,  Mr.  Reitz 
placed  his  land  under  good  cultivation,  obtaining 
abundant  harvests  from  its  two  hundred  and  six 
acres,  and  putting  up  good  buildings,  besides  mak- 
ing other  admirable  improvements.  He  lived  upon 
it  nearly  twenty  years,  but  in  1881  removed  to  his 
homestead  in  Nachusa  Township,  which  is  an 
eighty-acre  farm  complete  in  all  its  appointments, 
and  a  very  pleasant  place  of  residence.  He  is  one 
of  our  self-made  men  and  has  accumulated  a  for- 
tune since  he  became  a  resident  of  the  State,  his 
business  methods,  foresight,  and  close  attention  to 
his  affairs  contributing  to  this  end.  He  is  well 
known  in  both  Whiteside  and  Lee  Counties,  and 
bears  a  high  reputation  among  his  acquaintances 
for  personal  worth  and  good  citizenship.  He  has 
mingled  much  in  the  local  public  life  of  his  com- 
munity, and  has  held  all  the  township  offices.  In 
politics  he  is  a  straightforward  Republican.  In 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


their  religious  associations  botb  he  and  his  wife 
were  identified  with  the  Lutheran  Church  for  many 
years,  but  now  attend  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church. 

In  the  early  years  of  his  manhood,  Mr.  Reitz  was 
married  in  his  native  county  to  Miss  Abby  Mensch, 
their  union  taking  place  in  September,  1853.  She 
was  born  April  7,  1834,  in  the  same  county  as  her 
husband.  Her  parents,  John  and  Catherine  (Heim- 
bauch)  Mensch,  were  life-long  residents  of  that 
county,  living  to  be  very  old,  Mr.  Mensch  being 
ninety  years  of  age  when  he  died.  They  were 
members  of  the  Lutheran  Church.  Of  their  nine 
children,  all  of  whom  married,  two  sons  and  three 
daughters  are  yet  living.  Mrs.  Reitz  came  to  Illi- 
nois with  her  husband,  aided  him  ingettinga  good 
start  in  life,  and  died  in  their  home  in  Genesee 
Township  in  1873,  when  nearly  forty  years  old. 
She  was  a  member  of  the  Lutheran  Church,  and 
was  very  highly  regarded  for  her  many  virtues. 
She  was  the  mother  of  eleven  children,  of  whom 
these  four  died  young:  William  O.,  Harriet  E., 
Cora  J.  and  C.  Elmer.  The  surviving  children  are 
Anna  E.,  wife  of  Jacob  Winters,  of  Sterling;  John 
L.,  who  married  Miss  Lizzie  Meyers,  and  resides  on 
his  father's  Whiteside  County  farm;  Mary  M.,  wife 
of  Homer  Drinkwater,  of  Chicago;  S.  Alice,  wife 
of  Charles  Minning,  of  Lincoln,  Neb.;  Joseph  E.,a 
farmer  in  Nachusa  Township,  who  married  Miss 
Ada  H.  Heckman;  Lavina  K.,  wife  of  George  Gar- 
rison, a  farmer  in  Nachusa  Township;  and  Edward 
L.,  who  assists  his  father  in  the  management  of  his 
farm. 

Mr.  Reitz  was  a  second  time  married  July  1, 
1875,  in  Hopkins  Township,  Whiteside  County, 
Miss  Sophia  Seidle  becoming  his  wife.  Their  mar- 
riage has  been  blessed  to  them  by  one  son,  Frank 
A.  W.,  who  is  at  home  with  them.  Mrs.  Reitz  was 
born  in  Kline  Klopa,  Wurtemberg,  Germany,  March 
28,  1848,  and  is  a  daughter  of  John  G.  and  Bar- 
bara (Waggoner)  Seidle,  who  were  also  natives  of 
Wurtemberg,  and  of  the  old  German  stock.  After 
their  marriage  at  Sieventing,  where  they  lived  on 
a  farm  until  the  birth  of  eleven  children,  they 
came  with  their  family  to  America  in  1853.  They 
landed  at  Baltimore,  Md.,  forty-eight  days  after 
they  left  Bremerhaven,  and  from  there  proceeded 


to  Columbus,  Ohio,  and  began  their  new  life  in 
that  country  on  a  farm  six  miles  from  that  city. 
In  the  fall  of  1860  they  came  thence  to  Illinois, 
and  in  1864  located  on  a  farm  of  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres  in  Hopkins  Township. 

In  1875  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Seidle  retired  to  Sterling, 
and  there  both  died,  the  former  in  1885,  and  the 
latter  in  1883,  aged  respectively  seventy-eight  and 
sixty-eight  years.  They  were  members  of  the 
Evangelical  Association,  were  prominent  in  their 
community,  and  had  many  friends  in  Sterling  and 
in  Whiteside  County  generally.  Mrs.  Reitz  was 
well  trained  for  her  present  position  in  the  home 
of  her  parents,  with  whom  she  remained  until  her 
marriage.  She  makes  a  good  wife  and  mother,  and 
her  neighbors  always  find  her  kind  and  pleasant. 
She  is  one  of  eleven  children,  all  of  whom  are  liv- 
ing, and  all  but  two  are  married. 


JOHN  M.  GARDNER,  who  has  been  a  resi- 
dent on  section  5,  Lee  Center  Township, 
this  county,  for  over  twenty-five  years,  and 
who  for  the  past  fourteen  years  has  served 
as  Supervisor  of  the  township,  is  well  and  favorably 
known  throughout  the  community.  His  father, 
the  late  John  H.  Gardner,  was  born  near  Troy,  N. 
Y.  His  mother,  whose  name  was  Melvina  Bixby, 
was  a  native  of  New  England.  This  couple  emi- 
grated to  Illinois  in  1844  from  Steuben  County, 
N.  Y.,  and  settled  in  what  is  now  Amboy  Town- 
ship, where  the  mother  died  in  1849.  The  father 
spent  the  latter  years  of  his  life  in  Lee  Center 
Township,  his  decease  occurring  in  1871.  They 
were  the  parents  of  six  children,  our  subject  being 
the  second  in  order  of  birth. 

John  M.  Gardner  was  born  in  Hornby,  Steuben 
County,  N.  Y.,  January  26, 1841.  He  was  but  three 
years  old  when  his  parents  removed  to  Lee  County, 
and,  after  a  residence  of  six  years  in  Amboy  Town- 
ship, came  witli  them  to  Lee  Center  Township, 
where  lie  was  educated  in  the  common  schools,  and 
reared  to  manhood  upon  the  home  farm.  He  was 
married  in  this  township,  October  28, 1868,  to  Miss 
Alice  L.  Clapp,  daughter  of  E.  L.  Clapp,  also  resi- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


581 


dents  of  this  township.  Her  mother's  maiden 
name  was  Catherine  Bull,  for  a  history  of  whom 
see  sketch  of  E.  L.  Clapp.  Mrs.  Gardner  was  bom 
in  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  November  1,  1845.  Mr.  Gard- 
ner is  a  member  of  the  Republican  party,  although 
he  has  never  taken  a  very  active  part  in  political 
affairs.  The  confidence  which  his  fellow-citizens 
repose  in  him,  is,  however,  shown  by  the  fact  that 
he  has  held  the  office  of  Township  Clerk  for  three 
years,  was  Treasurer  of  the  township  for  twenty- 
four  years,  and,  as  already  stated,  has  been  Super- 
visor of  Lee  Center  Township  for  fourteen  terms. 
He  is  a  man  who  is  liberal  in  his  religious  views. 
Mr.  Gardner  has  always  followed  the  occupation 
of  a  farmer,  and  owns  a  fine  tract  of  one  hundred 
and  seventy-eight  acres,  on  which  he  has  placed 
good  improvements  and  where  he  lives  a  retired 
life. 


/^|j  HARLES  W.  SEYBERT,  whose  business  is 
(It  _.  that  of  a  dairyman  and  general  farmer,  is 
^^^/  the  proprietor  of  one  of  the  best  equipped 
farms  in  all  South  Dixon  Township,  finely  located 
on  sections  7  and  8.  Mr.  Seybert  is  of  Pennsyl- 
vania birth,  born  in  Luzerne  Count\'  January  17, 
1848,  and  he  is  the  third  son  and  fifth  child  of 
Wallace  Seybert,  a  well-known  wealthy  farmer  of 
this  part  of  Illinois,  now  living  in  retirement  in 
his  pleasant  home  on  West  First  Street,  Dixon, 
where  he  and  his  good  wife,  whose  maiden  name 
was  Desire  Hill,  are  serenely  passing  the  sunset  of 
life  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  fruit  of  their  early 
labors.  The}7  were  born  in  the  grand  old  State  of 
Pennsylvania  seventy-five  and  seventy-three  years 
ago,  respectively,  and  their  parents  were  also  na- 
tives of  that  Commonwealth,  but  came  of  German 
families  that  had  settled  therein  Colonial  times. 

After  marriage  and  the  birth  of  all  their  children 
but  one,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sej'bert  came  to  this  State 
in  the  spring  of  1862,  and  made  their  home  on  an 
unbroken  farm  of  two  hundred  and  twenty-five 
acres  in  South  Dixon  Township.  At  first  Mr.  Sey- 
bert rented  land  for  a  time,  and  then  bought  prop- 
erty as  his  means  increased,  and  he  ultimately  be- 
came one  of  the  wealthy  men  of  the  county  ana 


the  proprietor  of  twelve  hundred  acres  of  valuable 
real  estate.  He  and  his  wife  continued  to  live  on 
their  farm  until  1888,  when  they  retired  to  their 
present  home  in  Dixon.  Mr.  Seybert  has  not  only 
played  an  important  part  in  the  upbuilding  of  this 
section,  but  he  has  been  conspicuous  in  local  public 
life,  and  has  held  nearly  all  the  township  offices  of 
South  Dixon.  He  is  sound  and  true  in  his  politi- 
cal faith,  which  is  in  accordance  with  the  princi- 
ples annunciated  by  .the  Democratic  party.  Religi- 
ously, he  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  Lutheran 
Church. 

Although  the  greater  part  of  the  life  of  our  sub- 
ject has  been  passed  in  Lee  County,  he  spent  his 
first  fourteen  years  near  Beach  Haven  in  the  State 
of  his  birth.  He  had  an  excellent  opportunity  to 
become  thoroughly  conversant  with  agriculture  in 
all  its  branches  while  assisting  his  father  in  his  ex- 
tensive operations.  For  fourteen  years  he  has  lived 
on  his  present  farm,  and  in  that  time  has  wrought 
a  great  change  in  its  condition  by  the  extensive 
and  valuable  improvements  that  he  has  made  upon 
it,  including  a  fine  and  well-fitted  up  set  of  farm 
buildings,  all  built  by  himself.  His  residence  is  of 
a  neat  and  tasty  design,  and  is  of  ample  propor- 
tions; and  he  has  recently  erected  a  large  and 
roomy  barn,  48x84  feet  in  dimensions,  and  pro- 
vided with  all  the  modern  conveniences,  includ- 
ing a  windmill  of  sufficient  power  for  grinding 
and  shelling  corn,  pumping  water,  etc.  The  farm 
comprises  a  quarter  of  a  section  of  land  that  is 
exceedingly  fertile,  and  its  rich  pastures  afford 
support  for  a  fine  herd  of  milch  cows  for  dairy 
purposes,  as  well  as  giving  feed  to  a  considerable 
quantity  of  other  well-graded  stock. 

The  marriage  of  our  subject  with  Miss  Carrie 
Campbell  took  place  in  the  city  of  Dixon.  It  has 
been  a  felicitous  union,  and  has  brought  them 
four  children:  Charles  Wallace,  Wilbert  W.,  Haz- 
elton  W.  and  Emma  M.  Mrs.  Seybert  is  a  native 
of  Massachusetts,  born  in  that  State  in  1855,  and 
was  a  child  when  her  parents,  Sylvanus  and  Almyra 
(Cook)  Campbell,  came  to  Illinois.  She  received  a 
good  education  in  the  city  schools  of  Dixon,  and 
is  a  bright  and  capable  woman.  Both  she  and  her 
husband  are  highly  thought  of  in  their  community 
as  people  of  fine  character,  generous  and  right- 


582 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


minded,  and  true  to  all  the  obligations  of  life.  In 
his  political  affiliations,  Mr.  Seybert  is  a  Democrat. 
Mrs.  Seybert's  father  was  born  in  Connecticut  of 
New  England  parents,  who  traced  their  descent 
from  Scottish  ancestry.  He  early  learned  the 
trade  of  a  blacksmith,  and  when  a  young  man  went 
to  Massachusetts  to  engage  in  it,  and  there  he  met 
his  wife,  who  was  born  and  reared  in  the  old  Bay 
State.  They  lived  there  until  after  the  birth  of 
five  of  their  seven  children,  of  whom  Mrs.  Seybert 
is  the  fourth,  all  still  living,  and  five  of  them  mar- 
ried, and  then  they  came  to  Illinois.  They  have 
since  lived  in  Dixon  and  are  well  known  and 
greatly  respected.  He  still  carries  on  his  calling  as 
a  blacksmith,  and  has  acquired  a  comfortable  prop- 
erty. He  has  a  mind  of  his  own,  is  positive  in  his 
opinions, -and  is  independent  in  religion  and  in 
politics.  Mrs.  Campbell  is  a  Baptist  in  her  re- 
ligious belief. 


yiLL  D.  DREW  is  a  fine  representative  of 
the  young  farmers,  native  to  the  soil,  who 
within  the  last  decade  have  put  new  life 
into  the  agricultural  industries  of  Lee  County. 
He  is  well  equipped  for  bis  work  as  a  general  far- 
mer, stock-raiser  and  dairyman,  as  he  has  inherited 
from  his  father's  estate  a  finely  improved  farm  of 
one  hundred  and  forty-seven  acres  in  Dixon 
Township,  nearly  all  of  which  is  under  the  plow. 
A  fine  set  of  buildings  adorns  the  place  and  it  is 
well  stocked  with  cattle  and  other  domestic  animals, 
the  cows  being  of  the  best  breed  for  dairy  use,  our 
subject  paying  much  attention  to  that  branch  of 
business. 

Mr.  Drew,  was  born  in  the  city  of  Dixon,  July  6, 
1862,  and  received  an  excellent  training  from  the 
hands  of  his  father  and  mother,  besides  being  very 
well  educated  in  the  public  schools.  He  entered 
upon  his  independent  career  as  a  farmer  at  an 
early  period,  and  from  the  start  has  evinced  a  de- 
cided capability  of  managing  his  farming  interests 
in  a  practical  and  skillful  manner,  so  as  to  make 
every  step  count  and  to  derive  a  good  profit  from 


his  operations.  He  is  farming  on  the  old  home- 
stead that  formerly  belonged  to  his  father  in  1884, 
and  maintains  it  at  the  same  high  standard  for 
which  it  was  formerly  noted.  He  bears  a  high 
reputation  for  morality  and  rectitude  of  character 
among  the  people  who  have  known  him  and 
watched  his  course  from  childhood.  In  him  the 
Republican  party  has  a  true  follower.  Religiously 
he  and  his  wife  adhere  to  the  faith  to  which  his 
father  clung. 

Our  subject  was  married  in  Dixon  Township 
to  Miss  Mabel  Prescott.  She  was  a  native  of  this 
place,  born  September  19,  1872,  but  was  mostly 
reared  and  educated  in  Manson,  Iowa,  whither  her 
parents,  Hollis  and  Nancy  (Williams)  Prescott, 
removed  when  she  was  young.  They  subsequently 
returned  to  Illinois,  and  are  now  residents  of 
Dixon  Township. 

Our  subject  is  the  son  of  the  late  Alvah  D.  Drew, 
who  was  a  man  of  prominence,  and  in  his  death 
the  County  met  with  a  serious  loss.  He  was  born 
in  Maine,  as  was  his  father,  John  Drew,  who 
was  of  American  parentage  and  Scotch-Irish  an- 
cestry. John  Drew  was  drowned  when  in  the 
prime  of  life  by  falling,  in  the  darkness  of 
night,  through  a  bridge  that  was  undergoing  re- 
pairs. His  wife  bore  the  maiden  name  of  Jemima 
Eaton,  and  she  was  likewise  born  in  Maine,  coming 
of  a  family  that  dates  its  history  back  to  the  pil- 
grims that  came  over  in  the  -'Mayflower."  She  came 
to  Illinois  after  the  death  of  her  husband  and  died 
in  Dixon,  when  past  eighty  years  old.  She  was 
religiously  inclined  and  was  a  member  of  the  Bap- 
tist Church. 

Alvah  D.  Drew  was  only  three  years  of  age  when 
his  father  was  drowned  and  he  was  reared  and  edu- 
cated by  his  mother.  He  was  eighteen  years  of 
age  when  tie  turned  his  back  on  his  old  New  Eng- 
land home  to  try  his  life  in  the  West.  He  came 
to  Illinois,  and  from  here  went  to  Missouri,  whence 
he  soon  returned  to  this  State,  and  for  a  time  re- 
sided in  Chicago.  Meeting  with  his  brother  Henry 
unexpectedly,  they  came  together  to  this  county. 

Mr.  Drew  was  of  an  inventive  nature,  and,  with 
his  brothers,  Henry  and  Seth,  patented  several  val- 
uable inventions,  including  a  one-seamed  boot  and 
a  gaiter,  the  latter  belonging  entirely  to  himself. 


POETRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


583 


He  decided  to  travel  around  the  country  to  sell 
his  useful  invention.  He  had  spent  all  his  money, 
with  the  exception  of  the  trivial  sum  of  forty 
cents  which  he  gave  to  his  wife,  in  the  perfecting 
of  his  invention,  and  had  to  start  out  on  his  trav- 
els in  a  shabby  state.  He  made  the  best  of  the  sit- 
uation, repairing  his  tattered  garments,  and  color- 
ing the  light  and  worn  spots,  and  entered  upon 
his  new  work  with  energy.  He  deservedly  met 
with  success  in  introducing  his  gaiter  to  the  public, 
acquiring  a  comfortable  fortune  during  the  six 
years  that  he  was  on  the  road. 

With  the  money  thus  made,  Mr.  Drew  pui chased 
a  good  property  in  this  county,  in  Dixon  Town- 
ship, and  settled  down  to  the  life  of  a  farmer.  He 
prosecuted  his  calling  with  the  same  vigorand  per- 
tinacity that  had  always  characterized  his  work  in 
whatever  he  was  engaged,  developed  his  land  into 
a  fine  farm  upon  which  he  placed  substantial 
improvements,  and  showed  himself  to  be  an  en- 
lightened farmer.  His  homestead,  which  is  now 
in  possession  of  his  son,  of  whom  we  write,  was 
the  scene  of  his  death,  August  15,  1884,  when  he 
was  only  forty-nine  years  of  age,  his  birth  having 
taken  place  March  29,  1835.  His  township  was 
thus  deprived  of  the  services  of  one  who  had  been 
potent  in  its  upbuilding  and  influential  in  all  that 
pertained  to  its  social  and  moral  well-being.  He 
was  of  an  earnest,  religious  nature.  In  politics,  he 
was  a  Republican. 

Mr.  Drew  was  married  at  Dixon,  to  Miss  Augusta 
Andrews,  who  survives  him  and  is  a  resident  of 
that  city.  She  is  fifty-one  years  of  age,  having 
been  born  in  Connecticut,  May  27,  1840.  Her 
early  years  were  passed  in  her  New  England  home, 
whence  she  came,  after  attaining  womanhood,  to 
Dixon,  where  an  older  married  sister  was  living. 
Her  parents  were  Ives  and  Silva  (Bartholemew) 
Andrews,  who  were  natives  of  Connecticut,  where 
they  spent  the  most  of  their  lives,  coming  here 
when  old  people  and  dying  at  Dixon,  aged  respect- 
ively seventy-two  and  sixty-five  years.  Mrs.  Drew 
is  the  mother  of  six  children,  of  whom  our  subject 
is  the  eldest,  and  all  are  living,  but  Omar,  who 
died  when  twenty-six  years  of  age.  He  married 
Miss  Mary  Murphy,  but  their  wedded  life  was  very 
brief,  as  he  died  in  less  than  five  months  after  the 


date  of  their  marriage.  The  other  children,  be- 
sides our  subject  are:  Emma  L.,  wife  of  John  Kelley, 
a  resident  of  Chicago  and  foreman  of  a  shoe  factory 
at  De  Kalb;  Bertha  A.;  E.  Fred,  who  works  in  the 
plow  shops  at  Dixon,  and  Mercy  E.,  the  three  lat- 
ter at  home  with  their  mother. 


EORGE  C.  WITHEY  is  a  well  known  cit- 
izen of  China  Township,  who  is  engaged 
in  farming.  He  is  of  New  England  birth 
and  antecedents,  born  in  the  grand  old  State  of 
Maine,  in  Franklin  County,  September  22,  1838. 
His  father,  Ezra  Withey,  was  bom  in  that  State 
October  22,  1814.  He  married  Abigail  Bradbury, 
who  was  likewise  a  native  of  the  Pine  Tree  State, 
born  in  the  town  of  Starks  in  August,  1812.  They 
began  their  wedded  life  in  the  State  of  their  birth, 
but  in  1846,  being  then  in  the  full  vigor  and 
prime  of  life,  they  determined  to  brave  the  hard- 
ships to  be  encountered  in  a  newly  settled  country, 
and  coming  to  Illinois,  they  cast  in  their  lot  with 
the  few  pioneer  settlers  of  China  Township  who 
had  preceded  them,  locating  on  section  22.  There, 
by  their  united  labors,  they  built  up  a  comfort- 
able home,  in  which  they  lived  until  the  autumn 
of  1883,  when  they  retired  from  active  life  to 
Franklin  Grove,  where  they  now  reside  at  an 
advanced  age,  enjoying  the  respect  and  friendship 
of  all  about  them.  These  are  the  names  of  their 
five  children:  George  C.,  Abigail,  Mary  Ann,  Eliza 
Jane  and  John. 

The  subject  of  this  biographical  review  has 
passed  the  greater  part  of  his  life  in  this  county, 
as  he  was  but  eight  years  old  when  the  family 
came  here.  He  was  reared  on  the  parental  home- 
stead, under  the  pioneer  influences  that  prevailed 
during  his  youth  in  these  parts,  and  received  a 
good  training  as  a  farmer.  He  made  his  home 
with  his  father  and  mother  until  he  left  them  for 
one  of  his  own  at  the  time  of  his  marriage  with 
Miss  Barbara  Lawver,  to  whom  he  was  wedded  in 
Ogle  County,  Maty  21,  1868.  Mrs.  Withey  is  a 
daughter  of  Henry  and  Nancy  (Heath)  Lawver,  of 
Grand  Detour,  Ogle  County,  and  was  born  in  Knox 


584 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


County,  Ohio,  January  2,  1850.  Contentment 
and  happiness  have  been  the  portion  of  our  subject 
and  his  wife  in  the  years  they  have  passed  to- 
gether, and  are  the  sign  and  seal  of  a  true  married 
life,  wherein  each  has  faithfully  contributed  to  the 
well-being  of  the  other,  and  both  have  fulfilled 
their  obligations  as  parents  and  their  duties  toward 
their  neighbors.  Their  pleasant  household  is  com- 
pleted by  their  four  children,  whose  names  are 
Ezra,  Grace,  Henry  and  Clara. 

Mr.  Withey  has  always  been  engaged  in  farming, 
and  has  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  land  of 
excellent  fertility,  and  under  a  high  state  of  cul- 
tivation. He  is  well  versed  in  the  principles  of 
agriculture,  employs  the  best  modern  methods  of 
tilling  the  soil,  and  derives  a  comfortable  income 
from  his  harvests  and  from  his  stock.  He  is  a 
sensible  well-informed  man,  irreproachable  in  his 
habits;  frank,  manly  and  straightforward  in  his 
character;  just,  kindly  and  considerate  in  his  deal- 
ings and  intercourse  with  others,  and  these  traits 
place  him  high  in  the  regard  of  his  fellow-citizens. 
As  a  loyal  citizen  should,  he  takes  a  fairly  active 
part  in  politics,  throwing  the  weight  of  his  influ- 
ence in  favor  of  the  Republican  party,  of  which 
he  has  been  a  devoted  adherent  for  many  years.  He 
interests  himself  in  whatever  concerns  the  welfare 
of  his  adopted  township,  and  as  a  School  Director 
has  done  what  he  could  to  raise  the  standard  of 
education  in  this  locality. 


JOHN  SEEBACH  is  a  fine  representative  of 
.the  German  element  that  has  played  such  a 
conspicuous  part  in    the  upbuilding  of  the 
Northwest,  and  he  is  one  of  Lee  County's 
most  worthy  farmers  and  stock-raisers.     His  finely 
equipped  farm  on  section  25,   China  Township,  is 
a  valuable  piece  of  property,   and   ranks  with  the 
best  in  this  section  as  to  productiveness  and  im- 
provements. 

Mr.  Seebach  was  bom  December  30,  1836,  in 
Hensen-Luterbach,  Germany,  Where  he  passed  his 
early  years.  But  much  of  his  life  has  been  spent 
in  America,  within  the  borders  of  this  county,  as 


when  he  was  nineteen  years  old,  he  boldly  set  out 
for  the  New  World,  a  stout  heart,  a  clear  head  and 
industrious  habits  his  only  passport  to  success  in  the 
busy  life  that  lay  before  him  in  a  strange  country 
before  he  could  acquire  a  competency  and  build  up 
a  home.  He  landed  in  New  York,  and  came  di- 
rectly from  that  city  to  Lee  County.  That  was  in 
the  year  1855,  and  he  found  that  there  was  still  a 
great  deal  of  pioneer  work  to  be  performed  before 
the  land  could  be  properly  developed  into  well- 
improved  farms.  Skillful  and  reliable  laborers 
were  in  demand,  and  he  obtained  employment  as  a 
farm-hand,  and  for  two  years  worked  out  by  the 
month  in  China  and  Amboy  Townships.  At  the 
expiration  of  that  time,  he  became  more  independ- 
ent, and  began  agricultural  operations  on  his  own 
account,  renting  land  near  Lee  Centre  the  follow- 
ing five  years.  He  was  prudent  and  wisely 
economical,  and  he  then  invested  his  money  in  a 
farm  in  Bradford  Township.  He  lived  upon  that 
for  six  years  and  then  sold  it  at  a  good  profit.  He 
put  the  proceeds  into  his  present  farm  on  section 
25,  China  Township,  and  has  here  one  hundred  and 
eighty-four  acres  of  as  fine  farming  land  as  there  is 
under  cultivation  in  the  township.  He  has  erected 
a  first-class  set  of  buildings,  has  provided  him- 
self with  good  modern  machinery  for  farming  pur- 
poses; his  fields  are  under  the  best  of  tillage;  his 
pastures  are  stocked  to  their  fullest  capacity  with 
cattle  of  good  grades,  and  he  is  managing  his  in- 
terests so  as  to  make  money,  he  being  one  of  the 
solid  men  of  his  community. 

Our  subject  has  been  greatly  aided  and  encour- 
aged in  his  work,  and  in  the  making  of  a  cozy 
home,  by  one  of  the  best  of  wives,  to  whom  he  was 
married  in  China  Township,  April  22,  1858.  They 
have  been  blessed  with  eight  children,  namely: 
Conrad;  Katie  F.,  wife  of  Augustus  Schaffer;  Cath- 
erine E.,  John  S.,  Christine,  Charles,  AnnaB.,  and 
Anna  Martha  Elizabeth.  Mrs.  Seebach,  who  bore 
the  maiden  name  of  Catherine  Weishaar,  is  a  sister 
of  E.  Weishaar,  of  Ashton,  whose  biography  ap- 
pears elsewhere  in  this  book.  She  is  likewise  a  na- 
tive of  Luterbach,  Germany,  born  April  25,  1839. 
She  was  about  nineteen  years  old  when  she  came  to 
this  country. 

Mr.  Seebach  merits  and   receives  the  respect  due 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


585 


to  him  as  an  upright  Christian  gentleman,  who  is 
faithful  to  his  obligations  in  all  the  relations  of 
life  that  he  bears  toward  others,  and  is  loyal  in  his 
citizenship  to  his  adopted  country.  He  is  a  stead- 
fast Republican  in  his  politics;  and  religiously, 
both  he  and  his  wife  are  valued  members  of  the 
Evangelical  Association. 


PRANK  M.  COE,  an  intelligent  farmer  and 
respected  citizen,  was  born  on  the  farm 
where  he  yet  resides  on  section  21,  Palmyra 
Township.  His  birth  occurred  May  16,  1852,  and 
the  family  of  which  he  is  a  worthy  representative 
is  numbered  among  the  pioneers  of  the  county. 
His  father,  Frederick  W.  Coe,  was  born  in  Roches- 
ter, N.  Y.,  January  25,  1813,  and  was  a  son  of 
Malby  Coe,  a  native  of  Connecticut,  of  English 
descent.  The  grandfather  was  married  in  the  Em- 
pire State  to  Miss  Mary  Miles,  who,  like  himself, 
was  born  in  Connecticut  and  came  of  a  family  of 
English  origin.  The  year  1835  witnessed  their 
emigration  to  the  West,  they  locating  in  Jordan 
Township,  Whiteside  County,  where  Mr.  Coe  fol- 
lowed farming  until  his  death  in  1849,  when  more 
than  seventy  years  of  age.  He  was  a  Presbyterian 
in  religious  belief  and  a  good  nnd  faithful  citizen. 
His  wife  survived  him  some  years  and  died  on  the 
old  homestead  in  1855,  at  an  advanced  age.  She, 
too,  was  a  Presbyterian  and  a  lady  of  many  excel- 
lencies of  character.  In  the  family  were  twelve 
children,  namely:  Lucy,  Simeon,  George,  Frederick, 
Henry,  Albert,  Decius,  Jonathan,  Adeline,  Marcus, 
Ann  and  Mortimer.  Of  these,  three  sons  and  a 
daughter  are  yet  residents  of  Whiteside  County, 
all  living  upon  farms. 

On  the  30th  of  June,  1836,  Fred  W.  Coe  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Phoebe  A.  Rogers, 
and  in  the  following  September  they  started  for 
Illinois,  arriving  in  this  county  on  the  20th  of  the 
month.  The  lady  was  born  in  Prince  Edward 
County,  in  the  Province  of  Ontario,  Canada,  Au- 
gust 5,  1812,  and  was  a  daughter  of  Gilbert  and 
Nancy  Rogers,  natives  of  Connecticut,  the  former 
born  September  20,  1771,  and  the  latter  January 


12,  1777.  They  both  died  in  Ontario,  Mr.  Rogers 
passing  away  July  30,  1817,  while  his  wife  sur- 
vived until  September  16,  1850.  They  were  hon- 
est farming  people  and  were  members  of  the 
Society  of  Friends,  under  whose  auspices  Mrs.  Coe 
was  reared.  She  lost  her  parents  when  she  was 
young  and  at  tlie  age  of  twenty  went  to  New 
York,  where  she  met  and  married  Mr.  Coe.  They 
began  their  domestic  life  upon  the  farm  which  he 
purchased  in  this  county  and  lived  in  true  pioneer 
style.  The  claim  entered  by  the  father  of  our 
subject  was  all  raw  prairie,  but  by  his  labors  was. 
transformed  into  a  fertile  and  fruitful  farm.  Mr. 
Coe  was  a  hard  .working  man  and  while  plowing 
died  of  heart  disease  October  24,  1870.  By  all  he 
was  recognized  as  one  of  the  prominent  early  set- 
tlers whose  worth  and  ability  won  him  the  esteem 
of  those  with  whom  he  came  in  contact.  His  wife, 
an  intelligent  and  cultured  lady,  who  had  many 
warm  friends  in  this  community,  died  at  the  home 
of  our  subject  April  7,  1889.  They  were  the  par- 
ents of  six  children:  Caroline  A.,  born  August  20, 
1837,  is  now  the  wife  of  George  G.  Sills;  Henry 
A.,  born  May  31,  1839,  died  July  21,  1840;  Addie, 
born  July  16,  1842,  became  the  wife  of  Arthur 
Chase,  who  is  now  deceased,  and  her  death  occurred 
March  16,  1871;  Helen  G.,  born  February  17, 1845, 
died  April  3,  1848;  and  Emily,  born  July  16, 1848, 
died  August  15,  of  the  same  year. 

The  youngest  of  the  family  is  our  subject,  who 
in  the  usual  manner  of  farmer  lads  was  reared  to 
manhood.  His  early  education,  acquired  in  the 
public  schools,  was  supplemented  by  a  course  in 
Cornell  College  of  Iowa.  He  led  to  the  marriage 
altar,  in  Palmyra  Township,  Miss  Zett  E.  Williams, 
who  was  born  in  Columbia  County,  Pa.,  June  23, 
1858.  Her  parents  were  Mark  and  Elizabeth 
(Hoagland)  Williams,  who  emigrated  to  Illinois 
when  she  was  quite  young  and  located  on  a  farm 
in  Palmyra  Township,  where  they  yet  make  their 
home.  The  death  of  Mrs.  Coe  occurred  July  9, 
1889,  and  was  sincerely  mourned  by  many  friends 
as  well  as  her  immediate  family.  She  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Methodist  Church,  and  left  one  child, 
Glen  F.,  born  February  4,  1885. 

The  farm  which  Mr.  Coe  owns  and  which  for 
fifty-six  years  has  been  in  possession  of  the  family, 


586 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


is  a  valuable  tract  of  land  of  two  hundred  and 
eight  acres,  situated  on  the  north  side  of  Sugar 
Grove.  Its  neat  appearance  indicates  the  thrift 
and  enterprise  of  the  owner,  who  is  ranked  among 
the  leading  agriculturists  of  the  community.  He 
is  also  a  prominent  citizen  and  takes  quite  an  ac- 
tive part  in  political  affairs,  being  a  stanch  sup- 
porter of  Republican  principles.  He  attends  the 
conventions  of  his  party,  and  is  now  serving  his 
second  term  as  the  efficient  Supervisor.  Genial  by 
nature,  he  has  a  keen  appreciation  of  the  humorous 
.and  is  an  entertaining  companion  who  easily  wins 
friends. 


§HOMAS   HARPER   is  one   of   the  leading 
farmers  of  Wyoming  Township,  where  his 
farming  interests  are   centered,   and    he    is 
known  throughout   Lee   County   as  a   successful 
breeder  of  Percheron  and  trotting  horses.     He  is  a 
native  of  this  section  of  the   State,    born    in   Paw 
Paw  Township,  DeKalb  County,  June  28,  1853,  a 
son   of   William   Harper,   who   was  a    pioneer  of 
Northern  Illinois,  and  during  his  life  one  of   its 
most  prosperous  agriculturists. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  born  in  Cuyahoga 
County,  N.  Y.,  and  was  a  son  of  Robert  Harper. 
The  latter  was  born  and  reared  in  Ireland,  and 
emigrating  to  America,  settled  in  the  State  of  New 
York.  He  was  a  carpenter  all  his  life,  and  spent 
his  last  days  in  Cuyahoga  County.  William 
Harper  grew  to  man's  estate  in  his  native  county, 
and  was  there  married  to  Jane,  daughter  of  John 
and  Jane  (Irwin)  Kirk,  and  a  native  of  that 
county.  These  are  the  five  children  born  of  that 
marriage:  Mary  J.,  William,  Thomas,  James  and 
John.  William  is  dead.  In  1847  the  parents  of 
our  subject  left  their  old  home  to  found  a  home  in 
the  wilds  of  the  Prairie  State,  as  Mr.  Harper  was 
convinced  that  a  thrifty,  wide-awake,  skillful 
farmer  ought  to  reap  a  rich  reward  in  payment  of 
care  and  labor  spent  in  cultivating  its  fertile  vir- 
gin soil.  .  The  momentous  journey  was  made  on 
the  canal  to  Buffalo,  thence  by  the  lakes  to  Chi- 


cago, and  from  that  city  a  ride  with  a  farmer 
brought  him  to  this  part  of  the  State.  He  bought 
a  tract  of  Government  land  in  DeKalb  County, 
containing  eighty  acres,  and  on  it  he  built  the 
humble  log  house  that  was  the  birthplace  of  our 
subject.  At  that  time  the  surrounding  country 
was  but  little  inhabited,  and  Chicago  was  the 
principal  market  for  some  years  before  the  intro- 
duction of  railways.  Mr.  Harper  was  exceedingly 
prosperous  in  all  his  undertakings,  accumulated 
property  rapidly,  and  bought  other  land,  so  that 
in  all  he  had  seven  hundred  and  forty  acres  of 
well-improved  land  at  the  time  of  his  death,  and 
was  one  of  the  rich  men  of  the  county.  He 
erected  good  buildings,  and  his  land  was  placed  in 
a  high  state  of  cultivation,  making  his  farm  one  of 
the  most  valuable  in  the  township.  He  died  July 
6,  1882,  thus  closing  a  career  that  had  been  honor- 
able alike  to  himself  and  his  community,  and  his 
work  as  a  pioneer  will  never  be  forgotten,  so  help- 
ful was  he  in  developing  the  agricultural  resources 
of  the  country.  His  wife  survives  him,  and  still 
resides  on  the  old  homestead,  in  the  home  that  she 
aided  him  to  make. 

Thomas  Harper,  to  whom  these  lines  principally 
refer,  was  educated  in  the  schools  of  Paw  Paw 
Township,  where  he  grew  to  manhood  under  good 
home  influences.  He  acquired  a  good  knowledge 
of  farming  while  a  mere  boy,  as  he  was  early  taught 
to  make  himself  useful  on  his  father's  farm,  and 
that  experience  has  profited  him  much  since  he  be- 
gan his  independent  career  as  a  farmer,  as  he  learned 
to  shape  his  fortunes  by  the  use  of  sound,  sensible 
and  systematic  methods  of  carrying  on  his  work. 
He  continued  to  be  a  member  of  the  parental 
household  until  his  marriage,  when  he  settled  on  a 
farm  at  Ross  Grove.  He  made  that  his  home  un- 
til 1884,  and  then  bought  the  farm  which  is  his 
present  place  of  residence  in  Wyoming  Township. 

Mr.  Harper's  farm  is  well  adapted  to  stock- 
raising  purposes,  to  which  he  partly  devotes  it.  He 
has  an  inherent  love  for  the  horse,  understands 
well  how  to  handle  it,  is  quick  to  note  its  good 
points,  and  has  a  sharp  eye  for  its  failings.  Since 
1878,  he  has  made  a  specialty  of  raising  horses, 
buying  in  that  year  a  Percheron  stallion  and  two 
Percheron  mares,  and  in  1883  he  commenced 


I  HE 
OF  THE 
vf  '•»•' 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


589 


breeding  and  training  road  horses.  He  now  has 
some  of  the  finest  Percherons  and  roadsters  in  the 
county.  He  is  the  owner  of  the  famous  trotting 
stallion,  "Roderick,"  by  "Mark  Field,"  the  sen  of 
•'Veritas,"  whose  record  is  2:18;  and  a  grandson  of 
"George  Wilkes,"  dam  by  "Hamlet,  Jr., "registered 
number  161, and  he  by  "Volunteer."  Mr.  Harper  has 
also  three  standard  brood  mares, besides  several  other 
valuable  blooded  animals.  His  horses  are  highly 
prized  in  this  section,  always  command  a  good 
price,  and  find  a  ready  market  whenever  offered 
for  sale,  for  all  who  know  our  subject  concede  that 
whoever  makes  a  deal  with  him  is  sure  to  get  a 
well-trained  .well-broken  horse,  sound  of  wind  and 
limb,  and  with  no  concealed  defects,  as  Mr.  Harper 
is  not  only  too  watchful  of  his  reputation,  but 
loves  ahorse  too  well  to  let  one  go  from  his  stable 
misrepresented. 

Mr.  Harper  has  been  twice  married.  His  union 
with  Miss  Catherine  Santee,  a  native  of  Grand 
Detour,  Ogle  County,  took  place  May  1,  1876. 
She  died  January  16,  1885,  leaving  two  chil- 
dren, Gracie  and  Beunie.  The  second  marriage 
of  our  subject  was  solemnized  February  10,  1887, 
and  was  with  Cora  A.  Mead,  a  native  of  AVyoming 
Township,  and  a  daughter  of  Riley  and  Rachel 
Mead.  In  their  pleasant  home  one  son  and  one 
daughter  have  been  born  to  them,  whom  they  have 
named  Arthur  and  Bertha. 


RS.  MARY  P.  DEWOLF.  This  lady,  who 
resides  on  section  5,  Lee  Center  Town- 
3,  has  spent  the  last  forty  years  in  this 
Township  and  is  well  known  and  highly 
esteemed  for  her  many  excellent  traits  of  character. 
She  is  a  public-spirited  woman,  interested  in  all 
that  tends  to  the  welfare  of  the  community  and  is 
noted  for  hergreatiiberality  in  behalf  of  education 
and  other  worthy  objects.  It  is  with  pleasure  that 
we  present  to  her  many  friends  in  the  county  her 
portrait  and  the  following  sketch  of  her  life. 

Isaac  Pomeroy,  the  father  of  Mrs.  DeWolf,  was 
a  native  of  New  Ashford,  Berkshire  County,  Mass. 
Her  mother,  whose  maiden  name  was  Ruth  Crane, 


was  the  first  white  child  bom  in  Erie  County,  Pa. 
After  their  marriage  the  young  couple  settled  in 
Conneaut  Township,  Erie  County, .  Pa.,  where 
the  father  carried  on  farming,  their  death  taking 
place  on  the  same  farm  on  which  they  first  settled. 
Their  family  consisted  of  nine  children,  two  sons 
and  seven  daughters,  named  as  follows:  Alden, 
Mary,  Laura,  Clarinda,  Hannah,  Eliza,  Sarah,  Lucy 
E.  and  Isaac  J. 

Mary,  who  is  the  eldest  daughter,  was  born  in 
Conneaut  Township,  Erie  County,  Pa.,  July  7, 
1821,  where  she  grew  to  womanhood.  She  was 
there  married  June  14,  1840,  to  Alvah  B.  DeWolf. 
He  was  a  son  of  Dorastus  and  Eliza  (Coe)  DeWolf. 
who  were  natives  of  New  England  and  were 
married  in  Cortland  County,  N.  Y.,  settling  in 
Conneaut  Township,  Erie  County,  Pa.  In  1851 
they  removed  to  Lee  County,  111.;  and  located  in 
Inlet  Grove,  Lee  Center  Township,  where  they  died. 

They  reared  a  family  of  twelve  children,  of 
whom  Alvah  was  the  youngest  son.  He  was  born 
in  Virgil,  Cortland'  County,  N.  Y.,  September  15, 
1815.  He  remained  with  his  parents  in  Conneaut 
Township,  until  after  his  marriage  and  in  1851  re- 
moved to  this  county,  settling  in  Lee  Center 
Township,  where  he  continued  to  reside  until  his 
death,  April  16,  1887.  He  was  an  energetic,  en- 
terprising business  man,  who  took  an  active  part 
in  all  local  affairs  and  held  the  office  of  Supervisor 
of  his  Township  for  several  terms.  He  followed 
the  occupation  of  a  farmer  throughout  life  and 
accumulated  a  good  property,  being  at  the  time 
of  his  death  the  owner  of  about  five  hundred 
acres.  This  he  had  highly  improved  and  had 
erected  a  line  of  comfortable  buildings  upon  his 
farm.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Free-will  Baptist 
Church,  and  was  highly  esteemed  as  an  upright, 
honorable  man. 

Mrs.  DeWolf  is  alady  of  intelligence  and  refine- 
ment and  has  manifested  her  great  interest  in  the 
cause  of  education  by  her  liberal  gifts  to  various 
institutions  of  learning.  To  Hillsdale  College, 
Mich.,  she  has  given  $16,000,  endowing  a  Professor- 
ship in  Theology;  to  Storer  College  at  Harper's 
Ferry.  Va.,  $3000;  to  Parker  College  at  Winnebago, 
Minn.,  $2000;  and  to  Rochester  Seminary,  at 
Rochester,  Wis.,  $200.  She  has  made  other  val- 


590 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


uable  bequests  to  relatives  and  friends  and  in  all 
has  given  away  $6-2,000.  Mrs.  DeWolf  is  an  active 
member  and  supporter  of  the  Free  will  Baptist 
Church.  She  has  a  delightful  home  in  which  she 
hospitably  entertains  her  many  friends  and  her 
memory  will  be  cherished  many  years'  after  she 
has  passed  from  earth,  by  those  who  have  been  the 
recipients  of  her  bounty. 


yiLLIAM  H.  HAUSEN,  of  China  Township, 
is  assocated  with  the  rise  and  growth  of 
Lee  County  as  one  of  its  honored  pioneers 
who  made  the  first  improvements  in  this  section, 
and  has  long  been  one  of  its  foremost  farmers  and 
stock-raisers.  He  is  of  Xew  England  birth  and 
training,  born  in  the  town  of  Bremen,  Lincoln 
County,  Me.,  August  25,  1816.  His  father,  Charles 
Hausen,  was  born  in  that  county  in  the  town  of 
Friendship,  and  he  married  Jane  Hilton,  also  a 
native  of  Lincoln  County.  They  spent  several 
years  of  their  married  life  in  that  vicinity  and 
then  moved  to  near  Bangor,  Me.,  where  they  spent 
some  ten  or  twelve  years,  but  in  1840  abandoned 
their  Eastern  home  to  found  a  new  one  in  what 
was  to  them  the  far-distant  State  of  Illinois.  They 
came  hither  in  the  fall  of  the  year  and  located  in 
China  Township  on  the  farm  that  is  owned  and 
occupied  by  our  subject,  on  section  2,  a  little  way 
from  Franklin  Grove.  They  were  among  the  first 
to  settle  here,  and  here  they  passed  their  declining 
years  until  death  separated  them,  the  father  dying 
in  the  spring  of  1859.  After  his  demise  the  mother 
remained  on  the  old  home  and  died  there  in  1878 
at  a  venerable  age. 

Our  subject  was  the  eldest  of  eleven  children. 
When  he  was  ten  years  old,  his  parents  removed 
from  his  native  county  to  Penobscot  County,  in 
the  same  State,  and  he  remained  there  with  them 
until  1838.  He  then  started  out  in  the  world  to 
see  what  life  held  for  him  in  the  wide  West.  He 
and  his  brother  Harrison  and  another  man  left 
home  September  4,  1838,  and  after  making  some 
stops  in  Michigan  and  elsewhere  they  arrived  in 
this  county  in  October.  They  bought  claims  to  a 


section  and  a  half  of  land,  and  on  the  farm  on 
section  2,  China  Township,  on  which  our  subject 
lives,  the  first  improvements  were  made  in  this 
part  of  the  county. 

Fifty  years  and  more  have  passed  by  since  that 
I  October  day  when  Mr.  Hausen  first  set  foot  on 
these  prairies  where  he  has  so  firmly  established 
himself,  that  were  then  in  their  virgin  state,  as 
wild  and  lonely  as  when  they  were  the  hunting 
grounds  of  the  Indians,  but  which  to-day  are  teem- 
ing with  life  and  every  evidence  of  an  advanced- 
civilization,  and  in  this  year  of  grace,  1891,  have 
yielded  such  remarkable  harvests  of  grain  and  other 
products  of  the  earth  that  will  bring  in  untold 
sums  of  money  to  the  fortunate  tillers  of  the  soil, 
and  mayhap  shall  help  to  feed  the  starving  mill- 
ions across  the  water.  That  he  has  had  a  hand 
in  bringing  about  this  wonderful  change  that  has 
converted  a  wilderness  into  a  highly  developed 
farming  region,  where,  also,  the  sister  industries  of 
commerce  and  manufacture,  that  follow  in  the 
wake  of  agriculture,  flourish,  may  well  be  the  pride 
of  our  subject.  He  has  made  a  good  use  of  the 
advantages  afforded  to  an  intelligent,  wide-awake, 
diligent  farmer  by  the  unsurpassed  fertility  of  the 
soil,  etc.,  of  this  part  of  the  country,  during  the 
half-century  that  he  has  lived  and  labored  here, 
and  now  has  a  fine  estate  of  four  hundred  acres  of 
land  in  Lee  County,  two  hundred  acres  in  Naehusa 
and  the  remainder  in  China  Township,  besides 
other  property.  He  has  devoted  his  energies  not 
only  to  farming  and  stock-raising,  but  has  given 
especial  attention  to  fruit-growing,  and  derives  a 
handsome  revenue  from  this  source. 

Mr.  Hausen  was  married,  in  Nachu'sa  Township 
in  October,  1850,  to  Mrs.  Julia  Felker,  nee  Stergy, 
widow  of  Mark  Felker.  Mrs.  Hausen  is  a  native 
of  Maine.  She  came  to  this  State  with  her  hus- 
band, who  was  a  pioneer  of  this  county.  His  use- 
ful career  was  terminated  by  his  untimely  death 
within  a  year  or  two  after  fettling  here.  Her 
married  life  with  our  subject  has  been  spent  on  the 
same  farm  in  China  Township,  and  she,  by  her 
capable  co-operation,  has  contributed  in  no  small 
degree  to  his  good  fortune. 

Our  subject  has  reached  and  passed  the  milestone 
that  marks  a  busy  life  of  three-quarters  of  a  cent- 


PORTEAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


591 


ury,  and  the  record  thereof  shows  him  to  be  a  man 
of  many  fine  traits  of  character,  who  never  wil- 
fully wrongs  another,  is  true  in  his  friendships, 
never  allows  a  desire  to  acquire  wealth  to  shut  out 
his  strict  ideas  of  justice  and  honesty,  or  make  him 
less  generous,  warm-hearted  and  neighborly  in  his 
intercourse  with  the  people  among  whom  his  lot 
has  been  cast  since  early  manhood,  and  who  revere 
and  trust  him.  Resolution,  sagacity, business  thrift 
and  forethought  are  his  leading  characteristics, 
and  by  these  he  has  achieved  success.  Whatever 
concerns  the  township  and  countj'  of  his  adoption 
has  always  been  of  great  interest  to  him,  and  he 
has  been  ready  at  all  times  to  help  push  forward 
public  improvements,  and  in  his  capacity  of  High- 
way Commissioner,  which  office  he  has  held  for 
many  years,  he  has  been  especially  useful  in  that 
direction.  He  is  socially  identified  with  the  Blue 
Lodge  of  Masons  at  Franklin  Grove,  and  with  the 
Nathan  Whitney  Chapter,  No.  129.  He  has  a  broad 
outlook  on  life,  is  a  Democrat  in  politics,  and  in 
religion  is  liberal  in  his  views. 


1'  ENBY  BOTHE  is  a  general  farmer  and 
Ijfjl)  stock-raiser,  and  owns  and  successfully  man- 
^2^  a£es  a  farm  on  section  19,  Nachusa  Town- 
It^)  ship,  which  is  stocked  to  its  full  capacity 
with  cattle,  horses  and  swine  of  good  breeds;  its 
one  hundred  and  thirty-two  acres  are  under  the 
best  of  cultivation,  and  a  substantial  and  well 
made  class  of  buildings  adorn  the  place.  A  for- 
eigner by  birth,  our  subject,  nevertheless,  like 
many  other  of  his  countrymen,  was  found  in  the 
ranks  of  the  Union  army  during  the  late  war,  and 
he  fought  gallantly  for  the  land  of  his  adoption 
until  failing  health  obliged  him  to  abandon  mili- 
tary life. 

Our  subject  was  bora  in  Prussia,  near  Minden, 
December  26,  1840.  He  lived  there  until  he  was 
eighteen  years  old,  and  then,  in  1859,  came  to 
America  with  his  mother  and  two  sisters,  crossing 
the  ocean  from  Bremerhaven  to  Baltimore,  where 
they  joined  the  father,  Frederick  Bothe,  who  had 


come  to  this  country  ten  years  before,  and  had  lived 
in  the  South  some  time.  After  the  reunion  of  the 
family,  they  came  to  Illinois  and  located  on  a  farm 
in  Nachusa  Township.  The  father  was  a  hard- 
working man,  and,  by  unremitting  toil,  got  a  good 
start  in  life  and  made  many  valuable  improve- 
ments on  his  place,  con  tinning  its  development  un- 
til death  stayed  his  hand,  in  1873,  at  the  age  of 
fift3r-scven  years.  His  wife  is  yet  living  on  the 
old  homestead,  and  is  now  seventy-five  years  of 
age.  She  has  always  been  connected  with  the 
Lutheran  Church,  and  is  still  a  faithful  member.  Her 
son,  of  whom  we  write,  and  her  daughter,  Christina, 
are  the  only  members  of  the  family  now  living. 
The  latter  is  the  wife  of  John  Hollister,  a  grain- 
dealer  in  Fillmore  County,  Neb. 

Henry  Bothe  did  not  attain  his  majority  until 
after  he  came  to  this  country,  and  he  was  not  of  age 
when  he  enlisted,  September  9,  1861,  in  Company 
B,  Twelfth  Illinois  Infantry,  which  was  attached 
to  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee.  Our  subject 
served  one  year  with  great  credit  to  himself  and 
to  his  regiment,  showing  excellent  qualities  as  a 
soldier  and  winning  the  approval  of  his  superiors 
for  his  fidelity,  courage  in  battle,  and  general 
trustworthiness.  He  won  a  good  record  for  hard 
fighting  at  Ft.  Donelson,  but  that  experience 
ended  his  career  in  the  army,  as  he  became  ill  from 
exposure  and  fatigue  endured  on  a  forced  march, 
which  resulted  in  his  honorable  discharge,  Septem- 
ber 8,  1862,  as  unfit  for  future  service.  He  re- 
turned to  Illinois,  and,  although  he  regained  his 
health  in  part,  he  has  never  been  so  well  since.  As 
soon  as  he  was  able,  he  resumed  farming,  and,  in 
1878,  he  became  possessed  of  his  present  farm  in 
Nachusa  Township.  He  is  an  intelligent  farmer, 
having  a  good  understanding  of  the  best  methods 
of  tilling  the  soil,  and  knows  well  how  to  care  for 
his  stock,  which  is  the  source  of  a  good  income, 
and  he  keeps  his  place  up  to  a  high  standard.  His 
neighbors  esteem  him  greatly,  having  a  just  ap- 
preciation of  those  meritorious  qualities  that  mark 
him  as  a  loyal  citizen,  a  trusty  friend,  and  true  in 
his  domestic  relations  as  a  kind  husband  and 
tender  father.  In  politics,  he  is  a  tried  and  true 
Republican.  Religiously,  he,  and  his  wife,  also,  are 
members  of  the  Evangelical  Church. 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


The  marriage  of  Mr.  Bo  the  with  Miss  Catherine 
Hotzel  took  place  in  Bradford  Township,  Septem- 
ber 4,  1864.  Mrs.  Bothe  was  born  in  Germany, 
in  Hesse-Cassel,  in  1843,  a  daughter  of  Conrad  and 
Anna  E.  Hotzel.  She  was  only  three  years  old 
when  her  parents  emigrated  to  America,  and  be- 
came pioneers  of  this  county,  being  among  the 
early  settlers  of  China  Township,  wheue  the  father 
improved  anew  farm,  which  was  his  home  until  his 
death,  in  middle  life.  His  wife  is  yet  living  on 
the  old  homestead,  and  is  seven ty-five  years  old. 
He  was  a  Lutheran,  and  clung  to  the  faith  of  his 
fathers  until  death,  but  she  has  been  a  faithful 
member  of  the  Evangelical  Association  for  many 
years. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bothe  are  the  parents  of  ten  chil- 
dren, of  whom  one,  Carolina,  a  twin,  died  when 
six  days  old.  The  others  are  William,  at  home; 
Elizabeth,  wife  of  J.  Conrad  Seebach,  a  farmer  at 
Dysart,  Iowa;  John,  who  lives  with  his  grand- 
mother in  this  township,  and  manages  her  farm; 
Christian,  Minnie,  Alvina,  Kate,  Lillie  and  Henry, 
who  are  at  home  with  their  parents. 


4p^  ILAS  H.  SHIPPEE.  The  sturdy  stock  that 
%^-  peopled  the  hills  and  valleys  of  New  Eng- 
(M^j)  land  has  to-day  many  a  representative  on 
the  prairies  of  Illinois,  and  our  subject  is 
one  of  these.  He  has  been  a  citizen  of  Lee  County 
these  many  years,  and  has  rendered  invaluable  aid 
in  reclaiming  it  from  the  wilderness  by  putting 
under  a  high  state  of  cultivation  an  extensive  farm 
in  Reynolds  Township,  and  placing  upon  it  good 
modern  improvements. 

Silas  H.  Shippee  was  born  in.  the  town  of  Reads- 
boro, Bennington  County,  Vt.,  July  18, 1828.  His 
father,  Christopher  Shippee,  was  a  native  of  the 
town  of  Charlernont,  Mass.,  while  his  father,  who 
bore  the  same  name  as  himself,  is  thought  to  have 
been  born  in  Rhode  Island.  He  was  one  of  the 
famous  "Minute  Men"  of  the  Revolution,  and  did 
gallant  service  for  his  country  during  his  four 
years  of  faithful  service  in  the  Colonial  Army 
when  that  war  was  raging.  He  was  paid  in  Con- 


tinental scrip,  which  so  depreciated  in  value  that 
it  is  told  that  he  gave  fifty  dollars  for  a  night's 
lodging,  supper  and  breakfast.  He  with  four  other 
families  made  the  first  settlement  in  the  town  of 
Charlemout  among  the  hills  of  Western  Massachu- 
setts, where  he  secured  a  tract  of  land  on  which 
the  trees  of  the  primeval  forest  of  that  region  were 
still  standing,  and  wild  game — deer,  bears  and  other 
wild  animals — was  common  in  the  vicinity.  He 
cleared  quite  a  tract  of  land,  and,  as  the  force  of 
circumstances  made  it  necessary  in  those  old  pioneer 
days,  lived  off  the  products  of  his  farm  to  a  great 
extent.  He  was  a  man  of  fine  physique,  and  re- 
tained so  much  of  his  early  vigor  in  his  old  age 
that  when  he  was  eighty-six  years  old  he  walked  to 
Readsboro,  a  distance  of  sixteen  miles,  and  carried 
his  musket.  He  died  at  the  home  of  the  father  of 
our  subject  a  year  later. 

Christopher  Shippee,  Jr.,was  reared  in  his  native 
town,  and  before  marriage  bought  a  tract  of  land 
in  Whittingham,  Windham  County,  Vt.,  which  he 
soon  traded  for  land  in  Readsboro.  He  settled 
thereon  at  the  time  of  marriage,  and  that  was  his 
home  for  many  a  long  year,  until  death  sealed  his 
eyes  in  1886,  at  the  advanced  age  of  ninety-four 
years,  and  to  the  last  few  days  of  his  life  he  was 
hale  and  hearty.  The  maiden  name  of  the  mother 
of  our  subject  was  Johanna  Jillson.  She  was  born 
in  New  Hampshire,  a  daughter  of  David  and  Jo- 
hanna (Cudworth)  Jillson,  and  she  died  while  yet 
in  life's  prime  at  the  age  of  forty-two  years. 

Silas  Shippee  passed  his  boyhood  amid  the 
pleasant  scenes  of  his  birth,  and  was  educated  in 
the  local  schools.  On  his  father's  farm  he  gained 
an  experience  in  farming  that  was  helpful  to  him 
in  his  after  career  as  an  independent  farmer.  He 
also  knew  something  of  pioneer  life  in  his  youth, 
before  the  introduction  of  railways  -into  the  part 
of  the  country  where  he  lived.  North  Adams, 
twelve  miles  from  his  home,  was  the  nearest  mar- 
ket, but  once  each  year  the  farmers  went  to  Troy, 
sixty  miles  distant,  to  buy  a  stock  of  .supplies. 

Our  subject  resided  with  his  father  until  he  was 

twenty-six,  assisting  him  in  the  labors  of  the  farm, 

and  then  came   to  Illinois,  where  he  thought    the 

chances  were  better  for  a  wide-awake   young  man 

j    to  gain  a  competence  than  in  his  own  native  State. 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


593 


For  two  years  he  lived  near  Aurora,  and  after  that 
Sugar  Grove  was  his  place  of  residence  one  season. 
He  then  traded  for  a  quarter  section  of  land  in 
Reynolds  Township,  which  is  included  in  the  farm 
upon  which  he  lives.  Eighty-six  acres  of  the  land 
were  broken,  but  there  were  no  fences  or  buildings, 
and  his  first  work  was  to  supply  these  deficiencies, 
and  in  the  course  of  years  he  has  wrought  a  great 
change,  and  has  his  place  in  a  finely  improved  con- 
dition. When  he  began  his  building  operations 
he  bought  the  lumber  in  Chicago  and  had  it  ship- 
ped to  Lane  Station,  as  Rochelle  was  then  called. 
He  has  erected  a  commodious,  comfortable  dwell- 
ing, a  substantial  barn  and  other  outhouses  for 
cattle  and  grain  storage,  has  his  farm  well  supplied 
with  good  machinery,  and  has  it  stocked  with  cat- 
tle, horses  and  swine  of  choice  breeds.  He  has 
added  to  his  original  purchase  of  land,  and  has  now 
four  hundred  acres  of  good  farming  land,  all  under 
admirable  cultivation.  He  has  not  become  pros- 
perous without  the  struggles  incidental  to  pioneer 
life,  but  he  was  strong  both  mentally  and  physi- 
cally, and  has  in  a  full  degree  that  decision  of  char- 
acter that  marks  our  self-made  men,  to  which  class 
he  may  justly  claim  to  belong,  and  he  was  well 
able  to  cope  with  the  hardships  and  trials  that  he 
had  to  confront  in  the  early  years  of  his  settlement 
here.  He  had  to  labor  hard  to  place  his  land  un- 
der cultivation,  and  in  those  days  before  the  war 
the  markets  were  poor,  so  that  his  harvests  scarcely 
paid  for  the  care  and  time  expended  upon  them. 
One  year  farm  products  were  very  low  priced,  and 
he  sold  his  corn  at  the  rate  of  ten  cents  a  bushel, 
after  paying  two  and  one-half  cents  to  have  it 
shelled.  When  times  changed  for  the  better,  as  far 
as  higher  prices  and  greater  demand  for  food  sup- 
plies were  concerned,  he  was  quick  to  take  advan 
tage  of  the  markets,  and  in  due  time,  as  we  have 
seen,  became  possessed  of  a  goodly  amount  of 
property.  He  is  not  only  one  of  the  most  substan- 
tial citizens  of  his  township,  but  he  is  a  man  who  is 
held  in  universal  respect  for  his  true  manliness  and 
upright  bearing  in  all  the  relations  that  he  sustains 
towards  others. 

While  still  a  resident  of  his  native  State,  Mr. 
Shippee  contracted  a  marriage  in  his  early  manhood 
with  Miss  Phiann  Millard.  their  wedding  taking 


place  January  1,  1854.  They  have  seven  children 
living,  named  Mary  J.,  Johanna  M.,Rosella,  Rodella, 
Eva  E.,  Henry  C.  and  Edgar  C.  They  have  given 
them  good  educational  advantages,  and  the  three 
eldest  daughters  taught  school  previous  to  their 
marriage;  Rodella  is  a  music  teacher,  Eva  an  artist, 
and  Henry  has  recently  been  graduated  from  the 
High  School  at  Rochelle.  Mary  J.  is  the  wife  of 
Andrew  Fell;  Johanna  of  T. II. Quick; and  Rosella 
is  the  wife  of  William  Leslie. 

Mrs.  Shippee  was  born  in  Stanford,  Vt.,  and  is  a 
daughter  of  Rufus  Millard,  who  was  also  a  native 
of  that  town,  of  which  his  father,  James  Millard, 
who  was  of  New  England  birth,  was  one  of  the 
first  settlers.  He  bought  a  tract  of  timber,  from 
which  he  felled  the  trees,  and  in  time  hewed  out  a 
good  farm  from  the  wilderness,  upon  which  he  lived 
many  years.  His  last  da3rs,  however,  were  spent 
near  Waukegan,  in  this  State.  In  early  manhood 
he  married  Wealthy  Clark,  who  died  in  Stanford, 
Vt.  Mrs.  Shippee's  father  was  reared  on  that  old 
homestead  in  Vermont  that  was  his  birth  place,  and 
his  life,  the  greater  part  of  which  he  passed  in  his 
native  town,  he  devoted  to  farming,  and  also  dealt 
in  sheep  and  wool.  During  his  latter  years  he  lived 
on  his  father-in-law's  homestead  in  Clarksburg. 
Vt.,  and  there  both  he  and  his  wife  died  when  well 
along  in  years.  Her  maiden  name  was  Maria 
Blood.  She  was  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  and  a 
daughter  of  Silas  and  Polly  Blood. 

7===&aap$8fr==4- 

K  ORTGIESEN.  Among  those  who 
have  contributed  to  make  this  county  one 
Ij  of  the  richest  and  best  developed  farming 
regions  in  the  State,  is  Mr.  George  Ortgiesen,  who 
forms  the  subject  of  this  biographical  review. 
South  Dixon  Township  counts  him  one  of  her 
most  prosperous  farmers,  and  his  large  farm, 
located  on  sections  29  and  32,  is  comparable  in  all 
points  with  the  best  in  the  vicinity. 

Our  subject  was  born  over  the  sea  in  the  King- 
dom of  Hanover,  Germany,  July  10th,  1843.  His 
father,  George  Ortgiesen,  Sr..  was  also  a  native  of 
that  kingdom,  and  came  of  German  biood.  His 


594 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


father,  a  Hanoverian  by  birth,  had  died  when  he, 
the  son,  was  very  young.  The  latter  grew  up  on 
a  farm,  and  in  due  time  married  and  settled  down 
in  life.  His  wife,  Myra  Newmann,  who  was  born 
in  Hanover,  was  of  similar  ancestry  as  himself,  and 
she  too  lost  her  father  when  she  was  a  small  child. 
After  the  birth  of  all  their  eleven  children,  of  whom 
four  died  in  their  native  land,  in  childhood,  George 
Ortgiesen,  Sr.,  and  his  wife  and  seven  surviving 
children  sought  a  new  home  on  American  soil, 
leaving  the  old  country  in  the  spring  of  1857,  on 
board  the  good  ship  "Orpheus,"  which  sailed  from 
Bremerhaven,  and  arrived  at  New  York  on  the 
10th  of  the  following  June,  after  a  prosperous  voy- 
age of  five  weeks  and  four  days.  From  that  city 
the  family  came  to  Dixon,  and  one  year  later  Mr. 
Ortgiesen  began  to  farm  in  South  Dixon  Township, 
where  he  and  his  wife  subsequently  died  at  a  good 
old  age,  the  father  being  seventy-two  when  he  died 
in  1874,  and  the  mother  seventy-four  at  the  time 
of  her  death,  four  years  later.  Brought  up  in  the 
faith  of  the  Lutheran  Church,  they  always  re- 
mained in  the  fold,  and  were  valued  members  of 
the  church  of  that  denomination,  with  which  they 
connected  themselves  in  this  county. 

Our  subject  is  the  youngest  but  one  of  the  six 
children  who  are  yet  living  of  the  large  family 
born  to  his  parents.  He  was  a  bright,  active 
lad  of  fourteen  years  when  the  family  came  to  this 
county,  and  here  he  grew  to  manood,  learning  the 
lessons  in  farming  that  have  been  of  use  to  him 
since  he  became  a  farmer  on  his  own  account,  and 
at  the  same  time  acquiring  those  habits  of  diligence 
and  careful  attention  to  business  details  that  are  a 
part  of  the  secret  of  his  success  in  life.  With  the 
exception  of  a  year  or  two  iu  the  city  of  Dixou, 
and  two  years  in  Whiteside  County,  his  life,  since 
coming  to  the  United  States,  has  been  spent  in 
South  Dixon  Township,  where  he  has  made  a 
name  and  a  place  for  himself  as  a  farmer  of  rare 
skill.  He  made  his  first  purchase  of  land  here  in 
1866.  It  consisted  of  one  hundred  and  twenty 
acres  of  unbroken  prairie  land.  He  set  himself 
courageously  to  the  pioneer  task  of  reclaiming  it 
from  nature,  and  not  only  placed  that  under  good 
improvement  but  bought  other  land  and  in  time 
became  the  possessor  of  three  hundred  and  twenty 


acres  of  as  fine  farming  property  as  is  to  be  found 
in  the  township.  He  has  erected  a  good  class  of 
farm  buildings,  and  the  new  residence  recently 
completed  is  a  model  of  comfort  and  convenience 
in  its  arrangements  and  furnishings. 

The  marriage  of  Mr.  Ortgiesen  with  Miss  Mar- 
garet Levan  took  place  in  this  township.  Mrs. 
Ortgiesen  is  a  native  of  Northern  Prussia,  born 
October  5,  1849,  in  the  vineyard  district,  not  far 
from  the  River  Rhine,  and  near  the  French  border. 
She  is  the  eldest  daughter  and  child  of  Jacob  Le- 
van, of  whom  see  biography.  She  was  but  a  child 
when  she  accompanied  her  parents  to  their  new 
home  in  the  far-away  western  wilds  of  America, 
and  she  was  reared  and -educated  in  this  township. 
She  is  the  mother  of  twelve  children,  all  of  whom 
are  at  home  with  their  parents,  and  are  named  as 
follows:  Minnie  G.,  Jane  A.,  Margaret,  George  F., 
Clara,  Jacob  W.,  Charles,  Nellie,  Daniel,  Burton, 
Walter  and  a  baby  unnamed. 

Mr.  Ortgiesen 's  politics  are  of  the  Democratic 
order.  In  religious  matters  he  upholds  the  Lu- 
theran faith,  he  and  his  good  wife  attending  the 
church  of  that  denomination,  and  giving  gene- 
rously of  their  means  to  help  pay  its  running 
expenses.  They  are  large  of  heart,  pleasant  and 
obliging  in  manner,  and  their  neighbors  regard 
them  highly. 


PETER  L.  BRECUNIA  conies  of  one  of  the 
pioneer  families  of  Lee  County,  where  most 
of  his  life  has    been    passed,   and  to-day  he 
stands  among  the  most  noted  farmers  and 
stock-raisers  who  have  been  so  largely  instrumen- 
tal in   its  upbuilding.     His    farm,   which  is  highly 
improved,  is  advantageously  located  on  section  31, 
Ashton  Township. 

Pennsylvania  is  the  native  State  of  our  subject, 
and  February  14,  1834,  the  date  of  his  birth  in 
Huntingdon  County.  His  father  was  Daniel  Bre- 
cunia,  and  it  is  thought  that  he  was  born  in  Wash- 
ington County,  Md.  He  married  Christina  King, 
who  is  supposed  to  have  been  a  native  of  the  same 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


595 


county  as  her  son,  our  subject.  They  began  their 
wedded  life  in  that  county,  but  subsequently 
removed  to  Bedford  County.  They  lived  there 
nine  years,  but  in  the  spring  of  1849  they  made 
still  another  move,  and,  coming  to  Illinois,  located 
in  Franklin  Grove,  Lee  County,  whence  they 
came  to  Ashton  Township  two  years  later,  and 
this  was  their  home  until  death  closed  their  mor- 
tal careers. 

Peter  Brecunia  was  the  fourth  in  order  of  birth 
of  the  ten  children  born  to  his  worthy  parents, 
and  he  was  a  lad  of  fifteen  years  when  he  accom- 
panied them  to  their  pioneer  home  in  this  county. 
He  remained  with  them  until  he  married,  when  he 
settled  on  the  farm  on  section  31,  Ashton  Town- 
ship, on  which  he  has  resided  ever  since.  He  has 
always  given  his  attention  to  agriculture,  has  a 
thorough  knowledge  of  the  best  methods  of  carry- 
ing it  on  profitably,  and  is  conceded  to  be  one  of 
the  best  farmers  in  the  township.  He  has  two 
hundred  acres  of  land  in  Iowa,  besides  his  valuable 
homestead  here,  which  comprises  two  hundred  and 
thirty-four  acres  of  land  under  admirable  tillage, 
and  provided  with  commodious  buildings,  of  a 
modern  appropriate  style  of  architecture,  every- 
thing about  the  place  betokening  superior  manage- 
ment and  unremitting  care  on  the  part  of  the 
owner. 

Our  subject  was  married  in  Bradford  Township, 
February  22,  1863,  to  Miss  Susan  M.,  daughter  of 
Jacob  and  Hannah  (Foreman)  Riddelsbarger.  The 
father  was  born  in  Franklin  County,  Pa.,  and  the 
mother  near  Hagerstown,  Md.  In  1845  they  came 
to  Illinois,  and  after  spending  a  few  months  in 
Oregon,  became  pioneer  settlers  of  China  Town- 
ship, where  he  died.  The  mother  is  living  at  an 
advanced  age.  Mrs.  Brecunia  was  the  third  in  a 
family  of  four  children,  and  she  was  born  near 
Hagerstown,  Md.,  May  25,  1843.  Her  marriage 
with  our  subject  has  been  productive  of  mutual 
happiness,  and  has  brought  them  two  children, 
Quinby  A.  and  Byron  L.  Quinby  is  the  proprietor 
of  the  Franklin  Grove  Creamery. 

Mr.    Brecunia  has  a  strong,  independent,  self-   i 
reliant  nature,  and  is  quite  capable  of  acting  and 
thinking    for   himself,  as    is    demonstrated  by  his 
successful  career.     At  the  same  time  he  is  not  un- 


mindful of  his  obligations  towards  others,  as  a 
true  Christian  gentleman,  and  is  accommodating 
and  neighborly  in  his  intercourse  with  his  fellow- 
citizens,  and  always  ready  to  do  another  a  favor. 
He  has  not  taken  an  active  part  in  politics,  but  is 
a  member  of  the  Republican  party,  and  one  of  its 
truest  adherents  in  this  township.  Both  he  and 
his  wife  are  sincerely  religious,  and  are  members 
of  the  Dunkard  Church. 

DOLPH  FRENZEL  is  numbered  among 
entei'prising  and  successful  business 
men  of  Dixon  who  is  engaged  in  carrying 
on  a  meat  market  on  the  corner  of  First 
and  Peoria  Streets  and  where  he  has  been  estab- 
lished since  1866.  This  gentleman  not  only  deals 
in  meats  of  all  kinds,  but  also  in  live  stock,  doing 
quite  a  business  in  this  line.  He  had  formerly 
been  in  business  on  his  own  account  in  Chicago, 
and  also  worked  in  Louisville,  Ky.,  as  a  "jour." 
By  persistent  industry  and  close  economy  he  has 
made  his  own  fortune  since  coming  to  Dixon,  as 
he  lost  all  he  had  in  Chicago. 

This  gentleman  is  one  of  the  many  in  this  coun- 
try who  had  their  birth  across  the  sea,  he  having 
been  born  in  Saxe- Weimar,  Germany,  in  1835.  He 
comes  from  pure  German  ancestry.  His  parents 
live'd  and  died  in  their  native  county  and  the 
father  followed  the  trade  of  a  butcher  in  which  he 
was  reasonably  successful. 

Our  subject  and  his  twin  brother,  Henry,  came 
to  the  United  States  in  1861,  and  Henry  died  some 
years  later  in  Chicago,  leaving  a  wife  and  one 
child.  This  gentleman  received  but  meager  edu- 
cational advantages  and  soon  learned  the  trade  of 
a  butcher  with  his  father  and  at  the  early  age  of 
sixteen  years  he  set  out  from  home  working  at  his 
trade.  He  then  served  his  country  as  a  regular 
soldier  for  some  years  when  he  did  journeyman 
work  at  his  trade  in  Hamburg  previous  to  coming 
to  America.  He  landed  in  New  York  City  and 
directly  went  to  Louisville,  Ky.,  and  after  a  short 
time  went  to  Chicago. 

While  in  this  last  named  city,  Mr.  Frenzel  met 


596 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


and  married  Miss  Katherine  Hastenstine,  a  native 
of  Baden,  Germany,  who  had  come  to  the  United 
States  with  her  parents  in  1848,  but  the  father  re- 
turned to  his  native  home  in  1858.  She  is  a  lov- 
able and  true  woman  and  mother  and  is  liked  by 
all  her  acquaintances.  This  couple  have  been 
blessed  by  the  birth  of  three  children;  Robert  F., 
who  assists  his  father  in  the  market;  Ida,  wife  of 
Trune  Rosebrock,  now  living  on  a  farm  in  this 
county,  and  Carrie,  who  is  at  home.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Frenzel  are  people  who  are  held  in  the  highest  re- 
pute by  all  with  whom  they  come  in  contact,  and 
in  politics,  Mr.  Frenzel  affiliates  with  the  Republi- 
can party. 


WILLIAM  H.  SWIGART  has  done  yeoman 
service  in  developing  the  agricultural  re- 
sources of  this  county  by  his  practical 
work  as  a  farmer  and  dairyman  since  he  came  here 
many  years  ago  in  his  boyhood.  He  lias  a  farm 
on  section  23,  Palmyra  Township,  which  comprises 
eighty-six  acres  of  land  under  a  high  state  of  cul- 
tivation and  amply  supplied  with  buildings  of  a 
good  class  and  all  the  appurtenances  for  conducting 
farming  operations  after  the  best  methods.  In  the 
dairy  business  he  takes  the  lead,  having  all  the 
latest  improved  machinery  for  preparing  feed  and 
the  mills  being  operated  by  a  seventeen-foot  wind- 
mill. He  is  also  interested  in  stock-raising,  which 
he  is  pursuing  successfully,  and  makes  a  specialty 
of  Norman  horses,  owning  a  fine  stallion  of  that 
famous  breed. 

Our  subject  was  born  in  Augusta  County,  Va., 
May  22,  1840.  His  paternal  grandfather  was  a 
German  by  birth  and  came  to  this  country  when  a 
young  man,  settled  near  Uniontown,  Md.,  and  there 
passed  his  remaining  days.  His  son  Samuel,  the 
father  of  our  subject,  was  born  there  and  in  that 
State  carried  on  his  trade  as  a  wheelwright.  He 
went  to  Virginia  and  there  met  and  married  Miss 
Maria  Dinkle,  who  came  of  one  of  the  old  families 
of  that  State.  In  1841  they  removed  to  Seneca 
County,  Ohio,  where  he  proceeded  to  open  up  a  farm 
in  the  wilderness,  but  his  busy  career  was  closed  by 


his  untimely  death  at  the  age  of  forty-five  years. 
After  this  sad  bereavement  the  mother  took  her 
children  to  live  in  Gratiot  County,  Mich.  There 
she  was  subsequently  married  to  Roswell  Reynolds, 
whom  she  survived  some  years,  her  death  occurring 
in  1889,  at  the  venerable  age  of  seventy-seven 
years.  She  was  a  woman  of  true  Christian  char- 
acter and  a  prominent  Methodist. 

He  of  whom  we  write  was  fifteen  years  of  age 
when  his  father  died.  He  went  with  his  mother 
to  the  new  home  in  Central  Michigan,  but  did  not 
stay  there  a  great  length  of  time  as  he  was  an  in- 
dependent, self-reliant  lad,  ambitious  to  make  his 
own  way  in  the  world.  In  1857,  when  but  seven- 
teen years  of  age,  he  came  to  Illinois  to  see  what  life 
held  for  him  here,  and  has  since  worked  his  way 
up  to  his  present  substantial  position  as  one  of  the 
solid  men  of  his  township.  Besides  what  he  has 
accomplished  in  the  line  of  his  work,  he  has  made 
his  influence  felt  in  social  and  religious  circles  and 
has  never  hesitated  to  champion  all  'plans  for  the 
moral  elevation  of  the  community.  He  is  known 
by  his  fellow-citizens  to  be  scrupulously  honest 
and  conscientious  in  his  acts,  cheerful  and  accom- 
modating in  his  intercourse  with  his  neighbors,  al- 
ways glad  to  do  another  a  favor,  and  in  all  respects 
a  thoroughly  upright  man,  who  seeks  the  good  of 
others  and  is  justly  held  in  high  repute.  He  and 
his  wife  are  prominent  in  society  and  in  the  church 
and  have  devoted  their  whole  energies  to  the  up- 
building of  the  Union  Church  of  this  township. 
Their  talent  for  music  is  utilized  in  perfecting  the 
choir,  of  which  they  are  leaders.  Mr.  Swigart  has 
been  at  the  head  of  the  Sugar  Grove  Sunday-school 
for  many  years  and  has  done  a  great  deal  to  make  it 
successful  and  attractive  to  the  children  as  well  as 
to  their  elders.  As  a  loyal  citizen  should,  he  in- 
terests himself  in  politics  and  has  given  his  alle- 
giance to  the  Republican  party. 

Our  subject  was  first  married  to  Miss  Janettc  M. 
Johnson,  who  was  born  and  reared  in  Palmyra 
Township,  a  daughter  of  one  of  its  pioneers,  E.  II. 
Johnson,  of  whom  a  biography  appears  on  another 
page  of  this  volume.  Mrs.  Swigart  died  while  yet 
a  young  woman,  leaving  one  child,  Roy  Ellwood, 
who  lives  with  his  father. 

Mr.  Swigart  was  married  a  second  time  in  this 


RESIDENCE  OF  5.D.  EASTWOOD,  SEC.  23., PALMYRA  TP.,LEE  C0.,l  LL 


RESIDENCE  OF  W*.  H  .  SWIGART,    SEC.  23.,  PALMYRA  TP.LEE  CO.,ILL. 


RESIDENCE  OF  ANTON   W.  HARMS, SEC.  3. .PALMYRA   TP,  LEE  CO..ILL. 


IHE  LIBRARY 
OF  IRE 

A'U  Pf  F'JJ 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


599 


township,  taking  as  his  wife  Miss  Carrie  L.  Lawton. 
Mrs.  Swigart  was  born,  reared  and  educated  here, 
and  is  a  daughter  of  the  late  Charles  Lawton,  for- 
merly a  well-known  farmer  of  this  locality  and  a 
native  of  England.  His  wife  survives  him,  and  is 
living  on  the  old  homestead  with  her  sons.  She 
was  also  born  in  England,  but  was  married  in 
Pennsylvania.  Her  maiden  name  was  Ann  Mary 
Tuck.  Mrs.  Swigart  received  her  education  in  the 
public  schools  of  Palmyra  Township,  and  here  grew 
to  womanhood.  Her  marriage  with  our  subject 
has  brought  them  one  daughter,  whom  they  have 
named  Lulu,  and  who  is  at  home  with  them. 

The  family  residence,  a  view  of  which  appears 
in  connection  with  this  sketch,  is  a  comfortable 
abode  and  the  center  of  a  hearty  hospitality  which 
is  extended  to  friends  with  genial  warmth. 


eAPT.  SUMNER  D.  EASTWOOD  is  most  fa- 
vorably   known    throughout  Lee    County, 
where  nearly  the  whole  of  his  life  has  been 
passed,  lie  being  a  son  of  one  of  its  early  pioneers. 
His  name  is  associated  with  the   best  interests   of 
Palmyra  Township  as  one  of  its    leading    farmers. 
He  has  a  farm  on  section    23,    that  is    highly    im- 
proved, its  appointments  of  the  best  class,  and  he 
devotes  it  to  general  farming  and  stock-raising,  and 
also  to  dairy  purposes. 

Capt.  Kastwood  was  born  in  Alleghany  County, 
N.  Y.,  on  the  21st  of  November,  1836.  His  father, 
Reuben  Eastwood,  was  likewise  a  native  of  the 
State  of  New  York,  and  is  a  son  of  Jonas  East- 
wood, who  is  thought  to  have  been  born  in  Ire- 
land, and  to  have  been  of  pure  Irish  blood.  He 
came  to  this  country  when  a  boy,  and  was  married 
in  the  State  of  New  York  to  a  •  lady  who  was  born 
of  German  parents  in  Germany,  and  had  come  to 
this  country  when  a  young  woman.  Jonas  East- 
wood and  his  wife  reared  a  family  of  children  in 
the  Empire  State,  and  after  their  offspring  were 
mostly  grown  came  thence  to  Illinois.  They  lo- 
cated in  Carroll  County,  and  there  he  died  at  the 
age  of  seventy-eight.  His  wife  had  died  two 
years  before  in  Lee  County  at  the  age  of  seventy- 


five.  They  were  both  active  members  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church,  in  which  he  was  a  promi- 
nent cxhoiter. 

Reuben  Eastwood  grew  to  manhood  in  his  na- 
tive State,  and  his  early  occupation,  while  a  resi- 
dent thereof,  was  that  of  a  shoemaker.  He  was" 
married  to  Miss  Nancy  McElhaney,  who  was  born 
and  reared  in  the  same  State  as  himself,  and  was 
of  good  Scotch-Irish  stock.  In  1837,  after  the 
birth  of  two  of  their  children,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  East- 
wood sought  the  wilds  of  Illinois  to  found  a  new 
home  by  pioneer  labor.  They  traveled  hither 
with  a  team  overland,  and  selecting  what  is  now 
Palmyra  Township  as  a  suitable  location  for  their 
future  abode,  Mr.  Eastwood  obtained  a  squatter's 
claim  to  a  tract  of  land,  which  he  afterward  pur- 
chased of  the  Government  when  it  came  into  the 
market.  He  lived  upon  and  improved  it,  but 
finally  sold  it  at  a  good  price,  and  in  the  later  '60s 
took  up  his  residence  in  Dixon,  where  he  died  in 
October,  1874,  when  past  three-score  years  of  age. 
His  record  as  a  pioneer  and  a  valued  citizen  is 
one  of  which  his  children  may  well  be  proud,  and 
his  name  will  ever  be  associated  with  the  upbuilding 
of  this  count}'.  His  wife  survived  him  until  July, 
1880,  when  she  passed  from  the  scenes  amid  which 
she  had  lived  for  more  than  half  a  century,  or 
since  her  early  womanhood.  She  was  sixty-five 
.  years  old  at  the  time  of  her  death.  She  was  well 
known  as  one  of  the  noble  pioneer  women  .of  the 
county,  and  her  memory  is  revered  for  her  great 
worth  in  all  the  relations  of  life. 

But  a  year  had  passed  over  the  head  of  our  sub- 
ject when  his  parents  brought  him  to  this  count}', 
and  ever  since  he  has  lived  in  Palmyra  Township, 
knowing  no  other  home,  and  in  time  has  come  to 
be  one  of  its  successful  farmers.  He  purchased  his 
present  farm  in  1879,  and  located  on  it  the  follow- 
ing year.  It  comprises  one  hundred  and  two  acres 
of  land,  nearly  all  of  which  is  highly  improved, 
and  a  good  house  and  barns  adorn  the  place.  A 
view  of  the  homestead  appears  on  another  page. 
The  fertile  fields  yield  large  harvests.  Mr.  East- 
wood has  cattle  of  high  grades,  including  thirty- 
five  cows  that  are  devoted  to  dairy  purposes. 

The  Captain  stands  high  in  the  citizenship  of 
his  community,  as  his  whole  career  shows  him  to 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


be  a  man  of  honor,  with  an  open  heart  and  fair 
mind,  just  and  generous  in  his  dealings,  and  incor- 
ruptible in  money  matters.  His  fellow-citizens 
appreciating  the  full  force  of  these  characteristics 
all  combined  in  one  man,  and  knowing  his  execu- 
tive ability,  have  frequently  entrusted  local  offices 
to  his  care,  and  twice  have  elected  him  to  repre- 
sent Palmyra  Township  as  a  member  of  the  Lee 
County  Board  of  Supervisors.  In  politics  he  is  a 
Democrat  and  has  never  failed  in  his  fidelity  to  his 
party. 

Capt.  Eastwood  was  married  in  his  adopted 
township  to  Miss  Nancy  Haight,  who  was  born  in 
the  Province  of  Ontario,  Canada,  in  July,  1835. 
Her  father,  Thomas  Haight,  died  in  the  summer  of 
1891,  thus  closing  a  life  that  had  been  prolonged 
to  a  good  old  age.  He  was  a  life-long  resident  of 
Canada,  spending  all  his  days  as  a  farmer  on  his 
native  soil.  His  wife,  who  was  a  native  of  that 
country,  died  there  while  yet  a  young  woman, 
when  her  daughter,  Mrs.  Eastwood,  was  young. 
Mis.  Eastwood  came  to  the  United  States,  and  to 
Lee  County,  when  she  was  just  entering  her  wo- 
manhood. She  is  the  mother  of  six  children,  of 
whom  two  are  deceased;  one  who  died  in  infancy, 
and  P^veline,  who  was  six  years  old  when  she  died. 
Gertrude  S.,  who  obtained  a  superior  education  at 
Lanark  Institute,  in  the  Province  of  Ontario,  has 
for  the  past  ten  years  been  a  teacher,  and  during 
that  time  has  gained  steadily  in  reputation  as  an 
instructor  of  rare  merit;  Addie  is  at  home;  Grace,  a 
stenographer,  is  in  the  employ  of  the  Thompson 
Plow  Company,  at  Beloit,  Wis.;  and  Lida  is  at 
home. 


•~7T  NTOX    \V.   HARMS.     Prominent  in    agri- 
•®L-I     cultural    and    social    circles     of     Palmyra 
]|li\    Township,   and    well   known    throughout 
<^j         the  entire  county,  Mr.  Harms  has  won  the 
esteem  of  his  associates  and  the  respect  of  all  with 
whom  he  comes  in  contact.     He  is  the  owner  of  a 
splendid  estate  comprising  one  hundred  and  twenty 
acres  located  on  sections  2  and  3,  which  was  for- 
merly included  in  the  old  homestead  of  his  father. 


Since  the  place  came  into  his  possession,  about 
1882,  many  improvements  have  been  introduced 
and  changes  effected  wherebj'  the  value  of  the 
laud  has  been  increased  considerably.  The  reader 
will  notice  on  another  page,  a  view  of  this  pleas- 
ant rural  abode  with  its  attractive  surroundings. 

Among  those  who  emigrated  from  Germany 
during  the  early  half  of  this  century  and  sought 
to  establish  homes  in  the  United  States,  were  Anton 
Harms,  Si1.,  and  his  wife  and  children.  The  father 
left  his  family  in  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  and  proceeded 
alone  to  Illinois  in  search  of  a  location.  During 
his  absence,  the  wife  and  mother  became  very  ill, 
and  died  and  was  buried  before  he  could  return  to 
New  York.  Afterward  he  brought  his  children  to 
this  county  and  here  was  united  in  marriage  with 
Anna  Hector,  who  like  himself  was  a  native  of 
Oldenburg,  Germany. 

Lee  County  is  the  native  home  of  our  subject, 
who  was  born  October  28,  1854.  His  opportunities 
fcr  securing  an  education  were  limited  to  the 
common  schools  of  the  district,  and  his  time  was 
mostly  devoted  to  aiding  his  father  on  the  farm. 
The  farm  which  had  been  purchased  on  coming  to 
this  county  was  on  sections  2,  3  and  4,  and  Anton 
Harms,  Sr.,  continued  its  improvement  until  he 
passed  away  July  15,  1878.  He  was  seventy-eight 
years  old  at  the  time  of  his  death,  having  been 
born  in  1800.  His  wife  survived  him  and  died  on 
the  home  farm  March  14,  1890,  aged  seventy  years. 
They  were  faithful  members  of  the  Lutheran 
Church  and  sincere  Christians. 

The  marriage  of  our  subject  united  him  with 
Miss  Mary  S.  Ahrens,  who  was  born  in  Oldenburg, 
Germany,  August  12,  1859.  When  twelve  years 
old  she  accompanied  her  parents,  Arend  H.  and 
Christina  (Socker)  Ahrens  to  this  countiy  and  set- 
tled with  them  in  Center  Grove,  Clinton  County, 
Iowa,  whence  two  years  later  they  removed  to 
Sterling,  111.,  and  here  they  now  reside.  They  are 
consistent  members  of  the  Lutheran  Church,  hon- 
ored by  all  who  know  them,  and  now  in  the  twi- 
light of  their  lives,  when  the  shadows  are  deepen- 
ing near  the  shores  of  eternity,  they  can  look  back 
upon  lives  well  spent. 

Three  children  have  been  born  to  Mr.  Harms 
and  his  estimable  wife— Arthur  H.,  Herbert  W. 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


601 


and  Jessie  B.  There  are  no  measures  proposed 
for  the  advancements  of  the  interests  of  the  com- 
munity and  its  citizens,  which  fail  to  receive  the 
hearty  endorsement  and  support  of  Mr.  Harms. 
He  is  numbered  among  the  most  ardent  supporters 
of  the  Republican  party  in  the  township  and  pro- 
motes its  welfare  in  every  possible  way,  casting 
his  ballot  for  its  candidates  and  using  his  influence 
in  behalf  of  its  principles.  He  and  his  wife  are 
identified  with  the  Lutheran  Church  and  are  faith- 
ful members  of  that  denomination.  His  dairy 
interests  are  extensive  and  he  owns  thirty  milch 
cows,  selling  the  milk  to  the  Anglo-Swiss  Con- 
densed Milk  Factory,  of  Dixon. 


/^  OL.  THOMAS  MORGAN  is  a  prominent 
(f(  p  contractor  and  builder,  who  conducts  a 
^^^/  large  business  in  his  line  which  is  by  no 
means  confined  to  this  county  or  State,  of  which 
he  has  been  a  resident  for  more  than  twenty  years, 
his  dwelling  place  being  one  of  the  attractive 
homes  of  Dixon,  pleasantly  located  on  Peoria 
Street.  The  Colonel  was  one  of  the  leading  officers 
of  an  Indiana  regiment  during  the  war,  and  no 
man  faced  the  difficulties  and  dangers  of  those 
trying  times  with  more  fortitude,  resolution  and 
fearlessness  than  he,  and  the  honors  conferred  upon 
him  were  richly  deserved  by  one  who  risked  his  all 
in  the  cause  of  an  adopted  country. 

Col.  Morgan  was  born  in  Monmouthshire,  Wales, 
May  26,  1821.  His  father  was  Griffith  Morgan, 
and  he  was  born  in  the  same  country,  his  birth- 
place being  in  Glamorganshire,  which  was,  so  far 
as  known,  the  native  shire  of  the  father,  Thomas 
Morgan,  who  spent  his  entire  life  in  Wales. 
Griffith  Morgan  learned  the  trade  of  a  molder  in 
his  youth,  and  was  engaged  at  it  in  Monmouth- 
shire until  1831.  In  that  year,  accompanied  by  his 
son  Thomas,  he  embarked  at  Liveipool  on  the  ship 
"Lagodo,"  and  landed  at  New  York  after  a  voy- 
age of  six  weeks,  lie  located  at  Harrisburg,  Pa., 
and  there  a  few  months  later  was  joined  by  his 
wife  and  the  four  children  that  he  had  left  in  the 
old  country  while  he  prepared  a  home  for  them  in 


this.  He  erected  the  first  rolling  mill  ever  built  at 
Harrisburg.  and  was  a  resident  of  that  city  two 
years.  Going  from  there  to  Louisville,  he  engaged 
in  molding  there  one  year,  and  at  the  end  of  that 
time  bought  a  farm  in  Clark  County,  Ind.,  and  lo- 
cated his  family  thereon,  while  he  followed  his 
trade  in  Tennessee  and  Virginia.  In  1838  he  sold 
that  farm  and  bought  another  in  Kosciusko  County, 
the  same  State.  He  devoted  himself  assiduously  to 
tilling  the  soil  thereafter,  and  made  for  himself  a 
substantial  place  among  the  farmers  of  that  region, 
and  there  closed  his  eyes  in  death,  at  the  end  of  a 
long  life  of  seventy-five  years.  The  maiden  name 
of  his  wife  was  Jane  Longmore.  She  was  born  in 
Yorkshire,  England,  and  died  on  the  old  Indiana 
homestead.  These  a^e  the  names  of  her  nine  chil- 
dren: Jane,  Thomas,  Griffith,  John,  William, 
Henry,  George,  James  and  Albert. 

A  lad  of  ten  years  when  he  came  to  America 
with  his  father  sixty  years  ago,  our  subject  was  old 
enough  then  to  have  firmly  impressed  upon  his 
mind  the  scenes  of  his  birthplace,  and  though  so 
many  years  have  elapsed,  he  still  retains  a  pleasant 
recollection  of  his  early  home  and  of  some  of  the 
incidents  of  his  life  there.  He  was  young  when  he 
began  to  work  with  his  father,  and  remained  with 
him  until  he  was  eighteen  years  old,  when  he  began 
to  learn  the  trade  of  a  carpenter  at  Warsaw.  At 
the  age  of  twenty-five  he  commenced  business  oh 
his  own  account  as  a  contractor,  and  was  thus  en- 
gaged until  June,  1862,  when  he  threw  aside  his 
work  to  offer  his  services  in  defence  of  the  Union, 
spurred  on  thereto  by  as  loyal  a  love  and  devotion 
for  this  land  of  his  adoption  as  ever  inspired  any 
of  its  native-born  citizens  to  do  battle  for  its  honor. 
His  name  was  enrolled  as  a  member  of  Company 
K,  Seventy-fourth  Indiana  Infantry,  and  he  was 
mustered  in  as  Captain.  He  soon  proved  by  his 
efficiency  in  carrying  out  orders,  by  his  dauntless 
courage  and  readiness  of  resource  in  emergencies, 
and  tact  with  his  men  that  he  was  entitled  to  the 
rank  to  which  he  had  been  raised,  and  was  succes- 
sively promoted  to  the  offices  of  Major,  Lieuten- 
ant-Colonel and  Colonel,  and  from  August,  1864, 
commanded  the  regiment  in  the  latter  capacity. 
Among  the  more  important  battles  in  which  he 
was  an  active  participant  were  those  at  Mumfords- 


11(12 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


ville,  Stone  River,  those  fought  in  the  principal 
engagements  of  the  Georgia  campaign ,and  the  hotly 
contested  battles  of  Cliickamauga  and  Missionary 
Ridge;  he  also  accompanied  Sherman  on  his  famous 
march  to  the  sea,  engaging  in  all  the  chief  battles 
on  the  way  thither.  He  continued  with  his  gallant 
leader  through  the  Carolinas,  and  thence  by  the 
way  of  Richmond  to  Washington,  and  took  part 
in  the  Grand  Review  of  the  Union  forces  after  the 
war  was  brought  to  a  final  close,  and  was  dis- 
charged with  his  regiment  in  June,  1865. 

On  his  return  from  the  South, at  the  close  of  his 
martial  career,  our  subject  resumed  his  former  busi- 
ness as  contractor  and  builder,  confining  his  opera- 
tions mostly  to  dwellings  for  a  time,  and  then 
branching  out  in  other  directions  as  a  contractor  of 
public  buildings.  He  carried  on  an  extensive 
business  in  the  building  of  churches,  residences 
and  other  buildings  in  different  cities  of  Indiana 
until  1869.  In  that  year  he  took  a  contract  to 
build  two  churches  in  Aurora,  111.,  and  in  1871 
contracted  to  build  the  Episcopal  Church  at  Dixon. 
He  was  much  pleased  with  the  pleasant  site,  of  the 
latter  city  and  the  many  superior  advantages  that 
it  possesses  as  a  place  of  residence,  and  decided  to 
make  his  home  here,  and  since  then  it  has  been  the 
centre  of  his  operations,  and  he  has  been  of  material 
assistance  in  promoting  its  growth,  several  of  its 
finest  buildings,  which  add  to  the  architectural 
beauty  of  the  city,  being  the  work  of  his  hands. 
He  has  often  been  called  elsewhere  in  the  pursuit 
of  his  business,  and  his  time  is  well  employed  in 
filling  numerous  contracts.  In  1872  he  erected  St. 
Paul's  Church  at  Peoria,  a  handsome  and  finely 
finished  structure,  and  in  1874  he  went  to  Cedar 
Rapids,  Iowa,  to  erect  a  church,  several  substantial 
business  buildings  and  a  dwelling. ' 

Col.  Morgan  has  been  twice  married.  In  1847 
he  was  wedded  to  Mrs.  Lydiu  (Lee)  Williams,  a  na- 
tive of  Ohio,  and  a  daughter  of  Richard  and  Susan 
(Abennethy)  Lee.  She  departed  this  life  in  1870, 
leaving  two  daughters,  Susan  and  Lydia.  Susan 
is  the  wife  of  George  Gregg,  and  Lydia  is  the  wife 
of  Daniel  Williams.  The  second  marriage  of  our 
subject,  which  took  place  in  1874,  was  to  Miss 
Jennie  Brown,  a  native  of  Dixon,  and  a  daughter 
of  John  and  Eliza  (Cotton)  Brown.  One  child  has 


been  born  of  this  union,  Mary  E.  The  Colonel 
was  reared  in  the  Episcopal  Church  and  has  always 
remained  true  to  the  faith.  His  honorable  record 
as  a  man,  as  a  citizen,  and  in  the  business  world, 
stamps  him  as  one  upon  whom  perfect  reliance  can 
be  placed,  who  is  to  be  trusted  in  all  things,  and 
whose  citizenship  is  of  value  to  any  community. 


SYLVESTER    SHAW,  who   resides   in    Lee 
Center,  is  an  old  pioneer  of  this  county, 
and  is  well  known  as  one  of  the  prominent 
and  wealthy  farmers  of  this  section  as  well 
as  a  successful  business  man  in  other  directions.  He 
was  born  in  Ontario  County,   May  21,  1818.     He 
there    grew    to    manhood    and    when   twenty-one 
years   of    age    came    to   Illinois,  settling   in   Lee 
County  in  1839,  where  he  took  up  a  claim  in  what 
is  now  Bradford  Township. 

For  two  years  before  settling  on  his  claim  Mr. 
Shaw  lived  in  what  is  now  Lee  Center  Township, 
afterward  making  his  home  in  Bradford  Township 
until  1881,  when  he  returned  to  the  village  of  Lee 
Center  in  the  spring  of  that  year.  In  June, 
1884,  he  engaged  in  the  mercantile  business  in 
that  place  and  is  still  carrying  it  on,  at  the  same  time 
operating  his  farm.  He  is  the  owner  of  some  three 
hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  fine  land  in  Bradford 
and  Amboy  Townships,  and  as  the  greater  part 
of  his  life  has  been  spent  in  agricultural  pursuits, 
he  has  a  wide  experience  in  all  that  relates  to  the 
business,  and  has  been  very  successful  in  whatever 
he  has  undertaken  to  do. 

Mr.  Shaw  was  married  in  DuPage  County,  111., 
July  4,  1845,  to  Miss  Amelia  H.  Noble,  who  was 
born  in  Geneseo,  Livingston  County,  N.  Y.,  June 
17,1819.  They  have  been  the  parents  of  seven 
children:  Oscar  F.  is  a  farmer  in  Iowa;  James  N. 
carries  on  the  same  occupation  in  Bradford  Town- 
ship; Fred  departed  this  life  in  this  township,  March 
11,  1890,  when  thirty-seven  years  old;  Harrietmar- 
ried Theodore  Gale,  who  is  now  deceased;  Alida  E. 
is  the  wife  of  John  R.  Daniels;  Ella  E.  married 
Frank  Derr,  and  Carrie  I.  died  when  seventeen 
months  old.  Mr.  Shaw  has  never  been  an  office- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


seeker,  but  takes  an  interest  in  all  matters  per- 
taining to  the  welfare  of  the  township,  and  has 
served  it,  as  Highway  Commissioner.  He  and  his 
family  are  highly  esteemed  in  the  community. 

The  father  of  our  subject,  John  Shaw,  was  a 
native  of  Vermont, -and  his  mother,  whose  maiden 
name  was  Polly  Fox,  was  born  in  Massachusetts. 
They  removed  from  what  is  now  Wyoming 
County,  N.  Y.,  to  Hancock  County,  111.,  where 
they  settled  and  remained  for  two  or  three 
years,  afterward  removing  to  Utah,  where  they 
were  among  the  early  pioneers  of  that  Terri- 
tory, and  where  they  spent  the  remainder  of 
their  lives.  The  father  of  Mrs.  Shaw,  Elisha 
Noble,  was  born  in  Sheffield,  Mass.,  and  her  mo- 
ther, who  was  Miss  Candace  Beach,  was  born  in 
Hartland,  Conn.  They  departed  this  life  in  Gene- 
see  County,  N.  Y. 


eHARLES  W.  LATIMER,  dealer  in  marble 
and  granite  and  a  manufacturer  of  monu- 
ments, has  been  engaged  in  business  in 
Dixon  in  his  present  line  since  1874,  and  with  an 
excellent  degree  of  success  has  carried  on  opera- 
tions. He  learned  his  trade'  in  the  East  and  be- 
came a  most  skillful  worker,  so  that  those  requiring 
work  in  his  line  do  not  hesitate  to  call  upon  him, 
knowing  that  they  can  receive  what  they  ask  for. 
His  trade  is  large  and  is  constantly  increasing  and 
he  keeps  upon  the  road  traveling  salesmen.  In  his 
shop  maj'  be  seen  some  fine  specimens  of  his  work 
which  show  what  he  can  do  in  his  line  of  trade, 
but  most  of  his  business  is  done  to  order. 

Mr.  Latimer  was  born  in  Wayne  County,  N.  Y., 
September  5,  1845.  Henry  M.  Latimer,  father  of 
our  subject,  was  born  in  Utica,  N.  Y.,  and  there  he 
was  reared  to  manhood.  He  wedded  Ann  E.  Will- 
iams, of  Utica,  N.  Y.  The  death  of  Mrs.  Latimer 
occurred  in  Albion,  Orleans  County,  in  1860,  at 
the  age  of  thirty-nine  years.  Mr.  Latimer  still 
survives  his  wife  and  is  living  in  Hawley,  Orleans 
County,  at  the  age  of  seventv-fivi'  years.  Of  the 
family  but  two  sons  survive — our  subject  and  his 


brother  Henry  T.,  who  is  now  a  painter  of  Erie, 
Pa.  He  served  in  the  late  war  for  one  year,  nine 
months  and  sixteen  days  as  a  member  of  Company 
K,  Twenty-seventh  New  York  Infantry,  during 
which  time  he  saw  some  hard  fighting  and  made  a 
good  record  its  a  brave  soldier. 

Charles  Latimer  was  born  and  reared  in  Lyons, 
N.  Y.,  where  at  the  age  of  eighteen  years  he  re- 
sponded to  his  country's  call  for  troops  to  put 
down  the  Rebellion,  enlisting  in  the  Ninth  New 
York  Heavy  Artillery  under  Col.  W.  II.  Seward, 
Jr.,  a  son  of  Secretary  Seward.  The  regiment  was 
assigned  to  the  Sixth  Corps  of  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac,  and  participated  in  the  battles  of  Cold 
Harbor  and  all  the  engagements  of  the  corps. 
They  were  then  in  the  Army  of  Shenandoah  Valley 
under  Sheridan  and  were  in  the  battles  of  Fishers 
Hill,  Cedar  Creek,  and  the  second  battle  of  Win- 
chester. Mr.  Latimer  was  then  detached  from  his 
company  by  a  special  order  to  serve  as  head  clerk 
in  the  Provost-Marshal's  office  at  the  headquarters 
of  the  Sixth  Army  Corps,  Maj.  David  I.  Miln, 
Provost-Marshal.  He  served  thus  from  February 
6,  1865,  until  July  of  the  same  year,  when  the  war 
having  been  brought  to  a  close  he  was  honorably 
discharged,  and  in  Washington,  D.  C.,  was  mus- 
tered out  on  September  29.  In  the  meantime,  his 
company  and  regiment  were  consolidated,  becom- 
ing Company  M,  Second  New  York  Artillery. 

At  the  age  of  sixteen  years,  Mr.  Latimer  began 
learning  the  trade  of  a  marble  cutter  in  the  shops 
of  W.  W.  Mead  of  Lyons,  where  he  remained  for 
two  years,  when  his  labors  were  interrupted  by  his 
war  service.  On  his  return  from  the  South,  he 
again  resumed  work  in  that  line  and  for  some  years 
was  employed  with  the  firm  of  Day  &  Ashcroft, 
extensive  dealers  in  marble  and  granite  of  Nor- 
wich, N.  Y.  When  he  severed  his  connection  with 
that  firm,  he  came  to  Dixon  in  1874,  and  with  the 
business  interests  of  this  city  has  since  been  prom- 
inently connected. 

In  Palmyra,  N.  Y.,  Mr.  Latimer  was  first  mar- 
ried, the  lady  of  his  choice  being  Miss  Ella  Backus, 
who  was  born  and  reared  in  the  Empire  State,  and 
with  her  husband  came  to  Dixon,  where  she  died 
at  the  age  of  tweut37-eight  years.  Unto  them  were 
born  two  children,  but  both  passed  away  before 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


the  mother,  who  was  a  most  estimable  lady  and  a 
faithful  member  of  the  Baptist  Church.  The  lady 
who  now  bears  the  name  of  Mrs.  Latimer  was 
formerly  Miss  Laura  E.  Merrill,  and  she  was  born 
in  Palmyra  Township,  this  county.  One  child 
graces  the  second  union,  a  son,  Frank  M. 

Mr.  Latimer  is  a  prominent  Mason  and  has  at- 
tained to  the  Thirty-second  Degree,  being  initiated 
into  the  mysteries  of  the  Scottish  Rite  in  Bing- 
hamton,  N.  Y.  He  is  connected  with  the  Blue 
Lodge  and  Commandery  of  Dixon,  was  Captain- 
General  of  the  last  named,  and  for  some  seven  years 
filled  the  office  of  Recorder,  and  at  present  is 
Generalissimo  of  the  Commandery.  He  is  also  a 
member,  Trustee  and  Adjutant  of  Dixon  Post,  No. 
299,  G.  A.  R.,  and  has  been  Treasurer  of  the  Dixon 
Hose  Company,  No.  1,  since  1882.  With  his  ballot 
he  supports  the  Democratic  party  but  takes  no  ac- 
tive part  in  political  affaire.  He  is  a  valued  citi- 
zen of  the  community  and  in  business  circles  ranks 
high. 


A.  SHOEMAKER  is  an  old 
^^#  and  well-known  resident  of  South  Dixon 
1^/J)  Township,  where  he  has  been  engaged  in 
general  farming  for  several  years,  and  he 
now  owns  a  well-ordered  farm,  finely  located  on 
section  25,  near  the  village  of  Eldena.  He  is  a 
son  of  the  late  John  W.  Shoemaker,  who  was  a 
pioneer  farmer  of  this  county,  and  at  the  time  of 
his  death,  December  20,  1888,  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
nine  years,  was  living  in  a  beautiful  home  one 
mile  north  of  the  city  of  Dixon,  which  had  been 
built  up  by  his  industry.  He  was  a  most  estimable 
man,  whose  life  record  was  worthy  of  emulation. 
He  took  a  lively  interest  in  public  affairs  and  was 
always  true  in  his  allegiance  to  the  Republican 
party.  Mr.  Shoemaker  married  for  his  first  wife 
Electa  Newcomb,  who  was  born  and  reared  in 
Catskill,  N.  Y.,  and  was  a  daughter  of  John  New- 
comb.  Her  father  kept  a  hotel  in  Catskill  for 
many  years,  and  died  there  when  past  sixty  years 
of  age. 

John   Shoemaker's   first  wife   died  in  the  prime 
of  life,  leaving  three  children,  of  whom  our  subject 


was  one,  and  in  1851  he  brought  them  to  Illinois 
He  settled  in  South  Dixon  Township,  and  after- 
wards returned  to  Schoharie  County,  N.  Y.,  his 
native  county,  to  marry  Elizabeth  Hinman,  who  is 
yet  living  at  a  venerable  age,  and  makes  her  home 
in  New  York  State.  The  paternal  grandfather  of 
our  subject  was  Jacob  Shoemaker,  and  he  was  a 
native  of  the  Empire  State,  descending  from  the 
old  Dutch  stock,  his  ancestors  being  pioneers  of 
New  York  in  the  infancy  of  that  State.  After  the 
death  of  his  wife  he  came  to  Illinois  in  his  old  age 
and  spent  the  remainder  of  his  days  with  his  son 
John,  in  this  township.  He  was  a  true  Christian, 
and  he  and  his  wife  were  devoted  members  of  the 
Baptist  Church  nearly  all  their  lives. 

He  of  whom  this  sketch  is  written  was  born  in 
Schoharie  County,  N.  Y.,  October  11,  1841,  but  as 
he  was  only  nine  years  old  when  his  father  brought 
him  to  this  State,  most  of  his  life  has  been  passed 
here,  where  he  grew  to  man's  estate  under  the  in- 
vigorating influences  of  pioneer  life.  As  soon  as 
he  arrived  at  years  of  discretion,  he  selected  the 
occupation  of  a  farmer  as  the  one  most  congenial 
to  his  tastes  and  habits,  and  has  successfully 
devoted  himself  to  his  chosen  calling  in  South 
Dixon  Township  for  several  years.  He  purchased 
his  present  farm  in  1881,  and  under  his  watchful 
care  it  is  always  in  good  condition,  its  eighty  acres 
are  under  admirable  tillage,  and  it  is  well  provided 
with  suitable  buildings  for  all  the  purposes  of 
general  farming.  Mr.  Shoemaker  is  a  hard  worker, 
exercises  thrift,  prudence  and  foresight  in  conduct- 
ing his  affairs,  and  spends  his  money  judiciously 
in  making  improvements.  He  is  looked  upon  as 
one  of  our  best  citizens,  who  is  influential  in  all 
that  relates  to  the  moral  uplifting  of  the  commun- 
ity. He  is  firm  and  unshaken  in  his  adherence  to 
principles  of  honesty,  truthfulness  and  justice,  and 
is  always  to  be  found  on  the  side  of  those  whom 
he  believes  to  be  in  the  right,  whether  they  are  in 
the  minority  or  in  the  majoiity.  He  is  fully  alive 
to  the  importance  of  the  temperance  question,  on 
which  he  is  well  posted,  and  he  is  a  whole-souled 
Prohibitionist. 

Our  subject  was  married  in  the  town  of  Amboy 
to  Miss  Martha  Burdick,  and  to  them  have  been 
born  nine  children,  of  whom  three  are  deceased,  as 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


oor. 


follows:  Isabel;  one  who  died  in  infancy;  and 
Lillie,  former  wife  of  George  Hepley,  of  Dixon. 
Those  living  are:  Grace,  wife  of  Oliver  Fritz,  of 
Beatrice,  Neb.;  Charles  II.,  Ruliaraa,  Frederick, 
Bert,  jind  Lela,  the  five  latter  living  at  home  with 
their  parents. 

Mrs.  Shoemaker  was  born  near  Troy,  N.  Y.,  and 
is  a  daughter  of  Nathan  and  Ruhaina  (Burdick) 
Burdick,  natives  of  the  Slate  of  New  York.  The 
family  came  to  Illinois  when  Mrs.  Shoemaker  was 
thirteen  years  old,  and  has  ever  since  lived  in  this 
county.  The  father,  who  has  attained  a  venerable 
age,  resides  at  Eldena,  where  the  mother  died  in 
1889,  when  full  of  yeafs. 


DENNIS  MILLER,  who  is  the  proprietor  of 
a  good  farm  in  Brooklyn  Township,  is 
now  living  in  retirement  in  the  pleasant 
village  of  Paw  Paw.  He  is  a  son  of  one 
of  the  pioneer  families  of  Lee  County  and  is  deserv- 
ing of  the  honorable  title  of  pioneer  himself,  as  he 
has  been  a  helper  in  the  great  work  that  has  been 
accomplished  in  the  development  of  this  section  of 
the  country.  He  was  born  in  Kingston,  Province 
of  Ontario,  Canada,  January  18,  1829.  His  father, 
Andrew  Miller,  was  also  a  native  of  that  place,  of 
which  his  father,  our  subject's  grandfather,  Miller, 
a  German  by  birth,  was  an  early  settler.  The  lat- 
ter was  a  blacksmith  and  wagon  maker,  and  fol- 
lowed those  trades  for  some  years  after  he  settled 
in  Canada.  He  then  devoted  himself  to  farmimg 
until  his  death,  on  his  homestead  in  Kingston. 

Andrew  Miller  learned  the  trade  of  a  blacksmith 
of  his  father,  and  was  engaged  at  it  in  his  native 
town  several  years.  In  1845  he  made  a  new  de- 
parture and,  like  his  father,  sought  a  new  home  in 
a  wild,  sparsely  settled  country,  coming  to  Illinois 
with  his  wife  and  eight  children,  the  long  and 
monotonous  journey  being  performed  witli  a  team. 
He  bought  a  tract  of  wild  land  in  what  is  now 
Brooklyn  Township,  where  but  few  had  preceded 
him.  He  built  a  frame  house  on  his  homestead  for 
the  shelter  of  his  family,  buying  some  of  the  timber 
at  the  Inlet  -saw  mill  and  some  at  Chicago.  He  then 


turned  his  attention  to  preparing  his  land  for  cul- 
tivation, and  in  the  course  of  time  had  a  well-tilled 
farm  as  a  reward  for  his  labors.  He  made  it  his 
home  for  a  number  of  years,  but  the  last  part  of 
his  life  was  spent  in  CerroGordo  County,  Iowa. 

The  maiden  name  of  the  mother  of  our  subject 
was  Lydia  Dennis,  and  she  was  born  in  the  Prov- 
ince of  Ontario,  Canada.  She  died  December  24, 
1891,  at  the  residence  of  her  daughter,  Mrs.  Mad- 
den, in  Brooklyn  Township.  In  her  younger  days 
she  was  an  expert  in  the  art  of  carding,  weaving 
and  spinning,  and  clothed  her  children  in  garments 
which  were  wholly  the  production  of  her  own  hand. 
She  did  her  cooking  before  an  open  fire  in  a  huge 
old-fashioned  fireplace,  and  had  but  few  conven- 
iences for  doing  her  housework. 

The  subject  of  this  life  record  was  a  lad  of  six- 
teen years  when  the  family  came  to  Illinois,  and  he 
still  has  a  keen  remembrance  of  the  journey  hither 
and  of  the  pioneer  surroundings  of  the  new  home 
in  this  county.  At  that  time  Northern  Illinois 
was  but  sparsely  settled  and  the  Government  held 
most  of  the  land  for  sale  at  $1.25  per  acre.  There 
were  no  railways,  and  Aurora,  Ottawa  and  Peru 
were  the  chief  markets.  Mr.  Miller  has  often  seen 
deer  and  other  kinds  of  wild  game  roaming  over 
the  prairies,  bluffs  and  river  bottoms,  where  are 
now  fruitful  farms  and  busy  towns.  The  farmers 
of  that  day  used  the  cradle  in  harvesting  their 
grain,  and  other  primitive  farming  implements 
were  employed  that  have  since  been  superceded  by 
modern  machinery. 

Mr.  Miller  helped  his  father  in  the  management 
of  his  farm  and  remained  an  inmate  of  the  parental 
home  until  he  married,  when  he  commenced  fann- 
ing on  his  own  account.  Two  years  later  he  bought 
forty  acres  of  land  in  Brooklyn  Township,  which 
formed  the  nucleus  to  his  farm.  He  bought  other 
tracts  at  different  times,  and  now  has  one  hundred 
and  eighty-six  acres  of  land  in  a  body,  well  im- 
!  proved  and  supplied  with  comfortable  buildings. 
He  continued  farming  until  1881,  when  he  rented 
his  place  and  took  up  his  residence  at  Paw  Paw, 
where  he  has  since  lived,  retired  from  active  busi- 

Mr.  Miller  was  married  in  1852  to  Miss  Ann 
Beemer,  a  native  of  Pennsylvania  and  a  daughter 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


of  Alexander  and  Asenath  Beemer.  Six  children 
have  blessed  their  married  life,  four  of  whom  are 
living.  The  eldest  child,  William  H.,  died  when 
two  and  a-half  years  of  age;  the  youngest  died  in 
infancy  unnamed.  Those  remaining  are:  Jerome 
B.,  Al'mina  A.,  Nellie  E.  and  Edith.  Almina  mar- 
ried Charles  Umphrey,  and  they  have  three  chil- 
dren: Floy  E.,  Edna  B.  and  Annie  E.;  Nellie  mar- 
ried Arthur  Wells  and  they  have  one  child,  Addie 
N.;  Mrs.  Wells  died  September  6,  1891. 

Mr.  Miller  is  a  Republican  in  politics,  and  a 
Prohibitionist  in  principle.  He  is  a  man  of  good 
habits,  of  sound  and  sensible  views  on  all  subjects 
with  which  he  is  familiar,  and  his  neighbors  and 
other  friends  hold  him  in  high  estimation  for  his 
sterling  character. 


&M  CLINTON  WARNER,  who  is  engaged 
ff/  I  in  the  real-estate  and  loan  business 

Ij  IB  at  Dixon,  has  been  a  prominent  fig- 
Hf  ure  in  the  public  life  of  Lee  County 
ever  since  he  attained  manhood,  and  has 
filled  various  offices  of  trust  and  honor  with 
eminent  ability.  He  is  a  native  of  New  Pres- 
ton, Conn.,  born  April  3/1850.  His  father,  Leman 
A.  Warner,  was  born  near  Lockport,  N.  Y.,  while 
his  father,  Dr.  John  Warner,  is  thought  to  have 
been  born  in  Vermont,  and  to  have  descended 
from  an  'old  English  family  that  settled  in  New 
England  in  Colonial  times.  The  doctor  removed 
from  his  native  State  to  New  York,  and  was  there- 
after in  active  practice  as  a  physician  in  Niagara 
County  until  death  closed  his  career. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  quite  young 
when  his  father  died,  and  soon  after  he  went  to 
reside  with  an  uncle  in  Washington,  Conn.  He  was 
a  natural  mechanic,  with  a  regular  genius  for 
handling  tools,  and  in  due  time  became  a  carpen- 
ter and  a  cabinet-maker.  He  was  a  fine  workman 
and  devoted  most  of  his  time  to  pattern-making. 
He  continued  to  live  in  Connecticut  until  1855, 
when  he  came  to  Illinois  and  located  at  Freeport. 
He  later  bought  a  home  and  for  some  years  oper- 
•  ated  as  a  contractor  and  builder.  In  the  mean- 


time his  inventive  talents  were  not  idle,  and  he 
produced  several  useful  articles,  and  in  1872  pat- 
ented an  invention  known  as  the  "Warner  Door 
Spring,"  which  proved  to  be  very  valuable,  and 
in  time  yielded  him  a  handsome  income.  He 
established  a  factory  in  Freeport  to  manufacture 
the  springs,  and  operated  it  a  number  of  years, 
but  finally  disposed  of  it  advantageously,  and 
now  lives  in  retirement  from  active  business,  in 
the  enjoyment  of  an  ample  fortune.  In  early 
manhood  he  married  Miss  Sarah  D.  Whittlesey,  a 
native  of  New  Preston,  Conn.,  and  a  daughter  of  the 
Hon.  David  Whittlesey.  They  have  reared  a 
family,  of  five  children. 

Our  subject  was  a  small  boy  when  his  parents 
removed  from  the  New  England  village  in  which 
he  was  born  to  the  city  of  Freeport,  in  this  State, 
and  his  education  was  conducted  in  the  public 
schools  of  the  latter  place.  He  lived  there  until 
he  attained  his  majority,  and  he  then  came  to 
Dixon,  with  whose  interests  his  own  have  since 
been  deeply  involved.  After  coming  here  he 
served  one  year  as  Deputy  County  Clerk,  and 
then,  though  so  young,  was  made  Deputy  County 
Treasurer,  which  office  he  held  for  fifteen  years. 
During  that  time  he  turned  his  attention  to  the 
real-estate  and  loan  business,  and  since  1889  has 
devoted  his  time  to  those  branches,  and  has  been 
an  active  factor  in  the  steady  growth  of  the  city. 
In  1887  lie  published  a  map  of  Lee  County,  that 
is  valuable  for  its  accuracy. 

In  1875  Mr.  Warner  and  Miss  Myra  O.  Brookner 
were  united  in  marriage.  Mrs.  Warner  is  a  native 
of  Dixon,  and  a  daughter  of  Christopher  and  Jane 
Brookner.  Her  wedded  life  with  our  subject  is  an 
example  of  a  felicitous  union,  and  their  dwelling  is 
one  of  the  attractive  homes  of  which  the  city  has 
so  many.  Their  pleasant  home  circle  is  completed 
by  the  six  children  born  unto  them:  Henry  C., 
Edward  C.,  James  C.,  William  II.,  John  F.  and 
Frederick  M.  The  son  John  F.  died  September  4, 
1891  at  the  age  of  five  years. 

Mr.  Warner's  aptitude  for  affairs,  and  other 
gifts  that  mark  him  as  a  man  peculiarly  adapted 
to  the  exigencies  of  a  public  life,  early  attracted 
the  attention  of  his  fellow-citizens,  and  they  have 
often  called  him  to  the  front  to  important  civic 


r 


OF 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


positions.  He  served  two  years  as  City  Clerk; 
represented  Dixon  on  the  County  Board  of  Super- 
visors in  the  year  1889  by  appointment,  and  in 
the  year  1890  by  election;  he  was  a  member  of  the 
Board  of  Aldermen  one  term;  was  Mayor  of  the 
city  for  two  terms,  in  the  years  1886  and  1887; 
and  for  three  terms  has  been  a  member  of  the 
North  Side  School  Board,  of  which  he  is  now  Pres- 
ident. His  public  record  is  without  a  blemish,  as 
he  has  conducted  his  official  duties  by  the  same 
honorable  methods  that  have  ever  characterized 
the  management  of  his  private  business,  and  he 
has  never  betrayed  a  trust.  His  politics  are  of  the  j 
Republican  order. 


JOSEPH  E.  SMITH  has  been   an   important 
assistant  in    bringing    Lee    County    to    its 
present  high  state  of  development,  as  he  has 
improved  two  good  farms  within  its  borders. 
In  conducting  his  farming  operations  he  acquired 
a  fortune  ample  for  his  needs,  and  for  some  years 
has  lived  retired  in  the  village  of  Nachusa.     He  is 
a  man  of  worth,  and  his  many  friends  will  consider 
his  portrait  and  biography  a  valuable  addition  to 
this  volume. 

Mr.  Smith  was  born  in  Hcsse-Cassel,  Germany, 
December  25, 1821,  a  son  of  John  and  Mary  Smith, 
who  were  also  natives  of  that  province,  where  they 
passed  their  entire  lives.  They  were  respectable, 
God-fearing  people,  and  members  of  the  German 
Catholic  Church.  Our  subject  is  the  only  one  of 
the  three  children  born  to  his  parents  now  living. 
His  only  sister  died  in  Germany.  His  brother 
Hilary  left  the  Fatherland  in  1854  to  join  him  in 
this  country  but  never  reached  his  destination,  as 
the  ship  in  which  he  sailed  was  wrecked  and  he 
found  a  watery  grave. 

Our  subject  was  reared  to  the  life  of  a  farmer  in 
his  native  province,  and  was  an  inmate  of  the  pa- 
rental home  until  he  attained  the  age  of  sixteen. 
He  then  set  out  boldly  into  the  world  and  with 
good  courage,  having  faith  in  his  ability  to  make 
his  way  unaided  in  spite  of  the  hardships. he  might 
encounter.  He  made  his  way  to  Brenierhaven, 
30 


and  April  18,  1837,  embarked  on  a  vessel,  the 
"William  Brant,"  that  was  bound  for  Baltimore, 
Md.,  where  he  landed  after  a  long  voyage  of  eighty- 
eight  days.  He  proceeded  to  Alleghany  County, 
in  that  State,  and  for  twelve  years  made  his  home 
in  that  part  of  the  country.  At  the  expiration  of 
that  time  he  came  to  Illinois  to  avail  himself  of  its 
rich  agricultural  possibilities,  and  since  1852  has 
been  a  resident  of  this  county. 

At  once  after  settling  here  Mr.  Smith  bent  his 
energies  to  his  work  as  a  farmer,  which,  in  a 
country  that  was  still  in  the  hands  of  the  pioneers, 
was  oftentimes  very  hard,  and  had  to  be  per- 
formed without  the  aid  of  the  fine  farming  ma- 
chinery in  vogue  to-day.  Notwithstanding,  he 
opened  up  two  farms  in  South  Dixpn  Township, 
and  from  being  a  poor  man  is  now  in  comfortable 
circumstances.  In  1884  he  retired  from  his  labors 
to  a  cozy  home  in  the  village  of  Nachusa,  and  here 
he  and  his  good  wife  are  enjoying  the  wealth  for 
which  they  have  toiled  together.  They  hold  a 
warm  place  in  the  hearts  of  all  in  the  community, 
as  they  are  always  cheerful  and  pleasant,  and  are 
charitable  and  benevolent,  no  one  who  is  suffering 
or  needy  appealing  to  them  in  vain  for  sympathy 
or  help,  and  by  their  generous  use  of  their  money 
where  it  will  do  the 'most  good  they  show  that  it 
was  gathered  together  for  no  selfish  purpose. 

No  American-born  citizen  has  greater  love  for 
this  country  or  is  more  loyal  to  the  Government 
than  Mr.  Smith,  who  transferred  his  allegiance 
fully  to  the  United  States  when  he  came  to  live 
under  its  flag,  and  sensibly  adopted  the  habits  and 
customs  of  its  people  instead  of  trying  to  retain 
those  of  the  Fatherland,  and  has  truly  Americanized 
himself,  so  to  speak.  He  is  peaceful  and  law-abid- 
ing, has  always  sought  to  avoid  discord  and  has 
never  sued  a  man  nor  has  he  ever  been  sued.  In 
politics  he  is  a  sound  Republican,  and  in  religion 
both  he  and  his  wife  are  devoted  Methodists,  hav- 
ing belonged  to  the  church  forty  years. 

During  his  residence  in  Maryland  our  subject 
was  happily  married  to  Miss  Henrietta  E.  Merrill, 
who  was  born  in  that  county  January  23,  1830. 
She  is  a  daughter  of  William  and  Fannie  (Holtz- 
man)  Merrill,  who  were  also  natives  of  Alleghany 
County,  and  there  they  always  lived,  dying  when 


610 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD.. 


old  people  on  the  farm  where  they  had  passed  their 
wedded  life.  They  were  members  of  the  Dunkard 
and  Lutheran  Churches,  respectively.  Mrs.  Smith's 
paternal  grandfather  was  Philip  Merrill,  who  was 
l)Oni  in  Germany  but  died  in  West  Virginia.  Her 
maternal  grandfather  was  Charles  Holtzman,  who 
lived  and  died  in  Maryland,  he  being  seventy-two 
or  seventy-three  years  old  at  the  time  of  his  de- 
mise. His  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was  Mary 
La  Rue,  and  who  was  of  French  extraction,  was 
born  in  New  Jersey,  and  died  in  Maryland,  at  the 
age  of  seventy-one. 

After  marriage  our  subject  and  his  wife  lived  on 
a  Maryland  farm  until  they  came  to  Illinois.  Nine 
children  have  been  born  to  them  of  whom  five  are 
deceased:  Charles  \V.,  Alonzo,  Arthur  L.,  John  R. 
and  Hilary  G.  Those  living  are  Clarence  C.,  a 
farmer  in  South  Dixon  Township,  who  married 
Amanda  Young;  Oscar  G.,  who  operates  an  elevator 
in  Nachusa,  and  who  married  Margaret  Burket; 
Etta,  wife  of  Walter  F.  Preston,  of  whom  a  biog- 
raphy appears  on  another  page  of  this  volume,  and 
Fannie  A.,  widow  of  John  Bossemeyer,  who  is  also 
represented  in  this  BIOGRAPHICAL  RKCORD. 


RS.  C.  M.  SWYGART,  who  resides  in  a 
pleasant  home  on  Madison  Avenue  and 
First  Street,  in  Dixon,  also  owns  a  good 
farm  three  miles  north  of  the  city.  It 
consists  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  well- 
improved  land  and  was  formerly  the  homestead 
of  her  father,  John  Moycr,  who  purchased  the  pro- 
perty over  fifteen  years  ago.  He  placed  good  im- 
provements on  the  place  and  later  purchased  an- 
other farm  in  a  different  part  of  the  county. 

Mr.  Moyer  was  a  native  of  Berks  County,  Pa. 
His  father,  a  German  who  emigrated  to  this 
country  in  Colonial  days,  was  a  valiant  soldier 
throughout  the  Revolutionary  War  and  spent  his 
last  years  in  the  Keystone  State,  where  he  died  at 
a  good  old  age.  He  was  employed  during  his  life 
in  operating  iron  furnaces  in  which  he  was  very 
successful  and  accumulated  a  large  property.  He 
was  a  widower  when  he  came  to  this  country, 


bringing  with  him  two  sons.  He  was  married  a 
second  time  in  Pennsylvania  to  a  lady  who  was 
a  native  of  that  State  and  who  there  died  at  the 
age  of  ninety-five  years.  They  were  both  members 
of  the  Lutheran  Church.  Their  son  John  also  be- 
came an  iron  manufacturer  and  on  his  father's 
death  succeeded  him  in  business  in  which  he  be- 
came rich.  Some  years  after  his  marriage,  he  sold 
out  his  interest  in  Pennsylvania  and  came  to 
Illinois,  where  he  purchased  a  farm  in  Lee  County 
which  he  carried  On  extensively  and  was  as  suc- 
cessful in  this  calling  as  in  his  former  occupation. 
He  died  in  this  county  in  1884,  at  the  age  of 
eighty-seven  years,  retaining  his  mental  and  phys- 
ical strength  up  to  the  day  of  his  death.  He  was 
a  prominent  and  influential  man  in  the  community 
and  highly  esteemed  as  a  good  citizen.  His  busi- 
ness was  conducted  on  the  strictest  principles  and  in 
the  most  honorable  and  upright  manner.  He  was 
a  sound  Republican  in  politics  and  had  been  given 
all  the  local  offices  of  the  township.  He  was  one 
of  the  four  original  founders  of  the  Lutheran 
Church  in  this  place  and  gave  liberally  to  the 
cause.  His  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was  Rebecca 
Trout,  was  born  and  reared  in  Berks  County,  Pa., 
where  she  was  married.  Her  father  was  an  Eng- 
lishman, who  was  married  after  coming  to  the 
United  States  to  a  lady  of  Pennsylvania  birth, 
lie  was  a  prominent  business  man  and  both  he  and 
his  wife  were  highly  esteemed  in  the  community 
in  which  they  lived.  They  were  worthy  members 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

The  mother  of  our  subject,  who  was  the  first 
wife  of  John  Moyer,  died  in  Pennsylvania,  while 
in  the  prime  of  life.  She  left  but  one  daughter, 
Mrs.  Swygart.  John  Moyer  was  married  a  second 
time  to  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Cleaver,  nee  Yudder,  a  na- 
tive of  Pennsylvania  and  who  died  in  this  county 
some  years  ago,  full  of  years.  She  was  a  member 
of  the  Methodist  Church. 

Mrs.  Swygart  was  reared  and  educated  in 
Pennsylvania  and  is  a  woman  of  good  education, 
excellent  business  qualities  and  fine  executive 
ability.  She  is  the  mother  of  eight  children. 
William  H.  married  a  lady  in  New  Mexico,  who 
lived  but  a  short  time  afterward;  he  is  general 
agent  for  the  Sante  Fe  Railroad  at  Lake  Valley,  N. 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


611 


M.  John,  who  married  Miss  Mattie  Holland,  is  an  : 
engineer  on  the  Wabash  Railroad  and  resides  in 
Decatur,  this  State.  George  W.  lives  in  California, 
where  he  was  married.  Edward  resides  in  Chi- 
cago and  married  Miss  Anna  Bradford.  Clemen- 
tine is  at  home  with  her  mother,  and  is  a  highly 
educated  and  refined  young  lady.  Lillia  is  also 
at  home.  Ella,  who  is  the  wife  of  Frank  Willard, 
is  at  present  in  California.  Eva,  who  resides  at 
home,  is  an  artist  and  gives  lessons  in  painting. 
Mrs.  Swygart  and  her  daughters  are  members  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church.  The  family  is  well-known 
and  highly  esteemed  in  the  city,  where  they  reside. 


IIUKRMAN  LINDEMAN.  No  class  of  men 
JT^V  has  done  more  for  the  benefit  of  this  county 
y*ds  than  the  farmers  who  have  redeemed  the 
(|||  land  from  its  original  wildness,  and  have 
thus  contributed  greatly  to  the  wealth  and  prosper- 
ity visible  on  every  hand.  Among  these  sturdy 
tillers  of  the  soil  is  the  gentleman  whose  name  is 
at  the  head  of  this  bjographical  review.  He  has  a 
good  sized,  neatly  equipped  farm  on  section  23, 
South  Dixon  Township,  which  is  well-stocked  with 
cattle,  horses  and  swine  of  fine  breeds. 

Mr.  Lindeman  was  born  in  Carroll  County,  Md., 
October  1,  1835,  a  son  of  John  B.  Lindeman,  who 
was  a  highly  respected  pioneer  of  Lee  County.  His 
father  was  a  native  of  the  Kingdom  of  Hanover, 
Germany,  and  was  descended  from  a  worthy  an- 
cestry. He  was  married  in  the  land  of  his  birth  to 
Elizabeth  Lindeman,  who  was  also  born  and  reared 
there,  and  came  of  a  good  family.  After  the  birth 
of  four  children,  they  concluded  that  they  could 
rear  their  offspring  to  better  advantage  and  pro- 
vide for  them  a  more  comfortable  home  in  the 
United  States  of  America  than  they  could  in  their 
own  country,  so  they  emigrated  hither  in  the  lat- 
ter '20s  or  early  '30s,  and  settled  in  Carroll 
County,  Md.,  living  for  a  time  in  Frederick  City. 
Mr.  Lindeman  began  life  in  this  country  as  a  farm 
laborer.  In  the  winter  of  1841,  he  brought  his 
family  to  this  State,  located  in  Dixon,  and  after  a 
time  purchased  a  tract  of  land  in  this  township. 


Ho  worked  hard,  and  in  the  development  of  a  good 
farm,  did  his  share  in  advancing  the  growth  of  the 
county.  He  and  his  wife  spent  their  last  days  on 
the  old  homestead,  and  died  in  the  ripeness  of  a 
good  old  age,  he  being  past  seventy-five  years  old, 
and  she  passing  away  previously  when  more  than 
three-score  years  old.  They  were  both  truly  re- 
ligious, firm  believers  in  the  Lutheran  faith,  and 
life-long  members  of  that  church. 

After  our  subject  became  of  age,  he  continued 
to  live  with  his  father  for  eighteen  months,  and  in 
that  time  earned  his  first  $260,  which  he  judi- 
ciously invested  in  eighty  acres  of  wild  land,  upon 
which  he  has  since  built  his  home.  He  worked 
hard  to  convert  this  tract  of  prairie  soil,  on  which 
never  a  furrow  had  been  turned,  into  a  finely  cul- 
tivated farm,  and  he  not  only  accomplished  his 
purpose,  but  has  improved  other  land,  adding  to 
his  original  purchase  forty  acres  at  one  time,  then 
an  eighty-acre  tract,  and  after  that  still  another 
tract  of  eighty  acres,  and  recently  purchased  still 
another  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  and  now 
has  four  hundred  and  forty  acres  of  as  fine  farm- 
ing land  as  can  be  found  within  the  bounds  of  the 
township,  upon  which  he  has  erected  a  good  class 
of  buildings,  and  everything  about  the  place  de- 
notes thrift  and  watchful  care  in  its  management. 
The  cattle,  horses  and  swine  that  are  raised  on  the 
farm  are  of  fine  breeds,  and  our  subject  derives  a 
good  income  from  his  stock. 

In  this  township,  where  the  most  important  part 
of  his  life  has  been  passed,  our  subject  was  united 
in  marriage  to  Miss  Nancy  Fritz.  Mrs.  Lindeman 
was  born  in  Somerset  County,  Pa.,  June  20,  1835, 
to  John  and  Eva  (Mowrcy)  Fritz,  who  were  also 
natives  of  Somerset  County,  where  they  passed  the 
early  part  of  their  life,  both  being  of  German  de- 
scent. After  the  birth  of  all  their  children,  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Fritz  left  Pennsylvania,  and  coming  to 
this  county,  cast  in  their  lot  with  the  pioneers  who 
had  preceded  them,  locating  in  what  is  now  South 
Dixon  Township  on  a  slightly  improved  farm. 
Mr.  Fritz  further  developed  that  place,  bought 
other  new  land,  and  in  time  had  a  fine  large  farm 
of  seven  hundred  acres.  He  grew  old  among  the 
people  with  whom  he  had  settled,  and  who  learned 
to  respect  him  for  his  sterling  worth,  and  died  at 


612 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


an  advanced  age  at  his  home  on  section  13,  on  the 
old  Chicago  road,  he  being  nearly  seventy-six  years 
old  at  the  time  of  his  demise.  In  religion,  he  ad- 
hered to  the  faith  of  his  fathers,  and  was  connected 
with  the  Lutheran  Church  in  this  county  for  man}7 
years,  his  wife  also  being  a  devoted  member  of 
that  church.  She  is  yet  living,  making  her  home 
with  her  daughter,  Mrs.  Lindeman  of  this  notice, 
and  is  ninety-three  years  old. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lindeman  are  among  the  leading 
members  of  the  Lutheran  Church  at  St.  James,  as 
are  their  children  likewise.  They  stand  high  in 
the  estimation  of  their  neighbors,  who  know  them 
to  be  sincere,  true-hearted  people,  of  irreproachable 
character,  helpful  toward  others  who  may  be  in 
need  of  assistance,  and  always  friendly  in  their  re- 
lations with  all  about  them.  Mr.  Lindeman  and 
his  sons  are  stalwart  adherents  of  the  Republican 
party.  Our  subject  and  his  wife  have  six  children 
living:  Clara,  wife  of  A.  J.  Lyons,  a  farmer  of  Gage 
County,  Neb.;  Alice,  wife  of  Edward  Burket,  a 
grocer  at  Crete,  Neb.;  Ida,  wife  of  Luther  Burket, 
a  farmer  of  Dixon  Township;  Mary,  wife  of  Lin- 
coln Grover,  a  banker  of  McDonalds,  Kan.;  Clin- 
ton and  Gilbert,  who  live  with  their  parents,  and 
assist  their  father  in  the  management  of  the  farm. 


W_ON.  CHARLES  H.  INGALLS,  Major  of  the 
llfjlj  Sixth  Regiment  Illinois  National  Guards, 
i^M?  is  one  of  Lee  County's  most  distinguished 
(|g;  sons,  who  is  pre-eminent  in  her  public  life, 
and  is  prominently  connected  with  her  most  lead- 
ing interests  as  one  of  the  successful  farmers  and 
stock-raisers  within  her  borders.  His  home  is 
in  his  handsome,  elegantly  appointed,  farm  resi- 
dence on  section  10,  Sublette  Township,  and  here 
he  has  improved  one  of  the  finest  equipped  and 
choicest  farms  in  this  section. 

Maj.  Ingalls  was  born  in  Lee  Centre  Township, 
March  11,  1846,  and  is  a  son  of  Charles  F.  Ingalls, 
now  of  Chicago,  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  of  that 
township,  one  of  the  leading  pioneers  of  the  county 
and  one  of  its  prominent  citizens  until  within 


a  few  years.  The  Ingalls  family  now  in  the  Uni- 
ted States  originated  in  Lincolnshire,  England,  but 
came  to  America  in  early  Colonial  days.  Four 
generations  of  the  ancestors  of  our  subject  lived  on 
the  same  pleasant  New  England  farm  in  the  town  of 
Abington,  Windliam  Count}',  Conn.,  his  great-great- 
grandfather, James  Ingalls,  locating  there  long  be- 
fore the  independence  of  the  United  States.  His  son 
Ephraim,  the  next  inline  of  descent,  inherited  the 
farm  and  passed  it  on  in  due  time  to  the  son  who 
bore  his  name,  and  was  the  grandfather  of  our  sub- 
ject, and  thus  it  came  to  pass  that  the  old  home- 
stead in  that  Connecticut  town  was  the  birth- 
place of  Charles  F.  Ingalls,  January  18,  1817.  He 
was  the  seventh  of  the  nine  children  born  to  his 
parents,  and  of  the  others  it  is  recorded  that  Henry 
L.,  who  was  an  early  settler  of  Cass  County,  in 
this  State,  died  in  Minnesota;  Edmund,  who  lo- 
cated in  Cass  County  in  the  early  days  of  its  set- 
tlement, died  there  one  year  later;  Lydia  became  the 
wife  of  Jonathan  Colby,  and  died  in  Menard 
County;  Deborah,  who  married  Dr.  Richard  F. 
Adams,  died  in  Lee  Centre;  Addison  came  "West  in 
1832, and  died  at  Oak  Park,  this  State;  Ephraim 
came  to  Illinois  in  1837,  and  is  now  a  physician  and 
surgeon  on  the  West  Side  in  Chicago. 

The  father  of  our  subject  went  to  Windsor 
County,  Vt.,  when  he  was  twelve  years  old,  and 
there  completed  his  education  and  afterwards 
taught  school.  He  had  not  attained  manhood  when 
he  exchanged  the  hills  of  Vermont  for  the  prairies 
of  Illinois  in  1834,  but  was  an  intelligent  youth  of 
seventeen  years,  whose  services  as  a  teacher  were 
welcomed  by  the  pioneers  of  Cass  County,  where 
he  engaged  in  teaching  the  ensuing  two  years. 
In  1836,  accompanied  by  his  brother  George  A.,  he 
came  to  Lee  County  and  took  a  claim  in  Lee  Cen- 
tre Township,  and  in  1844,  when  the  land  came 
into  the  market,  lie  purchased  a  half  section.  He 
soon  became  one  of  the  most  thrifty  and  well-to- 
do  pioneer  farmers  of  that  place,  and  besides  at- 
tending to  his  farming  interests,  dealt  to  some  ex- 
tent in  real  estate,  and  finall}7  obtained  possession 
of  over  five  hundred  acres  of  valuable  land.  His 
homestead  contained  two  hundred  and  seventy 
acres  of  land  which  he  placed  under  a  high  state 
of  cultivation,  and  adorned  with  the  best  improve- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


613 


ments  in  the  vicinity.  In  March,  1885,  having  pre- 
viously sold  his  homestead,  he  left  Lee  County  and 
though  his  residence  lias  been  nominally  in  Chi- 
cago, he  and  his  wife  have  passed  much  of  the  time 
in  traveling,  spending  the  winter  seasons  either  in 
California  or  Florida.  He  paid  his  first  visit  to  the 
Golden  State  in  1850,  going  thither  in  a  wagon 
train.  He  followed  mining  there  three  years,  dealt 
in  live  stock  one  year,  and  then  returned  home  in 
1854  with  the  money  thus  made,  making  the  jour- 
ney by  the  Isthmus  and  New  York  City. 

Mr.  Ingalls  is  a  Republican  and  while  a  resident 
of  Lee  County  took  an  important  part  in  the  ad- 
ministration of  public  affairs  as  a  member  of  the 
Board  of  Supervisors.  He  was  married  April  6, 1838, 
to  Miss  Sarah  Hawkms,and  they  have  lived  together 
in  a  congenial  marriage  for  more  than  half  a  century. 
Mrs.  Ingalls  is  a  woman  of  an  earnest  Christian 
character,  and  is  a  member  of  the  Baptist  Church. 
She  was  born  in  Reading,  Windsor  County.  Vt., 
March  15,  1819,  a  daughter  of  John  S.  and  Mary 
( Morrison)  Hawkins,  and  lived  in  her  native 
county  until  the  date  of  her  marriage.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Ingalls  have  reared  five  children,  namely: 
Charles  H.,  our  subject;  Ephrann  F.,  a  resident  of 
Chicago;  Sarah  D.,  wife  of  J.  II.  Pierce,  Superin- 
tendent of  the  National  Tube  Works  at  McKees- 
port,  Pa.:  Ara  M.,  wife  of  W.  H.  Morgan,  of  Chi- 
cago; Mary  S.,  wife  of  Charles  C.  Jacobs,  of  Amboy. 
The  parents  of  our  subject  gave  their  children 
good  educational  advantages,  not  only  in  the  com- 
mon branches  of  study  but  in  the  arts,  and  their 
parlors  are  adorned  with  oil  paintings  and  other 
artistic  works  from  the  hands  of  their  daughters. 

The  original  subject  of  this  sketch  was  reared 
on  the  old  homestead  in  Lee  Centre  Township  that 
was  his  birthplace,  and  not  only  had  he  an  opportu- 
nity to  be  well  grounded  in  all  that  pertains  to 
agriculture,  but  was  given  exceptional  chances  to 
obtain  a  liberal  education  in  the  academy  at  Lee 
Centre  and  at  the  State  Normal  University  at  Nor- 
mal, lie  was  but  a  boy  when  the  war  broke  out, 
but  watched  its  course  with  a  deep  interest,  and  in 
August,  1862,  inspired  with  as  lofty  a  patriotism 
as  that  which  animated  his  elders,  he  offered  his 
services  to  the  Union  as  a  soldier,  but,  to  his  bitter 
disappointment,  ho  was  rejected  on  account  of  his 


youth  and  size.  In  December,  1863,  he  again  vol- 
unteered, and  this  time  was  accepted,  and  was  mus- 
tered into  the  army  as  a  private  in  Company  E,  Sev- 
enty-fifth Illinois  Infantry.  He  accompanied  his 
regiment  to  Chattanooga,  and  thence  with  Sherman 
to  Atlanta,  and  was  present  at  the  capture  of  that 
city,  besides  taking  part  in  the  battles  of  Kenesaw 
Mountain  and  Peach  Tree  Creek.  He  then  returned 
to  Tennessee  with  Gen.  Thomas,  and  fought  in  the 
engagements  at  Franklin,  Spring  Hill  and  Nashville. 
In  the  latter  city  he  was  detailed  by  the  medical 
directory  to  the  First  Division  of  the  Fourth  Army 
Corps,  and  in  June,  1865,  was  transferred  to 
Company  K,  Twenty-first  Illinois  Infantry.  In 
July  he  went  to  New  Orleans,  and  in  August 
to  San  Antonio,  Tex.,  where  he  remained  until  or- 
ders were  received  for  mustering  his  regiment  out 
of  the  service,  December  25,  1865.  From  January 
until  June  10  of  that  year,  he  had  been  in  the  of- 
fice of  the  Medical  Director,  and  was  subsequently 
in  the  Provost-Guard's  headquarters  and  in  the  Pro- 
vost-Marshal -General's  office  at  San  Antonio,  hold- 
ing a  position  in  the  latter  until  his  discharge.  In 
May,  1865,  he  had  been  promoted  to  be  Sergeant,  an 
honor  richly  deserved,  as  he  had  shown  himself  in 
every  way  worthy  of  preferment  by  his  loyalty  to 
his  country,  by  his  excellent  soldiership -on  the 
battle-field,  and  by  his  prompt  and  intelligent  ser- 
vice wherever  he  was  placed.  His  military  record 
was  won  when  he  was  scarcely  more  than  a  boy, 
for  he  was  not  yet  out  of  his  teens  when  the  war 
closed. 

Returning  to  his  native  county  after  he  left  the 
army,  Maj.  Ingalls  resumed  work  on  the  farm, 
and  gave  his  attention  to  farming  until  1868.  He 
then  engaged  in  the  hardware  business  in  Sterling 
one  year,  and  at  the  expiration  of  that  time  loca- 
ted on  the  farm  which  he  still  owns  and  occupies 
on  section  10,  Sublette  Township.  He  has  here  two 
hundred  acres  of  very  fertile,  highly  cultivated 
land,  supplied  with  the  finest  modern  improve- 
ments, which  have  been  made  by  the  Major  himself , 
and  his  farm  is  well  stocked  with  cattle,  horses  and 
hogs  of  the  best  breeds. 

Maj.  Ingalls  was  married  March  1, 1871,  to  Miss 
Mary  I.  Morse,  daughter  of  Walter  and  Susan 
Morse,  and  she  presides  over  their  beautiful  home 


614 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


with  true  grace,  uniting  with  her  husband  in  cor- 
dial welcome  to  all  who  cross  its  threshold  to  share 
its  bounteous  hospitalities.  Five  children  com- 
plete their  family  circle:  Herbert  F.,  Grace  M., 
Neva  M.,  Walter  F.  and  Fred. 

Our  subject's  title  as  Major  is  due  to  his  connec- 
tion with  one  of  the  leading  military  organizations 
of  Illinois.  September  20,  1878,  he  organized  a  com- 
pany of  one  hundred  men,  which  was  enrolled  as 
Company  F,  Fourth  Illinois  National  Guards,  and 
for  ten  years  he  was  Captain  of  the  company,  and 
was  then  promoted  to  the  position  of  Lieutenant- 
Colonel.  The  regiment  was  subsequently  dis- 
banded and  Col.  Ingalls  received  the  compliment  of 
being  commissioned  Major  of  the  Sixth  Regiment 
of  Illinois  National  Guards,  and  still  holds  that 
rank.  Socially  he  is  connected  with  the  Knights 
Templar  and  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic. 
His  services  as  a  public  official  in  various  responsible 
capacities  have  often  been  in  demand,  the  calibre 
of  his  mind,  his  high-toned  character  and  his  na- 
tive ability,  marking  him  as  a  man  eminently  fit- 
ted to  fill  important  places.  He  was  a  member  of 
the  County  Board  of  Supervisors  for  Sublette  Town- 
ship one  term,  and  represented  his  district  in  the 
Thirty-fourth  General  Assembly,  which  elected 
Gen.  John  A.  Logan  to  the  United  States  Senate 
in  1885.  The  Major's  political  relations  are  with 
the  Republican  party,  of  which  he  is  an  ardent  ad- 
vocate. 


JOSEPH  F.  COLE,  Postmaster  and  druggist  at 
Compton,  is  one  of  the  leading  citizens    of 
the  village  who   is  active   in    its   business 
interests  and  is    potent   in    promoting   its 
growth.      He  was  born    near   Wellshoro,    Potter 
County,  Pa.,  July  14,  1844.      His   father,   Joseph 
Cole,  was  born,  reared  and  married  in  the  State  of 
New  York.     He  was  a  millwright   by   trade,   and 
after   marriage    he  removed  to    Potter    County, 
where  he  followed  that  occupation    a   few   years. 
He  subsequently  took  up  his  residence  at  Angelica, 
Allegany   County,   N.   Y.,    and    there   his    death 
occurred  in  1854  while  he  was  yet  in  the  prime  of 


life.  His  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was  Adelina 
Fail-child,  and  who  was  also  a  native  of  New  York, 
did  not  survive  him  many  months,  but  died  the 
following  year. 

Thus  sadly  bereft  of  his  parents  while  yet  a  boy, 
our  subject  went  to  live  with  his  uncle  Samuel  P. 
Fail-child,  with  whom  he  came  to  Lee  County  in 
1856.  On  his  arrival  here  he  went  to  live  with 
Elisha  Hills.  He  attended  school  a  portion  of 
each  year,  and  made  the  best  of  his  opportunities 
to  obtain  an  education,  and  the  remainder  of  the 
time  he  assisted  on  the  farm,  thus  contin- 
uing until  1864.  A  youth  of  nineteen  years 
who  had  watched  with  great  interest  fie  course 
of  the  war  that  was  raging  between  the  North 
and  the  South,  he  then  determined  to  do  a 
man's  part  in  helping  his  country  in  the  hour 
of  her  direst  need,  and  in  the  month  of  May,  he 
enlisted  in  Company  E,  One  Hundred  and  Fortieth 
Illinois  Infantry,  for  one  hundred  days.  He  went 
to  Tennesee  with  the  command  which  was  assigned 
to  guard  the  Memphis  &  Charleston  Railway, 
and  he  was  thus  employed  until  the  expiration  of 
his  term  of  enlistment.  He  was  honorably  dis- 
charged with  his  regiment,  having  shown  excellent 
soldierly  qualities  in  the  discharge  of  his  duties. 

Soon  after  his  return  from  the  seat  of  war,  Mr. 
Cole  went  to  Menclota  to  attend  school,  as  he  was 
ambitious  to  improve  his  mind  by  further  study. 
He  devoted  himself  assiduously  to  his  books  for  a 
year,  and  then  went  to  Bloomington  to  learn  the 
trade  of  a  house  and  sign  painter.  He  remained  in 
that  city  for  four  years,  and  after  that  spent  a 
year  at  Normal  working  at  his  trade.  At  the  end 
of  that  time  he  came  back  to  Lee  County,  and 
until  1872  was  engaged  in  the  mercantile  business 
at  Malugin's  Grove.  Carnahan  Station  was  his 
next  place  of  residence,  and  he  was  similarly 
engaged  there  a  few  years.  In  1 888  he  established 
himself  as  a  druggist  at  Compton,  and  at  the  same 
time  opened  his  house  to  the  traveling  public 
under  the  name  of  the  Compton  House.  In  the 
management  of  these  various  enterprises  he  has 
done  well,  and  is  looked  upon  as  one  of  the  solid 
men  of  the  village.  He  received  his  appointment 
as  Postmaster  in  May,  1889,  and  it  is  conceded 
that  no  better  man  could  have  been  found  for  the 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


615 


place,  for  he  conducts  the  affairs  of  the  office  with 
the  same  carefulness  aud  method  with  which  he 
carries  on  his  private  business. 

In  1871  he  was  married  to  Miss  Ellen  Carnahan, 
a  daughter  of  A.  J.  and  Elizabeth  Carnahan,  of 
whom  a  sketch  appears  on  another  page.  Their 
marriage  has  been  a  harmonious  and  happy  union, 
and  has  brought  them  four  children,  whom  they 
have  named  Addie,  Lizzie  May,  Andrew  J.  and 
Joseph  F. 

Mr.  Cole  is  a  patriotic  citizen  and  a  true  Repub- 
lican. He  has  filled  various  offices  of  'trust  with 
credit  to  himself  and  benefit  to  the  community. 
He  was  Township  Clerk  for  eight  years,  and  was 
the  last  Postmaster  at  Malugin's  Grove  before  the 
office  was  abolished  at  that  point. 


JOHN  McKINSTRY,  one  of  the  prominent 
men  of  the  county,  formerly  identified 
with  its  mercantile  interests,  but  now  liv- 
ing retired,  occupies  an  important  place  in 
the  history  of  this  section  of  the  State  as  a  founder 
of  Nelson,  a  station  on  the  Northwestern  Railwaj', 
where  he  has  made  his  home  many  years.  He  was 
born  in  Livingston,  Columbia  Count}',  N.  Y.,  May 
22,  1821.  His  grandfather,  Col.  John  McKinstry, 
was  a  native  of  the  North  of  Ireland,  and  was  a 
descendant  of  Scotch-Irish  ancestry.  He  came  to 
America  when  a  young  man,  and  was  aftewards 
captured  by  that  remarkable  Indian  chief,  Brant, 
and  was  to  be  burned  at  the  stake.  He  happily 
thought  of  showing  that  he  was  a  Mason  by  mak- 
ing the  signs  of  his  order,  and  when  the  chief 
noticed  his  signs  he  at  once  interfered  with  the 
active  preparations  that  were  going  forward  to 
roast  him  alive,  and  commanded  his  release.  The 
Colonel  and  the  dusky  warrior  became  fast  friends, 
and  often  visited  each  other.  It  was  during  the 
Revolution  that  this  episode  occurred,  and  Col. 
McKinstry  was  serving  in  the  Continental  Army 
at  the  time.  He  was  a  valiant  and  efficient  sol- 
dier, and  received  his  title  and  promotion  to  be 
one  of  the  leading  officers  of  his  regiment  on  ac- 
count of  his  undaunted  bravery  in  battle  and  mer- 


itorious conduct.  After  the  Revolution  he  set- 
tled on  a  farm  near  Hudson,  N.  Y.,  and  there  lived 
to  be  an  old  man.  He  was  a  Protestant  in  reli- 
gion, and  was  a  prominent  man  in  hiscounty.  He 
had  married  before  he  left  his  native  island — Miss 
Elizabeth  Knox,  who  was  also  of  Scotch  blood  and 
Irish  birth,  becoming  his  wife.  They  reared  a 
large  family  of  children,  eight  in  number,  to 
good  and  useful  lives. 

The  father  of  our  subject,  John  McKinstry,  Jr., 
was  born  in  Columbia  County,  N.  Y.,  August  5, 
1777.  He  passed  his  early  life  there,  and  in  his 
younger  da}rs  was  a  sailor  for  three  years.  He  was 
married  in  the  county  of  his  nativity  to  Miss  Sal- 
ome Root,  who  was  born  among  the  hills  of  Berk- 
shire County,  Mass.,  and  came  of  an  old  Bay  State 
family.  Her  father,  Joshua  Root,  was  also  of 
Massachusetts  birth,  and  was  a  patriotic  soldier 
through  the  Revolution.  He  died  in  the  city  of 
Hudson,  N.  Y.,  in  the  fullness  of  time,  being  four- 
score years  of  age  at  the  time  of  his  demise.  He 
married  Miss  A.  Catlin,  who  died  in  Berkshire 
County,  when  sixty  years  of  age,  some  years  be- 
fore her  husband's  death  occurred.  After  maniage, 
John  McKinstry  and  wife  spent  their  remaining 
years  in  Columbia  County,  N.  Y.,  he  dying  Sep- 
tember 30,  1840,  at  the  age  of  sixty-nine  years. 
His  wife  afterwards  came  to  Illinois  with  their  son 
of  whom  we  write,  and  died  at  his  home  in  1872, 
at  the  age  of  seventy-eight  years.  She  was  na- 
turally rather  slender  and.  delicate  in  physique, 
but,  notwithstanding,  lived  to  an  advanced  age, 
was  active  to  (he  last,  and  retained  her  early 
mental  vigor  in  a  remarkable  degree  until  the  end. 
She  was  a  member  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  while 
the  father  was  for  many  years  a  prominent  and 
active  worker  in  the  Universalist  Church.  He 
was  identified  with  the  Whigs  in  politics,  and 
his  ability  and  intelligence  made  him  a  leader  in 
his  community. 

Our  subject  and  his  brother  Sloane,  a  farmer  in 
Nelson  Township,  are.the  only  children  now  liv- 
ing born  to  their  mother.  By  a  former  marriage, 
their  father  had  one  son,  named  Robert,  who  is 
one  of  the  largest  fruit-growers  in  the  United 
States,  located  at  Hudson,  N.  Y.  John  McKinstry 
left  his  early  home  in  1857  to  find  a  new  field  for 


616 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


his  energies  in  the  great  Prairie  State,  which  was 
then  considered  to  be  not  far  from  the  Western 
frontier,  He.  started  the  town  of  Nelson  as  a 
station  on  the  Northwestern  Railway,  six  and  one- 
half  miles  from  Dixon,  it  being  a  mere  tract  of 
wild  uninhabited  prairie  at  the  time,  and  often 
during  the  night  the  howling  of  the  wolves  would 
salute  his  ears,  while  wild  game  was  to  be  had  in 
abundance  not  far  away.  He  has  lived  to  see 
many  wonderful  changes  wrought  in  the  face  of 
the  country  since  he  first  settled  here,  much  of  the 
land  being  converted  from  its  original  state  to 
smiling  farms,  while  busy,  bustling  towns  have 
sprung  up  in  all  directions  where  there  were  but 
few  evidences  of  an  approaching  civilization  when 
he  first  came  here  to  join  the  pioneers  of  the  early 
days  of  the  settlement  of  the  county.  He  has 
been  very  active  in  bringing  about  the  improve- 
ments that  make  it  a  wealthy  and  highly  devel- 
oped region,  where  commerce  and  manufactures 
flourish. 

Immediately  upon  locating  at  Nelson,  Mr.  Me-. 
Kinstry  opened  a  store, and  for  many  years  sold 
goods  here  to  the  farmers  of  the  surrounding  coun- 
try, besides  consigning  their  grain  for  them  at  the 
station,  of  which  he  was  the  agent  from  1857  until 
1877,  a  period  of  twenty  years.  He  established  a 
postoffice  here  in  1858  for  the  convenience  of  the 
people  in  the  village  and  outlying  districts,  and 
had  it  under  his  charge  until  five  or  six  years  ago, 
with  the  exception  of  three  years.  Besides  doing 
the  business  for  the  farming  community,  he  has 
also  helped  in  the  management  of  public  affairs  as 
a  member  of  the  Lee  County  Board  of  Supervisors, 
which  office  he  held  four  years  in  the  interests  of 
Nelson  Township.  lie  has  never  neglected  an  op- 
portunity to  promote  the  welfare  of  his  adopted 
county,  and  has  always  shown  a  wise  public 
spirit  in  lending  his  influence  to  those  schemes 
best  calculated  to  advance  the  highest  interests  of 
this  section.  He  possesses  a  vigorous  mind,  is 
well-informed,  and  is  abreast  of  the  times.  He  is 
widely  and  well-known  in  this  part  of  the  country 
and  has  many  friends. 

When  our  subject  came  to  Nelson  he  was  an  un- 
married man,  but  he  subsequently  contracted  a 
matrimonial  alliance  the  29th  of  March,  1871,  with 


Miss  Ilattie  Landis,a  native  of  Lancaster  County, 
Pa.,  and  a  daughter  of  Abraham  and  Maria  (Pickle) 
Landis.  Her  parents  were  also  Pennsylvanians, 
and  they  lived  in  their  native  State  until  after  the 
birth  of  their  children,  except  the  youngest,  who 
was  born  when  they  came  to  Illinois.  They 
settled  in  Sterling  in  1847,  and  there  Mrs.  Landis 
died  in  1873,  and  in  1890  Mr.  Landis  closed  his 
eyes  in  death,  at  the  age  of  eighty-three  years. 
They  were  people  of  solid  worth,  and  were  mem- 
bers of  the  Mennonite  Church. 


YSANDER  CYREXO  SAWYER,  who  re- 
sides  on  section  6,  Lee  Center  Township, 
was  born  in  Clark  County,  Ohio,  January 
11,  1818,  and  is  a  twin  brother  of  L.  Cyrenus 
Sawyer,  of  whom  see  sketch  in  another  part  of 
this  volume.  He  came  to  Illinois  with  his  par- 
ents, and  remained  at  home  until  he  was  eight- 
een years  old,  when  he  started  out  in  life  by  him- 
self. He  worked  for  other  people,  and  was  also 
employed  in  improving  his  claim,  located  on  sec- 
tion 1,  Amboy  Township.  He  also  worked  one 
winter  in  the  lead  mines  in  Jo  Daviess  County. 
He  then  traded  his  claim  for  a  farm  in  China 
Township,  on  which  he  settled,  and  where  he  lived 
almost  fifteen  years,  then  purchased  the  farm 
where  he  now  lives,  and  whicli  comprises  fifty 
acres.  lie  has  here  made  good  improvements,  and 
has  his  farm  in  first-class  shape. 

In  1850,  Mr.  Sawyer,  in  common  with  so  many 
of  the  Western  people,  was  attacked  by  the  gold 
fever,  going  overland  to  California  with  an  ox- 
team,  -the  journey  occupying  six  months'  time. 
He  remained  in  California  about  two  years,  dur- 
ing which  he  had  the  usual  varied  experience  of 
the  seekers  after  gold.  He  was  ill  a  good  part  of 
the  time,  and  on  this  account  was  not  so  success- 
ful as  he  might  otherwise  have  been.  He  returned 
by  way  of  the  Isthmus  and  came  very  near  being 
drowned,  as  the  steamer  on  which  he  embarked  at 
San  Francisco  was  unseaworthy,  but  they  suc- 
ceeded in  reaching  Acapulco,  when  the  vessel 


v.  in 

I.*-- 


POETRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


619 


completely  gave  out,  the  crew  and  passengers, 
however,  congratulating  themselves  that  matters 
were  no  worse.  Mr.  Sawyer  returned  to  his  farm 
in  China  Township,  where  he  has  since  remained. 
He  was  married  in  Lee  Centre  Township,  in  Sep- 
tember, 1840,  to  Miss  Charlotte  Shumway,  who 
was  born  in  Bradford  County,  Pa.,  September  19, 
1820,  where  she  grew  to  womanhood. 

The  father  of  Mrs.  Sawyer,  Darius  Shumway, 
was  a  native  of  New  York  State,  and  her  mother, 
whose  maiden  name  was  Catherine  Hulburt,  was 
born  in  New  Jersey.  They  emigrated  to  Illinois, 
settling  in  Inlet  Grove,  in  this  count}',  but  on  ac- 
count of  sickness  remained  there  but  one  year, 
when  they  returned  to  their  old  home  in  Penn- 
sylvania, where  they  died.  They  had  nine  chil- 
dren, of  whom  Mrs.  Sawyer  was  the  second  in 
order  of  birth. 

Our  subject  and  his  wife  are  the  parents  of 
three  children:  Sarah  E.,  who  is  the  wife  of  Daniel 
Corell;  William  H.,  a  farmer  in.  China  Township; 
and  Hiram  C..  also  a  farmer,  who  resides  in  Sac 
County,  Iowa.  Mr.  Sawyer  is  a  strong  Republican, 
and  has  held  the  office  of  School  Director.  Mrs. 
Sawyer  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  and  is  highly  esteemed  for  her  many 
amiable  qualities. 


ELVILLE  BEACH  was  formerly  one  of 
the  foremost  farmers  and  st6ck-raisers  of 
Lee  County,  and  still  retains  his  large 
landed  interests,  although  living  retired 
from  active  business  in  his  handsome  resi- 
dence in  the  village  of  Ashton.  But  few  of  the 
residents  of  this  section  have  met  with  the  success 
that  crowned  his  efforts  while  he  was  engaged  in 
agriculture  and  he  is  to-day  one  of  the  wealthiest 
men  in  this  part  of  Illinois. 

Mr.  Reach  is  a  native  of  Essex  County,  N.  .!., 
and  May  28,  1812,  the  date  of  his  birth.  A  history 
of  his  parents  is  given  in  the  biography  of  his 
brother,  Sidney  Beach,  on  another  page  of  this 
volume.  When  he  was  little  over  ten  years  old  he 
accompanied  his  father  in  his  migration  to  the 


County  of  Delaware,  Ohio,  and  there,  under  whole- 
some pioneer  influences,  grew  to  a  vigorous  man- 
hood on  his  father's  farm.  The  latter,  who  was  a 
shoemaker  as  well  as  a  fanner,  taught  him  to  make 
shoes,  and  he  likewise  gained  a  thorough  know- 
ledge of  farming. 

In  the  early  '50s  Mr.  Beach  left  the  old  home  in 
Delaware  County  to  try  his  fortune  in  this  State. 
He  spent  one  winter  in  Chicago,  and  the  follow- 
ing spring  went  to  Washington  Grove,  Ogle 
County,  where  he  lived  two  years.  At  the  expira- 
tion of  that  time  he  came  to  this  county,  and  in 
the  years  that  followed  was  an  important  factor  in 
the  work  of  development  being  carried  on  by  the 
pioneer  settlers  of  this  region.  He  settled  on  sec- 
tion 35.  Ashton  Township,  where  he  lived  and 
labored  until  his  removal  to  the  village  of  Ashton 
in  1876. 

From  the  first  Mr.  Beach  showed  himself  to  be  a 
valuable  addition  to  the  citizenship  of  the  com- 
munity among  whose  people  he  had  come  to  dwell, 
and  he  was  not  a  whit  behind  his  neighbors  in  his 
liberal  encouragement  of  public  improvements  and 
of  enterprises  that  would  tend  to  promote  the 
growth  of  the  township,  while  at  the  same  time,  by 
an  exemplary  life  and  by  his  advocacy  of  whatso- 
ever would  advance  religion  and  morality,  he  was 
influential  in  forwarding  its  higher  interests.  He 
is  possessed  of  an  energetic,  determined  spirit,  a 
mind  quick  to  grasp  and  make  his  own  the  most 
accurate  business  methods,  and  a  large  share  of 
common  sense.  With  these  traits  prosperity  was 
assured  to  him  from  the  start,  and  in  due  time  he 
accumulated  a  valuable  property,  including  his 
handsome  residence  in  the  village  of  Ashton.  and 
eleven  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  fine  land. 

Mr.  Beach  was  married  to  his  first  wife,  whose 
maiden  name  was  Nancy  Wilson,  in  Delaware 
County,  Ohio.  She  departed  this  life  during  their 
residence  in  that  county.  Of  the  several  children 
born  of  that  union,  these  two  are  the  only  sur- 
vivors, James  and  Antoinette,  the  latter  of  whom 
is  the  wife  of  John  Leidy.  Our  subject  was  a 
second  time  married,  in  Delaware  County,  Ohio, 
taking  Miss  Eliza  J.  Scott  as  his  wife.  Their 
marriage  has  been  blessed  to  them  by  the  birth  of 
these  four  children:  M.  Wesley,  Melva,  Cora  C.and 


620 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


Esmeralda  A.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Beach  are  members 
in  high  standing  of  the  Free  Methodist  Church, 
and  their  name  is  connected  with  its  every  good 
work.  They  are  known  for  their  charitableness, 
which  is  unquestioning  where  another's  wants  are 
to  be  relieved,  or  a  kind  act  can  add  to  another's 
comfort  and  contentment;  for  their  hospitality, 
which  is  all  bountiful;  and  for  other  pleasant 
attributes  which  endear  them  to  all  with  whom 
they  associate.  As  a  loyal  citizen  Mr.  Beach  has 
always  been  interested  in  the  politics  of  his  country 
and  is  a  member  of  the  Prohibition  party.  In  con- 
nection with  this  brief  biographical  notice  appears 
a  lithographic  portrait  of  Mr.  Beach. 


A.  LYMAN,  editor  and  proprietor 
of  the  Amboy  Journal,  although  entering 
upon  his  profession  at  a  comparatively  re- 
cent date,  after  making  his  mark  in  an  entirely  dif- 
ferent walk,  has  won  recognition  for  his  ability  to 
conduct  a  well-regulated,  readable  paper,  which  is 
a  potent  force  in  the  literary,  social  and  political 
life  of  the  county,  as  well  as  an  influence  in  for- 
warding the  material  concerns  of  the  community. 
Mr.  Lyman  was  born  in  the  town  of  Winchester, 
N.  H.,  June  26,  1£38,  and  is  a  son  of  Tertius  A. 
and  Sarah  P.  Lyman,  of  whom  a  biography  appears 
elsewhere  in  this  volume.  He  was  given  excellent 
educational  advantages,  and  was  graduated  in  the 
Class  of  '55,  from  the  Northfield  Institute,  at 
Northfield,  Mass.,  which  has  since  been  merged 
into  D wight  Moody 's  famous  school  at  that  place. 
In  1856,  our  subject  accompanied  the  family  to 
this  county,  and  in  due  time  he  became  one  of  the 
active,  practical  farmers  of  Bradford  Township, 
owning  and  operating  a  good  farm  in  that  place. 
He  devoted  himself  to  agricultural  pursuits  and  to 
his  duties  as  a  public  official  until  1888,  when  he 
turned  his  energies  to  the  congenial  profession  of 
a  journalist,  for  which  his  scholarly  tastes,  knowl- 
edge of  men  and  affairs,  and  experience  in  politics, 
seemed  to  make  him  peculiarly  adapted.  He  rented 
his  farm  and  purchased  the  Amboy  Journal,  of 
which  he  is  sole  proprietor.  This  paper  has  more 


than  a  local  reputation,  as  it  is  the  second  oldest 
in  Lee  County,  having  been  founded  in  1855.  It 
is  an  eight-column  quarto,  is  a  Republican  organ, 
and  its  editorials  are  sound  and  clear  expositions 
of  the  principles  of  that  party,  and  treat  intelli- 
gently all  matters  of  general  public  interest. 

The  marriage  of  our  subject  with  Miss  Mapy  E., 
daughter  of  James  A.  Jones,  was  solemnized  Feb- 

;    ruary  13,  1865.     She  was  born  in  September,  1839. 

j  Two  sons  were  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lyman — 
James  Alex  and  George  Richard.  James,  the  eld- 
est, was  graduated  from  Beloit  College,  in  the  Class 

|  of  '88,  with  the  highest  honors,  he  being  Valedic- 
torian of  his  class.  He  is  now  pursuing  his 
studies  at  the  Johns  Hopkins  University,  at 
Baltimore,  one  of  the  foremost  institutions  of 
learning  in  the  country,  and  he  will  finish  his 
course  in  1892,  when  he  will  receive  the  degree  of 
Doctor  of  Philosophy.  The  younger  sou  is  under- 
graduate at  Beloit. 

Mr.  Lyman  has  always  been  an  active  politician, 
working  in  the  interests  of  the  Republican  party, 
of  which  he  is  an  ardent  champion,  although  free 
from  bitter  partisan  bias.  He  has  been,  for  many 
years,  Chairman  of  the  Township  Committee,  and 
has  been  a  delegate  to  District  and  State  conven- 
tions. While  a  resident  of  Bradford,  he  was  Town- 
ship Assessor  for  some  ten  years,  and  held  the  re- 
sponsible office  of  Township  Treasurer  fifteen 
years. 


ACOB  HILL,  a  retired  farmer,  is  now 
residing  in  North  Dixon  where  he  pur- 
chased a  residence  in  the  fall  of  1890.  He 
was  for  many  .years  engaged  in  farming  on 
section  22,  Nachusa  Township,  this  county,  when 
I  he  purchased  his  first  thirty  acres  in  1856,  to  which 
he  later  added. ninety-three  acres  more,  and  par- 
tially improved  it.  He  finally  sold  the  entire  place 
to  his  son,  Fred  H.  Hill  who  has  not  yet  removed 
to  his  farm  but  is  a  resident  of  the  same  town- 
ship. 

Mr.  Hill  came  to  this   State    and    county    from 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHTCAL   RECORD. 


621 


Livingston  County,  N.  Y.,  where  he  had  resided 
for  fifteen  years.  He  was  born  December  25,  1821 , 
in  Salem  Township,  Luzerne  'County,  Pa.  His 
father,  Jacob  Hill  Sr.,  was  also  a  native  of  Penn- 
sylvania his  birth  place  being  near  Philadelphia. 
His  parents  were  of  German  ancestry.  Jacob  Hill, 
Sr.,  was  married  near  the  place  of  his  birth  to  Miss 
Catherine  Gulp,  whose  parents  were  of  good  honest 
Pennsylvania  stock  and  also  of  German  descent. 
Some  time  after  their  marriage,  the  young  couple 
settled  upon  a  farm  in  Luzerne  County,  Pa., 
which  they  improved  and  on  which  they  resided 
until  1854  when,  with  a  portion  of  their  family 
they  came  to  Illinois  and  settled  in  South  Dixon 
Township  on  new  land  that  was  mostly  unbroken. 
Here  they  lived  until  their  death,  the  father  reach- 
ing the  age  of  seventy-four  and  the  mother  living 
to  be  some  years  older.  They  were  lifetime  mem- 
bers of  the  Lutheran  Church  and  were  a  worthy 
and  estimable  couple.  Our  subject  is  one  of  six 
sons  and  three  daughters  of  whom  four  are  still 
living.  His  first  marriage  took  place  in  1842  to 
Miss  Lucy  A.  Hill,  in  Livingston,  N.  Y.  She  was 
a  native  of  Luzerne  County,  Pa.,  in  which  county 
she  was  married.  She  died  at  her  home  in  Nachusa 
Township,  in  1864,  at  the  early  age  of  forty -four 
years.  She  was  the  mother  of  three  children  all 
of  whom  are  living,  namely:  Mary  M.  wife  of 
Abram  Buskirk.  They  reside  on  a  farm  in  Living- 
ston County,  N.  Y.;  Elizabeth  married  David 
Linsley  and  they  are  farming  near  Eldena;  Fred 
H.?  who  lias  recently  purchased  the  old  homestead 
and  married  Charlotte  Miller  of  this  county. 

Mr.  Hill  was  a  second  time  married  in  this 
county  to  Miss  Belinda  Martena,  who  was  born  in 
Somerset  County,  Pa.,  April  20,  1832,  remaining 
there  until  1863.  She  is  the  daughter  of  Jacob 
and  Anna  (Cork)  Martena,  natives  of  Pennsylvania 
and  Beverly  County,  Va.,  respectively.  They 
were  married  in  Somerset  County,  Pa.,  and  there 
began  life  on  a  farm,  following  that  occupation 
until  their  death  when  full  of  years,  Mr.  Martena 
being  ninety-two  years  old  to  a  day,  and  his  wife 
reaching  nearly  as  great  an  age.  They  were  mem- 
bers of  the  Lutheran  Church  and  highly  respected 
people.  Our  subject  and  his  wife  are  .the  parents 
of  four  children :  Florence  E.,  married  Mallie  Grove 


and  resides  in  Dixon;  Samuel  Freeman  and 
Jacob  D.  are  at  home  and  are  bright  and  intelli- 
gent children;  Anna  Catherine  is  the  only 
daughter.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hill,  with  most  of  their 
family,  are  worthy  members  of  the  Lutheran  Church 
and  are  highly  respected  and  esteemed  through- 
out the  community.  Mr.  Hill  has  held  the  various 
local  offices  of  his  township,  and  in  politics  is  a 
sound  Democrat. 


ERSON  CHENEY.  The  popular  and  well- 
known  proprietor  of  the  Union  &  Cheney 
House,  of  Missouri  Valley,  Iowa,  has  farm- 
ing interests  in  this  county  vested  in  a 
beautiful  farm  on  section  18,  South  Dixon  Town- 
ship, which  he  leaves  to  the  skillful  management 
of  his  wife  and  son,  while  he  attends  to  his  hotel 
business.  Mr.  Cheney  is  a  native  of  Grafton 
County,  N.  H..  born  May  19,  1833,  and  a  son  of 
Person  Cheney,  Sr.,  and  Ann  (Moore)  Cheney, 
who  were  both  natives  of  the  Granite  State,  the 
mother  born  and  reared  in  Peterboro,  Hills- 
boro  County,  and  dying  in  Grafton  County 
when  past  seventy-five  years  of  age.  The  father 
was  a  life-long  resident  of  the  latter  county, 
dying  at  the  age  of  seventy-eight.  He  was  a 
dealer  in  wood  and  coal  for  many  j'ears,  and  was 
greatly  respected  among  a  large  circle  of  friends 
and  acquaintances.  Both  he  and  his  good  wife 
were  prominent  members  of  the  Baptist  Church, 
and  when  a  young  man  he  filled  the  pulpit  of 
that  church  for  some  years  at  different  times. 

Our  subject  is  one  of  nine  children,  all  of 
whom  are  living  but  two,  one  of  them  having 
been  killed  in  the  Rebellion,  bravely  yielding  up 
his  life  for  his  country.  The  family  comes  of 
fine  old  New  England  stock,  and  ex-Governor 
Person  Cheney,  of  New  Hampshire,  was  a  cousin 
of  our  subject. 

Mr.  Cheney  grew  up  in  his  native  county,  re- 
ceiving a  practical  education  in  its  schools.  For 
some  time  in  his  early  manhood,  he  was  engaged 
as  a  paper-maker,  but  he  soon  hit  upon  the  vocation 
for  which  he  is  so  admirably  adapted  by  nature, 


622 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


as  an  hotel-keeper,  and  has  conducted  that  busi- 
ness with  unqualified  success  for  many  years.  He 
is  an  ideal  host,  his  fine  physique  and  ample  pro- 
portions speaking  well  for  his  fare,  and  his  inevi- 
table cheerfulness,  jollity,  and  courteous  consider- 
ation of  all  with  whom  he  comes  in  contact 
make  him  a  great  favorite  with  the  traveling 
public,  by  whom  he  is  always  well  patronized, 
and  he  has  many  friends  throughout  the  commer- 
cial world  all  over  the  West,  particularly  in  Iowa 
and  Illinois.  His  first  attempt  at  hotel-keeping 
was  as  proprietor  of  the  Waverly  House,  of  which 
he  took  charge  soon  after  coming  to  Dixon  in 
1850,  the  hotel  being  the  property  of  the  North- 
western Railway  Company,  as  is  also  the  Union 
House,  of  Missouri  Valley,  with  which  he  has  been 
connected  some  years,  running  this  and  other 
hotels  in  Iowa  during  the  last  decade,  and  he  was 
at  the  Waverly  House  eighteen  years. 

Mr.  Cheney  was  married  in  Grafton  County, 
N.  H.,  to  Miss  Harriet  Burnham,  in  whom  he  has 
found  a  valuable  helpmate  who  has  contributed 
right  royally  to  his  prosperity.  Mrs.  Cheney  is 
also  a  native  of  that  county  among  the  granite  hills 
of  New  Hampshire,  where  her  marriage  took  place; 
born  in  the  town  of  Rumney,  March  29,  1835,  a 
daughter  of  Samuel  and  Mary  A.  (Godfrey)  Burn- 
ham.  Her  parents  were  likewise  born  in  Grafton 
County,  and  were-  the  son  and  daughter  of  New 
Hampshire  people,  both  the  Godfreys  and  Bum- 
hams  being  among  the  early  settlers  of  New 
Hampshire.  Mr.  Burnham  was  in  early  life  a  hat- 
ter, and  during  that  time  was  Postmaster  and 
Town  Clerk  of  Rumney  for  some  years.  He  sub- 
sequently went  onto  a  small  farm  near  Rumney, 
where  he  and  his  wife  lived  until  after  all  their 
children  were  grown  up  and  married,  and  they 
themselves  were  full  of  years,  and  then  they  came 
to  Illinois  in  1868,  and  from  that  time  until  their 
death  were  tenderly  cared  for  by  their  daughter, 
Mrs.  Cheney,  in  whose  home  they  died,  the  mother 
passing  away  first  in  February,  1884,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-eight  years,  and  the  father  dying  in  the 
same  month  in  the  year  1890,  when  some  three 
months  over  eighty-nine  years  old.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  Universalist  Church,  while  his 
wife  was  a  member  of  the  Baptist  Church,  and  both 


politic 


he    was   a 


were    sincere  Christians.     In 
sound  Republican. 

Mrs.  Cheney  is  one  of  four  children,  of  whom 
one  is  deceased.  She  is  well  educated,  having 
been  well  schooled  in  her  native  State.  She  is 
well  endowed  both  mentally  and  physically,  has  a 
decided  talent  for  business  affairs,  and  is  an  able 
manager,  a3  is  proved  by  the  way  she  has  carried 
on  the  farm  with  the  assistance  of  her  son.  This 
farm,  which  has  belonged  to  the  family  twenty- 
five  years,  comprises  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres 
of  fine  farming  land,  which  is  adorned  with  a 
handsome  set  of  buildings,  inc'uding  a  commodi- 
ous residence  that  is  of  a  modern  style  of  archi- 
tecture, is  tastefully  and  conveniently  fitted 
throughout,  and  is  one  of  the  most  attractive 
homes  of  this  locality. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cheney  are  the  parents  of  three 
children,  of  whom  two  arc  deceased,  Charles  and 
Harry,  who  died  young.  Samuel  T.,  their  only 
surviving  son,  is  a  bright  young  man,  who  is  am- 
bitious and  enterprising,  and  has  already  gained  a 
good  reputation  as  a  farmer.  Mr.  Cheney  and 
his  son  are  Republicans,  and  are  at  all  times  loyal 
to  their  party. 


OHN  THARP  LAWRENCE,  a  resident  of 
Palmyra  Township,  is  the  oldest  son  of  the 
late  John  Tharp  and  Julia  (Ricketts)  Law- 
rence. His  father  was  born  in  London, 
England,  March  26,  1791,  and  was  educated  at  the 
school  of  the  celebrated  Dr.  Burney.  He  entered 
the  British  navy  as  a  midshipman  at  fifteen  years 
of  age  and  saw  first  service  in  the  great  battle  of 
Trafalgar.  He  served  through  the  Anglo-French 
War  of  1811,  when,  during  the  temporary  peace  of 
that  year,  his  elder  brother's  death  gave  him  pos- 
session of  the  family  property  in  England  and  the 
estate  of  Hazelymph  Island  of  Jamaica.  He  re- 
signed his  commission  in  the  navy  and  on  Septem- 
ber 11,1818,  was  married  at  Elizabeth,  N.  J.,  to 
Julia,  daughter  of  James  Ricketts,  Esq.,  of  Abys 
sinia,  N.  J.,  and  Ridgland,  Jamaica.  From  this 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


623 


marriage  were  born  eleven  children,  of  whom  three 
survive:  the  subject  of  this  sketch;  James  Ricketts, 
a  retired  merchant  of  New  York  City,  and  Frances, 
widow  of  the  late  Maj.-Gen.  James  B.  Ricketts,  of 
Washington. 

After  his  marriage,  Mr.  Lawrence  continued  to 
reside  on  his  Jamaica  plantation,  which  was 
then  valued  at  £48,000,  with  three  hundred 
and  six  slaves,  until  1827,  when  a  law  suit,  by 
which  the  estate  was  thrown  into  chancery,  and 
the  approaching  emancipation  of  the  slaves  by 
the  British  Government,  led  him  to  sell  out  his 
Jamaica  property  and  remove  to  Elizabeth,  N.  J., 
where  he  continued  to  live  until  1833,  when,  from 
the  carelessness  of  a  sailor  and  the  prodigality  of 
a  West  Indian,  his  means  were  somewhat  reduced, 
so  that  he  found  it  necessary  to  obtain  some  em- 
ployment. He  then  removed  to  Jersey  City,  and 
for  a  short  time  held  a  situation  in  the  New 
York  Custom  House,  and  was  then  induced  to 
embark  the  remainder  of  his  property  in  a  com- 
mission and  importing  business  in  New  York. 

In  the  disastrous  years  of  1837  and  1838,  amid 
the  general  failure  of  New  York  merchants,  Mr. 
Lawrence  also  failed,  and  then  removed  his  family 
in  1840  to  Illinois,  where  he  bought  a  squatter's 
title,  as  it  was  then  called — the  land  not  being  yet 
in  market — to  seven  hundred  acres  of  land,  part 
of  which  is  still  the  present  home  of  his  son.  At 
that  time  there  were  in  this  part  of  Illinois  neither 
churches,  schools,  nor  comforts  of  any  kind,  in  ad- 
dition to  which  the  country  was  extremely  sicklv, 
rendering  it  a  very  unfit  abode  for  women  and 
children  delicately  brought  up.  For  these  reasons, 
added  to  the  loss  of  one  child,  and  the  dangerous 
illness  of  others  of  the  family,  Mrs.  Lawrence  re- 
turned in  the  fall  of  the  same  year,  1840,  to  New 
York,  with  all  the  younger  members  of  the  family, 
and  for  their  support  and  education  opened  a 
boarding-school  in  that  city,  which  became  suffi- 
ciently remunerative,  her  boarders  being  mainly 
the  daughters  of  Southern  planters.  Mr.  Lawrence, 
with  his  two  elder  sons,  remained  for  some  time 
longer  in  Illinois,  but  finally  he  and  his  second 
son  joined  Mrs.  Lawrence  in  New  York,  where  he 
died  in  1847.  His  widow  survived  him  until  1886, 
when  she  died  aged  eighty-five,  at  the  home  of  her 


son-in-law,  Gen.  Ricketts,  in  Washington,  and 
was  buried  in  the  old  family  vault  at  Elizabeth, 
N.  J. 

John  Tharp  Lawrence,  son  of  the  above,  was 
born  at  Hazelymph  estate,  St.  James  Parish,  Jam- 
aica, September  25,  1819,  and  was  educated  in  the 
grammar  department  of  the  Columbia  College, 
N.  Y.,  under  Prof.  Charles  Anthon,  LL.  D.,  the 
celebrated  Greek  scholar.  In  addition  to  private 
tutors  in  French,  Spanish  and  mathematics,  he  was 
a  cadet  at  West  Point  for  one  year,  in  1836,  being 
a  classmate  of  Gen.  Sherman,  distinguished  in  the 
war  for  the  Union.  He  was  for  a  short  time  a  pupil 
in  the  law-office  of  the  well-known  Lyman  Trum- 
bull,  who  was  lost  at  sea  in  the  ill-fated  "Pacific." 
He  also  practiced  surveying  for  a  time,  being  em- 
ployed in  the  survey  of  the  first  railroad  projected 
iu  New  Jersey,  from  Springfield  to  Easton,  Pa., 
and  assisted  in  laying  out  Greenwood  Cemetery, 
L.  I.  He  came  to  Illinois  as  a  pioneer  in  advance 
of  his  family,  in  1839,  where  he  has  resided  as  a 
farmer  on  the  same  land  ever  since.  He  was  mar- 
ried June  9,  1845,  to  Elizabeth,  the  third  daughter 
of  Capt.  Hugh  Graham,  of  the  American  Merchant 
Marine  service,  and  Mary  Patterson,  his  wife.  Mr. 
Lawrence  has  six  children,  five  daughters  and  one 
son,  namely:  Julia,  wife  of  Harry  Eldred,  resid- 
ing in  the  State  of  AVashington;  John  Tharp,  who 
married  Florence  Hubbard,  daughter  of  Thomas  S. 
Hubbard,  of  Kansas;  Elizabeth  married  Charles  L. 
Guyot,  an  architect  and  builder,  of  Denver,  Col. 
Three  unmarried  daughters,  Ltlias,  Mary,  and 
Frances,  reside  with  their  father. 

Capt.  Hugh  Graham,  mentioned  above,  was  the 
son  of  a  Belfast,  Ireland,  merchant,  born  in  1775. 
He  entered  the  British  navy  as  a  midshipman,  but 
soon  left  it  for  the  merchant  service  at  the  early 
age  of  nineteen,  commanding  a  vessel  which  ran 
to  New  York.  He  was  a  packet  master  for  a  num- 
ber of  years  in  the  trade  between  New  York  and 
Liverpool.  lie  removed  with  his  family  to  Ill- 
inois in  1838,  and  died  in  New  York,  whither  he 
had  gone  on  a  visit,  in  1854.  His  wife  died  in 
1845,  at  the  residence  of  her  son-in-law,  the  late 
Chief-Justice  Lyon,  of  Wisconsin,  then  living  at 
Racine.  William  Graham,  son  of  the  above  gen- 
tleman, having  come  to  Illinois  in  the  spring  of 


024 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


1837,  with  his  friend  Charles  Hubbard,  on  a  hunt- 
ing expedition,  was  so  pleased  with  the  country, 
that  he  induced  his  father  and  many  friends  and 
acquaintances  to  join  them.  Through  him  the 
neighborhood  of  Dixon  received  many  settlers, 
with  considerable  means  and  more  education  than 
the  general  run  of  pioneers  to  a  new  country,  and 
who  were  of  great  advantage  in  building  up  this 
part  of  the  State.  Major  William  Graham,  who 
traveled  extensively  in  the  Lake  Superior  country, 
California  and  Montana,  died  at  the  Montana  Sil- 
ver Mines  in  1878. 

In  a  country  like  England,  which  has  suffered  so 
little  from  foreign  invasions  and  domestic  wars, 
the  records  have  been  but  little  disturbed,  and  it 
is  easy  to  trace  family  histories,  particularly  those 
of  large  landed  proprietors,  from  the  registers  of 
deeds  and  wills,  and  the  records  in  old  churches. 
From  these  records  a  history  of  the  Lawrence  fam- 
ily has  been  drawn  out,  from  which  it  appears  that 
the  first  of  the  family  of  whom  there  is  any  record 
is  the  crusader,  Sir  Robert,  who  accompanied  Rich- 
ard Coeur  de  Leon  to  Palestine,  and  for  services 
there  (1191)  was  created  Knight  Baronet,  granted 
lands  and  a  coat-of-arms— a  red  cross,  in  the  jargon 
of  heraldry  called  a  cross  reguley  gules,  on  a  field 
azure,  and  the  motto,  In  Cruce  Salua — Salvation 
in  the  Cross;  this  has  ever  been  the  totem,  as  the 
Indians  would  call  it,  of  a  large  family.  James 
Lawrence,  of  Ashland  Hall,  Lancashire  (1153) 
maried  Matilda,  daughter  and  heiress  of  John  de 
Washington,  of  AVashington,  Lancashire,  England, 
and  quartered  the  heiress's  arms  with  his.  Thus 
the  Lawrence  arms  contain  the  stars  and  bars  from 
which  the  American  flag  was  taken.  Sir  Henry 
Lawrence  (1623)  of  St.  Ives,  Huntingdon,  was 
president  of  the  Privy  Council  to  his  friend  and 
neighbor,  Oliver  Cromwell.  On  the  restoration  of 
Charles  II  one  of  his  sous  settled  in  Huntingdon, 
L.  I.,  and  is  the  ancestor  of  the  many  prominent 
New  York  Lawrences;  another  son,  John,  emi- 
grated to  Jamaica  in  1675,  where  he  obtained 
large  possessions  and  is  the  ancestor  of  the  Jamaica 
Lawrences.  His  will  is  dated  May  10,  1690.  The 
estate  of  Fail-field,  where  he  first  settled,  is  still  in 
the  hands  of  the  English  branch,  now  represented 
by  Hon.  William  Frederick  Lawrence,  of  Cowes- 


field  House,  member  of  Parliament  for  Liverpool. 
The  Lawrences  are  thus  identified  with  the  earliest 
English  settlement  of  Jamaica. 

On  the  mother's  side  Mr.  Lawrence  is  also  con- 
nected with  the  earliest  settlement  of  Jamaica, 
Capt.  John  Ricketts,  of  Cromwell's  army,  having 
accompanied  Admirals  Penn  and  Venables  in  the 
expedition  sent  by  Cromwell  (1655)  against  Jam- 
aica and  took  part  in  its  capture  from  the  Spaniards. 
For  his  services  he  received  a  large  grant  of  land 
and  the  estate  of  Ridgland,  the  earliest  home  of 
the  family,  remained  in  their  possession  until  1826. 
For  his  father's  services  in  this  expedition,Wil!iam 
Penn,  after  suing  many  years  at  court,  in  curled 
locks  and  velvet  doublet,  received  from  James  II 
the  grant  of  Pennsylvania.  Col.  William  Ricketts, 
son  of  the  Capt.  John  above  mentioned,  went  to 
New  Jersey  about  1670,  where  he  married  Miss 
Ogden,  daughter  of  the  first  patentee  of  Elizabeth- 
town,  and  became  possessed  of  a  large  property 
there,  on  which  his  descendants  resided  until  1840. 
Elizabethtown,  in  the  early  part  of  the  present 
century,  was  a  very  gay  and  fashionable  place, 
many  of  the  leading  inhabitants  having  been 
prominent  in  military  or  civil  employments  dur- 
ing the  Revolutionary  War,  and  the  town  was  a 
favorite  city  of  refuge  for  the  French  emigrants.  In 
the  old  church  yard  of  St.  Mathew's  Church,  there 
are  still  to  be  seen  the  tombstones  covering  the 
graves  of  many  of  the  noblest  names  of  France. 

Mr.  Lawrence's  grandfather,  James  Ricketts,  mar- 
ried Sarah,  daughter  of  Peter  VanBurgh  Liv- 
ingston, fourth  Lord  of  Livingston  Manor,  New 
York,  and  his  wife,  Sarah  Alexander,  a  sister  of 
Lord  Stirling.  Mr.  Livingston  was  the  elder 
brother  of  Philip  Livingston,  one  of  the  signers  of 
the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and  William 
Livingston,  for  many  years  Governor  of  New  Jer- 
sey during  the  Revolutionary  War.  The  first 
President  Harrison  made  a  run-away  marriage 
with  a  granddaughter  of  William  Livingston. 
The  Livingstons  are  connected  by  marriage  with 
roost  of  the  New  York  families  prominent  in  the 
early  history  of  the  country,  the  Jays,  Schuylers, 
VanCourtlandts,  VanRensselaers,  Waltons,  etc., 
and  were  themselves  ardent  patriots,  VanBurgh 
Livingston  having  sacrificed  a  large  part  of  his 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


fortunes  in  the  struggle  for  Independence.  Mr. 
Lawrence's  family  history  is  thus  connected  with 
the  early  history  both  of  the  United  States  and 
Jamaica. 

Personally,  Mr.  Lawrence  is  a  highly  educated 
and  refined  gentleman,  a  worthy  descendant  of 
his  renowned  ancestors.  He  is  of  a  literary  turn 
of  mind  and  has  written  extensively  for  various 
periodicals,  one  of  his  articles  on  practical  farming 
securing  a  valuable  prize  offered  by  an  agricultural 
paper. 


JOHN  P.  MESEROLE,  who  has  been  a  resi- 
dent of  Dixon  for  several  years,  was  for- 
merly a  prominent  contractor  and  builder 
of  Long  Island,  doing  an  extensive  busi- 
ness in  the  city  of  New  York.  He  was  born  at 
Greenpoint,  Long  Island,  N.  Y.,  May  13,  1821, 
and  is  descended  from  an  ancient  French  Hugue- 
not family,  the  first  of  his  ancestors  to  come  to 
America  arriving  here  in  the  seventeenth  century, 
being  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  Long  Island.  The 
father  of  our  subject,  Jacob  Meserole,  and  his 
grandfather,  John  Meserole,  were  both  born  on 
Long  Island.  The  latter  served  an  apprenticeship 
to  a  cabinet  maker  in  his  youth,  but  we  are  not 
told  whether  he  ever  worked  at  the  trade  on 
his  own  account.  When  the  Revolution  of  the 
American  colonists  broke  out,  he  took  his  place  in 
the  ranks  with  his  fellow-countrymen  to  fight  for 
freedom  from  British  oppression.  He  was  subse- 
quently captured  by  the  enemy  and  pressed  into 
service  on  board  of  a  man-of-war.  He  early  took 
advantage  of  an  opportunity  to  escape,  and  rowed 
across  the  river  to  Manhattan  Island,  where  he 
arrived  in  safety,  though  he  was  fired  upon  dur- 
ing his  passage.  For  many  years  after  that  he  had 
charge  of  the  toll  gate  at  Wallabout  Bridge, 
Brooklyn,  near  the  navy  yard.  He  spent  his  last 
years  at  Guaness,  which  now  forms  a  part  of 
Brooklyn,  dying  at  eighty. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  for  many  years  a 
pilot  on  the  Grand  Street  Ferry,  New  York,  but 
he  finall}'  turned  his  attention  to  farming  and 


gardening  on  Long  Island,  in  which  he  did  a  lucra- 
tive business.  He  died  at  Flushing,  at  the  vener- 
able age  of  eighty-six  years.  In  early  manhood, 
lie  married  Mahala  Post,  who  was  also  a  native  of 
Long  Island,  was  a  daughter  of  Richard  Post,  a 
Quaker.  She  died  at  Astoria,  Long  Island,  aged 
sixty  years. 

He  of  whom  we  write  received  a  sound  educa- 
tion, and  at  the  age  of  seventeen  began  to  turn  his 
aptitude  for  mechanics  to  account  by  learning  the 
trade  of  a  carpenter  and  builder  at  Astoria.  He 
served  an  apprenticeship  of  three  years  and  was 
thoroughly  grounded  in  all  that  pertains  to  his 
chosen  calling.  He  then  worked  at  it  for  some 
years  for  others  in  New  York  and  on  his  native 
island,  and  after  that  experience  became  a  con- 
tractor and  builder  in  his  own  right.  As  he  always 
did  good  work,  keeping  fully  up  to  the  agreement 
in  all  particulars,  and  was  prompt  and  methodical 
in  carrying  on  his  business,  it  grew  and  prospered, 
and  in  time  he  had  all  that  he  could  control.  He 
was  very  successful  in  handling  large  contracts, 
and  was  known  as  one  of  the  most  careful  and 
reliable  men  in  his  line.  He  had  his  residence  in 
Astoria,  Long  Island,  and  while  many  of  his  orders 
came  from  that  quarter  and  from  different  parts  of 
the  island,  he  often  took  large  contracts  in  New 
York  City,  and  his  reputation  for  ability  was  such 
that  he  was  appointed  general  superintendent  of 
the  work  when  the  improvement  of  Hell  Gate  was 
commenced.  His  business  netted  him  a  handsome 
income,  and  he  accumulated  a  fortune  sufficient 
for  all  his  wants.  In  1877  he  came  to  Dixon  to 
make  his  permanent  residence  in  this  attractive 
city,  and  his  high  character  and  pleasant  social 
qualities  have  won  for  him  the  warm  esteem  of  all 
with  whom  he  associates. 

Mr.  Meserole  was  first  married  in  April,  1846,  to 
Miss  Emily  Vandervort.  She  spent  her  entire  life 
on  Long  Island,  her  death  taking  place  there  in 
1871.  She  was  the  mother  of  these  four  children: 
John  Y.,  William  F.,  Jacob  A.  and  Warren  C.  In 
1874  our  subject  was  married  to  Mrs.  Julia  M. 
(Merriman)  Beckett,  his  present  estimable  wife. 

Mr.  Meserole  is  a  Democrat  of  the  purest  type, 
and  while  a  resident  of  Long  Island  City  figured 
in  its  public  life  as  a  member  of  its  Board  of  Alder- 


626 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


men.  He  was  formerly  for  many  years  one  of  the 
leading  members  of  the  Reformed  Church,  which 
he  served  as  Deacon  and  Trustee.  After  coining 
to  Dixon,  there  being  no  church  of  that  denomina- 
tion in  the  city,  he  'united  with  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  of  which  his  wife  is  also  a  member,  and 
they  are  liberal  in  their  contributions  for  its  sup- 
port. 


JAMES  E.  GRAY,  Postmaster  of  Lee  Centre 
and   Collector  of  Lee  Township,  has  an  en- 
viable record  as  a  soldier  of  the    late  war 
and   bears   the   scars   of    wounds   received 
during  that  struggle.     His  father,  John  Gray,  was 
born  in   Ireland,  and    his    mother,  whose    maiden 
name  was  Mary  Powell,  is  a  native  of  Wales.  They 
came  to  Illinois  in  1842  and  to  Lee  Centre  Town- 
ship in   1849,  where  they  spent  the  remainder  of 
their  lives,  the  mother  dying  in  1866  and  the  fa- 
ther in  July,  1888.     They  were  the  parents  of  ten 
children,  of  whom  our  subject  was  the  ninth    in 
order  of  birth. 

James  E.  Gray  was  born  in  London,  Ontario, 
December  15,  1841.  When  he  was  five  months  old, 
his  parents  removed  to  Ogle  County,  111.,  where  he 
lived  until  1849,  coming  with  his  parents  in  the 
spring  of  that  year  to  this  county  and  settling  in 
Lee  Centre  Township,  where  he  grew  to  manhood. 
He  was  educated  in  the  common  schools  and  spent 
his  youth  upon  the  farm.  He  enlisted,  April  18, 
1861,  in  Company  C,  Thirteenth  Illinois  Infantry, 
being  the  first  man  in  Lee  Centre  Township  to  en- 
roll his  name.  He  remained  in  this  company  and 
regiment  for  three  jrears  and  was  then  mustered 
out  of  the  service  at  Springfield,  111.,  October  8, 
1864;  he  re-enlisted  in  the  Seventh  Illinois  Cav- 
alry and  served  one  year,  being  mustered  out  at 
Tuscumbia,  Ala.  He  took  part  in  the  following 
battles:  the  seige  of  Vicksburg  in  December,  1862; 
Arkansas  Post,  Lookout  Mountain,  Ringgold  Gap, 
Mission  Ridge.  At  the  battle  of  Chickasaw  he  was 
wounded  in  the  left  shoulder  and  left  on  the  field 
for  dead.  During  the  siege  of  Vicksburg  he  re- 
ceived another  wound,  just  above  the  left  knee. 
On  leaving  the  army  Mr.  Gray  returned  to  Lee 


Centre  Township  and  engaged  in  farming,  but 
soon  afterward  removed  to  Blaekhawk  County, 
Iowa,  where  he  remained  for  six  years,  carrying  on 
a  farm  and  also  operating  a  steam  sawmill.  After 
spending  some  time  in  different  States,  he  again 
returned  to  Lee  Centre  and  was  engaged  princi- 
pally in  farming  until  appointed  Postmaster, 
April  17,  1889.  He  has  also  held  the  office  of  Col- 
lector for  some  nine  years. 

Mr.  Gray  was  married  in  Amboy,  111.,  to  Anna 
Christopher,  who  was  born  in  Staten  Island,  N.  Y., 
and  died  in  Lee  Centre  Township,  July  6,  1881. 
One  son,  John  C.,  was  the  only  child  born  to  this 
couple.  Mr.  Gray  is  a  member  of  the  Masonic 
fraternity  and  is  a  man  highly  esteemed  for  his 
many  good  qualities.  He  makes  a  good  public 
official,  serving  both  the  interests  of  the  Govern- 
ment and  those  of  his  fellow-citizens  with  much 
ability.  Mr.  Gray  contracted  a  se<ond  marriage 
March  4,  1890,  Mrs.  Alpha  M.  Fox,  nee  Lewis,  be- 
coming the  bride.  Mrs.  Gray  at  the  time  of  her 
marriage  was  the  widow  of  M.  Fox,  a  soldier  in  the 
late  war. 


JOHN  W.  SANDERS  is  an  enterprising  and 
progressive   young  farmer  who  is  success- 
full}'  prosecuting  his  calling  on  his  father's 
homestead  on  section  29,  Ashton  Township, 
where  he  has  passed  his  entire  life  thus  far,  and  he 
has  already  acquired  an  enviable  reputation  as  an 
agriculturist  of  marked   ability.     He  was  born  on 
the  farm  where  he  now  lives  July  4,  1861,  and   is 
the  seventh  of  the  nine  children   of    Henry  and 
Rachel  (Morgan)   Sanders,  natives   respectively  of 
Adams  County,  Pa.  and   Ohio.     A   history   of  his 
parents  is  given  in  the  sketch  of  Henry  Sanders. 

Our  subject  grew  to  manhood  in  the  home  of  his 
birth  in  the  western  part  of  Ashton  Township,  and 
has  never  left  its  sheltering  roof  for  another.  He 
obtained  an  excellent  education  in  the  public 
schools,  and  a  good  training  on  the  farm  in  all  that 
goes  to  make  a  sagacious,  observing  and  wide- 
awake farmer,  who  is  prompt  to  use  every  resource 
for  revenue  afforded  by  a  well-conducted  farm. 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


629 


Thus  well-equipped  for  the  life  of  a  fanner,  and 
having  a  genuine  liking  for  the  occupation,  he 
adopted  it  for  his  vocation  when  it  came  time  for 
him  to  decide  upon  what  career  to  enter.  He  then 
rented  his  father's  farm  of  two  hundred  and  eighty 
acres,  which  he  keeps  up  to  the  same  high  standard 
in  cultivation,  productiveness,  etc.,  it  had  attained 
before  it  came  into  his  hands. 

Mr.  Sanders'  pleasant,  hospitable  home  owes 
much  of  its  attractiveness  to  the  amiable  wife  who 
presides  over  it.  They  were  united  in  marriage  in 
Ashton  Township,  January  9, 1883.  Two  children 
complete  their  household,  Grover  C.  and  Lulu  C. 
Mrs.  Sanders,  whose  maiden  and  married  name  are 
the  same,  her  given  name  being  Laura  V.,  was 
born  in  Adams  County,  Pa.,  and  is  a  daughter  of 
Daniel  Sanders,  of  that  county. 

Our  subject  and  his  wife  are  very  highly  thought 
of  by  the  people  around  them,  many  of  whom  have 
known  him  all  his  life,  have  watched  his  course 
with  satisfaction,  and  recognize  the  manliness  and 
rectitude  of  his  conduct  in  all  the  relations  that  he 
sustains  toward  others.  Both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sand- 
ers are  active  in  religious  affairs,  and  are  among 
the  most  efficien  t  working  members  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church.  In  his  political  views,  he  has  a  de- 
cided tendency  to  mould  his  belief  in  accordance 
with  the  pronounced  principles  of  the  Democratic 
party. 


JACOB  WERTMAN.     In  the  twilight  of   an 
honored  life  this  venerable  resident  of  Na- 
chusa  Township,  whose  pleasant  home  was 
situated  on  section  4,  closed  his  eyes  upon 
the   scenes    of   earthly    toil   and    usefulness   and 
passed  to  the   great   beyond,   January    23,  1892. 
Esteemed  in  life,  in  death  he  was  sincerely  mourned 
and  among  his  many  acquaintances  there  was  not 
one  who  did  not  realize   that  in  the  death  of  this 
citizen  the  township  had  lost  one  of  its  most  act- 
ive residents,  and  his  family  and  friends  one  who 
was  ever  devoted  to»  their  happiness. 

The  Wertman  family  is  of  German   origin  and 
was   established    in  this    country    by   the  grand- 
31 


father  of  our  subject,  Michael  Wertman,  who 
when  a  young  man  emigrated  from  the  Fathcr- 
|  land  and  settled  in  Bucks  County,  Pa.  After- 
ward he  removed  to  Columbia  County,  where  he 
secured  a  large  tract  of  land  and  improved  a  fine 
farm,  upon  which  he  spent  his  last  days,  his 
death,  however,  occurring  at  the  home  of  his 
son  Daniel.  His  widow  survived  him  some  years 
and  passed  away  in  Columbia  County.  They 
were  faithful  members  of  the  Lutheran  Church 
and  highly  esteemed  for  their  splendid  endow- 
ments of  heart  and  mind. 

The  second  child  in  the  family  was  Henry,  fa- 
ther of  our  subject,  who  was  born  in  Columbia 
County,  and  passed  his  childhood  there  and  in 
Bucks  County.  In  the  last-named  county  he  was 
married  to  Miss  Anna  M.  Krymmin,  a  native  of 
Bucks  County,  who  belonged  to  an  old  Pennsylva- 
nia-Dutch family,  Presbyterians  in  their  religious 
belief  and  farmers  by  occupation.  After  residing 
for  a  number  of  years  in  Bucks  Count}',  Henry 
Wertman  and  his  wife  removed  to  Columbia 
County,  where  they  secured  a  farm  and  resided 
for  many  years.  Their  last  days  were  spent  with 
their  son,  Henry,  Jr.,  the  father  dying  September 
6,  1867,  at  the  age  of  eighty-four  years,  and  the 
mother  departing  this  life  November  16,  1859, 
aged  seventy-four  years.  He  was  a  member  of 
the  Lutheran  Church,  and  she  held  membership 
with  the  Presbyterian  Church.  This  worthy  couple 
had  a  family  of  five  sons  and  five  daughters,  all 
of  whom  were  married  and  had  families  of  their 
own.  Of  the  number  three  sons  and  three  daugh- 
ters are  yet  living. 

Our  subject  is  the  second  in  order  of  birth  and 
was  born  in  Hemlock  Township,  Columbia  County, 
Pa.,  upon  his  father's  farm,  November  11,  1811. 
His  boyhood  was  passed  in  the  usual  routine  of 
farm  labor,  but .  desiring  to  pursue  some  other 
avocation,  he  learned  the  trade  of  a  carpenter  in 
his  youth.  Hoping  to  better  his  financial  condi- 
tion by  a  removal  to  the  new  and  rapidly  grow- 
ing West,  he  came  to  Lee  County,  111.,  in  1838, 
and  in  Dixon  followed  his  trade  for  some  years, 
or  until  his  marriage,  which  was  celebrated  in 
Dixon  Township. 

The  lady  of  his  choice  was  Miss  Mary  E.  Shell- 


630 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  KKCORD. 


hammer,  a  native  of  Columbia  County,  Pa.,  born 
August  15,  1830.  Her  parents,  Solomon  and  Jane 
(Buckaloo)  Sliellhammer,  were  also  natives  of  the 
same  county.  The  paternal  ancestors  came  from 
Prussia,  Germany,  and  settled  in  that  community 
in  an  early  day.  There  the  grandfather  of  Mrs. 
Wertman  lived  and  died,  his  life  occupation  being 
that  of  farming.  Six  children  were  born  unto 
Solomon  Shellhammer  and  his  wife  in  Columbia 
County,  Pa.,  after  which,  in  the  spring  of  1837, 
they  emigrated  Westward  with  teams  and  covered 
wagons  to  Dixon,  111.  At  night  they  camped 
along  the  wayside,  and  after  traveling  for  eight 
weeks  arrived  at  their  destination  on  the  21st  of 
June. 

The  father  had  followed  wagon-making  in  the 
East,  but  after  locating  in  Lee  County  secured 
land  from  the  Government  near  White  Rock,  in 
Dixon  Township,  where  he  developed  a  farm. 
Some  years  later  he  purchased  land  in  Nachusa 
Township,  where  he  lived  one  year.  lie  then 
made  his  home  with  our  subject  until  his  death 
April  28,  1879,  at  the  age  of  eighty-two.  His 
wife  had  passed  away  November  21,  1854,  when 
fifty  years  of  age.  They  were  members  ef  the 
Methodist  Church,  and  throughout  the  commu- 
nity were  held  in  the  highest  regard.  Mr.  Shell- 
hammer  made  the  first  plow  in  Lee  County,  the 
implement  having  a  wooden  mold-1'oard,  steel 
shear  and  iron  land-slide.  With  the  early  his- 
tory of  the  community  he  had  been  prominently 
identified,  and  lived  to  see  the  many  changes 
which  transformed  the  county  from  a  barren 
wilderness  to  one  of  the  best  counties  in  the 
State.  In  the  Shellhammer  family  were  eight 
children,  seven  of  whom  are  yet  living.  All  are 
residents  of  the  West,  are  married  and  have  fami- 
lies, and  two  now  reside  in  Lee  County.  John 
T.  and  C.  K.  are  mechanics;  Jesse  B.  is  living  in 
Clayton  County,  Iowa.  He  and  his  brother  Jo- 
seph, of  Dixon,  were  soldiers  in  the  late  war, 
during  which  the  latter  was  wounded  and  taken 
prisoner.  He  now  receives  a  pension  in  recogni- 
tion of  his  services. 

Mrs.  Wertman  is  the  fourth  in  order  .of  birth. 
She  was  carefully  reared  and  has  been  a  true  and 
loving  wife  and  mother.  The  Wertman  house- 


hold numbers  four  children,  the  eldest  of  whom, 
Charles  H.,  wedded  Sarah  Courtwright,  and  is 
now  engaged  in  farming  near  Milford,  Seward 
County,  Neb.;  Thomas  J.  married  Lucetta  Ilausen 
and  is  farming  in  Villisca,  Iowa;  Alice  M.  is  the 
wife  of  Warren  P.  Dysart,  a  resident  farmer  of 
China  Township;  and  Will  L.  married  Miss  Kate 
Smith,  of  Keedysville,  Washington  County,  Md., 
and  operates  the  homestead  farm.  The  Wertman 
family  is  one  widely  and  favorably  known  through- 
out this  community  and  the  various  members  are 
held  in  the  highest  regard  by  many  friends. 
Their  lives  have  been  well  and  worthily  spent 
and  naught  can  be  said  against  them. 


J  GEORGE  MALACH,  whose  pleasant  home 
is  on  section  14,  Sublette  Township,  has  ac- 
quired wealth  by  farming  and  stock-raising, 
and  is  among  the  foremost  men  of  his  call- 
ing in  the  county.  He  is  a  native  of  Germany, 
born  November  1 ,  1830,  at  Oberhelbersheim,  near 
the  famous  Bingen  on  the  Rhine,  and  he  grew  to 
manhood  amid  the  beautiful  scenery  of  his  native 
province.  His  parents  were  John  Philip  and  Anna 
Maria  (Silles)  Malach.  His  father  was  a  baker, 
and  also  tilled  the  soil,  owning  a  few  acres  of  land. 
At  the  age  of  sixty-seven  years,  he  had  to  suffer 
the  amputation  of  one  of  his  legs  on  account  of 
disease,  but  notwithstanding  he  was  so  old,  he  re- 
covered from  the  effects  of  it,  and  lived  some  seven 
years  longer,  dying  in  the  land  of  his  birth  at  the 
age  of  seventy-four.  His  wife  lived  to  be  very 
old,  being  eighty-seven  when  she  died.  They  were 
true  and  faithful  members  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church.  They  had  eight  children,  of  whom  only 
three  grew  up;  our  subject,  the  eldest,  being  the 
only  one  to  come  to  America.  John  Jacob  and 
Margaret  still  reside  in  Germany. 

He  of  whom  we  write  received  a  good  educa- 
tion in  the  excellent  schools  of  his  native  land, 
which  he  attended  until  he  was  eighteen  years  old. 
He  learned  the  trade  of  a  baker  from  his  father, 
and  at  the  age  of  twenty-two,  in  1852,  he  em- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


631 


barked  on  a  ship  at  Havre,  and  sailed  away  for  the 
New  World  in  the  flush  and  vigor  of  the  opening 
years  of  a  stalwart  manhood  in  quest  of  whatever  j 
fortune  might  have  to  offer  him  in  this  country 
with  its  immense  resources  and  great  possibili- 
ties. A.  voyage  of  forty-five  days  on  the  ocean 
brought  him  to  New  Orleans,  where  he  worked  at 
his  trade  for  two  years.  He  then  came  to  Lee 
County  to  visit  some  cousins.  He  did  not  like 
country  life,  and  made  several  trips  to  Chicago,  in 
search  of  work  as  a  baker,  but  could  not  obtain 
satisfactory  wages.  He  then  wisely  concluded  to 
do  whatsoever  his  hands  could  find  to  do  to  earn 
an  honest  living,  and  hired  out  as  a  farm  laborer. 

Mr.  Malach  worked  steadily,  and  by  frugally 
saving  his  earnings,  in  a  few  short  years  became 
independent,  and  in  1863,  purchased  eighty  acres 
of  land  that  he  had  previously  rented.  He  has  dis- 
played remarkable  push  and  enterprise  in  the  con- 
duct of  his  affairs,  and  from  that  small  beginning 
has  increased  the  acreage  of  his  landed  property  to 
seven  hundred  and  twenty  acres,  in  Sublette 
Township,  which  is  divided  into  three  farms,  and 
he  has  besides  land  in  other  States.  Each  farm  is 
provided  with  a  good  set  of  buildings,  and  the 
land  is  well  cultivated,  and  Mr.  Malach  derives  a 
handsome  revenue  from  them. 

Fortune  also  favored  our  subject  in  the  selection 
of  a  wife,  as  by  his  marriage  in  1859  to  Miss  Cath- 
erine Krebs,  he  secured  the  active  co-operation  of 
a  capable  helpmate.  She  was  born  within  twenty 
miles  of  his  birthplace,  and  came  to  this  country 
with  her  parents,  John  and  Theressa  Krebs,  who 
have  been  welcome  inmates  of  the  home  of  their 
daughter  and  son-in-law  since  1859.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Malach  have  seven  children,  namely:  Mary  T.,  wife 
of  George  Louer;  John  P.,  George  A.  F.,  Elizabeth, 
Catherine  L.,  Christina  Emma,  and  Orthmer  Wil- 
liam. 

Mr.  Malach  inherited  some  property  in  Germany, 
but  much  of  his  fortune  is  the  result  of  his  own 
well-directed  efforts  in  carrying  out  his  undertak- 
ings, lie  has  not  only  been  an  important  agent 
in  the  upbuilding  of  this  part  of  the  county,  but 
he  has  had  a  hand  in  the  administration  of  local 
public  affairs  as  an  incumbent  of  some  of  the  town- 
ship offices,  and  he  has  generously  aided  every 


plan  for  public  improvement.  He  takes  an  intelli- 
gent interest  in  the  politics  of  his  adopted  country, 
and  is  a  stalwart  Democrat.  In  religion,  he  has  al- 
ways held  to  the  Roman  Catholic  faith  in  which  he 
was  reared  by  pious  parents. 

^gj  HARLES  T.  DAVENPORT,  of  Willow  Creek 
(|(  -  Township,  has  passed  the  most  of  his  life 
x^/  in  Lee  County,  and  occupies  an  honorable 
place  among  its  thrifty  and  enterprising  young 
farmers  and  stock  raisers.  He  was  born  in  An- 
gelica, Allegany  County,  N.  Y.,  December  30, 
1858,  and  is  a  son  of  D wight  Davenport,  a  pros- 
perous farmer  of  this  section.  The  latter  is  a  na- 
tive of  Harpersfield,  Delaware  County,  N.  Y. 
When  he  was  twelve  years  of  age  he  went  to  live 
with  an  uncle  in  Angelica,  and  there  grew  to  man- 
hood. He  attended  school  quite  regularly  and  ob- 
tained a  good  education.  When  not  in  school  he 
clerked  in  his  uncle's  store,  and  was  thus  engaged 
until  1858.  In  that  year  he  started  out  in  the 
world,  and  making  his  way  to  this  part  of  the 
country,  after  visiting  different  parts  of  the  State, 
selected  Willow  Creek  Township  as  a  desirable 
place  to  locate.  He  bought  a  tract  of  wild  prairie, 
and  in  1859  removed  his  family  to  their  new 
home.  At  the  time  of  purchase,  his  land  was  not 
under  cultivation,  and  there  were  no  buildings  on 
the  place.  By  steady  industry  he  has  wrought  a 
great  change,  and  now  has  his  farm  well  tilled  and 
amply  provided  with  good  buildings.  In  the  up- 
building of  his  home  he  has  had  the  valuable  as- 
sistance of  a  helpful  wife.  Her  maiden  name  was 
Margaret  Heckman,  and  she  is  a  native  of  Ithaca, 
N.  Y. 

He  of  whom  we  write  is  the  only  child  of  his 
parents,  and  he  was  but  an  infant  when  they 
brought  him  to  Lee  County,  where  he  has  ever 
since  lived.  He  was  given  good  educational  ad- 
vantages, gaining  his  early  acknowledge  of  the 
common  branches  of  instruction  in  the  local  dis- 
trict school,  and  subsequently  pursuing  a  good 
course  of  study  in  the  seminary  at  East  Paw  Paw. 
When  not  in  school,  he  assisted  his  father  on  the 


632 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


farm,  and  has  always  resided  on  the  old  homestead, 
affording  his  father  valuable  help  in  its  manage- 
ment, and  showing  himself  to  be  a  thoroughly  prac- 
tical farmer.  He  is  a  young  man  of  good  habits 
and  personal  character,  and  stands  well  among  his 
associates.  He  takes  an  intelligent  interest  in 
politics,  and  is  a  stalwart  Republican. 

Mr.  Davenport  and  Miss  Mary  Stubbs,  a  native 
of  Willow  Creek  Township,  united  their  lives  in 
a  happy  marriage  January  25,  1881.  To  them 
have  been  born  two  children,  whom  they  have 
named  Lena  M.  and  Barbara  E.  Mrs.  Davenport 
is  a  sincere  Christian,  and  a  member  of  the  Pres- 
byteriaii  Church. 

Mrs.  Davenport  is  a  daughter  of  Andrew  Stubbs, 
a  well-known  citizen  of  this  township.  He  was 
born  in  Hartford,  Oxford  County,  Me.,  March  11, 
1822.  His  father,  Nathaniel  Stubbs,  was  also  a  na- 
tive of  Maine,  and  was  a  son  of  one  Jonathan 
Stubbs,  a  pioneer  farmer  of  Oxford  County,  where 
he  spent  his  last  years.  Mrs.  Davenport's  grand- 
father was  reared  on  the  old  homestead  in  Maine, 
and,  with  the  exception  of  one  year  spent  in  Illi- 
nois, passed  his  entire  life  in  Oxford  County, 
where  he  died  about  1870.  The  maiden  name  of 
his  wife  was  Sophia  Allen,  and  she  was  a  native  of 
the  same  town  as  himself.  Her  father  was  of  Eng- 
lish birth  and  breeding,  and  came  to  this  country 
as  a  soldier  in  the  British  Army  during  the  Amer- 
ican Revolution.  He  sympathized  with  the  Col- 
onists in  their  struggle  for  freedom,  and,  deserting 
from  the  army,  he  settled  in  the  town  of  Hartford, 
Me.,  as  one  of  its  pioneers.  He  bought  a  tract  of 
timber  land,  cleared  a  farm,  and  resided  there 
until  his  demise.  His  wife  also  died  in  Oxford 
County,  her  death  occurring  in  1865  at  an  ad- 
vanced age. 

Andrew  Stubbs  lived  in  his  native  county  until 
he  was  twenty  years  of  age,  when  he  went  to  New 
Bedford,  Mass.,  where  he  shipped  on  a  whaler.  He 
went  on  a  cruise  across  the  Pacific  Ocean,  and  did 
not  return  to  New  England  until  after  a  voyage 
of  four  years  and  two  mouths.  He  made  two  sub- 
sequent cruises,  one  of  three  years  and  ten  months 
and  one  of  three  years'  duration.  Wearying  of  a 
sea-faring  life,  he  determined  to  settle  on  land, 
and  in  July,  1853,  he  came  to  this  State,  where 


there  was  plenty  of  it  obtainable  at  a  reasonable 
price.  He  bought  a  tract  ou  section  34,  Willow 
Creek  Township,  but  a  few  months  later  he  sold 
it  and  purchased  a  part  of  section  27,  the  same 
township,  thus  becoming  the  possessor  of  a  tract  of 
wild  prairie,  which  he  has  since  developed  into  a 
good  farm,  planting  it  with  fruit  and  shade  trees, 
and  otherwise  adorning  the  place,  besides  erecting 
suitable  buildings  and  still  making  it  his  home. 

Mrs.  Davenport's  parents  were  united  in  mar- 
riage August  24,  1850.  Her  mother's  maiden 
name  was  Lucinda  Gunn.  She  was  born  in  the 
town  of  Collinwood,  Cuyahoga  County,  Ohio, 
May  4,  1832.  Her  father,  Horace  Gunn,  was  a  na- 
tive of  Massachusetts,  and  a  son  of  Elijah  Gunn, 
who  spent  his  last  years  in'  Maumee,  Ohio.  Mrs. 
Stubbs '  father  went  to  Ohio  with  his  parents  in 
early  pioneer  times,  when  the  State  was  but  spar- 
sely settled,  and  there  was  but  one  house  on  the 
present  site  of  Cleveland.  He  bought  land  in 
what  is  now  Collinwood,  and  built  a  home  there, 
in  which  he  resided  some  years.  He  then  removed 
to  Indiana,  and  lived  in  that  State  awhile,  but  sub- 
sequently returned  to  Williams  County,  Ohio, 

I  where  his  earthly  pilgrimage  was  brought  to  a 
close.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife,  who  was  a 

'  native  of  Connecticut,  was  Annie  Pritchard.  She 
died  at  Collinwood,  Ohio.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stubbs 
have  eight  children  living,  as  follows:  Elizabeth, 
wife  of  George  Hinkley;  Charles  A.,  Benjamin, 
Almon,  Mary,  Albert,  Ida  and  Wealthy.  Mrs. 
Stubbs  is  a  devoted  Christian  and  a  member  of  the 
United  Brethren  Church.  Mr.  Stubbs  is  sound  in 
his  political  views,  and  a  stanch  Republican. 


S|  SRAEL  R.  PATTERSON,  A  striking  illustra- 
|l  tion  of  the  power  of  patient  purpose  is  furn- 
Ji  ishcd  by  the  life  of  this  gentleman,  who  is  an 
attorney  and  Justice  of  the  Peace  at  Amboy.  lie 
is  one  of  the  persevering  citizens  who  have  made 
Lee  County  what  it  is  to-day,  and  is  eminent  in  his 
own  community  for  his  unflinching  integrity  as  a 
judge  and  his  commendable  public  spirit  as  a  cit- 
izen. Although  he  has  had  to  combat  against 


PORTRAIT  AKD  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


633 


physical  weakness  and  poverty  during  much  of  Ins 
life,  he  at  no  time  allowed  adverse  circumstances 
to  daunt  his  strong  will,  and  as  the  result  of  his 
industry  and  determination  has  achieved  success. 

James  Patterson,  father  of  our  subject,  was  born 
in  Washington  County,  Pa.,  and  in  his  young 
manhood  emigrated  to  Ohio.  He  first  resided  in 
Morgan  County,  where  he  was  married  to  Miss 
Clarissa  Ross,  a  native  of  the  Buckeye  State.  Sub- 
sequently he  made  his  home  in  other  places,  but 
finally  located  permanently  in  Morgan  County, 
near  the  line  of  Muskingum  County.  Duringnearly 
all  the  years  of  his  life  he  lived  on  a  farm,  but 
gave  his  attention  to  other  pursuits,  being  engaged 
upon  public  works  or  in  building  railroads.  The 
children  born  of  this  union  numbered  ten,  of  whom 
eight  attained  to  mature  years. 

The  third  in  this  family  was  Israel  R.,  who  was 
born  in  Morgan  County,  Ohio,  February  24,  1836, 
and  passed  his  early  life  on  his  father's  farm.  Al- 
though his  youth  was  passed  on  a  farm,  he  never 
tilled  the  soil  but  engaged  in  other  avocations. 
His  education  was  received  in  the  common  schools 
of  the  district  in  which  he  lived  and  was  some- 
what limited.  In  1855  he  went  to  Maryland  and 
Virginia  and  engaged  in  railroading;  from  there, 
in  1857,  he  came  to  Amboy  and  here  he  supple- 
mented his  previous  education  by  attendance  at 
private  schools.  He  soon  became  a  locomotive 
engineer  on  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  and  for 
several  years  was  on  a  passenger  run.  His  misfor- 
tune came  in  1870,  on  the  8th  of  February;  when 
his  train  was  nearing  the  station  at  La  Salle,  his 
engine  left  the  track  and  although  he  was  the  only- 
one  hurt,  his  injuries  were  severe,  causing  the  loss 
of  one  limb  and  otherwise  mangling  his  body. 

On  account  of  these  injuries,  Mr.  Patterson  was 
obliged  to  leave  the  road  and  earn  a  livelihood  in 
other  pursuits.  lie  became  a  dealer  in  coal,  hay 
and  live  stock,  and  so  continued  until  1877,  at 
which  date  he  was  elected  Justice.  The 'duties  of 
this  office  he  has  discharged  satisfactorily  and  his 
industry  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  since  his  elec- 
tion he  has  read  law  and  has  been  admitted  to  the 
bar.  His  political  belief  brings  him  into  affiliation 
with  the  Democratic  party,  to  the  principles  of 
which  he  stanchly  adheres.  The  Masonic  frater- 


nity numbers  him  among  its  members  and  he  is 
prominent  in  social  circles.  In  his  religious  belief 
he  is  a  free-thinker  and  maintains  independence  in 
religious  thought. 

Mr.  Patterson  was  married,  February  22,  1859, 
to  Sarah  R.,  daughter  of  Henry  and  Hepsiba  Stew- 
art. Mrs.  Patterson  was  born  in  Chemung  County, 
N.  Y.,  whence  she  removed  with  her  parents  to 
Michigan  and  later  came  to  Amboy.  Seven  chil- 
dren have  been  granted  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Patterson, 
namely:  Oscar  E.,  a  railroad  man;  George  H.,  con- 
ductor on  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad;  Anna  and 
Addie,  twins;  Henry,  Flattie  and  Walter,  who  are 
still  under  the  parental  roof.  In  the  growth  of 
Amboy  Mr.  Patterson  has  the  most  intense  interest 
and  has  contributed  no  little  to  effect  this  most 
desirable  result. 


EVERETT  E.  CHASE.  The  ordinary,  every- 
day life,  with  its  duties  and  cares,  affords 
splendid  opportunity  for  acquiring  practi- 
cal experience,  and  its  most  common  high  road 
gives  to  the  true  worker  available  openings  toward 
success.  The  honored  position  occupied  by  Mr. 
Chase  in  social  and  business  circles  is  not  the 
result  of  accidental  fortune,  but  has  been  secured 
by  tireless  energy  and  honorable  dealings  with  all. 
During  a  period  of  thirty-six  years  he  has  resided 
in  Amboy,  where  he  is  at  present  (1892)  serving 
as  Justice  of  the  Peace,  and  has  heretofore  occupied 
other  positions  of  honor  and  trust. 

The  ancestors  of  Mr.  Chase  were  among  the 
Puritans  of  New  England,  where  various  repre- 
sentatives of  the  family  still  reside.  Simpson 
Chase,  father  of  our  subject,  was  a  mason  by  trade, 
and  for  a  number  of  years  was  engaged  in  con- 
tracting and  building.  One  hand  becoming  dis- 
abled, he  gave  up  his  trade,  and  during  the  remain- 
der of  his  life  was  engaged  as  a  grocer  in  Providence, 
R.  I.  In  that  city  he  resided  during  the  greater 
portion  of  his  life  and  until  he  passed  away,  at  the 
age  of  fifty-six  years.  His  wife,  whose  maiden 
name  was  Rebecca  Goff,  survived  him  many  years, 


634 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


and  attained  to  the  great  age  of  seventy-six 
years.  The  worthy  couple  held  membership  in 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  in  which  they 
were  earnest  workers. 

The  subject  of  this  biographical  notice  was  one 
of  nine  children,  of  whom  five  attained  to  their 
majority.  He  was  born  in  Pawtucket,  R.  I.,  Sep- 
tember 27,  1840,  and  was  the  recipient  of  excellent 
advantages  during  his  youth.  Of  the  family  to 
which  he  belongs,  only  two  members  survive  be- 
sides himself:  his  sisters,  Rebecca  E.  and  Elizabeth 
J.,  both  of  whom  reside  in  Providence,  R.  I.  An 
elder  brother,  Newton  S.,  came  to  Amboy  soon 
after  this  place  was  started,  and  engaged  in  business 
as  a  merchant  tailor  until  his  death.  Charles,  a 
younger  brother,  was  a  fine  musician,  but  died 
when  a  young  man.  After  completing  the  course 
of  instruction  in  the  schools  of  Providence,  our 
subject  came  to  Amboy  in  1856,  when  sixteen 
years  old.  His  first  employment  was  in  clerking 
in  his  brother's  merchant  tailoring  establishment, 
and  later  he  was  engaged  as  Deputy  Postmaster  for 
a  short  time. 

Again  Mr.  Chase  was  employed  as  a  clerk  and 
as  Deputy  Postmaster,  and  some  time  later,  in  con- 
nection with  the  latter  position,  he  became  a  part- 
ner in  a  book  and  stationery  business.  In  1864 
he  enlisted  in  the  United  States  service  as  a  private 
iii  Company  A,  Eleventh  Illinois  Infantry.  He 
served  one  year,  being  principally  on  detached 
duty  and  doing  clerical  work.  After  the  war  he 
was  not  in  any  regular  business  until  1868,  when 
he  entered  the  employ  of  the  Illinois  Central  Rail- 
road, as  clerk  in  the  office  of  the  Superintendent, 
a  position  which  he  held  until  1875.  He  then 
engaged  in  the  live  stock  business  for  two  years, 
until  his  election  to  the  position  of  Justice  of  the 
Peace.  He  has  since  served  in  this  capacity  with 
the  exception  of  four  years  (from  1885  to  1889) 
when  he  was  not  engaged  in  any  special  work. 

In  1867  Mr.  Chase  was  married  to  Miss  Mollie, 
daughter  of  John  C.  Jacobs.  Mrs.  Mollie  Chase 
died  in  1868,  and  seven  years  later  Mr.  Chase  was 
united  in  marriage  with  the  widow  of  Capt.  M.  W. 
Wells,  whose  maiden  name  was  Grace  Cowdrey. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Chase  have  an  attractive  home  in 
Amboy,  and  he  is  also  the  owner  of  a  farm  of  one 


hundred  and  sixty  acres  adjoining  the  city.  The 
only  society  to  which  he  belongs  is  the  A.  O.  U. 
W.  In  his  political  affiliations  he  has  always  been 
a  strong  Republican,  and  has  been  a  delegate  to 
State  conventions.  Besides  the  office  which  he 
now  holds,  he  has  filled  various  other  local 
positions,  having  been  City  Clerk  twelve  years 
and  Tax  Collector  for  two  terms. 


I*  ENBY  B.  ROOT.  More  than  twenty  years 
|lfjV  have  passed  since  Mr.  Root  came  to  this 
{I*MS'  county  and  located  on  section  16,  Amboy 
(fp  Township.  Here  he  still  resides,  busily 
engaged  in  the  cultivation  of  the  seventy-five 
acres  which  comprise  his  farm.  Upon  the  place 
he  has  erected  all  the  necessary  buildings  for  the 
shelter  of  stock  and  farming  implements,  as  well 
as  the  storage  of  the  grain  which  is  harvested  each 
year  in  ever-increasing  quantities.  The  family 
residence  is  roomy  and  substantial,  while  the  sur- 
roundings are  in  every  way  inviting  and  afrac- 
tivc. 

The  parents  of  our  subject  were  William  R.  and 
Laura  (Benedict)  Root,  natives  of  Connecticut 
and  Sheffield,  Mass.  They  possessed  the  sturdy 
qualities  which  almost  invariably  characterize  the 
people  of  New  p]n  gland,  and  passed  their  entire 
lives  amid  the  surroundings  to  which  they  had 
been  reared.  Both  died  in  Massachusetts,  he  in 
Housatonic  and  she  in  Sheffield.  Their  family 
circle  was  completed  by  the  birth  of  eight  children. 
Our  subject,  who  was  the  second  among  them,  was 
born  February  4,  1828,  in  Sheffield,  Berkshire 
County,  Mass.,  and  on  a  farm  in  his  native  county 
attained  to  the  age  of  sixteen  years.  From  that 
time  until  ho  was  nineteen,  he  resided  in  Connecti- 
cut, whence  he  returned  to  Sheffield  and  learned 
the  trade  of  paper-making. 

After  serving  an  apprenticeship  at  that  trade, 
Mr.  Root  became  foreman  in  the  mill  and  was  thus 
employed  for  eight  years.  In  March,  1870,  he  came 
to  Illinois  and  located  in  this  county,  purchasing 
the  farm  upon  which  he  now  lives  and  which  is 
pleasantly  situated  on  section  16,  Amboy  Town- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


ship.  Since  he  first  came  here  this  has  been  his 
home,  with  the  exception  of  two  years,  of  which 
one  was  spent  in  Amboy  and  the  other  in  the 
East.  His  time  lias  been  industriously  devoted  to 
the  cultivation  of  the  place,  which  now  ranks 
among  the  best  improved  estates  in  the  commu- 
nity, and  although  not  so  large  as  some  others, 
every  acre  is  made  to  yield  the  very  largest  returns 
for  the  labor  expended  upon  it.  His  success  has 
been  secured  by  the  use  of  proper  business  methods 
in  his  farming  operations  and  the  exercise  of  good 
judgment  in  the  rotation  of  crops. 

On  December  25,  1854,  Mr.  Root  was  married  to 
Miss  Caroline  Phelps,  in  Copake,  Columbia  County, 
N.  Y.  The  parents  of  Mrs.  Root  were  Seth  and 
Polly  (Bassett)  Phelps,  natives  respect! vcly  of 
Massachusetts  and  Fair  Haven,  Conn.  He  died  in 
New  Marlborough,  Mass.,  and  she  passed  away  in 
Hillsdale,  N.  Y.  They  had  a  family  of  four  chil- 
dren, Mrs.  Root  being  the  third  in  order  of  birth. 
She  was  born  in  Hillsdale,  Columbia  County,  N.  Y., 
February  8,  1832,  and  there  was  reared  to  woman- 
hood. Her  marriage  to  Mr.  Root  brought  to  them 
one  child,  a  daughter — Ida  V.,  who  died  when 
about  four  years  old. 

In  local  political  affairs,  Mr.  Root  has  taken  a 
prominent  and  active  part,  voting  the  Republican 
ticket  whenever  opportunity  offered.  His  pe- 
culiar fitness  for  official  position  has  been  recog- 
nized by  his  fellow-citizens,  who  have  called  upon 
him  to  serve  in  many  places  of  honor  and  trust. 
In  every  position  he  has  displayed  his  energy  and 
ability  and  has  won  commendation  from  those 
whose  interests  he  had  in  charge.  For  some  time 
he  served  as  Constable,  was  School  Director  for  six 
years,  and  is  now  Highway  Commissioner,  which 
position  he  has  held  for  eight  years. 


•7T  I'dl'ST   I'KTRI,  who  resides  on  section  7, 
Q/J      Hradford  Township,  is  one  of    the  enter- 
///  '^    Pr'sing?  industrious,  German-born  citizens 
(jjjl          of  whom  this  county  may  well  be  proud.  1  It- 
was  born  in  Prussia,  October  27,    1827,  and   when 
twenty-four  years  of  age,  emigrated  to  the  United 


States.  He  landed  at  New  Orleans  and  worked  in 
Tennessee  for  a  few  months,  when  he  went  to 
California,  where  he  remained  for  over  six  years 
digging  for  gold. 

Having  accumulated  a  comfortable  fortune,  our 
subject  returned  to  his  native  country  where  he 
remained  for  two  years,  after  which  he  decided  to 
again  come  to  America.  He  at  first  went  to  Canada, 
where  he  was  employed  for  some  time  in  settling 
his  brother's  estate.  In  1866  he  came  to  Lee 
County  and  the  following  year  was  married  to 
Amalia  Griesse  who  was  a  native  of  Hesse-Cassel, 
Germany,  her  birth  taking  place  February  22,  1850. 
After  their  marriage,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Petri  settled  on 
section  7,  Bradford  Township,  where  they  now  re- 
side. Their  family  comprises  ten  children:  Minnie, 
William,  John,  August,  Otto,  Hilda,  Clara,  Leon- 
ard, Richard,  and  Rudolph. 

Mr.  Petri  has  a  fine  farm  of  two  hundred  and 
eleven  acres,  on  which  are  an  excellent  set  of  build- 
ings and  which  evinces  in  every  detail  the  careful 
management  of  its  owner,  who  is  possessed  of  the 
true  German  thrift  and  industry.  He  and  his  fam- 
ily are  worthy  citizens  and  are  highly  esteemed 
throughout  the  township. 


SUSAN  P.  (FOSTER)  DETAMORE,  widow 
of  David  Detamore,  is  well  known  in  Lee 
County,  of  which  she  has  been  a  resident 
these  many  years,  as   the  former  proprie- 
tress of  the  Detamore  House  at  Paw  Paw,  which 
under  her  able  management  was  regarded  by  the 
travelling  public  as  one  of  the  best  hotels  between 
Dixon  and  Aurora.     She  is  now  living  in  retire- 
ment in  the  enjoyment  of  an  ample  income,  passing 
a  part  of  each  year  in  her  pleasant  home  in  Paw 
Paw  Village. 

Mrs.  Detamore  is  descended  from  fine  old  New 
England  and  Revolutionary  stock,  and  her  birth- 
place is  in  the  town  of  Wilmington,  among  the 
hills  of  Wind  ham  County,  Vt.,  March  15,  1815, 
the  date  of  her  birth.  Her  father  was  Jedediah 
Foster,  and  he  was  born  in  Brookfield,  Mass.,  and 


03(5 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


was  a  son  of  Theodore  Dwight  Foster,  who  was 
also  a  native  of  New  England,  and  was  an  early 
settler  of  Wilmington,  where  he  was  engaged  as  a 
farmer,  and  spent  his  last  years.  The  maiden 
name  of  his  wife  was  Susanna  Packard.  She  died 
on  the  home  farm  in  Wilmington. 

Jedediah  Foster  was  reared  and  married  in 
Brookfleld,  and  went  from  there  to  Vermont,  locat- 
ing in  the  town  of  Wilmington.  That  was  long 
before  the  introduction  of  railways,  and  the  far- 
mers of  that  region  used  to  go  to  Boston  witli 
teams  to  market  their  produce.  Mr.  Foster  resided 
at  Wilmington  until  1848,  and  then  became  a 
pioneer  of  this  county,  taking  up  his  abode  at 
Paw  Paw,  and  here  he  and  his  good  wife  passed 
their  remaining  days,  until  they  entered  life  eternal 
through  the  portals  of  death.  Her  maiden  name 
was  Tamison  Gilbert,  and  Amherst,  Mass.,  was  her 
native  place.  Her  father  was  a  gallant  soldier  in 
the  Revolution,  and  was  killed  in  battle  while 
fighting  for  the  cause  of  freedom.  Mrs.  Foster 
had  been  twice  married,  and  her  first  husband  was 
named  Billings.  By  her  second  marriage  with  the 
father  of  our  subject  she  became  the  mother  of 
these  three  children:  Dwight,  who  died  at  Paw 
Paw;  Susan  P.,  and  Mary  Osmer,  who  died  at 
Parkman,  Ohio. 

Mrs.  Detamore  was  reared  under  good  home 
influences  in  her  New  England  birthplace,  and  the 
careful  instruction  that  she  received  from  her 
mother  in  all  household  duties  made  her  an  excep- 
tionally capable  housewife,  thus  she  was  well  pre- 
pared for  the  arduous  duties  that  devolved  upon 
her  in  after  years.  When  she  was  a  young  lady 
she  went  to  Ohio,  and  in  the  town  of  Eaton,  that 
State,  gave  her  hand  to  David  Detamore  in  mar- 
riage, and  their  wedded  life  was  productive  of 
mutual  benefit  and  happiness. 

Mr.  Detamore  was  born  in  Rockingham  County, 
Va.,  May  22,  1822,  and  was  a  son  of  Jacob  and 
Sophia  Detamore.  He  went  to  Ohio  with  his 
parents,  who  settled  in  that  State  in  pioneer  times. 
In  his  youth  he  learned  the  trade  of  a  carpenter 
and  stair  builder,  and  pursued  his  calling  in  Eaton 
until  1851.  In  that  year  lie  took  an  important 
step  in  life,  whereby  his  fortunes  were  materially 
bettered,  as  he  then  came  to  Lee  County  and  iden- 


tified himself  with  its  pioneers.  He  was  accom- 
panied hither  by  his  wife,  and  they  came  by  the- 
way  of  the  lakes  to  Chicago,  thence  by  rail  to 
Aurora,  the  nearest  railway  point  to  this  part  of 
country,  and  from  there  they  came  by  a  private 
team  to  Paw  Paw,  which  was  then  in  its  infancy, 
a  hamlet  of  some  half-a-dozen  houses  and  one 
store. 

After  his  arrival  Mr.  Detamore  invested  some 
money  in  several  acres  of  land  now  included  in 
the  village,  and  he  and  his  wife  began  life  here  in 
a  small  brick  house  of  four  rooms  that  stood  on 
the  place.  There  was  no  hotel  here  at  the  time 
and  perceiving  the  need  of  one  and  the  advantages 
of  their  location,  they  at  once  made  arrangements 
to  keep  boarders  and  to  accommodate  the  traveling 
public.  As  the  village  grew,  and  the  fame  of 
their  hotel  spread,  their  custom  increased,  and 
they  made  additions  to  the  house,  which  was 
finally  made  a  stage  station  on  the  route  from 
Aurora  to  Dixon.  As  their  patronage  was  still 
further  increased  Mr.  Detamore  had  to  enlarge  his 
house  still  more,  and  subsequently  built  the  hotel 
known  as  the  Detamore  House.  He  managed  the 
house  some  years  with  the  active  co-operation  of 
his  wife,  and  then  rented  it  and  lived  retired 
until  his  death  in  August,  1859,  while  yet  in  the 
prime  of  life,  as  he  was  then  but  thirty-seven  years 
of  age. 

After  her  bereavement,  Mrs.  Detamore  bravely 
took  up  the  burden  of  life  alone  for  the  sake  of 
her  little  daughter,  and  returning  to  the  hotel  she 
resumed  charge  of  it,  and  managed  it  for  many 
years  with  signal  success.  Under  her  watchful 
care  it  was  rendered  homelike  and  comfortable  to 
its  inmates,  and  a  pleasant  retreat  to  the  weary 
traveler  who  sought  temporary  shelter  beneath  its 
roof,  and  found  refreshment  for  mind  and  bod}'  in 
neat  room  and  well-served  food.  Her  kind,  motherly 
manner,  and  cheerful,  friendly  ways,  endeared  her 
to  those  who  made  her  house  their  home,  gained 
her  the  esteem  of  all  with  whom  she  came  in  con- 
tact, and  never  did  landlady  enjoy  more  popular- 
ity than  she  during  her  reign  of  more  than  a 
quarter  of  a  century ,as  head  of  the  Detamore  House. 
In  1885  she  sold  the  hotel,  and  has  since  then 
lived  retired,  spending  a  part  of  each  year  in  Paw 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


639 


Paw,  and  the  remainder  of  the  time  with  her  daugh- 
ter, the  wife  of  Dr.  T.  D.  Palmer,  of  Chicago.  Mrs. 
Detamore  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  and  is  an  exemplary  Christian. 


§HEODORE  J.  MILLER,  who  is  engaged  in 
the  sale  of  musical  instruments,  sewing 
machines,  etc.,  is  one  of  the  successful,  sub- 
stantial business  men  of  Dixon.  lie  is  a  Pennsyl- 
vanian  by  birth,  born  in  the  township  of  Summit, 
Somerset  County,  September  5,  1848.  His  father 
Josiah  Miller,  a  brave  soldier  of  the  late  war,  was 
a  native  of  the  same  county  as  himself.  He  in 
turn  was  a  son  of  Daniel  Miller,  who  was  born  in 
Eastern  Pennsylvania  about  1783.  He  removed 
to  Somerset  County  in  early  manhood  and  was  an 
early  settler  of  Summit  Township,  where  he  carried 
on  his  trade  as  a  wagon  maker,  and  there  his  life 
was  brought  to  a  close  in  1856.  The  maiden  name 
of  his  wife  was  Mary  Long. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  reared  and  edu- 
cated in  the  county  of  his  nativity.  He  learned  of 
his  father  the  trade  of  wagon  and  carriage  maker, 
and  carried  on  business  in  that  line  at  Mechanics- 
burg  some  years.  He  was  then  elected  Justice  of 
the  Peace  and  gave  his  attention  to  his  official 
duties  until  after  the  breaking  out  of  the  war. 
Enlisting  in  1861  in  Company  C,  Fifty-fourth 
Pennsylvania  Infantry,  he  served  with  valor  and 
fidelity  in  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  three  years, 
taking  part  in  several  important  engagements. 
He  won  a  good  military  record,  of  which  his  des- 
cendants may  feel  proud,  and  returning  to  his 
native  State,  passed  the  rest  of  his  life  at  Myers- 
dale,  that  lost  a  valuable  citizen  in  his  death  in 
June,  1884. 

The  maiden  name  of  the  mother  of  our  subject 
was  Matilda  Beachey.  She  was  born  in  Somerset 
County,  Pa.,  and  died  in  1849  in  Summit  Town- 
ship, that  county.  She  was  the  mother  of  four 
children.  Annie  married  George  Knee,  First 
Lieutenant  of  Company  A,  Tenth  Pennsylvania 
Reserves  , who  died  January  27,  1863,  of  wounds 
received  at  the  battle  of  F;  edericksburg,  December 


13,  1862.  Afterward  she  became  the  wife  of  W. 
C.  Hicks,  and  survived  him  some  time,  passing 
away  at  Myersdale,  Pa.,  July  31,  1890.  Lydia 
married  Daniel  Peck,  of  Dickinson  County,  Kan; 
Maggie  is  the  wife  of  Dr.  George  W.  1.  Brown;  and 
our  subject  completes  the  family  circle. 

The  maternal  grandfather  of  our  subject  was 
Peter  A.  Beachey,  who  was  born  in  Somerset 
County  in  1797.  His  father,  Abraham  Beachey, 
who  was  a  native  of  Switzerland,  came  to 
this  country  with  his  parents  when  he  was  young, 
and  was  reared  in  Maryland.  From  there  he 
went  to  Pennsylvania  and  was  a  pioneer  of  Elk 
Lick  Township,  Somerset  County,  buying  a  tract 
of  timber  land  from  the  Government  and  clearing 
a  farm  from  the  forests  primeval,  on  which  he. 
dwelt  until  death  closed  his  mortal  career. 

Peter  A.  Beachey  was  bred  to  the  life  of  a 
farmer,  and  devoted  himself  to  agricultural  pur- 
suits and  raising  stock.  He  was  a  man  of  more 
than  ordinary  push  and  energy,  possessed  of  good 
judgment  and  acquired  a  large  property  for  those 
days.  He  died  in  1854.  The  maiden  name  of  his 
wife  was  Ann  Livengood  and  she  was  born  in 
Pennsylvania  in  1797,  a  daughter  of  Christian  L. 
Livengood.  The  great-great-grandfather  of  our 
subject  was  the  Rev.  Peter  Livengood,  who  was 
born  on  the  banks  of  the  River  Rhine,  Germany, 
and  came  to  America  in  Colonial  times.  In  1760 
he  started  for  what  was  then  considered  a  part  of 
the  "Great  West,"  and  crossing  the  Alleghany 
Mountains,  located  in  what  is  now  Elk  Lick  Town- 
ship, Somerset  County,  Pa.,  which  was  a  wilder- 
ness. He  made  a  claim  which  was  marked  by 
blazed  trees,  and  later  secured  from  the  Govern- 
ment a  patent  to  several  thousand  acres  of  land,  a 
portion  of  it  in  behalf  of  his  neighbors.  He  was 
very  prominent  in  the  settlement  as  a  preacher  and 
school  teacher  and  was  well  educated  for  the  times. 
At  the  same  time  he  superintended  the  improve- 
ment of  his  land.  Both  he  and  his  good  wife 
lived  to  be  very  aged,  he  dying  in  his  ninety-sixth 
year,  and  she  in  her  ninetieth  year.  Christian  L. 
Livengood  spent  his  entire  life  in  Somerset 
County,  his  death  occurring  at  the  age  of  sev- 
enty-six years.  He  married  Elizabeth  Forney, 
whose  father  was  a  teacher  and  a  soldier  from 


640 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RFX'ORD. 


Darmstadt,  Germany.  She  was  born  in  1769,  and 
died  when  eighty  years  old. 

Our  subject  was  very  young  when  he  was  de- 
prived of  a  mother's  tender  care  by  her  untimely 
death,  and  the  family  was  scattered.  At  the  age  of 
nine  years  he  went  out  to  work  on  a  farm  for  his 
board  and  clothes,  and  at  fourteen  years  of  age  re- 
ceived $7  a  month  for  his  services,  which  was  good 
wages  for  a  boy  at  that  time.  He  remained  on  the 
farm  until  the  fall  of  1864,  and  then  following  in  his 
father's  footsteps,  enlisted,  though  but  sixteen 
years  of  age,  and  became  a  member  of  Company 
K,  Fifth  Pennsylvania  Artillery,  and  served  in 
the  defense  of  Washington  until  July  6,  1865, 
proving  to  be  a  good  soldier  in  spite  of  his  youth- 
fulness.  On  his  return  from  the  South  he  attended 
school  for  a  while.  In  1866  he  came  to  Lee 
County  and  located  at  Franklin  Grove,  where  he 
was  variously  employed  for  a  time. 

Not  satisfied  with  his  education,  Mr.  Miller  be- 
came a  student  in  Dixon  Seminary,  and  after  pur- 
suing his  studies  in  that  institution  two  terms, 
early  in  1867  he  entered  the  Iron  City  Business 
College  at  Pittsburg,  where  he  had  the  benefit  of  an 
excellent  course  of  study  that  was  a  good  prepara- 
tion for  his  subsequent  mercantile  career.  He  was 
graduated  from  that  college  in  June,  1867,  and 
returning  to  Lee  County,  resumed  work  on  the 
farm,  and  was  thus  employed  until  1869,  when  he 
established  himself  in  his  present  business  as  a 
dealer  in  musical  instruments,  sewing  machines, 
etc.  He  has  a  commodious  store,  stocked  with  a 
varied  assortment  of  whatever  is  in  demand  in  his 
line,  and  is  one  of  the  leading  merchants  in  his 
branch  of  business  in  this  part  of  the  State.  His 
name  is  a  synonym  of  honor  and  honesty  in  finan- 
cial circles,  and  in  his  social  relations  he  is  esteemed 
for  his  culture  and  true  gentlemanliness.  He  and 
his  amiable  wife  are  members  of  the  Baptist  Church, 
and  they  are  associated  with  its  every  good  work. 
He  is  a  teacher  in  the  Sunday-school,  and  has  done 
much  to  promote  its  growth.  He  is  a  member  of 
Friendship  Lodge  No.  7,  F.  &  A.  M.;  Dixon 
Chapter  No.  56,  R.  A.  M.;  Dixon  Commandery,  No. 
21,  K.  T. 

On  October  1 5,1 872,Mr.  Miller  married  Miss  Mary 
C.  Kmmert,  a  native  of  Franklin  Grove,  this  county, 


and  a  daughter  of  Ezra  and  Sarah  (Newcomer) 
Kmmert.  Eight  children  have  been  born  to  our 
subject  and  his  wife,  Grace  E.,  Hugh,  Ray,  Dora, 
Guy  G.,  Ezra  E.,  Maud  and  Theodore  J. 

Mrs.  Miller's  father  was  born  seven  miles  south- 
east of  Hagerstown,  Washington  County,  Md., 
July  26,  1826.  His  father,  Joseph  Emmert,  was  a 
native  of  Pennsylvania  and  went  from  there,  when 
a  young  man,  to  Maryland,  where  he  bought  a 
farm.  He  resided  there  until  1845  and  then  sold 
his  property  in  that  State,  and  coming  to  Lee 
County  settled  among  its  pioneers,  buying  a  partly 
improved  farm  near  Franklin  Grove.  A  few 
years  later  his  buildings  were  destroyed  by  fire, 
and  he  went  to  live  with  his  son-in-law,  a  half 
mile  from  Franklin  Grove,  in  whose  home  his 
death  occurred.  He  was  a  worthy  member 
of  the  German  Baptist  Church  and  a  preacher  in 
that  denomination.  His  wife,  Catherine,  daughter 
of  Henry  Evay,  was  born  and  died  in  Washington 
County,  Md. 

Ezra  Emmert  passed  his  early  life  in  his  native 
County,  and  had  nearly  attained  manhood  when 
be  came  to  Illinois  with  his  parents.  The  removal 
thither  was  made  with  a  four-horse  team,  and  five 
weeks  were  consumed  on  the  journey.  At  that 
time  Lee  County  was  sparsely  settled  and  but 
little  improved,  deer,  wolves  and  other  wild  ani- 
mals roaming  at  their  pleasure  where  are  now  fine 
farms  and  thriving  towns.  There  were  no  rail- 
ways and  he  used  to  team  grain  in  Chicago,  which 
was  then  a  city  of  from  twenty  to  forty  thousand 
inhabitants.  Mr.  Emmert  made  his  home  with  his 
parents  until  he  married,  and  then  bought  a  tract 
of  wild  land  three  miles  from  Franklin  Grove, 
upon  which  he  built  a  dwelling  and  other  necessary 
buildings,  and  at  once  commenced  the  pioneer 
task  of  developing  a  farm. 

A  natural  mechanic  and  possessing  a  marvelous 
genius  in  that  line,  Mr.  Emmert  early  turned  his 
attention  to  the  improvement  of  farming  machinery 
and  made  numerous  valuable  inventions,  which 
have  been  of  great  benefit  to  farmers.  He  inven- 
ted a  combined  seeder  and  cultivator,  for  which  he 
secured  letters  patent,  and  derived  a  good  profit 
from  the  manufacture  and  sale  of  the  machine  at 
Franklin  Grove.  He  was  the  original  inventor  of 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


611 


the  harvester  that  was  manufactured  by  the  Marshes, 
and  was  known  as  the  Marsh  harvester.  He  also 
invented  a  corn  planter  and  rotary  seed  drill,  and 
was  the  inventor  of  the  ingenious  combination 
known  as  the  combined  well  and  cistern,  of 
Emmert's  portable  well,  and  Emmert's  combined 
cook  and  hot  water  stove,  a  contrivance  calculated 
to  heat  the  house  by  water  from  the  kitchen 
stove. 

The  maiden  name  of  Mr.  Emmert's  first  wife, 
mother  of  Mrs.  Miller,  was  Sarah  A.  Newcomer. 
She  was  born  in  Washington  County,  Md.,  and 
was  a  daughter  of  Peter  and  Sarah  (Sherrick) 
Newcomer.  She  was  the  mother  of  four  children, 
Mary  C.;  Eleanor  A.,  the  wife  of  the  Rev.  Asbury 
Gregory,  a  Baptist  minister;  Sarah  L.,  who  died  in 
infancy;  and  Joseph  F.,  who  died  when  ten  years 
old.  Mr.  Emmet's  second  wife  was  Mary  E. 
Andrus,  a  native  of  Franklin  County,  N.  Y. 


eHARLES  F.  WELTY  is  a  wide-awake,  pro- 
gressive farmer  and  stock-raiser,  carrying 
on  an  extensive  business  in  Marion  Town- 
ship, where  he  has  a  valuable  farm  and  large  herds 
of  cattle;  an  able  and  public-spirited  official,  rap- 
resenting  his  township  as  a  member  of  the  County 
Board  of  Supervisors,  Charles  F.  Welty  stands 
among  the  foremost  of  the  sons  of  Lee  County, 
who  were  born  within  its  boundaries,  and  are  now 
among  its  most  useful  and  enterprising  citizens. 
The  city  of  Dixon  is  the  birthplace  of  our  sub- 
ject, and  November  3,  1858,  the  date  of  his  birth 
into  one  of  the  oldest  and  most  highly  respected 
pioneer  families  of  that  city  and  the  county.  His 
father,  the  late  Judge  David  Welty,  was  for  years 
widely  and  favorably  known  throughout  Northern 
Illinois,  as  a  man  of  large  business  enterprise,  as 
an  incorruptible  judge  while  he  sat  on  the  bench, 
and  as  a  noble  citizen,  who  wielded  a  powerful  in- 
fluence in  advancing  the  educational,  moral  and 
social  interests  of  his  community.  The  Judge  was 
a  native  of  New  York,and  for  some  years,  during  his 
early  manhood,  was  engaged  in  the  mercantile  busi- 
ness in  the  city  of  Buffalo.  In  1833,  his  health  be- 


came impaired,  and  he  came  to  Illinois  to  recuper- 
ate, making  the  journey  hither  on  horseback,  and 
from  that  time  until  the  day  of  his  death  in  Jan- 
uary, 1885,  at  a  venerable  age,  was  a  resident  of 
Dixon.  He  was  a  man  of  means,  a  gentleman- 
farmer,  and  dealt  largely  in  real  estate.  In  politics, 
he  was  a  Republican,  and  he  was  a  prominent  fig- 
ure in  public  life.  He  was  at  one  time  Drainage 
Commissioner,  and  he  served  as  Probate  Judge 
for  eight  years.  He  was  for  many  years  one  of 
the  leading  Odd  Fellows  of  this  part  of  the  State, 
being  a  charter  member  of  Dixon  Lodge,  No.  39. 
The  following  biographical  record  of  Judge 
Welty's  life  and  eloquent  tribute  to  his  memory 
is  taken  from  the  Dixon  Telegraph: 

DEATH    OF    JCIXiE    WELTY. 

"With  a  heart  of  grief  we  are  again  called  on  to 
register  the  death  of  another  of  our  old  and  much 
respected  citizens.  Mr.  David  Welty  quietly  passed 
from  this  life  last  evening  at  half-past  ten  o'clock, 
after  a  lingering  illness  of  many  years.  Mr.  Welty 
was  born  in  Williamsville,  Erie  County,  N.  Y., 
September  30, 1811.  When  he  was  twelve  years 
of  age,  he  moved  to  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  where  he  ac- 
quired the  greater  part  of  his  education.  On  ar- 
riving at  the  age  of  maturity,  he  engaged  in  the 
dry-goods  business,  which  he  followed  a  number 
of  years.  During  the  patriot  war  in  Canada,  Mr. 
Welty  served  as  Aid  on  the  staff  of  Gen.  Burt.  He 
moved  to  Dixon  in  the  year  of  1833,  and  has  ever 
since  resided  in  this  county.  He  was  elected  Pro- 
bate Judge  in  1854  and  served  two  terms.  He 
also  held  the  office  of  Drainage  Commissioner  for 
several  years.  Judge  Welty  was  married  to  Miss 
Seraphina  Scott,  at  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  in  1834.  David 
Welty  leaves  nine  surviving  children,  namely: 
Emily,  now  Mrs.  Devine;  Ellen,  married  toE.  K.  Sib- 
ley;  John,  now  in  the  Government  employ;  Max- 
well, Adeline,  Anna,  Charles,  William  and  George. 
Mr.  Welty  has  been  a  member  of  the  Odd  Fellows' 
fraternity,  and,  until  his  health  became  so  shattered 
that  he  was  unable  to  do  so,  he  was  a  regular  and  an 
active  member.  We  understand  that  he  was  in- 
sured in  a  reliable  life  insurance  company  for  the 
sum  of  110,000. 

"In  his  day  he  was  a  good  business  man,  and  ]ie 


642 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


has  always  been  honored  and  respected  for  his  hon- 
esty and  integrity  as  a  citizen  and  official. 

"In  the  death  of  Judge  Welty,  whose  funeral 
takes  place  to-morrow  afternoon,  another  old 
"landmark,"  so  to  speak,  in  the  history  of  Dixon 
and  Lee  County,  has  passed  away.  For  a  man 
who  had  so  strong  a  character,  such  a  marked  abil- 
ity for  business,  and  strict  integrity,  it  would  ap- 
pear to  those  who  knew  David  Welty  that  the 
brief  and  formal  notice  of  his  death  that  appeared 
in  the  Evening  Telegraph,  yesterday,  was  not  what 
is  due  to  such  a  man  from  a  public  journal.  So  we 
thought,  in  our  haste,  and,  therefore,  we  write  this 
in  way  of  apology.  Judge  Welty,  for  many  years, 
was  known  as  a  prominent  citizen  of  Dixon  and 
Lee  Count3';  held  offices  of  public  trust,  where 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars  were  in  his  hands, 
and  where  great  temptation  for  speculation — even 
without  injury  to  the  public  service,  save  in  exam- 
ple— would  arise;  but  those  who  knew  the  man 
would  not  have  had  the  impudence  or  temerity  to 
hint  to  him  concerning  a  proposition  of  using  his 
public  office  for  personal  gain  in  anyway  what- 
ever. While  it  is  true  that  "an  honest  man  's  the 
noblest  work  of  God,"  still  there  are  men  who 
who  have  not  the  good  sense  always  to  carry  out 
that  principle,  though  possessing  a  wish  to  do  so; 
but  David  Welty  was  a  man  who  knew  enough  to 
be  honest.  He  was  a  man  who  despised  meanness, 
in. whatever  shape  it  came,  and  he  had  that  force 
of  character  which  aided  him  in  refusing  his  rec- 
ognition, coming  in  any  shape  it  might.  As  an 
indication  of  "how  strong  he  was  armed  in  hon- 
esty," the  Telegraph  cannot  better  illustrate  his 
character  than  by  relating  one  of  his  official  acts. 
As  a  requisite  for  admission  to  the  bar,  a  certificate 
of  "good  moral  character"  was  then,  as  now,  re- 
quired by  the  law  student  from  the  county  judge. 
A  man  of  a  doubtful  reputation  from  one  of  the 
towns  in  the  county  undertook  to  smuggle  in  as  a 
lawyer.  No  particular  examination  as  to  qualifica-  j 
lions  was  required  in  those  days  and  a  part  of  the 
general  plan  of  the  trick,  of  which  we  speak,  was 
that  of  securing  the  required  certificate  by  taking 
the  court  by  storm.  The  would-be  lawyer  sent  to 
Judge  Welly's  house  late  at  night  and  requested 
his  presence  at  the  office.  AVhen  the  court  arrived, 


the  business  was  not  very  important,  and,  in  fact, 
only  that  of  a  certificate  of  good  moral  character 
for  the  party  in  waiting.  Judge  Welty,  probably 
not  in  good  humor,  immediately  wrote  and  signed 

the  following:  "I  hereby  certify  that is 

a  man  of  character,"  and  with  it  the  would-be  law- 
yer departed  for  Ottawa.  The  fact  that  he  took 
such  a  paper  was  sufficient  evidence  that  he  was 
not  a  fit  man  to  have  a  better  one.  When  a  courier 
returned  with  the  document  and  suggested  to 
Judge  Welty  that  he  had  omitted  the  essential 
words,  "good  moral,"  which  were  required  to 
make  the  certificate  of  any  avail,  the  court  firmly 
informed  him  that  it  was  just  as  he  intended  it 
should  be.  It  was,  we  believe,  after  Judge  Welty 
had  retired  from  office  that  the  bar  was  disgraced 
with  an  unworthy  member.  He  was  an  officer  who 
in  all  sincerity  looked  upon  "a  public  office  as  a 
'public  trust,"  and  his  entire  course  in  all  the  years 
that  he  served  the  people  was  marked  by  a  deter- 
mination to  hew  to  that  line.  For  several  years 
he  has  been  in  very  feeble  health,  and  has  been 
for  many  years  since  he  retired  from  active  business. 
Those  who  have  known  him  only  in  the  last  de- 
cade knew  not  the  man  of  whom  we  have  written. 
The  four-score  years,  aided  by  impaired  health  in 
early  youth,  ended  his  days  of  usefulness  about 
the  time  suggested.  Since  then  he  has  not  been  in 
any  way  the  Judge  Welty  of  other  days.  He  was 
a  remarkable  man  in  many  respects  and  we  shall 
not,  taking  him  all  in  all,  "look  upon  his  like 
again."  We  knew  him  well,  honored  and  respected 
him  for  the  sterling  qualities  of  head  and  heart 
that  were  characteristic  of  the  man." 

Judge  Welt3''s  wife,  with  whom  he  lived  in  wed- 
ded happiness  for  more  than  a  half-century,  did 
not  long  survive  him,  her  death  occurring  July  26, 
1886.  They  were  the  parents  of  thirteen  children, 
of  whom  these  ten  grew  to  maturit3':  John  M., 
who  is  employed  in  the  Pension  Office,  at  Wash- 
ington, D.  C.;  Emily,  wife  of  L.  A.  Devine,  of 
Dixon;  Elizabeth,  deceased;  Addie,  a  stenographer, 
of  Kansas  City;  Anna,  deceased;  Ella,  wife  of  E. 
K.  Sibley,  a  banker  in  New  York  City;  Maxwell,  a 
station-agent,  at  Beebe,  Ark.;  George,  a  traveling 
man,  of  Chicago;  Charles  F.;  and  William  A.,  a 
telegraph  operator  in  Colorado. 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


643 


Charles  F.  Welty  received  a  substantial  educa- 
tion in  the  excellent  schools  of  Dixon,  and  after 
he  had  attained  manhood  took  charge  of  his  fath- 
er's land.  In  1881,  he  went  to  South  Dakota  :md 
took  up  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  land, 
and  was  engaged  in  its  cultivation  for  two  years. 
He  then  sold  it,  and  returning  to  Illinois  in  1883, 
took  upon  himself  the  responsibilities  of  domestic 
life  by  marrying  Miss  Mary  A.  McKevitt,  a  native 
of  Bureau  County,  in  whom  he  has  found  a  true 
wife,  who  has  made  his  interests  her  own,  and  has 
materially  contributed  to  his  well-being.  Three 
children  have  been  born  unto  them:  George, 
Frances  and  Anna. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Welty  passed  the  first  year  of  their 
wedded  life  in  Franklin  County,  Iowa.  They  then 
came  back  to  Illinois,  and  he  purchased  from  his 
father  three  hundred  and  forty-five  acres  of  land 
in  Marion  Township,  which  he  has  since  devoted 
to  stock-raising,  for  which  it  is  admirably  adapted. 
His  operations  are  by  no  means  confined  to  the 
limits  of  his  farm,  but  he  rents  some  two  thousand 
acres  of  land,  on  which  he  pastures  nearly  two 
thousand  head  of  cattle,  and  from  his  stock  inter- 
ests he  derives  a  large  revenue. 

Our  subject's  fellow-citizens,  keenly  appreciat- 
ing his  manifest  talent  for  carrying  on  a  large  busi- 
ness with  a  cool  head,  a  steady  hand,  with  close 
calculation,  and  never-failing,  far-seeing  judgment, 
have  chosen  him  to  represent  the  interests  of  Mar- 
ion Township  as  a  member  of  the  Lee  County 
Board  of  Supervisors,  and  he  is  now  serving  his 
second  year  in  that  capacity.  His  popularity  is 
attested  by  the  fact  that  his  constituency  is  strongly 
Democratic,  while  he  is  a  thorough  Republican. 


IOMAS  GRAY  is  one  of  the  old  settlers  of 
this  county,  who  is  well  known  and  highly 
esteemed  as  one  of  the  enterprising,  pro- 
gressive farmers,  who  have  done  so  much  to  render 
Lee  Count}'  one  of  the  well-improved  portions  of 
the  Prairie  State.  He  resides  on  section  4,  Lee 
Centre  Township,  where  he  has  a  large  and  highly 
cultivated  farm  on  which  he  has  erected  a  fine  set  of 


buildings,  and  is  there  most  successfully  carrying 
on  the  occupation  to  which  he  has  devoted  the 
greater  portion  of  his  life. 

Mr.  Gray  was  born  in  London,  Canada,  where 
he  remained  until  the  age  of  seventeen,  when  he 
removed  with  his  father  to  Ogle  County,  this 
State,  and  settled  in  Leaf  River  Township,  remain- 
ing there  for  seven  years.  In  the  early  summer  of 
1849,  he  came  to  this  count}'  and  located  at  Inlet 
Grove,  Lee  Centre  Township,  where,  for  a  number 
of  years,  he  kept  a  hotel,  known  as  the  Inlet  House. 
In  August,  1877,  he  removed  to  the  farm  on  which 
he  now  resides,  and  where  he  has  ever  since  been 
engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits. 

Mr.  Gray  was  married  at  Inlet  grove,  November 
4,  1852,  to  Miss  Margaret  Ann  Saxton,  who  was 
born  in  Nova  Scotia,  November  4,  1830.  When 
she  was  about  four  years  old  her  parents  removed 
to  Canada,  and  settled  about  forty  miles  from 
London.  Here  she  was  reared  to  the  age  of  six- 
teen 3'ears,  when  the  family  removed  to  Calhoun 
County,  Mich.,  and  three  years  later,  to  this 
count}'.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gray  are  the  parents  of  six 
children — John  W.,  who  is  farming  in  Lee  Centre 
Township;  Fremont,  who  died  in  infancy;  Ed- 
ward J.,  also  a  farmer  in  this  township;  Jessie  F., 
M.  Anna,  and  Josiah  L. 

Mr.  Gray  is  a  stanch  Republican,  and  in  earlier 
years  took  an  active  part  in  political  affairs.  He 
has  held  the  office  of  Highway  Commissioner  for 
many  years,  and  has  also  been  School  Trustee.  He 
and  his  wife  are  consistent  members  of  the  Free- 
will Baptist  Church,  and  takes  an  active  part  in 
all  religious  matters,  doing  whatever  lies  in  their 
power  for  the  advancement  of  Christianity  and 
for  the  benefit  of  their  fellow-citizens. 

The  father  of  our  subject,  John  Gray,  was  born 
in  Ireland,  and  came  to  Canada  when  a  young 
man,  where  he  was  married  to  Mary  Powell,  who 
was  a  native  of  Wales.  In  1842,  they  left  Canada 
and  came  to  Illinois,  settling  in  Ogle  County, 
from  which  place  they  removed  to  Lee  County, 
settling  in  Lee  Centre  Township,  where  they  lived 
for  the  remainder  of  their  days.  Their  family  con- 
sisted of  ten  children,  of  whom  our  subject  was 
the  third  in  order  of  birth,  and  the  eldest  son. 
The  parents  of  Mrs.  Gray,  Peter  and  Catherine 


644 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


(Hankinson)  Saxton,  were  natives  of  Nova  Scotia, 
whore  they  were  married,  and  where  the  father 
died.  The  widow  came  to  Canada  with  her  four 
children,  and  there  lived  for  many  years.  She  is 
now  a  resident  of  Iowa. 


JOSEPH  G.  HALL  was  born  in  England, 
March  9,  1843,  but  the  most  of  his  life  has 
been  passed  in  the  United  States,  which  has 
no  more  loyal  citizen  than  he,  as  was  proven 
by  his  course  during  the  late  war,  when  he  enlisted 
in  the  opening  year  of  that  great  civil  conflict, 
although  scarcely  more  than  a  boy,  and  fought  for 
the  country  of  his  adoption  with  all  the  ardor  and 
patriotism  of  one  native  to  the  soil.  And  his 
record  is  equally  good  since  those  trying  days,  as, 
by  his  enterprise  as  a  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  he 
has  contributed  to  the  wealth  of  this  county,  where 
he  has  made  his  home  for  thirty-five  years.  His 
farm,  lying  on  section  3,  May  Township,  is  a  model 
in  many  respects,  so  well  is  it  managed,  and  its 
improvements  are  of  a  high  order. 

The  parents  of  our  subject  were  Joseph  and 
Elizabeth  (Hayden)  Hall.  Soon  after  the  birth  of 
their  son  of  whom  we  write,  the  father  came  to  this 
country,  and  took  up  his  residence  in  Philadel- 
phia, where  he  introduced  a  new  industry,  which 
was  the  art  of  tinning  cast-iron  by  means  of 
melting  block  tin  and  then  rubbing  it  onto  the 
iron  with  a  cork.  While  in  that  business  he  was 
with  the  firm  of  Creston,  Stewart  &  Peterson. 
In  May,  1846,  the  remainder  of  his  family  came  to 
the  United  States,  and  dwelt  in  the  Quaker  City 
until  May  28,  1857,  the  mother  dying  there  in  the 
year  1853,  leaving  six  children,  as  follows: 
William,  a  retired  butcher,  living  near  Birming- 
ham, Eng.;  Sarah,  who  married  William  Lockheart, 
of  Philadelphia;  Aaron,  a  brave  soldier  during  the 
Civil  War,  who  volunteered,  became  a  member  of 
Company  A,  Eighth  Missouri  Infantry,  under  com- 
mand of  Gen. Morgan  L.  Smith, and  after  fouryears 
of  hard  service,  mysteriously  disappeared  and  has 
not  been  heard  from  since;  Joseph  G.;  Elizabeth, 


now  Mrs.  Perkins,  of  Red  Bank,N.  J.;  and  Samuel,  a 
resident  of  Clinton,  111.,  where  he  is  engaged  as  a 
shoemaker. 

On  the  date  last  mentioned,  the  Hall  family  left 
Philadelphia  for  this  State,  and  settled  on  section 
20,  May  Township,  the  father  purchasing  the 
northeastern  quarter  of  said  section.  In  1862 
he  removed  to  Clinton,  and  subsequently  to  Logan 
County,near  Lincoln,  and  there  he  died  in  1876.  He 
had  married  a  second  time  after  the  death  of  the 
mother  of  our  subject,  Miss  Sarah  Wallace  becom- 
ing his  wife,  and  to  them  were  born  two  children, 
Phnma,  now  Mrs.  Abbott,  of  Kansas,  and  Ida,  who 
died  in  1880. 

Our  subject  came  to  Illinois  with  the  familj'  in 
the  spring  of  1857,  and  was  living  quietty  in  this 
county  when  the  rebellion  broke  out.  He  was  then 
a  stalwart,  active  youth  of  eighteen  years.  He 
had  been  educated  in  the  public  schools  of  this 
land,  and  having  grown  up  under  the  stars  and 
stripes,  he  was  attached  to  the  Government  re- 
presented by  the  grand  old  flag,  and,  as  soon  as 
possible,  offered  his  services  in  its  defense.  He  en- . 
listed  with  Company  A,  Fifty-Seventh  Illinois  In- 
fantry, in  November,  1861,  and  in  the  tryingyears 
that  followed,  fonght  heroically  on  many  a  battle 
field,  until  his  honorable  discharge,  December  26, 
1846,  with  a  noble  record  for  fidelity  and  efficiency 
during  his  career  as  a  soldier.  Ho  took  part  in  the 
battles  of  Fort  Donelson  and  Pittsburg  Landing; 
was  present  and  rendered  good  service  at  the 
siege  of  Corinth,  at  the  battles  of  La  Grange, 
Holly  Springs,  Pound  Creek,  and  Tuscumbia; 
wintered  at  Pulaski,  and  then  with  his  regiment 
accompanied  Sherman  on  his  Atlanta  campaign, 
assisting  in  routing  the  enemy  in  the  various  en- 
gagements along  the  route,  and  he  and  his  com- 
rades showed  the  value  of  their  soldiership  during 
the  siege  and  capture  of  Atlanta,  whence  the}7  pro- 
ceeded with  their  gallant  leader  on  his  famous 
"March  to  the  Sea." 

After  the  war,  Mr.  Hall  began  his  career  as  a 
farmer  by  renting  land  in  Lamoille  Township, 
Bureau  County,  111.,  his  capital  at  the  outset  being 
but  $400.  He  worked  hard,  sparing  neither  time 
nor  labor  to  accomplish  his  undertakings,  and  he 
was  prosperous  accordingly.  In  1873  he  settled 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


645 


where  he  now  resides  on  section  3,  May  Town- 
ship, and  has  three  hundred  and  sixty-two  acres  of 
land  in  his  farm,  which  is  admirably  tilled,  and 
neat  and  orderly  buildings  adorn  the  place. 

Our  subject  was  married  October  10.  1867,  to 
Miss  Mary  Ash.  She  is  a  native  of  Pennsylvania, 
born  Februar}'  11,  1850,  and  a  daughter  of  George 
and  Maria  (Elliott)  Ash.  Her  marriage  with  our 
subject  has  been  a  felicitous  union,  and  has 
brought  them  three  children,  Maria  Elizabeth, 
Georgia,  and  Joseph  G. 

Mr.  Hall  is  frank,  manly  and  obliging  in  his 
bearing,  and  his  fellow-townsmen  regard  him 
highly.  Politically,  he  is  a  Republican,  and  no 
man  in  the  county  is  more  stanch  in  his  adherence 
to  the  party  than  he.  In  public  life  he  has  been 
School  Director,  and  he  is  at  present  Commissioner 
of  Highways.  He  is  a  firm  believer  in  the  Christ- 
ian religion,  and  his  life  is  guided  by  principles  of 
right-doing  and  justice. 

Mingled  with  the  bitter  recollections  of  what  he 
had  to  endure  while  in  the  army,  our  subject  has 
some  remembrances  associated  with  the  gloomy 
days  of  the  war  which  are  dear  to  him,  and  among 
them  are  those  of  the  many  warm  and  lasting 
friendships  with  the  brave  men  with  whom  he 
marched  shoulder  to  shoulder  to  victory  or  defeat 
in  many  a  hard-fought  battle,  and  it  has  eve'r  been 
his  delight  to  meet  his  old  comrades  and  talk  with 
them  of  their  experiences  in  camp,  on  the  march,  or 
in  their  encounters  with  the  foe.  One  of  the 
most  delightful  meetings  of  the  kind,  and  one 
which  will  ever  hold  a  sacred  place  in  the  memory 
of  the  participators,  occurred  at  Mr.  Hall's  own 
residence  in  the  month  of  August,  in  the  summer 
of  1891  just  passed,  when  he  and  his  wife  threw 
open  their  home  to  severaFof  his  old  fellow-sol- 
diers of  Company  A,  Fifty-Seventh  Illinois,  and 
for  three  days  held  them  together  by  their  charm- 
ing and  bounteous  hospitalities  in  a  happy  reunion. 
We  append  a  pleasant  notice  of  the  affair  clipped 
from  a  local  paper: 


••Last  Saturday,  Sunday  and  Monday,  there  as- 
sembled at  the  hospitable  mansion  of  Joseph  Hall, 
in  May,  some  of  his  comrades  of  the  Fifty-Seventh 


regiment  of  Illinois  volunteers  and  made  him  a 
glorious  and  jolly  visit.  Refreshments  of  all  kinds, 
both  solid  and  otherwise,  were  in  abundance,  and 
a  good  time  was  enjoyed  by  all  present,  as  they 
rested  in  the  shade  and  rehearsed  stories  of  their 
trials  while  in  Uncle  Sam's  service.  Those  present 
from  a  distance  were  George  Wheeler  and  wife, 
William  Clueitt  and  wife,  Joseph  Turner  and  wife 
and  C.  W.  Gindele  and  wife,  of  Chicago;  Charles 
Prentice  and  wife,  of  Paw  Paw;  John  Mitchell,  of 
Maiden ;  Joe  Rodmeyer,  of  Freeport;  George  Ash 
and  wife,  the  father  and  mother  of  J.  Hall  and 
wife;  and  Conductor  Fred  Reed  and  wife,  of 
Amboy. 

"Ere  the  guests  took  their  departure  they  gave 
Comrade  Hall  a  good  caning,  just  such  a  one  as  he 
deserved;  one  that  will  help  to  make  a  good  man  of 
him — if  not  one  already;  one  that  will  be  a  stay 
and  a  staff  for  him  when  in  need  of  a  support — a 
fine  go  Id -headed  cane." 


SENECA  E.  STRICKLAND.  In  this  vol- 
ume may  be  fouud  the  biographies  of 
many  influential  citizens,  who  have  plod- 
ded up  the  steeps  of  honor  and  prosperity  with 
remarkable  energy  and  success.  The  life  of  Mr- 
Strickland  furnishes  another  example  of  this  kind. 
He  is  now  the  owner  of  a  farm  comprising  one 
hundred  and  seventy-four  acres  on  section  24, 
Amboy  Township,  and  thereupon  is  devoting  his 
energies  to  agricultural  pursuits  and  stockraising. 
He  has  a  fine1  herd  of  Galloway  cattle  and  also 
makes  a  specialty  of  Shetland  ponies,  of  which  he 
owns  some  splendid  specimens.  Progressive  in 
every  way,  he  is  known  in  this  section  of  country 
as  the  pioneer  in  dehorning  cattle  and  has 
dehorned  upwards  of  fifteen  thousand  head. 

The  parents  of  our  subject  were  Joel  B.,  a  native 
of  Oneida  County,  N.  Y.,  and  Nicena  (Cargill) 
Strickland,  who  was  born  in  New  Hampshire. 
Their  first  home  after  marriage  was  in  Oneida 
County,  whence  they  removed  to  Susquehanna 
County,  Pa.,  and  from  there,  in  1849,  to  Lee 
County.  After  coming  here  they  at  once  settled 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


in  Araboy  Township,  where  the  remaining  years  of 
their  lives  were  passed  and  where  both  died  at  a 
good  old  age.  Seven  children  were  born  of  their 
union,  our  subject  being'  the  fifth.  During  the 
residence  of  his  parents  in  Thompson,  Susquehanna 
County,  Pa.,  Seneca  E.  was  born  January  18,  1836. 
His  childhood  days  were  passed  on  his  father's 
farm  in  the  place  of  his  birth,  where  he  received 
the  rudiments  of  his  education. 

When  his  parents  removed  to  Lee  County,  our 
subject  accompanied  them  and  grew  to  manhood 
in  Amboy  Township,  remaining  at  home  until  he 
attained  to  his  majority.  Since  he  first  came  to 
this  township  he  has  lived  here  continuously  with 
the  exception  of  three  years  in  Chicago,  where  he 
was  engaged  in  the  real-estate  and  notion  business, 
and  a  sojourn  in  Indiana.  He  learned  the  trade 
of  a  wagon  maker  in  Binghamton,  this  county, 
and  engaged  in  that  business  in  Amboy  Township 
from  1859  until  1864.  Since  the  last-named  date 
he  has  been  occupied  in  farming  and  stock-raising, 
in  which  he  has  met  with  satisfactory  results. 

The  marriage  of  Mr.  Strickland  and  Miss  Amanda 
M.  Baintertook  place  in  Amboy  Township  Decem- 
ber 25,  1859.  The  bride  was  the  daughter  of 
Andrew  and  Jemima  (Doane)  Bainterj  natives 
respectively  of  Montgomery  County,  Ohio,  and 
Wayne  County,  Ind.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bainter  came 
to  Lee  County  prior  to  their  union,  which  was 
celebrated  in  Amboy  Township  May  3,  1838. 
They  afterward  began  life  together  in  the  place 
of  their  marriage,  and  there  resided  until  1866, 
when  they  removed  to  Lagrange  County,  Ind. 
Four  years  later  they  moved  to  Fulton  County, 
the  same  State,  where  Mr.  Bainter  died  March  3, 
1884.  His  wife  passed  away  in  Adams  County, 
Ind.,  December  27,  1884,  while  on  a  visit  to  a 
daughter. 

The  eldest  in  a  family  of  six  children,  three  of 
whom  were  sons  and  three  daughters,  Mrs.  Strick- 
land was  born  in  Amboy  Township,  May  25,  1839, 
and  grew  to  womanhood  in  her  native  place.  She 
is  the  mother  of  fonr  children,  namely:  Belle  B., 
who  died  in  infancy;  a  child  that  died  unnamed; 
Genevieve;  and  Clyde  E.,  who  died  when  ten 
months  old.  Upon  his  good  farm  Mr.  Strickland 
has  erected  a  first-class  set  of  buildings  and  has 


made  other  improvements  which  have  suggested 
themselves  to  his  progressive  mind.  In  his  politi- 
cal sympathies,  he  is  a  Republican,  and  although 
he  has  never  been  an  office-seeker,  he  has  been  pre- 
vailed upon  to  accept  various  official  positions  of 
trust.  As  he  takes  an  especial  interest  in  educa- 
cational  matters,  he  has  served  as  School  Director 
witli  marked  efficiency,  and  has  also  been  Highway- 
Commissioner.  He  is  a  Royal  Arch  Mason,  having 
belonged  to  the  order  since  1860. 


SL—AKTMAN  KERSTEN,  who   has    for  many 

ifjlj  years  been  prominent   in  the    agricultural 

J*ds     life  of  Lee  County,  is  a  wealthy  farmer  and 

(^)     stock-raiser  of  large  experience  and  more 

than  ordinary  capability,  is    sagacious,  far-seeing 

and  prudent  in  the  management  of  his  affairs,  and 

has  tilled  the  soil  to   some  purpose,  as  is  shown  by 

the   fine   appearance    of   his  extensive   and    well 

ordered  farm  in  Ashton  Township. 

A  native  of  Germany,  Mr.  Kersten  was  bora 
January  2,  1836.  He  passed  the  early  part  of  his 
life  up  to  the  age  of  nineteen  in  the  Fatherland, 
and  then  boldly  ventured  across  the  ocean  to  try 
his  fortunes  in  this  country.  He  landed  in  New 
York  in  the  month  of  September,  1854,  and  came 
directly  to  Lee  County,  and  for  some  time  there- 
after he  lived  in  Franklin  Grove  Township.  He 
worked  as  a  farm  laborer  for  four  years,  and  then 
entered  upon  his  independent  career  as  a  farmer  on 
rented  land  in  Bradford  Township.  He  remained 
there  four  years,  and  then  invested  some  of  his 
hard  earned  money  in  one  hundred  and  fifteen 
acres  of  land  in  Ashton  Township.  At  that  time 
he  settled  here  on  section  36,  where  he  has  erected 
a  substantial,  conveniently  arranged  residence  and 
a  fine  set  of  farm  buildings.  He  has  been  very 
fortunate  in  carrying  on  his  farming  and  stock 
interests,  and  has  accumulated  a  valuable  property, 
including  nearly  six  hundred  acres  of  as  fertile 
land  as  can  be  found  in  the  county. 

Mr.  Kersten  was  married  in  Dixon  to  Miss  Anna 
R.  Heldebrand,  a  native  of  German y,  in  whom  he 
has  found  a  devoted  wife,  who  is  a  true  home-ma- 


IHE  USHAfllf 


PORTRAIT  AND  I5H.H  SIJAl'IIICAL  RECORD. 


649 


ker.  Tlieirs  is  a  true  marriage,  and  lias  be 
to  them  by  the  birth  of  nine  children,  namely: 
Hartman,  who  married  Sophia  Neuman;  Martha, 
wife  of  George  Schaffer;  George,  who  married 
Anna  Wagner;  Kate,  wife  of  Henry  Neuman; 
Sophia,  wife  of  John  Bachelor;  Anna;  Lizzie;  Tena; 
and  Minnie,  who  died  in  infancy. 

Our  subject  possesses  in  a  full  degree  those  solid 
qualities  by  which  alone  success  is  attained  in  &ny 
walk  in  life.  He  has  a  firm  will,  a  strong  mind, 
keen  powers  of  discrimination,  and  his  tenacity  of 
purpose  enables  him  to  carry  out  any  plan  that  he 
may  devise  to  further  his  interests.  He  has  been 
School  Director  and  in  that  capacity  worked  ear- 
nestly to  promote  the  cause  of  education  in  his 
•  township.  In  politics  he  is  a  Republican,  and  is  a 
straightforward  supporter  of  the  principles  of  his 
party.  He  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  Evan- 
gelical Church,  and  they  stand  high  in  the  estima- 
tion of  all  who  know  them. 


WILLIAM  McMAHAN.  In  this  gentleman 
Lee  County  has  one  of  its  best  known  and 
most  highly  esteemed  citizens  and  a  repre- 
sentative farmer  and  stock-raiser.  His  farming 
interests  are  centered  in  Wyoming  Township, 
where  he  has  a  beautiful  farm  under  a  high  state 
of  cultivation  and  provided  with  the  best  modern 
improvements. 

On  a  Pennsylvania  farm,  located  three  miles 
from  Danville,  in  Montour  County,  our  subject 
first  saw  the  light  of  day  on  January  17, 1829.  His 
father,  Benjamin  McMahan,  was  born  in  the  same 
county  when  it  formed  a  part  of  Northumberland 
County,  while  his  father,  John  McMahan,  was 
born  in  Cumberland  County.  He  was  a  son  of  the 
early  Colonial  settlers  of  Cumberland  County,  who 
came  to  this  country  from  the  North  of  Ireland, 
where  he  was  born  of  Scotch  ancestry.  He  died  in 
the  home  that  he  had  reared  in  the  Pennsylvania 
wilderness.  The  grandfather  of  our  subject  en- 
tered the  Continental  Army  on  the  breaking  out 
of  the  Revolution,  although  he  was  then  but  sev- 


enteen years  old  and  served  with  valor  during  the 
whole  seven  years  of  the  war.  Soon  after  peace 
was  declared,  he  settled  in  Northumberland  County 
and  did  equally  good  work  as  a  pioneer,  clearing  a 
farm  from  the  primeval  forests  where  lie  lived  un- 
til death  closed  his  labors.  The  maiden  name  of 
his  wife  was  Jane  Murry. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  reared  011  the  farm 
on  which  he  was  born,  and  always  followed  farm- 
ing. When  he  began  his  independent  career  in 
that  line  he  bought  a  farm  three  miles  from  Dan- 
ville, the  county-seat  of  Montour  County  and 
settled  there  in  1828.  There  were  no  railways  in 
that  vicinity  for  many  years  afterward,  and  the 
farmers  had  to  go  way  to  Philadelphia,  many 
miles  distant,  to  market  their  produce.  Mr.  Mc- 
i  Mahan  lived  to  sec  the  country  well  developed, 
and  had  a  hand  in  bringing  about  the  great 
change.  He  died  on  his  farm  at  a  good  old  age  in 
1864. 

The  maiden  name  of  the  mother  of  our  subject 
was  Esther  J.  Brearley.  She  was  born  in  that 
part  of  Columbia  County  now  included  in  Mon- 
tour County,  a  daughter  of  Stephen  J.  and  Mary 
(Marshall)  .  Brearley,  who  were  also  natives  of 
Pennsylvania.  She  lived  to  an  advanced  age, 
dying  on  the  home  farm,  where  her  entire  wedded 
life  had  been  passed,  in  February,  1877.  These 
are  the  nine  children  who  were  born  to  her  and 
her  husband — William,  Mary  J.,  James,  Margaret, 
Sarah  A.,  Esther,  Hannah,  Hattie  and  John.  On 
his  mother's  side  our  subject  is  descended  from  a 
long  line  of  ancestors  who  were  of  English  origin. 

The  following  information  in  regard  to  the 
Brearley  branch  of  the  family  is  from  a  work  pub- 
lished by  W.  J.  Brearley,  of  Detroit,  Mich.  The 
first  ancestor  of  the  Brearleys  to  come  to  America 
was  one  John  Brearley,  who  was  born  in  the  ancient 
city  of  York,  England,  and  came  to  this  country 
about  1680,  and  settled  on  Spring  Grove  Farm, 
five  miles  from  Trenton,  N.  J.  He  secured  a  title 
to  a  tract  of  land,  and  died  there  in  1720.  His 
son  John  was  the  next  in  line  of  descent,  then 
came  his  son,  John,  and  he  was  the  father  of  James 
Briarley,  who  was  the  great-grandfather  of  our 
subject. 

William  McMahan,  of  this  biography,  was  reared 


650 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


on  a  farm,  and  obtained  a  sound  education  in  the 
city  schools  of  Daiiville,  so  that  at  the  age  of  sev- 
enteen he  was  qualified  to  teach,  and  the  ensuing 
two  years  he  was  engaged  in  that  profession  win- 
ters and  in  farming  during  the  summer.  At  eigh- 
teen years  of  age  he  commenced  surveying  and 
followed  that  vocation  a  part  of  each  year  in 
Pennsylvania  until  1854,  when  he  paid  his  first 
visit  to  Illinois;  coming  by  rail  to  Freeport,  and 
from  there  by  stage  to  Dixon.  He  accepted  a  situ- 
ation as  teacher  of  a  school  three  miles  from 
Franklin  Grove,  and  taught  that  winter.  In  the 
spring  of  1855  he  went  to  the  Territory  of  Minne- 
sota, going  by  way  of  Galena,-  to  which  he  traveled 
by  rail,  and  from  there  by  steamer  to  Winona. 
That  region  was  then  very  sparsely  settled,  and 
Mr.  McMahan  was  engaged  by  the  incoming  set- 
tlers to  survey  lands  in  the  vicinity  of  Winona, 
Rochester,  and  St.  Charles.  In  the  fall  he  went  to 
the  northwestern  part  of  the  Territory  and  was 
employed  in  subdividing  Government  land  on  the 
Red  River  of  the  North.  A  part  of  the  time  while 
he  was  in  Minnesota,  he  made  headquarters  at 
Minneapolis,  when  it  was  but  an  insignificant  vil- 
lage of  a  dozen  or  twenty  rude  dwellings. 

On  the  1st  of  January,  1856,  Mr.  McMahan  re- 
turned to  Dixon  to  spend  the  winter,  and  in  the 
spring  went  back  to  Minnesota  to  resume  survey- 
ing in  the  vicinity  of  the  head  waters  of  the  Min- 
nesota and  Sank  rivers.  He  remained  there  nearly 
a  year  and  then  spent  a  few  months  in  St.  Paul, 
and  after  that  passed  the  greater  part  of  his  time 
at  his  business  as  a  surveyor  in  Minnesota,  until 
1860,  when  he  came  to  Lee  County  to  settle  per- 
manently, having  previously  bought  the  farm  on 
section  27,  Wyoming  Township,  upon  which  he 
now  resides.  This  contains  two  hundred  acres  of 
land  of  surpassing  fertility,  all  well  cultivated, 
and  he  has  erected  a  line  set  of  frame  buildings,  of 
a  modern  and  appropriate  style  of  architecture. 

Our  subject  and  his  amiable  wife  entered  upon 
their  married  life  in  1859,  and  have  found  much 
joy  and  contentment  therein.  It  has  been  blessed 
to  them  by  the  birth  of  four  children,  of  whom  the 
following  is  recorded:  Hattie  E.  married  Frank 
McBride;  John  C.  married  Maggie  Tyerman ;  Matie 
E.  died  in  her  thirteenth  year;  William  B.  has  fol- 


lowed in  his  father's  footsteps  as  a  surveyor,  and 
is  now  employed  by  the  Government  in  Wyoming. 
Mrs.  McMahan  bore  the  name  of  Sarah  A.  Clark 
prior  to  her  marriage.  She  was  born  in  Trumbull 
County,  Ohio,  a  daughter  of  one  of  its  pioneers, 
John  Clark,  who  was  a  native  of  Lycoming  County? 
Pa.  His  father,  William  Clark,  was  also  a  native 
of  Pennsylvania,  and  resided  there  until  1832, 

'  when  he  removed  to  Trumbull  County,  Ohio,  and 
bought  a  farm,  upon  which  he  lived  his  remaining 
days.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  Mary 

!  Long.  She  was  born  in  Pennsylvania  and  died 
in  Trumbull  County.  John  Clark  followed  his 
trade  of  a  blacksmith  in  Pennsylvania  until  1834, 
when  he  settled  among  the  pioneers  of  Trumbull 
County,  buying  a  home  in  Liberty  Township,- 
where  he  established  a  smithy  and  engaged  in 
blacksmithing  for  several  years.  In  1849  he  sold 
his  property  in  Ohio  and  accompanied  by  his  wife 
and  seven  children  migrated  with  teams  to  Ogle 
County,  111.,  which  he  found  in  the  hands  of  pio- 
neers. He  bought  a  tract  of  land  in  Marion  Town- 
ship, and  while  his  sons  worked  it,  he  gave  his 
attention  to  his  trade  and  made  his  home  there 
until  his  death  in  1876.  The  maiden  name  of  his 
wife  was  Euphemia  Marshall.  She  was  born  in  Ly- 
coming County,  Pa.,  a  daughter  of  Matbew  and 
Catherine  (Shields)  Marshall,  and  her  last  days 
were  spent  with  her  children,  her  death  occurring 
in  1880. 

A  man  of  much  enterprise,  Mr.  McMahan  not 
only  carries  on  his  farm  with  rare  skill,  but  finds 
time  to  branch  out  in  other  directions,  having  con- 
trol of  a  good  business  as  the  representative  of 
some  of  the  leading  insurance  companies  in  the 
United  States,  and  he  still  does  a  good  deal  at  his 
old  profession  as  a  surveyor.  Besides  attending 
to  his  private  affairs,  his  services  are  also  in  almost 
constant  demand  to  assist  in  the  management  of 
public  interests  of  township  or  county,  and  for 
many  years  he  has  been  one  of  the  most  valued 
civic  officials,  bringing  to  his  work  an  evenly  bal- 
anced mind,  clear  discernment,  never  failing  sa- 
gacity, and,  above  all,  an  incorruptible  character. 
He  was  elected  County  Surveyor  in  1867  and  held 
that  office  seventeen  years.  In  1869  he  was  elected 
a  member  of  the  County  Board  of  Supervisors  and 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


651 


in  1870  was  elected  Assessor.  In  1871  he  was 
again  honored  by  election  to  the  office  of  Super- 
visor, and  represented  Wyoming  Township  as  a 
member  of  the  County  Board  of  Supervisors  twelve 
consecutive  years,  an  unusual  length  of  time  for 
any  one  man  to  hold  that  position.  He  is  at  pres- 
ent Assessor  of  the  township.  His  whole  life 
proves  that  he  is  entirely  worthy  of  such  honor 
and  confidence,  which  are  due  not  alone  to  his  abil- 
ity, but  in  part  to  the  universal  regard  in  which  he 
is  held  in  a  community  where  all  speak  well  of 
him,  and  no  man  has  ever  said  aught  against  him. 
In  his  social  affiliations  he  is  a  member  of  Corinth- 
ian Lodge,  No.  205,  A.  F.  <fe  A.  M.;  of  Mendota 
Chapter,  R.  A.  M.,  and  of  Mendota  Commandery, 
K.  T.  Religiously  he  and  his  wife  are  members  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church.  Politically  he  is  a  Re- 
publican, and  has  ever  been  loyal  to  his  party. 

The  attention  of  the  reader  is  invited  to  the  lith- 
ographic portrait  of  Mr.  McMahan,  which  appears 
in  connection  with  this  notice  of  his  life. 


JOHN  SCHIPPERT  is  closely  identified 
with  two  of  Lee  County's  most  thriving 
agricultural  centres-South  Dixon  and  Na- 
chusa  Townships-as  he  owns  a  choice  and 
highly  improved  farm  in  each,  making  his  home 
on  his  property  011  section  24  of  the  former  town- 
ship. He  is  of  foreign  birth,  but  the  most  impor- 
tant part  of  his  life  has  been  passed  in  this  country. 
He  was  born  in  Wurtemberg,  Germany,  December, 
28,  1853,  the  youngest  but  one  of  the  children  of 
William  Frederick  and  Louisa  (Schlipf)  Schippert. 
His  parents  were  born  in  Wurtemberg,  coming  of 
pure  German  ancestry,  and  they  spent  their  early 
married  life  there  as  farmers.  After  the  birth  of. 
all  their  children  except  one,  they  emigrated  to 
the  United  States  with  their  family  in  1853,  the 
voyage  from  London  to  New  York  consuming 
more  than  forty-three  days.  The  family  first 
located  in  Luzerne  Comity,  Pa.,  where  the  father 
died  the  1st  of  May,  1860,  when  not  far  beyond 
the  meridian  of  life.  The  others  came  to  Lee 
County  in  1864,  and  the  mother  now  makes  her 


home  with  her  son,  our  subject.  She  is  seventy- 
eight  years  old,  having  been  born  the  16th  of  Jan- 
uary, 1814,  but  is  as  energetic  and  active  as  many 
a  younger  woman.  She  is  a  devoted  member  of  the 
Lutheran  Church,  with  which  she  has  been  con- 
nected all  her  life,  and  her  husband  was  also  a 
Lutheran. 

Onr  subject  attained  his  majority  after  coming 
to  this  State.  He  had  no  moneyed  capital  with 
which  to  begin  his  new  life,  but  he  was  full  of 
energy,  ambition  and  a  good  capacity  for  work, 
and  was  intent  upon  making  himself  independ- 
ently wealth}7.  For  the  first  five  years  he  worked 
out  by  the  month,  laboring  hard  at  whatever  lie 
had  to  do,  and  by  that  time  he  had  laid  by  money 
enough  to  take  another  advance  step,  and  for 
awhile  he  farmed  as  a  renter.  With  the  money 
thus  made  he  purchased  his  first  landed  property, 
buying  a  quarter  of  section  16,  in  Nachusa  Town- 
ship, which  he  turned  into  a  good  farm,  supplying 
it  with  substantial  buildings  and  all  the  necessary 
improvements.  He  bought  that  place  in  1877, 
and  in  the  fall  of  1888  purchased  the  homestead 
on  which  he  lives  on  section  24,  South  Dixon 
Township.  This  comprises  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  of  fine  farming  land,  which  is  well  improved, 
and  is  adorned  by  a  well-built  and  conveniently 
arranged  set  of  farm  buildings.  Fine  cattle,  horses 
and  swine  find  pasturage  on  its  rich  acres,  and 
yield  a  profitable  income  to  our  subject.  He  came 
here  a  poor  boy.  but  has  worked  his  way  up  to  his 
present  position  as  one  of  our  moneyed  men,  and 
has  made  his  citizenship  valuable  to  his  adopted 
county,  as  every  acre  that  he  has  placed  under 
cultivation  has  but  added  to  its  wealth.  Both  he 
and  his  wife  are  in  evtry  way  deserving  of  the 
trust  and  friendship  that  they  have  inspired  in 
their  neighbors.  They  are  regular  attendants  at 
the  Lutheran  Church  and  are  influential  in  sustain- 
ing the  moral  and  religious  welfare  of  their  com- 
munity. 

The  marriage  of  Mr.  Schippert  with  Miss  Martha 
Glessner  was  celebrated  in  Dixon.  She  was  born 
in  Somerset  County,  Pa.,  and  is  a  daughter  of 
Jeremiah  and  Amy  Ann  (Laup)  Glessner,  she 
being  one  of  the  youngest  children  of  her  parents, 
and  was  but  a  child  when  the  family  came  to  Lee 


652 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


County,  where  she  was  reared  and  educated.  Her 
father  and  mother  had  come  to  this  county  after 
the  birth  of  all  their  children  but  one,  and  the 
mother  died  in  the  new  home  when  Mrs.  Schippert 
was  but  seven  years  old.  The  father  is  a  farmer, 
and  is  still  living  on  the  old  Trueman  homestead 
in  Dixon  Township.  He  married  a  second  time, 
Ellen  Ellsrode  becoming  his  wife.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Schippert  are  blessed  with  eight  children,  who  form 
with  them  a  pleasant  household;  S.  Fred,  Edward 
L,  Harry  W.,  Estella  M.,  Lillie  P.,  Amy  Louisa, 
Jerry  M.  and  lona  Ines. 


ODESTE  GEHANT.  But  few  of  the 
farmers  of  Lee  County  have  met  with 
more  substantial  success  in  their  calling 
than  Mr.  Gehant,  whose  push,  determina- 
tion and  practical  ability  have  placed  him  among 
the  foremost  agriculturists  of  this  section  of  the 
State.  He  has  extensive  landed  interests  in  Brook- 
lyn Township,  and  his  large  farm,  with  its  broad, 
well-tilled  fields  and  fine  improvements,  is  classed 
among  the  most  valuable  in  the  locality. 

Our  subject  was  born  in  Haute  Saoue,  France, 
April  23,  1826.  His  father,  whose  name  was 
Claude  Gehant,  was  a  native  of  the  same  place, 
and  was  a  son  of  John  Claude  Gehant,  who  was  a 
life-long  resident  of  France.  The  father  of  our 
subject  was  reared  on  a  farm,  and  farming  was  his 
life  work.  He  had  five  children,  and  three  of  his 
sons  came  to  America,  namely:  Lauran,  Claude 
and  Modeste. 

The  latter,  of  whom  we  write,  attended  school 
until  he  was  fifteen  years  old,  and  acquired  a  good 
education.  He  then  worked  on  the  farm  witli  his 
father  until  he  was  sixteen,  and  at  that  age  began 
life  on  his  own  account,  working  as  a  farm  laborer 
in  his  native  country,  France,  until  1855,  when  he 
came  to  the  United  States,  where  life  seemed  to 
him  to  hold  greater  promise  than  the  land  of  his 
birth.  He  set  sail  from  Havre  on  the  15th  of 
March  on  the  sailing  vessel  "Trumbull,"  and 
thirty-seven  days  after  embarkation  arrived  in 
New  York  harbor.  He  came  directly  to  Illinois, 


traveling  by  rail  to  Chicago,  whence  he  made  his 
way  to  Franklin  Grove,  in  this  county,  and  thence 
proceeded  to  Bradford  Township,  where  he  found 
employment  on  a  farm  by  the  month,  and  was  thus 
engaged  one  year.  At  the  end  of  that  time  he 
bought  a'  tract  of  land  on  section  15,  Bradford 
Township,  paying  $10  an  acre  for  it,  and  he 
farmed  there  with  his  brother  Claude  for  eight 
years.  Then,  selling  him  his  share  of  the  place, 
he  came  to  Brooklyn  Township  and  bought  the 
farm  that  he  now  occupies.  He  devoted  his  ener- 
gies to  its  improvement,  and  has  been  handsomely 
rewarded  for  his  outlay  of  time,  labor  and  money, 
as  he  has  not  only  developed  his  first  purchase  into 
a  choice  farm,  but  has  bought  other  land  at  differ- 
ent times  until  he  now  has  upwards  of  twelve 
hundred  acres  of  valuable  land,  and  he  is  accounted 
one  of  the  most  successful  farmers  in  the  county. 
Mr.  Gehant  was  married  in  1862  to  Miss  Olim- 
phy  Choan,  who  is  also  a  native  of  the  fair  land 
of  France.  She  has  truly  been  to  her  husband  a 
helpmate:  assisting  him  in  the  accumulation  of  his 
property  by  her  ready  co-operation  in  his  work,  by 
her  skill,  thrift  and  frugality  in  the  management 
of  household  affairs,  and  by  her  watchful  care  of 
the  interests  of  her  large  family.  To  her  and  our 
subject  have  been  born  fourteen  children,  to  whom 
they  have  given  the  following  names:  Xavier, 
Josephine,  August,  Laona,  Margaret,  Joseph,  Mary, 
Susan,  Modeste,  Phamia,  Frank,  Adolph,  Zedol 
and  Louis.  The  family  are  all  members  of  the  Ro- 
man Catholic  Church  and  are  highly  regarded  by 
the  people  among  whom  our  subject  came  to  make 
his  home  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago, 
and  whom  he  has  helped  to  make  this  one  of  the 
richest  farming  regions  in  this  part  of  the  country. 


AVID  F.  LAHMAN  is  one  of  the  leading 
farmers  and  stockmen  of  Lee  County, 
which  is  indebted  to  him  and  men  of  like 
calibre,  energy,  enterprise  and  business 
taet  for  its  substantial  progress  within  the  last 
quarter  of  a  century  or  more,  whereby  it  has  be- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


653 


come  a  finely  improved  and  wealthy  agricultural 
and  commercial  center.  He  has  a  beautiful  farm 
and  a  home  that  is  very  attractive  in  its  appoint- 
ments and  surroundings,  on  section  35,  China 
Township,  just  outside  the  village  limits  of  Frank- 
lin Grove,  which  was  the  homestead  'thai  his 
father  purchased  when  it  was  a  tract  of  unculti- 
vated land,  with  the  exception  of  about  forty 
acres,  and  developed  from  the  wilderness  after  he 
settled  here  as  one  of  the  early  pioneers  of  this 
region. 

Mr.  Lahman  was  born  in  Washington  County, 
Md.,  February  3,  1837,  being  a  son  of  Christian 
and  Elizabeth  Lahman.  He  received  a  good  train- 
ing for  his  life  work,  while  helping  his  father  to 
bring  his  land  under  subjection,  for  he  was  set  to 
work  as  soon  as  he  was  large  enough  to  make  him- 
self useful,  and  he  grew  up  under  wholesome  and 
invigorating  pioneer  influences  to  be  self-reliant, 
full  of  resource,  prompt  to  take  advantage  of  every 
opportunity  to  make  money  legitimately,  and  he 
early  displayed  that  enterprise  that  has  character- 
ized his  whole  career  since  he  became  independent. 
His  farm,  which  formerly  belonged  to  his  father, 
now  contains  two  hundred  and  four  acres  of  fine 
land,  on  which  he  has  made  as  good  improvements 
as  can  be  found  in  this  part  of  the  county.  He 
has  erected  large  barns  and  other  conveniently  ar- 
ranged out-buildings,  and  a  commodious  residence 
of  a  modern  style  of  architecture  adorns  the  place. 
This  is  one  of  the  pleasantest  homes  in  the  town- 
ship, its  interior  being  well  planned  and  adapted 
to  the  needs  of  the  family;  it  is  furnished  in  good 
taste,  and  its  walls  are  ornamented  with  fine  oil 
paintings,  the  work  of  his  daughter  Lulu,  his  only 
child,  who  is  an  artist  of  merit,  and  was  well  edu- 
cated at  Mt.  Morris. 

Mr.  Lahmau  gives  his  attention  to  quite  an  ex- 
tensive business  in  the  stock-raising  line,  and 
makes  a  specialty  of  breeding  Percheron  horses,  of 
which  he  has  a  number  of  fine  specimens.  He  was 
for  some  years  connected  with  his  brother  in  a 
large  stock  business  in  Story  County,  Iowa,  and  he 
also  dealt  extensively  in  live  stock  at  Franklin 
Grove  for  a  time,  doing  all  the  shipping  that  was 
done  from  that  point  at  that  time.  He  has  given 
some  attention  to  the  grain  trade  and  was  once  a  | 


partner  of  the  firm  of  George  II.  Taylor  &  Co., 
grain  dealers.  For  seventeen  years  he  has  done  an 
enormous  business  in  the  poultry  line  during  the 
season,  which  commences  November  15  and  con- 
tinues from  sixty-five  to  seventy  (lays,  when  he 
handles  from  $25,000  to  $30,000  worth  of  poultry 
of  different  kinds. 

Mr.  Lahman  was  married  in  1864  to  Miss  Anna 
Brough,  their  marriage  being  solemnized  in  Penn- 
sylvania, where  the  bride  was  born  and  reared,  her 
native  place  being  in  Adams  County.  She  is  a 
daughter  of  Andrew  and  Lydia  Brugh,  of  Adams 
County,  Pa.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lahman  are  members 
of  the  German  Baptist  Church,  in  which  faith  he 
was  reared,  and  they  contribute  liberally  towards 
its  support.  Politically  he  is  a  Republican  and  is 
true  to  his  party.  This  brief  outline  of  his  life 
shows  plainly  his  worth  as  a  citizen,  and  we  may 
add  that  the  entire  community  hold  him  in  genu- 
ine respect. 


^^  EORGE  KE8SLER,  who  so  ably  represents 
|lj  5— ,  the  interests  of  Brooklyn  as  a  member  of 
^^5)  the  County  Board  of  Supervisors,  came  to 
this  county  when  a  boy,  and  has  risen  to  an  impor- 
tant place  in  industrial  and  public  life.  He  is  a 
progressive,  wide-awake  farmer,  and  his  farm  in 
Brooklyn  Township  is  comparable  with  the  best  in 
its  vicinity  in  regard  to  its  appointments,  cultiva- 
tion and  productiveness. 

Our  subject  is  a  native  of  the  Grand  Duchy  of 
Saxe-Weimar,  Germany,  and  was  born  June  23, 
1838.  His  parents  were  Conrad  and  Margaret 
(Baumgardner)  Kessler,  who  were  also  natives  of 
that  German  dukedom.  The  mother  died  in  the 
Fatherland  in  1858.  The  father  came  to  America 
in  1865  and  passed  the  remainder  of  his  days  in 
Benton  County,  Iowa.  Eight  of  his  children  also 
came  to  this  country,  namely:  Barbara,  Margaret, 
Hartman. George,  Henry,  Katie,  Frank,  and  Daniel, 
and  all  except  our  subject  settled  in  Iowa. 

The  subject  of  this  life  record  had  good  educa- 
tional advantages  in  his  native  land,  and  made  the 
most  of  them,  attending  school  steadily  until  he 


654 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


was  fifteen  years  old.  At  that  age  he  came  to 
America  with  his  oldest  sister,  setting  sail  from 
Bremen  May  27, 1853,  in  the  ship  "Louisiana,"  and 
landing  at  New  York  August  9.  He  went  to  New 
Jersey  after  he  arrived  in  this  country,  and  was 
there  employed  by  the  month  for  nine  years.  We 
next  hear  of  him  in  Chemung  County,  N.  Y., 
where  he  was  working  in  a  tannery  six  miles  from 
the  city  of  Elrnira  one  summer.  In  1862  he  came 
to  Illinois,  and  in  the  following  spring  invested 
his  hard  earnings  in  the  land  in  Brooklyn  Town- 
ship, which  he  has  since  made  into  one  of  the  finest 
farms  in  this  locality.  It  has  an  area  of  one  hun- 
dred and  forty  acres  of  land  that  is  under  a  high 
state  of  cultivation,  and  a  neat  set  of  frame  build- 
ings of  a  substantial  and  modern  st3'le  of  archi- 
tecture adorns  the  place.  The  rich  pastures  support 
stock  of  good  grades,  the  harvest  fields  yield  ex- 
cellent crops,  and  all  go  to  show  that  our  subject 
employs  a  good  system  of  agriculture,  and  is  a  sa- 
gacious and  clear-headed  farmer. 

The  marriage  of  Mr.  Kessler  with  Miss  Margaret 
Trubel  took  place  in  Chemung  County,  N.  Y.,  Oct- 
ober 12,  1862.  She  was  a  native  of  the  same  lo- 
cality in  Germany  where  he  was  born,  and  was  a 
daughter  of  George  and  Christina  Trubel.  Mrs. 
Kessler  died  in  December,  1863,  after  a  wedded 
life  of  little  more  than  a  year,  leaving  one  child, 
William  H.,  who  now  lives  in  Chicago. 

In  1864  our  subject  was  married  to  his  present 
estimable  wife,  formerly  Miss  Philipena  Schwaben- 
land,  and  a  native  of  Hesse-Darmstadt.  She  was 
born  August  28,  1841.  They  have  seven  children 
living:  Anna,  Bertha,  Sarah,  Maggie,  Carrie, 
George  and  Laura. 

Mr.  Kessler  is  a  man  of  correct  habits,  possesses 
a  good  fund  of  genuine  common  sense,  and  those 
traits  of  character  that  denote  solid  worth  and  un- 
questionable integrity  and  inspire  a  feeling  of  trust 
in  all  who  have  dealings  with  him.  His  fellow- 
citizens  have  such  confidence  in  him  that  they 
have  twice  called  him  to  the  responsible  -office  of 
Supervisor.  He  was  first  elected  a  member  of  the 
County  Board  of  Supervisors  in  1887,  and  again  in 
1891,  and  his  constituents  feel  that  the  interests  of 
Brooklyn  Township  ar.e  safe  in  his  hands.  He  is  a 
Republican  in  politics,  and  in  religion  is  a  faithful 


member  of  the  German  Lutheran  Protestant 
Church.  Mrs.  Kessler's  father  died  in  Germany, 
and  the  mother  and  children  came  to  America  in 
1856  and  settled  in  Mendota,  111.  The  mother 
died  in  1864.  Her  only  brother,  Frederick,  died 
in  the  array.  The  sisters  are  all  married  and  reside 
in  Illinois. 


ILLIAM  W.  GILMORE  is  engaged  in  the 
mercantile  business  at  Compton,  and  in 
leatly  fitted  up  and  well -stocked  store 
he  carries  a  full  line  of  hardware,  stoves,  cutlery, 
agricultural  implements,  etc.  He  is  a  son  of  one 
of  the  early  pioneers  of  Lee  County,  and  is  distin- 
guished in  its  history  as  the  second  child  born  of 
white  parents  in  what  is  now  Brooklyn  Township, 
his  birth  occurring  here  November  8,  1835. 

John  Gilmore,  the  father  of  our  subject,  was  one 
of  the  first  to  settle  in  this  part  of  the  State.  He 
was  a  native  of  County  Donegal,  Ireland,  and  was 
a  son  of  another  John  Gilmore,  who  was  of  Scotch 
antecedents,  and  was  born  either  in  Scotland  or 
Ireland.  He  reared  his  family  in  the  latter  coun- 
try, and  remained  there  until  1820,  when  he  emi- 
grated to  the  United  States.  He  landed  in  New 
York,  and  lived  in  that  city  until  1845,  when  he 
came  to  Illinois  to  spend  his  last  years  with  the 
father  of  our  subject.  He  lived  to  the  remarkable 
age  of  one  hundred  and  two  years,  his  death  oc- 
curring in  1867.  When  he  came  to  America  he 
did  not  bring  his  family  with  him,  but  sent  for 
his  wife,  two  daughters  and  two  sons  two  years 
later  The  vessel  on  which  they  sailed  was 
wrecked,  and  the  wife  and  two  sons  were  drowned. 
The  daughters  that  survived  located  in  New  York 
City. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  reared  in  his 
native  land,  and  came  to  America  in  1818.  He 
learned  the  trade  of  a  morocco-dresser  in  New 
York,  and  engaged  in  it  in  that  city  until  1830, 
when  he  went  to  Michigan,  and  entering  a  tract  of 
Government  land  twenty  miles  from  Detroit, 
began  the  hard  task  of  reclaiming  a  farm  from  the 
forests.  lie  first  built  a  log  house,  and  in  the 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


655 


course  of  time  cleared  thirty-five  acres  of  land 
and  put  it  into  good  cultivation.  In  1835  he  came 
to  Illinois  with  a  pair  of  horses  and  a  wagon, 
bringing  with  him  his  wife  and  the  six  children 
that  had  previously  teen  born  to  them.  They 
struck  camp  on  the  edge  of  Chicago,  which  was 
then  but  a  small  village,  and  Mr.  Gilmore  and 
William  Guthrie  started  on  foot  for  this  part  of 
the  State.  They  at  length  arrived  at  Malugin's 
Grove,  of  which  Zachariah  Malugin  was  then  the 
sole  settler.  There  was  then  but  one  house  on  the 
present  site  of  Dixon,  and  not  a  settlement  on  the 
open  prairies. 

Mr.  Gilmore  bought  a  claim  to  one-half  of  the 
grove,  and  then  went  back  to  Chicago  for  his 
family.  He  returned  in  June,  and  began  his  new 
life  here  with  but  *40  in  money  and  his  team,  with 
which  to  make  a  living  for  his  wife  and  six  chil- 
dren, of  whom  the  eldest  was  but  twelve  years  of 
age.  But  he  had  plenty  of  pluck  and  courage 
and  was  a  good  worker.  While  there  were  many 
hardships  to  contend  with,  still  life  had  its  com- 
pensations. The  soil  was  of  unsurpassed  fertility, 
and  needed  only  to  be  cultivated  to  respond  with 
generous  harvests,  and  wild  game  was  plentiful,  as 
well  as  wild  fruits,  and  furnished  an  agreeable  ad- 
dition to  the  fare  of  the  pioneers,  who  had  to 
dispense  with  many  articles  of  food  now  considered 
necessities.  There  were  no  mills  anywhere  in  this 
section,  but  at  Ross  Grove,  twenty  miles  distant, 
there  was  a  rude  corn  cracker,  and  the  father  of 
our  subject  used  to  go  there  with  a  sack  of  corn 
and  use  his  horse  to  grind  it  with.  Corn  bread 
was  the  chief  article  of  living,  flour  bread  being 
considered  a  great  luxury,  For  some  years  there 
were  no  railways  in  this  region,  Chicago  being  the 
nearest  railway  point  and  market. 

The  first  house  that  Mr.  Gilmore  built  on  his 
claim  was  of  round  logs,  and  not  a  nail  entered 
into  its  construction.  He  split  shakes  for  the  roof, 
which  were  held  in  place  with  weight  poles,  but 
were  inadequate  for  shelter,  as  during  the  cold 
winter  nights  the  snow  would  blow  in  on  the  beds. 
He  split  puncheon  for  floor  and  door,  using 
wooden  pins  instead  of  nails,  and  the  rude  door 
was  provided  with  a  wooden  latch  and  the  old- 
time  latch  string  that  always  hung  out  in  token  of 


perpetual  hospitality.  In  that  humble  abode  the 
famity  resided  for  some  years,  and  then  the  father 
built  and  opened  a  public  house  on  the  Chicago 
<fe  Dixon  road  when  that  was  constructed.  His 

I  tavern  was  made  a  stage  station,  and  he  was 
known  far  and  wide  to  the  traveling  public  in  his 
character  as  mine  host,  and  was  popular  with  all. 
In  1865  he  abandoned  hotel-keeping,  selling  his 
establishment  and  removing  to  Mendota,  and  was 
engaged  in  the  mercantile  business  there  for  a 
time.  In  1875  he  went  to  California  to  visit  a 
daughter,  Mrs.  C.  S.  Frost,  and  died  at  her  home 
soon  after.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wile  was 
Hannah  Smith.  She  was  likewise  a  native  of 
Ireland,  and  coming  to  America  with  friends,  was 
married  to  him  in  New  York  City  at  the  age  of 
sixteen.  She  spent  her  last  years  with  her  children, 
and  died  at  the  home  of  her  son,  Alexander  P.,  in 
1887.  The  parents  of  our  subject  reared  twelve 
children:  Alexander  P.,  Rebecca,  John,  Mollie, 
David,  William  W.,  Robert,  Addic  and  Emma, 
(twins),  Eliza,  Cecilia  and  James. 

William  W.  Gilmore  was  born  in  the  humble 
pioneer  home  of  his  parents,  and  was  reared  amid 
pioneer  scenes.  lie  attended  the  primitive  schools 
of  his  boyhood,  the  first  one  that  he  went  to 
being  taught  in  a  log  house,  that  was  furnished 
with  rude  home-made  furniture.  Like  other 
farmer's  boys,  he  was  early  set  to  work  on  the 
farm,  and  he  continued  to  live  with  his  parents 
until  he  attained  his  majority,  when  he  commenced 
farming  on  his  own  account  on  a  tract  of  land  his 
father  had  bought  for  him.  It  was  wild  and  un- 
cultivated at  the  time,  and  after  he  had  erected 
suitable  buildings  to  make  it  habitable,  he  pro- 
ceeded with  his  customary  vigor  to  improve  his 
real-estate,  and  in  the  course  of  time  had  one  of 
the  finest  farms  in  the  locality.  He  resided  upon 
his  homestead  until  1865,  when  he  established 
himself  in  the  mercantile  business  at  Malugiu's 
Grove.  In  1868  he  went  to  Mendota,  and  lived 
there  the  ensuing  two  years.  At  the  expiration  of 
that  time  he  moved  back  to  Brooklyn  Township 
and  resumed  farming,  which  he  carried  on  until 
1881.  In  that  year  he  came  to  Compton  and 
again  embarked  in  the  mercantile  business,  which 

,   he   has   conducted    with    good    profit   ever  since. 


656 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


Besides  hardware,  stoves,  and  such  articles,  of 
which  he  carries  a  large  assortment,  he  always  has 
on  hand  a  full  supply  of  all  styles  of  agricultural 
implements,  and  enjoys  a  large  trade  among  the 
farmers  in  tlie  surrounding  country,  who  know 
him  well,  place  a  full  reliance  in  his  business  integ- 
rity, and  are  always  sure  of  a  square  deal  with 
him. 

Mr.  Gilmore  was  married  in  1856  to  Regina  J. 
Carnahan,  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  and  a  daugh- 
ter of  Charles  and  Elizabeth  Carnal»an.  They 
have  six  children,  namely:  Clara  Janet,  John  W., 
Ida  C.,  now  Mrs.  Charles  I.  Barrett;  Hattie  E., 
Florence  and  Daisy.  Clara  is  the  wife  of  Charles 
F.  Guffin;  John  married  Ollie  Avery. 

Mr.  Gilmore,  his  wife  and  daughters,  are  mem- 
bers of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  their 
names  are  associated  with  its  every  good  work. 
Mr.  Gilmore  has  always  been  faithful  to  the 
Democratic  party  in  politics.  In  his  social  rela- 
tions, he  is  a  member  of  Brooklyn  Lodge,  No.  282, 
A.  F.  &  A.  M.;  of  Mendota  Commandery,  No.  76, 
R.  A.  M.;  and  of  Bethany  Chapter,  No.  28,  K.  T. 


,AVID  HARTMAN.  Lee  County  is  for- 
tunate in  that  the  farmers,  who  form  such 
an  important  proportion  of  her  popula- 
tion, are  in  general  a  highly  intelligent, 
energetic,  thrifty  and  business-like  set  of  men.  Of 
one  of  these,  David  Hartman,  we  write.  His  farm- 
ing operations  center  on  section  22,  Nelson  Town- 
ship, where  he  has  two  hundred  acres  of  land  un- 
der good  cultivation  and  supplied  with  all  the 
necessary  improvements  that  go  to  make  up  a  de- 
sirable farm. 

Our  subject  was  born  in  Somerset  County,  Pa., 
July  1,  1849,  one  of  the  six  children  of  Conrad 
and  Susanna  (Raymond)  Ilartman,  natives,  re- 
spectively, of  Germany  and  Pennsylvania.  Mr. 
Hartman  came  to  the  United  States  from  the  old 
country  alone,  when  he  Was  a  young  man,  and 
joined  his  brother  in  Somerset  County,  Pa.  He 
there  met  his  future  wife,  and  a  few  years  later 
they  were  married.  She  was  born  and  reared  in 


that  county,  and  was  of  Dutch  descent.  After  the 
birth  of  all  their  children,  Conrad  and  Susanna 
Hartman  came  to  Illinois  in  1855,  and  buying  new 
and  unbroken  lands  in  Nelson  Township,  became 
pioneers  of  the  county.  Mr.  Hartman  was  a  hard 
worker,  and  in  time  had  a  large  farm  under  sub- 
stantial improvement,  comprising  four  hundred 
and  forty  acres  of  fine  arable  and  pasture  land, 
and  had  besides  ten  acres  of  valuable  timber.  He 
has  grown  old  in  his  adopted  township,  which  has 
been  developed  partly  by  his  labors,  and  August  4, 
1891,  marked  the  anniversary  of  his  birth  seventy- 
eight  years  before.  Notwithstanding  his  advanced 
age,  he  is  yet  hale  and  active,  and  his  fellow- 
townsmen,  who  look  upon  him  with  the  respect 
duo  to  his  years  and  great  worth,  hope  that  he  ma}' 
live  to  enjoy  life  a  great  while  yet.  He  is  a  val- 
ued member  of  the  Lutheran  Church,  as  is  his  wife 
also,  and  in  politics,  he  is  faithful  to  the  Republi- 
can party.  Mr.  Hartman 's  first  wife  died  in  their 
home,  in  this  township,  in  1872,  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
five  years,  and  was  truly  mourned  by  all  who  had 
known  and  loved  her  for  her  many  excellencies. 
Mr.  Ilartman  took  for  his  second  wife  Mrs.  Sarah 
Hax,  nee  Zorn,  who  was  born  and  reared  in  Som- 
erset County,  Pa.  By  her  first  marriage  with 
Peter  Hax,  she  had  three  children,  one  of  whom 
was  the  wife  of  our  subject.  Her  first  husband 
was  a  German  by  birth.  They  came  from  Penn- 
sylvania to  Illinois  in  1855,  and  lived  in  Dixon 
for  some  years.  They  subsequently  removed  to 
Sterling,  where  Mr.  Hax  died  in  middle  age. 

David  Ilartman  has  passed  the  most  of  his  life 
in  this  counly,  on  the  very  farm  that  he  now  owns, 
in  Nelson  Township,  as  he  was  but  six  years  old 
when  the  family  removed  to  this  State.  He  re- 
ceived an  excellent  education  in  the  local  schools, 
and  a  good  training  in  all  that  pertains  to  farming, 
so  that  when  he  adopted  that  calling  for  his  life 
work,  when  lie  attained  his  majority,  he  was  well 
equipped  for  it.  He  is  constantly  making  improve- 
ments upon  his  farm,  which  is  amply  provided 
with  buildings  of  a  good  class,  and  substantial  farm- 
ing machinery  of  the  best  manufacture,  and  he 
employs  the  most  advanced  methods  in  carry  ing  on 
agriculture. 

The  marriage  of  our  subject  to  Miss  Sarah  Hax 


Kit   UHriAHlf 

OF  :;:s 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


659 


was  celebrated  in  this  township.  She  was  a  na- 
tive of  the  same  Pennsylvanian  county  as  him- 
self, the  date  of  her  birth  was  August  24,  1854, 
and,  like  him,  she  was  reared  in  this  State.  Com- 
fort and  hospitality  reign  in  their  home,  and  three 
of  the  four  children  born  unto  them  complete  their 
present  household,  namely:  Clarence  C.,  Estella  C. 
and  Myrtle  E.  Their  daughter  Lulu,  died  young. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hartman  attend  the  Lutheran 
Church,  contribute  generously  to  its  support,  and 
are  identified  with  its  every  good  work.  They  are 
very  much  liked  by  the  people  among  whom  they 
have  lived  so  long,  as  they  possess  traits  of  char- 
acter that  win  consideration  and  confidence.  Mr. 
Hartman  is  an  active  local  politician,  a  thoroughly 
good  Republican,  who  interests  himself  in  all  that 
concerns  his  township.  He  has  held  all  the  civic 
offices  within  the  gift  of  his  fellow-townsmen,  is  at 
at  present  Assessor  of  Nelson  Township,  and  in 
these  various  capacities  has  done  much  to  advance 
the  welfare  of  the  community. 


JOHN  HOYLE,  a  retired  farmer  living  in  the 
village  of  Eldena,  lias  during  his  residence 
in  this  county  materially  added  to  its 
wealth  by  improving  one  of  the  most  de- 
sirable faims  in  all  South  Dixon  Township,  and 
has  accumulated  sufficient  property  to  preclude  the 
necessity  of  engaging  in  any  active  business.  His 
portrait  appears  on  the  opposite  page.  He  is  a 
Pennsylvanian  by  birth,  born  April  14,  1826,  the 
county  of  Somerset  being  his  birthplace.  His 
father,  Peter  Hoyle,  was  a  native  of  the  same 
county,  and  was  a  son  pf  Adam  Hoyle,  who  passed 
his  entire  life  in  Somerset  County.  His  parents 
or  grandparents  had  come  to  this  country  in  an 
early  day  of  the  Colonial  history  of  Pennsylvania. 
The  father  of  our  subject  grew  up  amid  the 
scenes  of  his  birth,  and  early  entered  upon  his 
career  as  a  farmer.  He  was  a  drummer  in  the 
local  militia  for  some  years.  He  married  Cathe- 
rine Mossholder,  who  was  likewise  born  and  reared 
in  Somerset  County,  being  a  daughter  of  Jacob 


and  Tamar  A.  (Fritz)  Mossholder,  who  were  born, 
reared  and  died  in  Somerset  County,  the  father 
spending  his  entire  life  on  the  old  Mossholder 
homestead.  They  were  stanch  Lutherans  in  their 
religion.  After  the  birth  of  their  children,  five 
sons  and  three  daughters  in  all,  and  after  the  most 
of  them  had  grown  to  manhood  and  womanhood, 
Peter  Hoyle  and  his  wife  came  to  Illinois  in  1856 
to  spend  their  remaining  days  here.  They  settled 
near  Dixon,  and  there  the  mother  died  in  1863, 
when  past  sixty  years  of  age.  Mr.  Hoyle  subse- 
quently died  at  the  home  of  our  subject  in  South 
Dixon  in  August,  1870,  at  the  age  of  sixty-seven 
years.  They  were  in  all  things  honest,  God-fear- 
ing people,  and  their  religion  was  that  of  their 
ancestors  from  the  days  of  Martin  Luther. 

Our  subject  is  the  eldest  of  the  eight  children 
born  to  his  worthy  parents,  who  early  trained  him 
in  the  way  he  should  go  to  grow  into  an  upright 
man.  There  are  two  other  surviving  members  of 
the  family  besides  himself — his  brother  Edmund, 
a  farmer  in  Lancaster  County,  Neb.,  who  has  been 
married,  but  his  wife  is  now  deceased;  and  a  sister, 
Mrs.  Margaret  Swaby,  who  lives  near  Amboy:  John 
Hoyle  was  married  in  the  township  and  county  of 
his  birth  in  Pennsylvania,  to  Miss  Emily  Deeter, 
who  was  born  and  reared  in  that  neighborhood,  and 
is  a  daughter  of  Samuel  and  Susanna  (Sheetz) 
Deeter.  Her  parents  were  natives  of  the  Keystone 
State,  and  lived  and  died  on  the  old  Deeter 
homestead,  obtained  by  Samuel  Deeter's  father  on 
coming  to  America  from  Germany.  The  parents 
of  Mrs.  Hoyle  died  in  the  faith  of  the  German 
Reformed  Church,  in  which  they  had  been  bred. 
They  had  a  large  family  of  children. 

Mrs.  Hoyle  has  been  an  exemplary  wife,  her 
husband's  stay  and  help,  and  a  tender  mother  to 
their  children,  of  whom  they  have  had  twelve. 
These  nine  are  living:  Joshua  P.,  of  whom  see 
biography  in  this  volume;  Ellen;  Sarah  A.;  Lu- 
cinda;  Allasuma;  John  W.,  who  is  represented  on 
another  page  of  this  work;  Petor  S.,  also  a  subject 
of  one  of  the  sketches  in  this  nook;  Orpha  J.  and 
Etta  Mabel,  the  two  latter  unmarried  and  at 
home  with  their  parents;  the  others  are  all  married 
and  well  settled  in  life. 

Mr.  Hoyle  left  the  old  home   in   Pennsylvania 


660 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


and  began  life  anew  in  this  State  in  the  winter  of 
1864,  bringing  his  family  with  him.  A  year  later 
he  purchased  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of 
land  on  section  35,  South  Dixon  Township,  now 
included  in  his  son  John's  farm,  upon  which  he 
made  most  of  the  improvements,  and  it  is  now  in 
the  hands  of  his  sons.  He  retired  to  Eldena  with 
his  family  in  1888,  and  has  not  since  been  actively 
engaged  in  any  active  business.  He  is  well 
thought  of  by  all  with  whom  he  associates,  and  is 
known  to  be  a  man  of  veracity,  rugged  honesty 
and  independence  of  character,  and  thoroughly 
reliable  at  all  times  and  in  all  places.  He  and  his 
wife  early  identified  themselves  with  the  religious 
element  of  the  community,  and  are  members  of 
the  Evangelical  Association.  In  politics  he  is  a 
Republican. 

RS.  OLIVE  (AYRES)  MURPHY,  widow  of 
Anderson  T.  Murphy,  has  made  her  home 
in  Dixon  nearly  forty  years,  and  is  greatly 
esteemed  by  her  many  friends  and  ac- 
quaintances for  the  genuine  worth  of  her  character. 
She  was  born  inManheim,  Herkimer  County,  N.Y., 
September  7,  1820,  to  Sylvanus  and  Anna  (Bean) 
Ayres.  For  an  extended  history  of  the  Ayres 
family,  gee  biography  of  J.  C.  Ayres  on  another 
page  of  this  work. 

Mrs.  Murphy  was  very  young  when  her  father 
died,  and  she  then  went  with  her  mother  to  live  at 
Buffalo,  where  her  girlhood  was  passed.  She  was 
trained  in  all  the  household  arts  necessary  to  the 
making  of  a  comfortable  home,  so  that  when  she 
came  to  preside  over  one  of  her  own  she  understood 
thoroughly  what  was  required  in  the  skillfnl  man- 
agement of  her  domestic  affairs.  In  1851  she  paid 
her.  first  visit  to  Illinois,  coming  by  rail  to  Aurora, 
then  the  nearest  railway  station  to  Dixon,  which 
place  she  reached  by  stage.  She  visited  her  friends 
in  this  city,  which  was  then  but  a  village,  from 
October  until  the  following  March,  and  then  went 
to  Chicago.  She  found  that  great  metropolis  of  to- 
day with  its  million  and  more  people,  a  compara- 
tively small  city,  with  a  population  of  about  forty- 


five  thousand  inhabitants,  and  could  scarcely  have 
dreamed  that  the  uninviting  looking  place  with  its 
swampy  environments  would  in  her  time  become 
one  of  the  largest  and  most  important  cities  in 
America,  if  not  in  the  whole  world. 

Her  stay  in  the  Garden  City  was  madi  memor- 
able to  Miss  Ayres,  by  her  marriage  October  5th, 

j  1852,  to  Anderson  Turner  Murphy,  and  the  newly 
wedded  couple  came  to  Dixon  the  home  of  Mr. 
Murphy  to  make  for  themseves  a  place  among  its 
most  useful  and  valued  citizens.  In  the  busy  years 
that  followed  prosperity  smiled  upon  them,  and  the 
blessing  of  children  was  vouchsafed  to  them,  of 
whom  two  are  living  to  be  the  stay  and  comfort  of 
their  mother  in  her  declining  years,  Fanny  Ayres 
and  Laura  Gracia.  One  daughter,  Anna  Louise, 
has  joined  her  father  on  the  other  shore.  She  married 

i  the  Rev.  Levi  Gilbert,  and  died  in  Duluth,  Minn., 
February  3,  1885,  leaving  four  children  mother- 

|  less— Paul  T.,  Fanny  E.,  A.  Harold  and  Helen  I. 
June  17,  1861,  death  invaded  the  peaceful  house- 
hold of  the  family  of  our  subject,  and  the  tender 
husband  and  devoted  father  closed  his  eyes  to  open* 
them  no  more  to  the  scenes  of  earth. 

Anderson  Turner  Murphy  was  born  at  Lexing- 
ton, Ky.,  June  2,  1812,  and  the  same  house  in 
which  he  was  born  was  the  birthplace  of  his  father, 
Thomas  Murphy.  The  original  name  of  the  family 
was  Morgan,  and  it  is  conjectured  from  that,  that 
his  ancestors  were  Welsh  people.  The  change  of 
the  family  name  happened  thus.:  The  grandfather 
of  our  subject  was  pressed  into  the  British  service 
and  brought  across  the  water  to  fight  the  colonists 
during  the  Revolution.  His  sympathies,  however 
were  with  the  Americans,  and  he  deserted  at  the 
first  opportunity  and  joined  the  Continental  army. 
He  changed  his  name  from  Morgan  to  Murphy 
when  he  cast  in  his  fortunes,  with  the  colonists,  as 
he  feared  detection  if  he  were  captured  by  the  Eng- 
lish if  he  retained  his  rightful  name,  and  his  de- 
scendants have  held  to  his  adopted  name. 

Mr.  Murphy's  father  came  from  Kentucky  to 
Illinois  in  1830,  and  was  a  pioneer  of  Crawford 
County,  where  he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  life. 
The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  Christina  Mus- 
grove,  and  she  also  passed  her  last  days  in  Craw- 
ford County.  Anderson  Murphy  was  nearly  grown 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


661 


to  manhood  when  he  came  to  Illinois  with  his 
parents.  He  learned  the  trade  of  a  tailor  in  Craw- 
ford County.  In  1840  he  came  to  Dixon,  which 
was  then  in  its  infancy,  and  from  that  time  until 
the  day  of  his  death  was  identified  with  it  growth, 
lie  engaged  at  his  trade  for  a  time,  and  then  turned 
his  attention  to  the  mercantile  business,  which  he 
carried  on  until  he  established  himself  in  the  for- 
warding and  commission  business,  in  which  he  was 
interested  until  death  terminated  his  career  when 
he  was  scarcely  past  the  meridien  of  life,  and  when 
he  was  at  the  height  of  his  usefulness.  He  was 
much  missed  in  the  city,  where  he  had  won  an 
honorable  reputation  in  financial  circles  as  an  ex- 
cellent business  man,  whose  transactions  were  al- 
ways open  and  above  board,  and  where  he  was  ac- 
counted a  good  citizen,  and  was  held  in  sincere 
regard  by  all  who  knew  him.  At  the  time  of  Mr. 
Murphy's  marriage  he  was  Postmaster  of  Dixon. 


<^p!  NDERSON  CLAYTON  RADLEY  was  one 
itO)  of  the  successful  farmers  of  Lee  County, 

///  14)  and  may  well  be  classed  among  its  pioneers, 
fjjj  although  not  one  of  its  earliest  settlers,  as 
he  has  aided  in  the  development  of  its  agricultural 
resources,  and  has  improved  a  fine-  farm  in  Wyo- 
ming Township  that  compares  with  the  best  in  the 
locality  in  point  of  cultivation  and  the  substantial 
character  of  its  improvements. 

Mr.  Radley  was  a  descendant  of  one  of  the  old 
Holland  families  that  played  so  important  a  part 
in  the  early  settlement  of  the  Empire  State,  and  he 
was  a  native  of  that  Commonwealth,  born  in  the 
town  of  Florida,  Montgomery  County,  January 
14,  1827.  His  great-grandfather,  John  Radley, 
who  was  born  either  in  Holland  or  near  Albany, 
was  one  of  the  pioneers  of  that  county.  He  se- 
cured a  tract  of  heavily  timbered  land,  and  erected 
a  log  house  in  the  primeval  forests,  which  were 
then  inhabited  by  Indians,  and  deer,  bears,  wolves 
and  other  wild  animals  often  prowled  around  his 
home  in  the  wilderness.  There  were  no  railways 
or  canals  in  that  part  of  the  country  for  years,  and 
in  fact,  for  a  time  there  was  no  wagon  road,  he 


having  to  go  to  mill,  market  and  elsewhere  on 
horseback.  He  cleared  a  large  and  valuable  farm, 
becoming  one  of  the  most  prosperous  settlers  in 
that  locality,  and  he  gave  each  of  his  five  chil- 
dren a  farm  when  they  came  to  settle  in  life.  He 
had  three  sons,  John,  Jacob  and  Andrew,  and  two 
daughters,  Catherine  and  Mary.  His  old  age  was 
serenely  passed  in  the  home  that  he  had  planted 
in  the  forest  wilds  where  he  had  labored  to  such 
good  purpose. 

Jacob  Radley,  the  grandfather  of  our  subject, 
was  born  in  the  pioneer  home  of  his  parents  in 
Montgomery  County.  When  he  began  life  for 
himself  his  father  gave  him  a  tract  of  timber  land, 
which  he  cleared  and  made  into  a  good  farm,  upon 
which  he  lived  until  death  called  him  hence.  He 
married  Catherine  Vinton,  who  is  thought  to  have 
been  born  in  Schenectady  County,  N.  Y.,  and  died 
on  the  farm  where  she  had  helped  her  husband  to 
build  a  home.  She  was  the  mother  of  eight  chil- 
dren that,  grew  to  maturity,  as  follows:  John  J., 
William,  Rachel,  Catherine,  Andrew,  Mary,  Thomas 
and  Rebecca. 

John  J.  Radley  was  the  name  of  the  father  of 
our  subject,  and  he  was  born  on  his  father's  farm 
in  Montgomery  County,  July  4,  1804.  He  grew 
to  manhood  in  the  home  of  his  birth,  and  was 
married  in  his  native  county  to  Miss  Sarah  Thomas, 
who  was  born  in  the  same  town  as  himself  July  21, 
1809.  So  far  as  known,  her  father,  John  Thomas, 
was  a  native  of  that  same  town,  where  he  was  en- 
gaged for  many  years  as  a  miller.  His  last  years 
were  passed  with  his  children  in  Albany.  The 
parents  of  our  subject  began  their  wedded  life  on  a 
part  of  his  father's  estate  that  he  had  inherited, 
and  they  resided  thereon  until  1855,  when  they 
came  to  Lee  County  to  cast  in  their  lot  with  its 
pioneers.  They  located  in  what  is  now  Wyoming 
Township,  but  after  a  few  years'  residence  there 
removed  to  the  adjoining  township  of  Earlville,  in 
La  Salle  County,  where  they  lived  respected  until 
they  closed  their  eyes  in  death,  and  in  dying  left 
behind  them  records  of  lives  well  spent,  his  death 
occurring  February  6,  1884,  and  hers  September 
26,  1889.  They  reared  a  family  of  six  sons  and 
three  daughters,  who  are  well  known  and  esteemed 
citizens  of  this  and  other  counties  of  Northern 


662 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


Illinois,  namely:  Anderson  C.,  Catherine,  (Mrs. 
Pulver),  Rebecca,  Jacob,  Jan-.es,  Joseph,  Elizabeth, 
John  and  William, 

The  boyhood  days  of  our  subject  were  passed  in 
his  native  town  in  securing  an  education,  and  in 
helping  do  the  farm  work,  whereby  he  acquired  a 
good  experience  in  the  calling  that  he  was  to  adopt 
for  his  life-work.  At  the  age  of  twenty-two  he 
left  the  parental  home  to  begin  a  life  of  indepen- 
dence as  a  farmer  on  his  own  account  by  renting 
land  in  Schenectady  County,  of  which  he  was  a 
resident  until  1856.  In  April  of  that  year  he  came 
to  Illinois  and  fanned  as  a  renter  in  Batavia  for  a 
year.  In  1857  he  came  to  Lee  County  and  bar- 
gained for  a  tract  of  land  within  its  bounds,  and 
built  necessary  buildings.  He  failed  to  obtain  a 
title  to  that  place,  and  in  1859  bought  the  land  in 
Wyoming  Township  that  forms  the  present  farm, 
upon  which  he  has  reared  a  comfortable  home. 
When  he  first  came  into  possession  of  this  prop- 
erty it  was  in  its  natural  condition,  but  by  his 
skillful  and  unwearied  labors  he  has  wrought  a 
great  change  and  brought  it  into  a  fine  condition, 
placing  the  land  in  a  high  state  of  cultivation, 
erecting  a  neat  set  of  frame  buildings,  and  adorn- 
ing the  place  by  fruit  and  shade  trees  set  out  by 
his  own  hand. 

Mr.Radley  was  first  married  DecemberJ4, 1862, 
to  Miss  Mary  V.  Hay  den,  a  native  of  Jackson 
County,  Mich.  She  died  October  7,  1865,  after 
scarcely  three  years  of  wedded  happiness,  leaving 
one  son,  Jay  H.,  who  is  now  a  talented  young  phy- 
sician, practicing  his  profession  in  New  York  City. 
He  commenced  his  medical  studies  with  Dr.  Ather- 
ton,  and  subsequently  entered  the  College  of  Phy- 
sicians and  Surgeons,  in  Chi3ago,  fvom  which  he 
was  graduated  with  honors  in  the  Class  of  '89,  and 
received  the  gold  medal.  By  his  second  marriage 
May  9,  1866,  to  Miss  Martha  McBride,  our  subject 
has  found  an  amiable  and  devoted  wife.  Their 
only  grief  in  their  married  life  has  been  in  the 
death  of  their  only  daughter,  and  the  only  child 
born  of  their  union,  Ulali  B.,  at  the  age  of  six 
months. 

Mrs.  Radley  was  born  in  Limestone  Township, 
Columbia  County,  Pa.,  September  3,  1838.  Her 
father,  Frederick  McBride,  was  a  native  of  White- 


hall, Pa.,  and  a  son  of  James  AIcBride,  who,  it  is 
supposed,  was  a  native  of  New  Jersey.  He  was  a 
carpenter  and  carried  on  his  trade  there,  and  made 
it  his  home  until  death  called  him  hence.  The 
maiden  name  of  Mrs.  Radley's  mother  was  Mary  B. 
Runyan,  and  she  was  also  a  native  of  Columbia 
County.  Her  father,  George  Runyan,  was  born  in 
New  Jersey,  and  was  a  pioneer  farmer  of  Pennsyl- 
vania County.  He  spent  his  last  years  near  Jersey- 
town.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  Han- 
nah Davis.  She  was  born  in  New  Jersey  and  died 
on  the  old  homestead  in  Columbia  County,  Pa. 

Since  he  became  a  citizen  of  Wyoming  Town- 
ship, Mr.  Radley  used  his  influence  to  advance  its 
social  and  religious  interests,  as  well  as  to  promote 
its  material  welfare.  He  was  reared  a  Presbyterian, 
and  has  remained  true  to  the  faith.  He  was  one 
of  the  leading  members  of  the  church  of  that  de- 
nomination at  Paw  Paw,  which  he  assisted  in  or- 
ganizing, and  he  has  served  as  Elder  ever  since. 
Socially,  he  is  a  member  of  Anchor  Lodge,  No.  510, 
I.  O.  O.  F.  Mrs.  Radley  was  brought  up  in  the 
Baptist  fold,  und  is  a  consistent  member  of  that 
church.  Mr.  Radley  died  December  30, 1891,  leav- 
ing many  friends  to  mourn  the  loss  of  one  of  their 
best  citizens. 


ONRAD  IIARTMAN,  one  of  the  old  settlers 
of  the  township  of  Nelson,  living  on  sec- 
tion 22,  has  not  only  materially  increased 
its  wealth  by  his  work  as  a  skillful,  practical  farmer, 
but  he  has  acquired  a  valuable  property  for  him- 
self, the  possession  of  which  places  him  among  the 
most  substantial  men  of  the  county.  He  is  of 
German  birth,  although  the  most  important  part 
of  his  life  since  he  attained  manhood  has  been 
passed  in  this  country.  He  was  born  August  4, 
1813,  in  Kurfurstenthum-IIessen,  Germany.  He 
was  educated  in  the  excellent  schools  of  his  native 
place,  and  was  reared  to  the  life  of  a  farmer.  He 
grew  to  be  a  stalwart,  active,  wide-awake  young 
man.  und  at  the  age  of  twenty-four  set  out  into 
the  world  to  see  something  of  life,  having  resolved 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


663 


to  join  an  older  brother  who  had  preceded  him  to 
the  United  States  some  years  before.  He  sailed 
from  Bremen  in  1837,  and  seven  weeks  later 
found  himself  in  New  York  City,  and  from  there 
he  went  to  Somerset  County,  Pa.,  to  find  his 
brother,  having  first,  however,  to  look  around  him 
in  the  great  metropolis  to  get  work  to  earn  money 
to  take  him  to  his  destination.  After  his  arrival 
in  Somerset  County,  lie  had  $1  of  that  money  left, 
but  he  soon  secured  a  situation  as  a  farm  hand  at 
$9  a  month.  He  prudently  saved  his  earnings,  and 
in  time  when  he  desired  to  marry  lie  was  justified 
in  doing  so,  as  he  had  the  means  to  support  a  wife 
and  provide  a  good  home  for  her.  He  was  married 
to  the  lady  whom  he  invited  to  share  his  fortunes 
in  Somerset  County,  of  which  she  was  a  native, 
her  name  being  Susannah  Raymond.  Her  parents 
were  Pennsylvanians  by  birth  but  were  of  German 
blood,  their  parents  having  been  born  in  the  Old 
Country.  Her  father,  George  Raymond,  was  a 
farmer  by  occupation,  and  he  died  in  Somerset 
County  before  his  daughter  Susan  was  grown  to 
womahood.  Her  mother  did  not  die  until  many 
years  later  when  she  was  an  old  lady. 

Our  subject  and  his  wife  spent  the  early  part  of 
their  married  life  on  a  farm  in  Somerset  County, 
Mr.  Hartman  living  there  eighteen  years  in  all, 
but  after  the  birth  of  all  their  children,  six  in 
number,  they  came  to  Illinois  to  found  a  new 
home,  and  in  1855  located  among  the  pioneers  of 
Lee  County.  And  here,  in  Nelson  Township,  the 
wife  and  three  of  the  children  died.  John  was 
young  when  he  died,  while  George  and  Elizabeth 
were  grown,  and  the  latter  was  married  at  the  time 
of  her  death.  Mrs.  Hartman  was  sixty-five  years 
old  when  she  died  in  1872.  She  was  a  conscien- 
tious Christian  and  a  member  of  the  Lutheran  j 
Church. 

The  surviving  children  of  that  maniage  are 
Lydia,  wife  of  William  Cook,  a  fanner  in  Western 
Nebraska;  Susanna,  wife  of  Henry  Mason,  and  re- 
siding with  him  on  a  sheep  ranch  in  Colorado, 
and  David,  a  farmer  in  this  township,  who  married 
Sarah  Ilax,  and  a  biographical  review  of  his  life 
appears  elsewhere  in  this  work.  The  second  mar- 
riage of  our  subject,  which  took  place  in  this 
county,  was  with  Mrs.  Sarah  Hax,  nee  Zorn.  Mrs. 


Hartman  was  born  in  the  town  of  Berlin,  Somerset 
County,  Pa.,  a  daughter  of  Jacob  and  Gertrude 
Zorn,  who  were  also  natives  of  Pennsylvania,  and 
were  of  Dutch  ancestry.  Her  father  farmed  and 
also  made  brick  and  pottery  for  some  years.  He 
died  at  Berlin  when  nearly  eighty  years  of  age. 
His  wife  was  not  so  old  when  she  died.  They  were 
Lutherans,  and  stanch  in  the  faith.  Their  daughter 
Sarah  was  first  married  in  her  native  county  to 
Peter  Hax,  with  whom  she  subsequently  came  to 
Illinois.  They  settled  first  at  Dixon,  but  afterward 
removed  to  Sterling,  and  while  residing  there  Mr. 
Ilax  was  drowned  while  bathing  in  Rock  River. 
He  left  three  children,  namely:  Milton,  a  resident 
of  Dixon,  who  married  Mary  Bollman ;  Rosanna, 
wife  of  Cyrus  Lint,  a  miller  in  Cameron,  Mo.,  and 
Sarah,  wife  of  David  Hartman. 

When  Mr.  Hartman  came  to  this  county  thirty- 
six  years  ago,  he  was  a  comparatively  poor  man, 
but  a  strong  right  arm  was  his,  and  he  was  other- 
I    wise  well  equipped  for  the  pioneer  task  that  lay  be- 
I    fore  him  of  delving  his  fortune  from  the  soil.    He 
[    began  life  here  on  a  new  farm  of  eighty  acres  in 
I    Nelson    Township,  which   is  a  part  of  his  present 
!    home.     He  worked  early  and  late,  faced  the  hard- 
!   ships  that  fell  to  his  lot  in  the  newly  settled  coun- 
.    try  with    unfaltering   courage,  was   prudent   and 
!   economical  when    it  was   necessary,  invested    his 
[    money  judiciously,  and  after  improving  his  first 
purchase  added  to  it  and  now  has  a  farm  which  is 
one  of  the  best  in  every  particular  in  the  town- 
ship.    It  has  an  area  of  four  hundred  and  forty 
acres  lying  on  sections  22  and   14,  the  most  of  it 
under  plow,  and  Mr.  Hartman  has  erected  a  fine 
set   of   buildings.     Good   grades  of  cattle,  horses 
and  swine  are  raised  on  the  place,  and  the  various 
cereals  and  farm  produce  common  to  this  region 
are  grown  here  in  abundance. 

Our  subject  furnishes  a  good  example  of  our 
so-called  self-made  men,  as  is  shown  by  this  bio- 
graphical record  of  his  life,  as  he  has  gathered  to- 
gether his  riches  by  unremitting  and  well-directed 
toil,  displaying  keen  common  sense,  good  powers  of 
calculation, and  excellent  business  qualifications  in 
his  dealings,  which  have  always  been  characterized 
by  strict  honesty  and  fairness.  He  is  public  spirited 
usa  citizen, always  interesting  himself  in  whatever 


60-1 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


concerns  his  adopted  township,  contributing  to 
plans  to  promote  its  prosperity,  and  doing  good 
work  while  he  held  the  office  of  Highway  Com- 
missioner. Politically,  he  is  a  Republican  and  has 
always  been  loyal  to  his  party.  Religiously,  he 
and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  Lutheran  Church, 
and  the  entire  community  where  the_y  are  so  well 
known  holds  them  in  the  highest  respect. 


&M  BEL  J.  HARRINGTON  is  one  of  the  pio- 
.(?/  I  IK-ITS  of  Lee  County,  who  has  witnessed 

7/nt  almost  its  entire  growth  from  the  wilder- 
H^  ness,  and  has  had  a  hand  in  bringing  about 
the  great  change  that  makes  it  a  rich  and  thriving 
community  of  beautiful  homes,  valuable  farms  and 
busy  towns.  He.  is  quietly  passing  his  declining 
years  on  his  farm  in  Wyoming  Township,  which 
has  been  in  his  possession  many  years,  and  has 
been  highly  improved. 

Mr.  Harrington  is  a  native  of  St.  Lawrence 
County,  N.  Y.,  and  was  born  amid  its  pleasant 
scenes  March  20,  1828.  His  father  was  Amasa 
Harrington,  and  he  too  was  born  in  New  York,  his 
birthplace  being  in  that  part  of  the  State  now  in- 
cluded in  Geuesee  County,  of  which  his  father  was 
a  pioneer.  The  latter  was  a  native  of  the  northern 
part  of  Ireland,  and  coming  to  America  some  time 
during  the  last  century  he  spent  the  remainder  of 
his  life  as  a  farmer  in  Genesee  County. 

Amasa  Harrington  was  a  young  man  when  he 
went  to  St.  Lawrence  County  to  live.  He  married 
and  resided  in  that  county  about  twenty  years,  be- 
ing employed  a  part  of  the  time  as  a  carpenter.  In 
1839  he  started  for  what  was  then  the  Far  West, 
going  with  his  wife  and  six  children,  with  a  team, 
to  Missouri,  which  was  then  on  the  furthest  fron- 
tier. He  lived  in  Macon  County,  that  State,  some 
five  years,  and  then  coming  to  Lee  County,  was 
one  of  its  early  settlers,  locating  on  the  present 
site  of  Paw  Paw.  There  were  but  few  inhabitants 
throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  county, 
and  the  land  was  owned  by  the  Government.  Mr. 
Harrington  operated  a  threshing  machine  some 
years,  and  then  took  a  contract  to  carry  the  mail 


from  Troy  Grove  toRockford,  at  which  he  was  en- 
gaged eight  j' ears.  He  became  well  known,  and 
when  he  died  at  Paw  Paw  during  the  war,  he  left 
a  most  worthy  life-record. 

Abel  Harrington,  who  forms  the  subject  of  this 
brief  biography,  was  a  boy  of  eleven  years  when 
the  family  went  to  Missouri,  and  he  remembers 
well  the  wildness  of  the  country,  the  primitive 
modes  of  life  it  necessitated,  and  many  pioneer  in- 
cidents connected  with  their  stay  there.  There 
were  no  railways  or  other  than  rough  roads  as  a 
means  of  communication  with  the  outside  world, 
and  Hannibal  was  the  nearest  point  at  which  sup- 
plies could  be  obtained,  and  where  the  people  sold 
their  produce.  When  the  Harringtons  returned 
Eastward  as  far  as  this  county,  they  found  it  in 
very  much  the,s,ame  wild  condition  as  the  region 
that  they  had  just  left,  and  in  the  absence  of  rail- 
ways the  settlers  had  to  haul  their  grain  with  teams 
all  the  wa3r  to  Chicago,  the  nearest  market.  Our 
subject  assisted  his  father  until  he  attained  his 
majority,  and  then  for  two  seasons  he  worked  on  a 
farm  by  the  month.  He  wisely  invested  his  money 
in  a  tract  of  wild  prairie  land  containing  fort3' 
acres,  for  which  he  paid  $3  an  acre,  the  same  being 
included  in  his  present  farm.  In  1851  he  worked 
for  Evans  Adrian,  and  bought  of  him  eighty  acres 
of  land  in  the  vicinity  of  Malugin's  Grove, paying 
$81  for  the  entire  tract.  The  investment  netted 
him  a  large  sum  of  money  in  after  years,  as  in 
1864  he  sold  the  land  for  $16.000. 

Our  subject  was  a  victim  of  the  gold  fever  that 
sent  so  many  thousands  of  people  journeying 
across  the  plains  and  mountains,  or  by  water  to 
California,  and  in  1852  he  made  the  trip  with  team, 
starting  from  home  the  2d  of  March,  and  arriving 
at  Downerville,  in  the  Golden  State,  September  28. 
The  Mormons  and  soldiers  and  trappers  were  the 
only  white  settlers  at  that  time  between  the  .Mis- 
souri  River  and  the  Pacific  Slope,  and  the  journey 
was  a  wild  and  dangerous  one,  fraught  with  many 
hardships.  Indians  roamed  at  will  over  the  plains 
and  lurked  in  the  mountains,  and  wild  animals, 
such  MS  buffaloes,  deer,  antelopes,  etc.,  were  to  be 
seen  in  large  numbers.  Mr.  Harrington  engaged 
in  mining  with  varied  success  until  the  winter  of 
1854-55,  and  then  he  departed  homeward  with  his 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


665 


gains,  and  traveling  by  the  way  of  the  Isthmus  of 
Panama  and  New  York,  he  at  length  found  himself 
among  his  old  friends.  He  settled  on  his  land  at 
Mjilugin's  Grove,  but  two  years  later  he  rented  it 
and  removed  to  the  farm  that  he  now  occupies  in 
WyomingTownship,subsequently  selling  his  Malu- 
gin's  Grove  property,  as  before  mentioned.  In 
1867  he  rented  his  farm,  and  took  up  his  residence 
at  Paw  Paw,  where- he  bought  ten  acres  of  land, 
including  the  present  site  of  the  railway  station. 
He  resided  in  the  village  twenty  years, and  during 
that  time  sold  much  of  his  land  in  lots  at  a  good 
profit.  In  -1887  he  erected  a  commodious  brick 
house  on  his  farm,  and  returning  to  it,  has  since 
made  it  his  home.  He  has  here  a  fine  place,  every- 
thing about  it  neat  and  well-ordered,  and  well- 
tilled  fields  and  rich  pastures  yield  a  good  income. 
Mr.  Harrington  was  married  in  1856  to  Miss 
Melvina  Britton,  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  and 
through  her  has  come  much  of  his  prosperity  and 
happiness  in  life.  They  have  three  children: 
Earl,  William  B.  and  Jane  Elizabeth.  Our  subject 
is  a  man  of  sturdy  principle  and  good  habits,  and 
these  together  with  activity,  forethought,  and  a 
capacity  for  well-directed  and  persistent  labor, 
seconded  by  close  calculation  and  good  sense  in 
regard  to  money  matters,  are  the  characteristics 
that  have  been  most  potent  in  the  acquirement  of 
his  property.  As  a  good  citizen  should  be,  he  is 
interested  in  politics,  and  is  a  decided  Republican. 


ORIAH  CHITTENDEN  ROE,  M.  D.,  well- 
known  as  a  physician  of  Franklin  Grove 
and  as  manufacturer  of  Roe's  family  medi- 
cines, his  sons  being  associated  with  him  in  the 
business,  represents  one  of  the  pioneer  families  of 
Northern  Illinois.  He  was  born  in  Lyon  County, 
Ky.,  January  1,  1825,  and  is  the  son  of  Dr.  John 
and  Elizabeth  Ann  (Lyon)  Roe.  His  maternal 
grandfather,  Col.  Mathew  Lyon,  had  rather  a  ro- 
mantic history.  He  was  born  in  Ireland,  and 
when  only  a  mere  boy,  ambitious  to  see  something 
of  the  world  and  to  try  his  fortune  in  America, 
conceived  and  carried  out  the  plan  of  secreting 


himself  on  board  a  vessel  bound  for  this  country. 
On  his  arrival  here  he  was  sold  to  pay  for  his  pas- 
sage to  Gov.  Chittenden,  of  Vermont,  fora  yoke  of 
oxen.  The  Governor  took  a  deep  interest  in  the 
spirited  lad,  educated  him,  and  in  due  time  gave 
him  the  hand  of  his  daughter  in  marriage.  He 
arose  to  a  position  of  prominence  in  his  adopted 
State,  and  at  one  time  represented  it  in  Congress. 
The  mother  of  our  subject  was  born  in  Ken- 
tucky in  1805.  She  was  a  woman  of  flue  physique 
and  ample  proportions,  being  six  feet  in  height 
and  in  advanced  years  weighed  four  hundred 
pounds.  She  was  well-educated,  had  literary  tastes, 
and  wrote  two  books,  the  first  one  was  entitled, 
"Aunt  Lcanna,  or  Early  Scenes  in  Kentucky",  and 
the  other,  "Recollections  of  Frontier  Life  in  Illi- 
nois." She  died  at  a  venerable  age  in  1887.  She 
gave  birth  to  nine  children,  of  whom  eight  are 
now  living:  our  subject,  the  eldest  of  the  family; 
Franklin  M.,  a  physician  in  Downers  Grove;  Giles 
B.,  deceased,  was  a  farmer  in  OgleCounty;Mathew 
C.,  a  resident  of  Grand  Junction,  Iowa,  a  farmer 
and  carpenter,  and  now  engaged  in  selling  medi- 
cine for  his  brother,  our  subject;  Minerva  B.,  wife 
of  J.  C.  Mayberry,  of  Atlanta,  Ga.;  Frances  M., 
:  wife  of  John  Conline,  of  Milan  Cente) ,  De  Kalb 
;  County;  and  Malcolm  C.,  a  physician  of  Ogle 
I  County,  having  the  largest  practice  of  any  doctor 
within  its  borders. 

Dr.  John  Roe  was  bom  in  Philadelphia  in  1800. 
He  married  Elizabeth  A.  Lyon,  and  in  1827  came 
to  Jllinois.  His  first  stopping  place  was  at  Spring- 
field, which  was  then  but  a  mere  collection  of  log 
i  cabins.  He  next  went  to  Jacksonville,  anil  subse- 
j  quently  took  up  a  claim  on  the  Illinois  River  in 
Putnam  County.  In  1833,  he  went  to  Galena  to 
enter  the  land  upon  which  he  had  located,  but 
found  that  another  had  secured  the  title.  Re- 
turning home,  he  told  his  wife  that  he  was  glad 
that  he  did  not  obtain  the  claim,  as  he  had  seen 
much  better  land  near  the  Rock  River,  and  he 
soon  removed  his  family  to  that  region,  settling  in 
December,  1834,  at  Light  House  Point,  seven  miles 
north  of  Franklin  Grove,  in  what  is  now  Ogle 
County,  but  at  that  time  formed  a  part  of  Jo  Davi- 
ees  County.  He  was  one  of  the  pioneer  physicians 
of  Northern  Illinois,  and  as  this  part  of  the  State 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


was  then  but  sparsely  inhabited,  his  practice  ex- 
tended over  a  large  area  of  country,  the  settle- 
ments being  scattered,  and  in  visiting  his  patients 
he  often  traveled  long  distances,  being  called  to 
various  points  from  Galena  to  Lake  Michigan  and 
from  La  Salle  many  miles  northward.  He  labored 
here  until  1848  and  then  went  to  Chicago. 

The  Doctor  did  not  remain  long  in  that  city, 
however,  but  as  gold  was  soon  discovered,  he 
joined  the  '49ers  in  the  rush  to  California,  taking 
his  sons  with  him  across  the  plains  and  mountains. 
It  was  not  so  easy  to  get  the  precious  metal  as  he 
had  imagined,  and  in  1851  he  came  back  to  Illi- 
nois, returning  by  the  way  of  the  Isthmus  and 
New  York  City,  and  located  at  Paynes  Point,  Ogle 
Cauiity.  He  later  removed  to  Nebraska,  and  died 
near  Beatrice  in  1873. 

Our  subject  was  still  in  his  infancy  when  the 
family  settled  in  the  wilderness  in  this  State.  He 
attended  school  at  Mt.  Morris,  read  medicine  with 
his  father  during  his  youth,  and  at  eighteen  years  of 
age  began  to  practice  under  his  father's  directions. 
He  also  gathered  herbs  and  compounded  the  medi- 
cines for  his  father  when  there  was  no  drug  store 
for  nearly  one  hundred  miles.  At  the  age  of  t  wenty- 
one,  he  entered  the  Ohio  Botanical  Medical  College, 
from  which  he  was  graduated  well  equipped  for 
his  chosen  profession,  and  when  the  family  re- 
moved to  Chicago  in  1848,  he  staid  behind  to  take 
charge  of  his  father's  extensive  practice  in  Ogle 
County.  He,  however,  gave  it  up  next  year  to  go 
with  his  father  to  California.  He  met  with  a  seri- 
ous misfortune  during  his  sojourn  in  that  State, 
as  while  he  was  doing  some  heavy  lifting  one  of 
his  thigh  bones  was  broken  near  the  hip,  and  he 
otherwise  injured  himself  so  that  his  body  was 
bent,  causing  him  to  walk  with  his  head  near  the 
ground.  Upon  his  return  home,  while  at  New 
York  City,  he  says  he  was  determined  to  straighten 
up,  and  bracing  himself  against  a  post  he  exerted 
himself  to  assume  an  erect  attitude.  The  effort 
was  very  painful,  but  he  persisted  in  his  resolution 
and  soon  became  as  straight  as  an  Indian. 

On  his  return  to  Illinois,  after  his  experience  in 
frontier  life  on  the  Pacific  Slope,  our  subject  lo- 
cated at  Blood's  Point,  in  Boone  County,  whence 
he  removed  to  Payne's  Point  a  year  later,  where  he 


practiced  with  his  father  and  managed  a  farm  that 
he  had  bought  at  the  same  time.  In  1854,  he  came 
to  Franklin  Grove,  five  years  later  went  to  Ash- 
ton,  thence  to  Rockford,  and  finally  to  Fairfax, 
Iowa.  In  1870,  he  came  again  to  Franklin  Grove, 
and  for  the  last  twent}-  years  or  more  has  been  a 
continuous  resident  of  this  village.  He  has  prac- 
ticed somewhat,  but  has  devoted  his  time  princi- 
pally to  the  manufacture  of  various  medicinal  prep- 
j  arations,  eighteen  in  number,  many  of  which 
I  have  found  their  way  into  households  in  every 
part  of  the  United  States,  and  are  highly  reputed 
for  their  remedial  virtues. 

The  Doctor  is  widely  known,  and  is  greatly  re- 
spected, lie  is  one  of  the  leading  members  of  the 
Old  Settlers'  Society  of  Lee  County,  of  which  he 
has  been  President,  and  he  has  frequently  delivered 
addresses  at  its  meetings.  In  religion,  he  was 
reared  a  Methodist,  and  was  ordained  a  minister 
in  the  church.  His  views  in  regard  to  such  mat- 
ters have  somewhat  changed  since  the  days  of  his 
early  manhood,  and  he  is  now  connected  with  the 
Christian  Adventist  Church  as  one  of  its  ministers. 
In  politics,  the  Doctor  was  first  a  Democrat;  from 
1860  to  1872,  a  Republican,  and  since  then  inde- 
pendent. He  was  Justice  of  the  Peace  while  in 
Iowa,  but  has  never  had  time  for  public  offices. 

Our  subject  was  first  married  in  February,  1846, 
to  Miss  Almeda  Brown,  a  native  of  Canada,  and  a 
daughter  of  Nathaniel  and  Lucinda  Brown.  Her 
parents  were  pioneers  of  Illinois,  coming  hither  in 
1837.  She  died  January  28,  1882.  leaving  seven 
children,  five  of  whom  are  now  living,  namely: 
Nathaniel  C.,  dealer  in  real  estate  in  Chicago,  and 
in  partnership  with  our  subject;  Ellla,  wife  of  T. 
J.  Giddings,  of  Franklin  Grove;  Lucy  B.,  wife  of 
Ami  Hamlin,  of  Brillion,  Wis.;  Fred  U.,  born  Janu- 
ary 24,  1859,  and  educated  at  Mt.  Morris,  and  has 
been  a  member  of  the  firm  of  U.  C.  Roe  &  Sons  since 
1879;  he  was  married  August  29,1880,  to  Miss  Annis 
M.  Hill,  a  native  of  Manitowoc,  Wis.,  a  daughter 
of  Homer  Hill;  and  Carrie  L.,  now  Mrs.  William  S. 
Mulford,  of  Wisconsin.  In  1883,  Dr.  Roe  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Man*  E.  Edmonds,  a  native  of  Lee 
County,  and  a  daughter  of  Isaac  Edmonds,  of 
Compton.  Three  children  have  been  born  unto 
them— Herbert  E.,  Marion  L.,  and  Rose  Elizabeth. 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


Mrs.  Roe  is  a  woman  of  Qne  literary  tastes,  being 
the  author  of  an  excellent  book,  entitled,  "How 
Six  Girls  Made  Money,  or  Occupations  for  Wo- 
men." She  is  also  a  frequent  contributor  to  the 
periodical  press. 


C~Ji  AMUEL  STONE.  No  name  is  more  worthy 
IbM^  of  Pei'Petuati°n  in  the  annals  of  this  county 

'^^fi  than  that  of  Samuel  Stone,  whose  portrait 
is  presented  on  the  opposite  page.  He  is  honored 
as  one  of  the  oldest  settlers  of  Nelson  Township, 
as  the  founder  of  the  thriving  village  of  Stone 
Station,  and  as  a  farmer  who  has  met  with  more 
than  ordinary  success  in  the  prosecution  of  his 
calling.  He  is  one  of  the  largest  land-holders  in 
this  section  of  Illinois  and  one  of  the  most  pros- 
perous men  of  his  class.  He  has  been  a  hard 
worker  in  the  past,  and  as  the  welcome  shadows  of 
evening  gather  around  him  in  the  sunset  of  a  life 
well  and  honorably  spent,  he  can  rest  from  his 
labors,  free  from  the  cares  that  infested  the  day,  in 
the  substantial  home  that  he  has  built  up  on  sec- 
tion 3 1 ,  of  the  before  mentioned  township,  enjoying 
the  wealth  that  he  has  accumulated  witli  a  busy 
hand,  aided  by  a  clear  head,  cool  calculation,  wise 
economy,  and  far-seeing  judgment. 

Mr.  Stone  was  born  in  the  township  of  Aurora, 
Erie  County,  N.  Y.,  December  18,  1823,  a  son  of 
Luther  Stone,  one  of  the  early  pioneers  of  Lee 
County,  who  was  likewise  a  native  of  the  Empire 
State,  the  town  of  Weston  being  his  birthplace. 
He  was  reared  to  farming  pursuits  in  his  native 
town,  and  during  some  period  of  his  life  took  up 
his  abode  in  Concord  Township,  Erie  County, 
where  he  carried  on  his  occupation  until  he 
migrated  to  the  wilds  of  Northern  Illinois.  He 
became  an  early  pioneer  of  Lee  County,  which 
then  had  but  few  settlers,  and  was  still  in  a  state 
of  nature.  He  subsequently  entered  forty  acres  of 
land  from  the  Government,  which  is  now  owned  by 
his  son  Samuel,  and  made  it  his  home  many  years 
until  he  rounded  out  his  life  in  death  during  the 
war,  sixty-four  years  after  his  birth.  He  had 
33 


served  through  the  War  of  1812,  and  received  a 
land-warrant  therefor,  by  which  he  procured  his 
farm  in  Weston. 

An  honorable  record  as  a  pioneer  of  this  section 
was  won  by  Luther  Stone,  who  lived  to  see  the 
country  well  developed.  He  had  his  full  share  of 
the  hardships  and  trials  of  the  primitive  life  neces- 
sitated by  the  condition  of  a  newly  settled  country 
far  from  the  centres  of  civilization,  but  his  pri- 
vations did  not  sour  his  disposition,  or  render  him 
less  sympathetic  or  kindly  disposed  toward  others. 
In  common  with  his  fellow-pioneers  he  was  exceed- 
ingly hospitable,  and  often  gave  a  shelter  to  some 
traveler  or  emigrant  family  who  met  the  generous 
welcome  beneath  his  roof.  At  one  time  a  man 
claimed  his  hospitality,  and  was  well  entertained 
by  him,  whom  he  afterward  found  to  have  been  the 
notorious  John  Long,  one  of  the  murderers  of  Col. 
Davenport,  of  Rock  Island  Mr.  Stone  was  in  full 
sympathy  with  the  aim  of  the  Republican  party, 
and  gave  it  his  hearty  support  from  the  time  of  its 
organization  until  the  day  of  his  death.  Reli- 
giously he  was  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  faith 
and  a  member  of  the  church. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  married  in  his  na- 
tive town  to  Lamina  Warren,  who  was  also  born 
and  reared  there.  Her  d^ath  occurred  in  Nelson 
Township  seventy  years  later,  in  1878.  She  was  a 
fine  type  of  the  pioneer  women  of  Lee  County, 
possessing  strength  of  character  and  a  tender, 
womanly  nature.  She,  too,  was  a  pillar  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  Her  father,  Henry 
15.  Warren,  was  a  life-long  resident  of  Weston. 
He  was  a  millwright  by  trade  and  died  from  a 
sickness  contracted  while  working  in  the  mill  pits, 
he  being  then  in  the  prime  of  life.  His  daughter 
Lamina  was  two  years  old  at  the  time  of  his  death, 
and  he  had  but  one  other  daughter. 

Samuel  Stone  is  one  of  a  family  of  four  sons  and 
one  daughter,  the  latter  and  two  of  the  former 
now  dead.  His  only  surviving  brother  Albert  is 
unmarried  and  makes  his  home  with  him.  Our 
subject  began  life  in  Lee  County  as  an  active,  in- 
telligent lad  of  twelve  years,  and  his  character  was 
molded  by  pioneer  influences.  He  saw  the  country 
in  all  its  newness  when  there  were  still  many 
Indians  living  here,  and  he  learned  of  them  their 


670 


PORTEAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


customs,  mode  of  living  and  manner  of  hunting, 
and  acquired  considerable  knowledge  of  their  lan- 
guage so  that  he  could  converse  with  them  in  their 
own  tongue.  It  may  well  be  his  pride  that  he  has 
done  so  much  to  accelerate  the  growth  of  Lee 
County  and  add  to  its  wealth. 

After  attaining  his  majority  Mr.  Stone  made  his 
first  purchase  of  land,  which  forms  a  part  of  his 
homestead  in  Nelson  Township.  He  made  money 
by  his  operations,  shrewdly  invested  it  in  other 
land  which  now  aggregates  three  thousand  two 
hundred  acres,  all  told,  of  which  more  than  twelve 
hundred  acres  are  in  this  and  Whitcside  County 
adjoining.  He  has  a  like  amount  in  Ida  County, 
Iowa,  all  under  the  plow,  owns  some  fine  land  in 
Lincoln  County,  Kan.,  and  a  quarter  section  in 
Webster  County,  Neb.,  all  of  his  realty  being  under 
a  high  state  of  cultivation  and  in  a  fine  condition. 
While  acquiring  his  property  he  has  devoted  him- 
self assiduously  to  its  development,  and  among 
other  improvements  has  laid  out  the  pretty  village 
of  Stone  Station  on  the  line  of  the  Chicago,  Bur- 
lington &  Quincy  Railway  in  Whiteside  County, 
near  the  boundary  of  Lee  County,  planning  it 
wisely  and  well,  so  that  it  is  a  most  desirable  place 
of  residence. 

As  a  man  who  has  had  the  making  of  his  own 
fortunes,  our  subject's  career  is  worthy  of  emula- 
tion, and  furthermore  it  furnishes  a  lesson  that  the 
young  men  of  to-day  who  are  just  starting  out  in 
life  for  themselves  may  do  well  to  heed.  It  is 
this:  Mr.  Stone  has  never  allowed  himself  to  be- 
come the  victim  of  costly,  not  to  say  vicious, 
habits,  and  he  says  that  a  part  of  his  wealth  is  due 
to  his  putting  every  cent,  that  some  men  would 
have  spent  for  tobacco,  into  real  estate  that  has  in- 
creased in  value  as  the  years  have  gone  by  and 
made  him  rich.  Mr.  Stone  is  a  Republican  in  poli- 
tics, and  has  stood  by  his  party  through  its  adver- 
sities and  triumphs  during  the  whole  of  its  exis- 
tence. His  religious  atHliations  are  with  the  Me- 
thodist Episcopal  Church,  in  which  he  has  held  a 
membership  many  years.  He  is  keenly  alive  to 
all  that  concerns  the  welfare  of  the  community, 
has  exerted  a  good  influence  in  its  moral  and  social 
elevation,  and  has  responded  generously  to  all 


appeals  for  help  in  carrying  out  plans  for  public 
improvement. 

Our  subject  was  married  in  this  county  to  Mrs. 
Eliza  Stone,  nee  Power,  widow  of  his  brother 
Willard.  She  was  a  native  of  Virginia  and  came 
to  Illinois,  when  young,  with  her  parents,  James 
and  Hannah  Power,  who  settled  in  Marshall 
County  as  pioneers  of  that  section,  and  spent  their 
remain  ing  years  there.  After  she  grew  to  woman- 
hood, Eliza  Power  was  wedded  to  Willard  Stone, 
who  died  in  less  than  a  year  after  marriage,  leaving 
no  offspring. 

For  half  a  century  the  wife  of  our  subject 
walked  with  him  hand  in  hand  on  the  journey  of 
life,  and  then  death  parted  them,  taking  his  be 
loved  companion  from  the  home  that  she  had  en- 
deared by  her  presence  for  so  many  years,  March 
18,  1891.  She  was  a  noble  woman,  true  in  all  the 
relations  she  sustained  toward  others,  a  devoted 
wife  and  tender  mother,  and  a  kind  friend  to  her 
neighbors.  She  was  a  Christian  in  every  sense, 
and  was  long  a  faithful  member  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church.  Four  children  were  born  to  her 
and  our  subject,  of  whom  two  are  left  to  be  the 
stay  and  comfort  of  his  declining  years:  Reuben, 
a  farmer  of  Nelson  Township,  who  married  Angie 
Webster,  of  Polo;  and  Adelaide,  wife  of  William 
Steadman,  farmer,  grain-buyer  and  Postmaster  at 
Stone  Station.  Of  the  two  children  who  are  dead, 
one  died  in  infancy,  and  Alonzo  D.  died  at  the  age 
of  thirty  years.  He  married  Mary  Ashland,  who 
is  now  a  resident  of  Rock  Falls,  and  she  bore  him 
four  children,  of  whom  two  are  living. 


\f?  ORENZO  M.  GOODYEAR,  although  a 
I  (?3)  comparatively  recent  addition  to  the  agri- 
JL^  cultiral  community  comprising  Nelson 
Township,  is  recognized  as  one  of  its  most  pros- 
perous general  farmers  and  dairpnen,  and  his  farm 
of  one  hundred  and  fifty-six  acres,  on  sections  12 
and  13,  is  one  of  the  best  kept  and  most  attractive 
places  in  the  vicinity. 

Mr.  Goodyear  is  a  worthy  descendant  of  some  of 
the  old  New   England  families  of  Colonial  times, 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


671 


but  he  himself  is  a  native  of  the  Empire  State, 
born  in  Oneida  County,  January  26,  1820,  and 
there  his  entire  life  has  been  spent  until  within  a 
few  years.  He  was  brought  up  on  a  farm,  early 
became  familiar  with  all  kinds  of  farm  work,  and 
when  he  attained  manhood  selected  that  occupa- 
tion as  the  one  best  suited  to  his  tastes  and  dispo- 
sition, fully  realizing  its  possibilities  when  pursued 
metliodicall}'  and  with  an  intelligent  observation 
of  the  principles  governing  it,  and  heartily  echoing 
the  assertion  of  the  sage  of  Chautauqua  when  he 
said  that  it  is  the  "noblest  of  professions."  He 
made  a  careful  study  of  the  best  way  of  carrying 
on  his  farming  operations,  was  always  quick  in 
adopting  modern  and  improved  methods,  and  in 
time  acquired  a  comfortable  property  in  his  native 
county.  He  was  always  deeply  interested  in 
Western  farming,  especially  in  the  modes  of  agri- 
culture in  the  great  grain-growing  and  stock-rais- 
ing region  of  the  Upper  Mississippi  Valley  and  of  j 
the  great  lake  region,  and  in  1885  he  determined 
to  try  his  hand  at  farming  on  these  broad,  fertile 
prairies.  Therefore  he  wound  up  his  affairs  in  New 
York,  and  at  a  time  when  men  of  less  energetic 
and  active  temperament  are  beginning  to  consider 
the  advisability  of  retiring  from  business,  he  began 
life  afresh  in  this  county,  purchasing  his  present 
farm  in  Nelson  Township.  The  outcome  of  his 
experiment  has  been  very  satisfactory,  and  he  re- 
gards his  coming  to  Illinois  as  the  best  move  of 
his  life.  He  is  very  pleasantly  situated,  and  takes 
great  pride  in  the  home  that  he  has  established 
amid  the  charming  rural  scenery  of  the  County  of 
Lee,  and  to  which  he  is  constantly  adding  improve- 
ments. He  has  a  fine  lot  of  milch  cows,  forty  in 
number,  which  he  devotes  to  dairy  purposes,  be- 
sides having  other  stock,  and  he  also  raises  grain 
and  other  products  of  the  soil. 

Our  subject  is  a  son  of  Edward  Goodyear,  a  na- 
tive of  Connecticut,  and  a  cousin  in  the  first 
degree  to  Charles  Goodyear,  the  famous  inventor 
or  discoverer  of  the  process  of  vulcanizing  rubber. 
The  Goodyear  family  originated  in  P^ngland,  and 
some  of  its  members  were  among  the  early  settlers 
of  Connecticut.  Edward  Goodyear  passed  h  is  early 
life  in  his  native  State,  and  for  some  time  during 
the  War  of  1812  he  was  engaged  in  the  manufac- 


ture of  powder.  He  subsequently  devoted  him- 
self to  carpentering  and  removed  to  Canada, 
whence  he  afterwards  went  to  Camden,  Oneida 
County,  N.  Y.,  where  he  lived  many  years,  and 
eventually  closed  a  long  and  honored  life  at  the 
age  of  seventy- four  years  in  the  home  that  he 
built  up  there.  He  was  a  man  of  undoubted  in- 
tegrity, a  Christian  in  word  and  deed,  and  an  act- 
tive  member  of  the  Congregational  Church.  He 
married  a  Connecticut  lady,  Miss  Leve  Alcott,  and 
she  also  had  distinguished  connections,  the  late 
Bronson  Alcott,  the  venerable  Concord  philosopher 
and  father  of  the  gifted  authoress,  Louisa  Alcott, 
being  her  first  cousin.  She  came  of  good  New 
England  blood,  and  of  a  long-lived  family,  known 
for  their  fine  qualities,  steady  and  temperate 
habits.  She  herself  was  a  noble  woman,  a  Christ- 
ian in  every  truth,  and  lived  to  an  honored  old 
age- 
Lorenzo  Goodyear  is  the  third  of  five  children, 
four  sons  and  one  daughter,  all  of  whom  are  yet 
living  except  the  youngest  brother,  who  died  in 
1891.  He  grew  up  under  wholesome  home  influ- 
ences, and  he  has  abided  by  the  principles  of  honor, 
truthfulness  and  right  living  early  instilled  into 
his  mind.  He  has  kept  himself  free  from  all  bad 
and  vitiating  habits,  and  has  never  smoked  or 
chewed  tobacco  or  drank  spirituous  liquors.  He 
has  a  clear  brain,  and  is  remarkably  lithe  and  act- 
ive for  a  man  who  has  already  passed  the  seven- 
tieth milestone  on  life's  journey.  He  is  still  light 
of  foot  and  agile,  and  thinks  nothing  of  climbing 
to  the  top  of  his  wind-mill  when  he  wants  to  take 
a  view  of  the  country.  He  also  keeps  abreast  of 
the  times  and  is  well  informed  in  what  is  going 
on  in  the  world  of  letters,  politics  and  business,  as 
he  is  a  keen  observer  and  a  great  reader.  In  the 
course  of  life  lie  has  gathered  about  him  many 
friends  by  his  genial  manner  and  considerate  treat- 
ment of  all  with  whom  he  comes  in  contact.  He 
is  a  sound  Republican  in  his  political  views,  al- 
though holding  himself  independent  as  regards 
parties,  and  his  sons  follow  in  his  footsteps. 

Mr.  Goodyear  was  happilj-  married  in  his  na- 
tive township  and  county  to  Miss  Mary  Ransom, 
who  was  also  born  in  that  county,  Vienna  Town- 
ship being  the  place  of  her  birth.  For  a  history 


f>72 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


of  her  family  see  biography  of  Schuyler  Ransom. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Goodyear  are  the  parents  of  eight 
children,  as  follows:  Adalbert  L.,  a  farmer  in 
Hancock  County,  Iowa,  who  married  Miss  Lucy 
Parkes,  of  New  York  State;  Wallace  E.  and  Wal- 
ter E.,  twins,,  the  former  married  to  Miss  Mary 
Ransom  and  living  on  a  farm  in  this  township, 
and  the  latter  at  home  with  his  parents;  Mary,  who 
was  employed  for  three  years  at  the  water  cure 
establishment  at  Danville,  N.  Y.;  Martha,  wife  of 
Willard  Ball,  a  farmer  of  Wexford  County,  Mich.; 
Schuyler  at  home;  Lucius,  a  medical  student  at 
Kansas  City;  and  Leve  at  home  with  her  parents. 


\?/__  ENRY  B.  COBB  has  been  prominent  in  the 
Ifjj)  upbuilding  of  Lee  County  as  one  of  its 
<J^dy  most  successful  farmers  and  stock-raisers. 
(|p  He  has  been  a  resident  of  Viola  Township 
since  pioneer  days,  and  has  accumulated  a  valuable 
property,  including  large  landed  interests  here  and 
elsewhere,  and  one  of  the  best  equipped  farms  in 
this  part  of  Illinois.  He  comes  from  sterling  New 
England  ancestry,  and  is  a  native  of  that  part  of 
the  country,  born  in  the  town  of  Tolland,  Tolland 
County,  Conn.,  November  27, 1834.  His  father,  Dan- 
iel Cobb,  was  a  native  of  the  same  State.  He  was 
a  natural  mechanic,  who  could  turn  his  hand  to 
anything  and  do  it  well,  but  he  never  learned  a 
trade.  He  worked  at  various  kinds  of  labor,  and 
remained  a  resident  of  Connecticut  until  his  un- 
timely death,  while  yet  in  life's  prime,  in  Tolland 
County,  in  1848. 

The  mother  of  our  subject,  whose  maiden  name 
was  Wealthy  Crandle,  and  who  was  also  born  in 
Connecticut,  was  left  in  very  limited  circumstances 
by  his  death,  with  nine  children  depending  on  her 
for  support.  She  bravely  Shouldered  her  burden 
and  provided  for  them  as  best  she  could,  training 
them  to  habits  of  industry  and  teaching  them  to 
become  independent.  She  went  from  Connecticut 
to  Massachusetts,  and  lived  there  until  1853,  when 
she  came  to  Illinois.  She  resided  for  a  time  in 
Bureau  County,  but  spent  her  List  years  in  Lee 
County,  in  Viola  Township.  The  names  of  her 


children  are  Elizabeth,  Roxanna,  Laura,  Henry  B., 
Samuel,  Daniel,  Newton,  Wealthy  Jane  and  George 
O.  The  family  was  well  represented  in  the  war, 
Daniel,  Newton  and  George  all  entering  the  army 
early  in  the  conflict,  and  serving  with  honor  until 
the  rebellion  was  brought  to  a  close.  The  first 
named  was  in  Cheney's  Battery,  while  Newton  and 
George  were  members  of  the  Eighty-ninth  Illinois 
Regiment. 

The  subject  of  this  biography  was  very  young 
when  he  commenced  to  earn  his  own  living, 
and  he  early  displayed  those  strong  traits  of  char- 
acter that  have  marked  his  entire  career  and  have 
led  him  to  wealth.  Soon  after  his  father's  death, 
he  went  to  work  in  a  cotton  factory  at  Duckville, 
in  the  town  of  Palmer,  Hampden  County,  Mass. 
He  remained  there  until  1852,  and  then,  ambitious 
to  better  his  fortunes,  he  decided  to  emigrate  t'> 
the  "West,"  as  this  part  of  the  country  was  then 
called,  and  try  to  secure  a  home  for  himself  on  the 
soil  of  the  Prairie  State.  He  traveled  by  the 
way  of  Long  Island  Sound  to  New  York,  thence 
by  rail  to  Dunkirk,  where  he  embarked  on  a 
steamer  to  Chicago;  from  that  city  he  proceeded 
to  Peru  on  the  Illinois  <fe  Michigan  Canal,  and  the 
remainder  of  his  journey  to  his  destination,  Lam- 
oille,  Bureau  County,  was  performed  with  a  team. 
He  worked  there  a  few  months,  and  then  gener- 
ously sent  back  the  money  thus  earned  to  assist 
other  members  of  the  family  to  come  to  Illinois. 
In  the  fall  of  1852,  he  visited  Lee  County  and 
entered  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  Govern- 
ment land  on  section  13,  of  what  is  now  Viola 
Township. 

After  he  had  bought  land  Mr.  Cobb  did  not 
have  the  means  to  build  on  it  or  otherwise  im- 
prove it,  so  he  rented  land  for  farming  purposes 
until  1856.  During  that  time  he  erected  a  small 
frame  house  on  his  place,  and  has  been  a  resident 
here  continously  since.  The  improvements  on  his 
farm  at  the  present  time  rank  with  the  best  in  the 
county.  He  has  bought  laud  at  different  times, 
and  has  upwards  of  twelve  hundred  acres  of  very 
fine  land  in  Viola,  Brooklyn  and  Willow  Creek 
Townships.  He  has  gathered  together  a  handsome 
property,  solely  by  his  own  wisely  directed  energies, 
as  he  can  truly  claim  the  honor  of  being  a  self- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


673 


made  man,  who  has  literally  been  '-the  architect  of 
his  own  fortunes,"  for  he  began  life  when  a  mere 
boy  with  not  a  cent  to  his  name,  and  had  to  earn 
his  own  capital  before  he  could  become  indepen- 
dent. Fortunately,  he  had  that  within  him  better 
than  mere  riches  which  insured  his  success  from 
the  start,  as  he  was  of  an  active  temperament, 
quick  to  perceive  and  active  to  perform;  was  steady 
of  purpose;  had  a  marvellous  capacity  to  labor 
long  and  well  and  he  had  early  acquired  good  bus- 
iness habits,  so  that  he  was  equipped  for  the  strug- 
gle that  lay  before  him.  Lee  County  has  found  in 
him  a  valuable  citizen,  who  has  been  a  power  in 
developing  her  agricultural  resources  and  adding 
to  her  wealth  in  that  direction.  He  has  always 
taken  a  real  interest  in  her  welfare,  and  has  re- 
sponded liberally  to  calls  for  aid  in  promoting  in- 
ternal improvements.  He  stands  high  in  her 
financial  circles,  and  is  known  in  politics  as  a  tried 
and  true  Republican,  since  the  days  when  he  cast 
his  first  presidental  vote  for  Gen.  Fremont. 

Mr.  Cobb  was  married  in  1859  to  Ellen  C.  Beemer, 
a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  and  a  daughter  of  Adam 
and  Ann  Beemer,  and  has  found  in  her  a  cheerful 
helpmate  and  a  devoted  wife.  They  have  five 
children:  Minnie  J.,  Lillie  A.,  George  II.,  Birdie 
and  Laura  L.  Lillie  is  the  wife  of  William  Web- 
ber and  the  mother  of  three  children:  Blanche  B., 
George  R.  and  Hazel  N.  George  H.  married  Sadie 
E.  Shontz,  and  they  have  one  child — Ethel  Marie. 


ISAIAH  BRINK,  who  is  extensively  engaged  in 
farming  and  stock-raising  on  sections  19  and 
20,  Nachusa  Township,  is  numbered  among  the 
early  settlers  of  the  county,  where  he  located  in 
1851.  He  was  born  on  the  17th  of  October,  1817, 
in  Columbia  County,  Pa.,  and  is  a  son  of  Joshua 
and  Rebecca  (Cole)  Brink.  His  father  was  born 
in  Delaware,  of  German  lineage,  and  when  eight- 
een years  of  age  removed  to  the  Keystone  State, 
where,  in  Columbia  County,  he  met  and  married 
Miss  Cole.  She  was  a  native  of  that  county  and  a 
daughter  of  Ezekiel  Cole,  a  miller  by  trade,  who 
was  born  in  New  Jersey.  Her  father  removed  to 


Columbia  County,  Pa.,  in  early  life  and  ever  after- 
ward resided  in  that  locality. 

Joshua  Brink  and  his  wife  also  continued  to  re- 
side in  Columbia  County  until  called  to  the  home 
beyond.  He  was  nearly  ninety-four  years  of  age 
at  the  time  of  his  death  and  his  wife  died  when 
sixty  years  of  age.  In  religious  belief  they  were 
Episcopalians  and  were  people  of  worth  and  intel- 
ligence, highly  esteemed  by  many  friends.  Their 
famil}'  numbered  nine  children,  of  whom  our  sub- 
ject is  third  in  the  order  of  birth. 

In  the  usual  manner  of  farmer  lads,  Isaiah  Brink 
spent  the  days  of  his  boyhood  and  youth  and  in 
the  county  of  his  nativity  was  joined  in  wedlock 
with  Miss  Elizabeth  Stiles,  a  native  of  Luzerne 
County,  Pa.,  and  a  daughter  of  Jerry  and  Elizabeth 
(Clintup)  Stiles,  who  were  also  born  in  the  Key- 
stone State.  From  Luzerne  County  they  removed 
to  Columbia  County,  where  upon  a  farm  they  lived 
many  years.  Both  are  now  deceased.  They  died 
in  the  faith  of  the  Episcopal  Church  in  which  they 
held  membership. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Brink  began  their  domestic  life  in 
the  county  of  his  nativity  but  at  length  he  deter- 
mined to  try  his  fortune  in  the  West  and  we  find 
him  located  in  Lee  County,  111.,  in  the  autumn  of 
1851.  The  following  spring  he  joined  a  party  of 
emigrants  who,  with  ox-teams,  made  their  way  over 
the  plains  to  California.  Several  months  had 
passed  away  ere  their  journey  was  ended.  At 
length  they  reached  Shasta  City  on  the  Sacramento 
River  and  Mr.  Brink  embarked  in  mining  but  after 
a  few  months  he  began  working  at  the  carpen- 
ter's trade,  which  he  followed  until  the  fall  of 
1856,  when  he  returned  to  Illinois,  by  way  of  the 
Isthmus  of  Panama,  and  New  York  City. 

In  the  meantime  Mrs.  Brink  had  purchased  their 
present  homestead  with  money  which  her  husband 
had  sent  her  from  California,  and  in  the  spring  of 
1857  they  located  thereon.  Within  the  boundaries 
of  the  farm  are  comprised  four  hundred  and  twenty 
acres,  and  in  return  for  the  'care  and  cultivation 
bestowed  upon  it  the  owner  reaps  a  golden  tribute. 
The  improvements  are  such  as  one  would  there  ex- 
pect to  find  and  the  accessories  are  those  of  a  model 
farm.  Mr.  Brink  also  owns  two  hundred  and  forty 
acres  of  land  in  Amboy  and  Marion  Townships. 


674 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


His  possessions  have  all  been  acquired  through  his 
own  efforts  and  his  prosperity  is  certainly  well  de- 
served. In  1888  he  became  a  member  of  the  firm 
of  Brink  <fe  Deiter,  lumber  manufacturers  and  ex- 
tensive dealers  in  the  same.  They  do  a  large  busi- 
ness in  that  line  and  employ  about  twenty  hands. 
Three  children  grace  the  union  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Brink:  John,  who  wedded  Lena  Tolen,  and  resides 
on  the  home  farm  in  Nachusa  Township;  Charles, 
also  a  resident  farmer  of  Nachusa  Township,  wed- 
ded Mary  Walters,  who  was  born  of  English  par- 
entage; and  Catherine,  the  youngest,  is  the  wife 
of  Perry  Cromley,  a  farmer  of  Marshall  Cotinty, 
Iowa.  In  social  circles  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Brink  rank 
high  and  their  friends  throughout  the  community 
are  many.  The  lady  is  a  member  of  the  German 
Reformed  Church.  In  political  sentiment  Mr.  Brink 
is  a  Democrat  but  has  never  sought  or  desired 
public  office,  being  content  to  devote  his  energies 
to  his  business  interests  in  which  he  has  met  with 
such  signal  success. 


JAMES  II.  PRESTON.     The  Amboy  News,  of 
which  this  gentleman  is  publisher  and  pro- 
prietor,  is   justly    considered    one   of   the 
brightest  and  most  sparkling  local  papers 
of  this  county.     A  six-column  quarto,  it  chronicles 
the  latest  and  most  interesting  happenings  in  the 
social,  business  and  political  world.     Since  its  pur- 
chase by  Mr.  Preston  in  1884,  it  has  grown  rapidly 
in  influence  as  an  independent  paper,  and  is  now 
a   welcome  guest    in    many   homes,   while   as   an 
advertising  medium  it  enjoys  an  established  repu- 
tation. 

Mr.  Preston  is  numbered  among,  the  early  set- 
tlers of  this  county,  whither  he  came  in  1854, 
settling  on  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  Gov- 
ernment land  June  22.  He  was  born  in  Rochester, 
N.  Y.,  June  3,  1820,  and  is  the  son  of  James  and 
Mary  (Gorham)  Preston,  both  natives  of  Ft.  Ann, 
N.  Y.  The  maternal  ancestors  of  our  subject  re- 
sided at  Nan  tucket  and  were  seafaring  people,  who 
engaged  in  whaling.  The  paternal  grandfather  of 


our  subject,  Who  bore  the  name  of  Othniel  Preston, 
was  of  Irish  parentage  and  resided  in  the  State  of 
New  York  where  he  pursued  farming.  In  the  Revo- 
lutionary War  he  enlisted  as  a  soldier  and  fought 
in  defense  of  the  colonies.  His  death  occurred  at 
the  age  of  ninety- two  years. 

James  Preston,  father  of  our  subject,  passed  his 
entire  life  in  York  State  and  pursued  farming 
first  in  Monroe  County,  whence  he  removed  to 
Steuben  County  and  there  died  at  the  age  of  fifty- 
six  years.  He  was  a  soldier  in  the  War  of  1812. 
His  wife  survived  him  until  she  reached  the  age 
of  sixty-two  years,  when  she  passed  away.  Three 
sons  and  three  daughters  came  to  bless  their  home, 
our  subject  being  the  eldest  of  the  sons.  He  passed 
his  early  life  on  a  farm  and  received  a  common- 
school  education,  which  he  made  use  of  by  teach- 
ing at  $12  per  month  and  board.  In  1845,  when 
ready  to  establish  a  home  of  his  own,  he  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Nancy  A.  Maydole,  a  native  of  New 
York. 

For  nine  years  following  their  marriage,  the 
young  couple  continued  to  reside  in  Steuben 
County,  where  he  engaged  in  farming  pursuits, 
also  as  hotel-keeper  and  Postmaster  at  Haskinsville. 
In  1854  he  came  to  Illinois  and  pre-empted  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land  in  Lee  County. 
Between  the  years  of  1855  and  1857  he  was  inter- 
ested in  a  union  store  at  Amboy,  and  later  engaged 
in  farming  until  1879,  when  he  removed  to  Am- 
boy. In  his  politics  he  was  a  firm  Republican, 
and  served  in  various  official  positions,  among 
them  Assessor,  Justice  of  the  Peace  and  County 
Superintendent  of  Schools.  To  the  latter  position 
he  was  elected  in  1865,  holding  the  office  twelve 
years  by  election  and  one  by  appointment.  While 
holding  that  position  he  removed  to  Amboy  in 
1879,  and  has  here  since  resided. 

At  the  expiration  of  his  term  of  service  as 
County  Superintendent,  Mr.  Preston  traveled  one 
year  as  salesman,  and  in  1884  purchased  the  Am- 
boy Neu-s,  which  he  still  owns.  In  his  political 
affiliations  he  was  a  Whig  in  former  years,  but 
later  became  a  member  of  the  Republican  party 
and  is  now  somewhat  independent  in  his  belief. 
Since  the  campaign  of  1844  he  has  voted  at  every 
Presidential  election,  and  during  all  those  years 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


675 


has  exerted  a  great  influence  for  good,  both  in 
private  life  and  through  the  medium  of  his  paper. 
In  his  social  relations  he  is  a  member  of  the 
Masonic  fraternity  and  the  oldest  member  of  Illi- 
nois Central  Lodge,  No.  178.  A.  F.  &  A.  M.  He 
was  also  a  charter  member  of  the  first  lodge  at 
Amboy,  I.  O.  O.  F. 

The  marriage  of  our  subject  and  his  estimable 
wife  has  been  blessed  by  the  birth  of  four  children, 
namely:  Albert  W.,  who  was  killed  by  a  bull  when 
thirty  years  of  age;  Frances,  who  was  a  teacher  of 
unexceptional  ability  and  engaged  in  her  profes- 
sion at  the  State  Normal,  died  May  4,  1880;  Addie, 
who  is  the  wife  of  William  F.  Wolcott,  and  Charles, 
a  lawyer  at  Paw  Paw.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Preston 
adopted  a  girl,  whom  they  have  named  Bertie,  and 
who  receives  from  them  every  care  and  attention 
which  has  been  bestowed  upon  their  own  children. 
The  various  members  of  the  Preston  family  are 
highly  esteemed  in  social  circles,  and  at  their  hos- 
pitable home  are  wont  to  entertain  their  many 
friends. 

EDWARD  F.  HERBST,  who  is  engaged  in 
agricultural  pursuits  on  the  farm  of  Will- 
iam Uhl,  on  section  14,  South  Dixon  Town- 
ship, is  a  young  man  of  good  parts  and  industri- 
ous habits,  who  has  already  won  an  excellent 
reputation  for  practical  skill  as  a  farmer  and  for 
real  ability  to  handle  his  affairs  so  as  to  produce 
the  best  results.  He  has  been  operating  the  said 
farm  for  three  years  very  successfully,  renting  it 
of  Mr.  Uhl,  who  is  now  in  California.  It  contains 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  good  farming  land, 
and  is  well  supplied  with  buildings  for  all  pur- 
poses. 

Mr.  Herbst  is  a  native  of  Adams  County,  Pa., 
born  near  Gettysburg,  April  14,  1859.  His  father, 
Henry  Herbst,  was  also  a  native  of  Adams  County, 
and  was  a  son  of  a  German,  who  had  come  to  the 
United  States  after  his  marriage  in  the  Fatherland, 
and  had  settled  on  a  farm  in  the  county  mentioned. 
He  was  there  industriously  engaged  at  his  occupa- 
tion until  his  death,  both  lie  and  his  wife  living  to 


be  old  people.  They  were  simple-hearted  and 
true  minded,  and  were  faithful  members  of  the 
Lutheran  Church. 

Henry  Herbst  was  reared  to  the  life  of  a  farmer 
on  the  old  Pennsylvanian  homestead  where  he  first 
opened  his  eyes  to  the  light  of  day,  and  in  due 
time  he  was  married  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Wible,  a 
native  of  the  same  county  as  himself,  and  a  daugh- 
ter of  Joseph  and  Rebecca  Wible.  Her  parents 
were  descended  from  some  of  the  early  Pcnnsyl- 
vaniau  families,  and  died  in  their  native  county 
when  well  along  in  years.  They  were  Lutherans 
in  religion.  After  their  marriage  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Herbst  lived  on  a  farm  in  Pennsylvania  until  after 
all  their  children  had  been  born  and  had  grown  to 
maturity,  and  in  1884  they  came  to  Illinois,  and 
have  founded  a  new  home  in  Nachusa  Township, 
where  they  are  passing  their  declining  years  se- 
renely, and  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  respect  and 
esteem  of  all  about  them.  From  childhood  they 
have  been  members  of  the  Lutheran  Church,  and 
their  lives  have  been  guided  by  Christian  prin- 
ciples 

Our  subject  is  the  eldest  of  the  nine  children 
born  to  his  parents,  of  whom  eight  are  living.  He 
received  a  good  home  training,  and  early  acquired 
a  good  knowledge  of  general  farming.  In  1881 
he  came  to  Illinois,  and  for  some  years  prior  to 
coming  to  South  Dixon  Township  he  was  engaged 
in  farming  in  Nelson  Township.  To  help  him  in 
the  upbuilding  of  a  home  towaids  which  his  am- 
bitions bend,  and  to  which  lie  is  devoting  his  ener- 
gies, he  has  been  so  fortunate  as  to  secure  one  of 
the  choicest  of  earth's  blessings,  a  good  wife,  who 
is  devoted  to  him  and  their  children,  of  whom 
they  have  two,  Harry  E.  and  Myrtle  M.  Their 
marriage  was  solemnized  in  Nachusa  Township. 
Mrs.  Herbst,  who  bore  the  maiden  name  of  Cora 
V.  Kime,  was  born  in  the  same  Pennsylvanian 
County  as  her  husband,  August  29,  1864,  being 
the  date  of  her  birth.  She  came  to  Illinois  in  her 
girlhood  with  her  parents,  George  and  Nancy 
(Hines)  Kime,  who  are  now  living  on  a  farm  in 
Nachusa  Township.  They  were  born,  reared  and 
married  in  Adams  County,  Pa.  They  are  greatly 
esteemed  by  the  people  in  their  community  for 
their  genuine  worth.  They  are  Lutherans  in  their 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


religious  faith.  Mrs.  Herbst  is  one  of  a  family  of 
four  children,  all  of  whom  are  living.  She  is  very 
capable,  is  an  excellent  housewife,  and  understands 
well  how  to  manage  her  household  affairs.  Both 
she  and  her  husband  are  Lutherans,  and  useful 
members  of  their  church.  He  is  a  Democrat  sound 
and  true,  as  was  his  father  before  him. 


JOHN  P.  BRUBAKER,  one  of  the  well  known 
and  influential  citizens  of  Nachusa  Town- 
ship, engaged  in  general  farming  on  section 
5,  is  a  native  of  the  Buckeye  State,  his 
birth  occurring  in  the  township  of  Grattis,  Preble 
County,  July  30,  1826,  and  he  is  descended  from 
good  old  Revolutionary  stock.  The  family  is  of 
German  origin  and  was  established  in  Lancaster 
County,  Pn.,  at  an  early  day.  When  the  struggle 
for  Independence  broke  out,  some  of  its  members 
enlisted  in  the  Colonial  army.  Jonathan  Bruba- 
ker,  the  grandfather  of  our  subject,  was  born  in 
Lancaster  County  and  there  married  a  Pennsylva- 
nian  lady.  After  the  birth  of  their  children  they 
removed  from  the  Keystone  State  to  Virginia,  but 
as  the  views  of  Mr.  Brubaker  were  much  opposed 
to  the  slave  law,  he  left,  with  his  family,  for 
Preble  County,  Ohio,  there  locating  about  1810. 
The  county  was  then  almost  an  unbroken  wilder- 
ness and  in  the  midst  of  a  dense  timbered  region 
they  located.  It  was  an  arduous  task  to  develop  a 
farm  there  in  the  midst  of  the  forest  but  Mr.  Bru- 
baker resolutely  set  to  work  and  ere  his  death  had 
improved  a  very  large  tract  of  land.  He  left 
to  each  of  his  children  a  good  home.  He  had  been 
twice  married  and  himself  and  both  wives  were 
members  of  the  German  Baptist  Church.  His  fam- 
ily was  a  numerous  one  and  among  the  children 
there  is  one  survivor,  Henry  Brubaker,  who  is  now 
living  in  Preble  County,  Ohio,  at  a  very  advanced 
age. 

Jonas  Brubaker,  father  of  our  subject,  was  born 
in  Lancaster  County  Pa.,  in  1802.  He  was  a  youth 
when  his  parents  removed  to  Virginia  and  had  not 
yet  attained  his  majority  when  they  located  in 
Ohio.  He  afterwards  married  Rebecca  Phillips,  | 


the  first  female  white  child  born  in  Preble  County, 
Ohio,  her  birth  occurring  in  1804.  Her  parents 
came  from  Tennessee,  and  were  among  the  pioneer 
settlers  of  the  Buckeye  State.  The  Phillips  fam- 
ily are  of  English  extraction  and  its  members  were 
renowned  as  Indian  fighters.  They  were  also 
strong  opponents  of  the  slavery  system  and  their 
efforts  were  ever  for  .its  overthrow.  Jonas  Bruba- 
ker and  his  wife  began  their  married  life  on  a 
farm  where  the  lady  was  born  and  continued  to 
reside  in  that  vicinity  until  after  the  death  of 
the  husband  which  occurred  June  9,  1890,  at  the 
ripe  old  age  of  eighty-eigkt  years.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  German  Baptist  Church,  in  sla- 
very days  was  a  strong  Abolitionist  and  also  a 
warm  advocate  of  temperance  principles.  He  lived 
a  life  worthy  of  emulation  and  left  an  untarnished 
name.  His  widow  is  yet  living  in  Preble  County, 
making  her  home  with  her  granddaughter. 
Throughout  the  community  she  is  widely  known 
and  her  friends  are  indeed  many.  She'  is  also  a 
member  of  the  German  Baptist  Church. 

No  event  of  special  importance  occurred  to  vary 
the  monotony  of  farm  life  during  the  boyhood  of 
our  subject.  When  he  had  arrived  at  mature 
years  he  wedded  Hannah  Wright  who  was  also  a 
native  of  Preble  County,  Ohio;  in  1852,  they  came 
to  Illinois,  and  Mr,  Brubaker  purchased  a  partially 
improved  farm  in  Nachusa  Township,  Lee  County, 
upon  which  he  yet  resides.  His  labors  there  have 
worked  a  great  transformation  and  lie  has  now  one 
of  the  well  developed  and  valuable  farms  of  the 
community.  His  comfortable  home  is  surrounded 
with  beautiful  shade  trees,  making  it  an  attractive 
and  pleasing  place  and  a  spring  of  never-failing 
water  is  there  found. 

After  fifteen  years'  residence  in  Lee  County,  Mrs. 
Brubaker,  who  was  born  in  October,  1828,  passed 
away  in  1867,  leaving  three  children.  The  eldest, 
William,  is  now  a  clerk  in  the  State  Capitol  of 
Topeka,  Kan.;  Marcus  now  dead;  Barnes,  was  a 
skilled  machinist  and  located  in  Cincinnati, Ohio, 
where  his  death  occurred;  and  Laura  is  the  wife 
of  R.  W.  Eicholtz,  a  farmer  of  Nachusa  Town- 
ship. Mr.  Brubaker  was  again  married,  his  second 
union  being  with  Miss  Anna  Sunday,  a  native  of 
Adams  County,  Pa.,  who  came  to  Illinois  during 


JOHN  C.t-EAK  E. 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


679 


her  maidenhood.  Their  wedding  was  celebrated 
in  Nachusa  Township  and  has  been  blessed  with 
two  children — Minnie,  wife  of  William  Barber 
who  aids  our  subject  in  the  management  of  the 
homestead;  arid  J.  Ozro,  who  is  attending  college 
in  Dixou. 

For  eighteen  years  Mr.  Brubaker  has  held  the 
office  of  Justice  of  the  Peace  and  has  also  been 
Highway  Commissioner  for  some  years.     Other  lo- 
cal offices  he  has  filled  and  every  position  in  which 
he  has  served  has   found  in   him  a  faithful  officer   j 
who  discharges  his  duties  with  promptness  and  fi-   | 
delity.     With  his  ballot  he  supports  the  Republi- 
can party,  of  which  he  is  a  stanch  advocate.     His 
wife  is  a  member  of    the  German  Baptist  Church 
and  an  active  worker  in  its  interests. 


JOHN  C.  LEAKE.     The  son  of  one  of  the 
early  pioneer  families  of  this  county,  this 
gentleman  has   risen  to  an  important  place 
among  its  wide-awake,  progressive  farmers 
and  stock  raisers.     He  is  of  English  birth  and  an- 
cestry, but  the  most  of  his  life  has  been  passed  on 
the  fine  old  homestead   on   section    28,  Nachusa 
Township,  which  was  purchased  by  his  father  from 
the  Government  fifty  years  ago,  when  it  was  a  wild 
tract  of  land,  and  has  been  in  the  possession  of 
our  subject  since  1863. 

On  the  opposite  page  appears  the  portrait  of  Mr. 
Leake.  He  was  born  in  Leicestershire,  England, 
and  was  very  young  when  brought  to  this  country 
by  his  parents,  John  and  Mary  A.  (Jarvis)  Leake, 
who  were  of  good  English  blood,  coming  from  some 
of  the  old  families  of  Leicestershire,  where  they 
were  born  and  reared.  The  father  was  born  in 
1806,  and  was  the  son  of  a  prosperous  farmer  and 
butcher  of  his  native  shire.  He  learned  the  trade 
of  a  butcher  in  his  youth,  and  followed  it  for  some 
years.  After  the  birth  of  three  sons  in  their  old 
home,  he  and  his  wife  decided  to  emigrate  to 
America,  and  in  1341  set  sail  from  Liverpool  on  a 
vessel  bound  for  this  country.  They  landed  in 
New  York  City,  and  then  started  on  the  laborious 


journey  Westward  by  the  most  expeditious  route 
at  that  time,  going  by  the  Hudson  River  and  Erie 
Canal  to  Buffalo,  whence  they  made  the  voyage  on 
the  lakes  to  Chicago,  and  from  there  made  their 
way  with  a  team  to  their  destination  in  Lee 
County. 

John  Leake  was  at  that  time  in  moderate  cir- 
cumstances, but  he  took  up  a  tract  of  Government 
land,  now  included  in  the  farm  of  his  son  John, 
went  to  work  with  characteristic  vigor  and  persist- 
ency, and  not  only  changed  what  was  literally  a 
part  of  the  wilderness  into  a  highly  productive 
farm,  but  acquired  the  means  to  buy  other  land, 
and  in  time  had  a  thousand  acres  of  valuable 
realty.  He  thus  bore  a  prominent  part  in  the  up- 
building of  the  county,  and  his  name  is  held  in 
honor  among  those  of  its  most  active  and  respected 
pioneers.  A  useful  citizen  was  lost  to  his  township 
when  death  closed  his  career  in  1873.  He  and  his 
estimable  wife  were  members  of  the  Episcopal 
Church,  when  they  were  in  England,  but  after 
coming  to  this  country,  they  united  with  the  Meth- 
odists, and  were  always  generous  and  zealous 
working  members  of  that  denomination  to  which 
they  belonged. 

Our  subject  early  acquired  an  insight  into  the 
principles  of  farming  and  gained  a  valuable  expe- 
rience in  that  line  before  he  began  to  pursue  agri- 
culture on  his  own  account.  lie  owns  three  hun- 
dred and  eighty  acres  of  highly  cultivated  land, 
and  has  made  several  valuable  improvements,  in- 
cluding a  fine  set  of  buildings,  of  a  good  style  of 
architecture  and  replete  with  modern  conveniences. 
His  herds  of  cattle,  horses  and  hogs  are  of  the 
breeds  that  are  best  adapted  to  this  country  and 
compare  with  the  finest  in  the  neighborhood.  He 
has  made  a  careful  stud3'  of  his  calling,  is  progres- 
sive in  his  ideas  of  farming  and  very  successful  in 
putting  them  into  execution.  A  man  of  his  strength 
of  character  and  mental  calibre  necessarily  exer- 
cises a  certain  amount  of  influence  in  his  commun- 
ity, and  his  neighbors  and  fellow-citizens  find  in 
him  a  safe  and  thoughtful  counselor.  They  have 
frequently  called  him  to  take  charge  of  some  local 
office,  and  he  has  represented  Nachusa  Township 
as  a  member  of  the  County  Board  of  Supervisors 
two  years.  In  his  political  convictions  he  is  a 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


steadfast  Republican.  Religiously  he  is  of  tbe 
Congregational  faith,  and  he  and  his  estimable 
wife  belong  to  that  church. 

The  maiden  name  of  the  wife  of  our  subject,  to 
whom  he  was  married  in  this  county,  was  Mary  E. 
Hale.  She  was  born  in  Ohio,  and  was  a  small  girl 
when  her  parents,  L.  W.  and  Sarah  A.  (Crawford) 
Hale,  came  to  Lee  County  and  settled  among  its 
pioneers.  Here  they  lived  and  labored  for  many 
years  and  built  up  a  comfortable  home  in  China 
Township,  where  the  good  old  mother  is  still  liv- 
ing, and  at  the  age  of  seventy-three  years  is  bright 
and  active.  The  father  rounded  out  a  long  and  hon- 
orable life  of  seventy-seven  years,  dying  on  his  old 
homestead,  in  July,  1884.  Mrs.  Leake  is  one  of  a 
family  of  six  children,  of  whom  three  are  yet  liv- 
ing. She  was  well  educated  and  won  a  high  repu- 
tation as  a  teacher,  in  which  profession  she  was  en- 
gaged in  this  county  for  some  years  before  mar- 
riage. She  became  the  mother  of  four  children: 
Charles  W.,  Grace  M.,  Jennie  F.  and  T.  Wilber;  all 
are  deceased  excepting  Wilber,  a  young  man  of 
much  promise,  who  makes  his  home  with  his 
parents. 


|IL_  ON.  MICHAEL  EG  AN.  It  is  always  in- 
ijjV  teresting  to  note  the  career  of  those  who 
^M?  have  emigrated  from  foreign  lands  for  the 
(Hi  purpose  of  establishing  homes  in  the  United 
States;  and  to  trace  the  steps  by  which  they  have 
exchanged  their  poverty  for  an  honorable  inde- 
pendence. In  the  life  of  Mr.  Egan  there  is  much 
to  interest  and  instruct.  Although  for  years  he 
has  been  a  naturalized  citizen  of  our  country,  he 
has  never  lost  his  love  for  Old  Ireland,  nor  his 
hatred  of  England.  His  knowledge  of  a  multitude 
of  subjects  with  which  his  versatile  ability  has 
made  him  conversant,  is  well  known,  and  his 
retentive  memory  enables  him  to  recite  prose  or 
poetical  selections  of  rare  beaut}-  and  great  length. 
From  youth  he  has  always  been  an  active  and 
powerful  man,  temperate  in  his  habits,  frank  and 
honest  in  his  speech,  and  as  such  has  commanded 
the  highest  respect,  even  of  his  political  opponents. 


In  Kilrush,  County  Clare,  Ireland,  Mr.  Egan  was 
born,  September-26,  1821,  and  is  the  son  of  John 
and  Susanna  (Meskel)  Egan,  both  of  whom  died 
in  their  native  land.  Michael  learned  the  trade  of 
a  mason  from  his  father,  to  whom  he  served  an 
apprenticeship  of  seven  years,  and  afterward  was 
employed  in  the  public  works.  In  the  spring  of 
1846  he  came  to  the  United  States,  and  in  New 
York  City  engaged  to  work  for  Matthias  <fe  Frev- 
man,  contractors,  on  a  bonded  warehouse.  At  the 
expiration  of  twenty  month.s  he  removed  to 
Springfield,  Mass.,  where  he  pursued  his  trade  for 
seven  years  in  the  employ  of  Charles  McClellan. 
While  in  that  city  he  became  a  naturalized  citizen 
of  the  United  Stales.  During  the  winter  of 
1852-53  he  was  employed  by  J.  B.  Wyman  to 
come  West  and  work  on  the  Illinois  Central 
Railroad. 

Arriving  in  Illinois  in  February,  1853,  Mr. 
Egan  at  once  commenced  to  work  on  bridges  and 
culverts  south  of  LaSalle,  and  in  the  following 
June  came  to  Amboy  and  began  the  erection  of 
the  railroad  buildings,  whose  construction  he 
superintended  until  their  completion.  He  con- 
tinued in  the  employ  of  the  company  until  1876, 
and  for  four  years  thereafter  was  contracting  and 
building  on  his  own  account.  In  1880  he  resumed 
work  for  the  railroad  company,  and  was  made 
purchasing  and  disbursing  agent  of  cord  wood  and 
cross-ties,  and  at  different  times  superintended  the 
work  in  quarries  in  the  southern  part  of  the  State, 
employing  two  hundred  men.  Through  overwork 
and  exposure,  he  became  ill  with  malarial  fever, 
and  resigning  his  position,  has  since  given  his  at- 
tention to  private  affairs. 

As  Mr.  Egan  somewhat  regained  his  health, 
he  was  in  1885  elected  Justice  of  the  Peace,  and  is 
now  (1892)  serving  his  second  term,  being  also 
Notary  Public.  In  early  life  he  attended  school, 
and  had  good  common-school  advantages,  but 
when  elected  Justice  he  knew  nothing  about  law. 
He  at  once  applied  himself  to  legal  studies,  and  by 
close  application  has  become  familiar  with  the 
duties  of  his  position,  and  his  decisions  are  char- 
acterized by  broad  knowledge  and  shrewd  judg- 
ment. His  interest  in  Irish  affairs  has  never 
flagged,  and  he  receives  Irish  papers  weekly,  thus 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


keeping  himself  well  posted  in  the  latest  news 
from  his  native  land.  He  is  a  prominent  member 
of  the  society  known  as  the  "Irish  Revolutionary 
Brotherhood." 

In  1844  Mr.  Egan  was  married  to  Miss  Ellen, 
daughter  of  John  and  Bridget  Morrissy.  After 
twenty-five  years  of  wedded  life,  Mrs.  Ellen  Egan 
died  January  27,  1869,  at  the  age  of  forty-five 
years.  She  was  the  mother  of  eleven  children, 
four  of  whom  are  deceased,  while  the  surviving 
ones  are  as  follows:  John  M.,  born  March  25, 1848, 
at  Springfield,  Mass.,  is  now  President  of  the 
Maple  Leaf  Railroad,  and  resides  at  St.  Paul, 
Minn.;  Peter  Paul,  who  was  born  June  13,  1851, 
at  Holyoke,  Mass.,  is  State  Boiler  Inspector  at 
Denver,  Col.;  Michael  Francis,  whose  birth  oc- 
curred February  26,  1853,  at  Holyoke,  Mass.,  is 
Assistant  Division  Superintendent  of  the  Union 
Pacific  Railroad  and  is  located  at  Denver,  Col.; 
Alfred  H.,  born  January  27,  1855,  at  Amboy,  re- 
sides in  Kansas  City,  Mo.,  and  has  charge  of  the 
Belt  Line  Railroad;  Joseph,  born  May  12,  1857, 
at  Amboy,  is  Train  Dispatcher  at  Mojave,  Cal.; 
Mary,  born  February  2,  1860,  is  clerk  for  her 
brother  at  Dubuque,  Iowa;  Benjamin  F.,  born 
April  28,  1862,  is  Division  Superintendent  of  the 
Maple  Leaf  Railroad  at  Dubuque,  Iowa. 

In  1872  Mr.  Egan  was  united  in  marriage  with 
Mrs.  Helen  (Stewart)  Barrie,  the  widow  of  James 
Barrie,  and  of  this  union  two  children  have  been 
born:  Helen  S.  and  William  A.  S.  When  Mr. 
Egan  arrived  in  this  country  he  naturall}'  became 
a  Democrat,  because  Whigs  were  opposed  to  home- 
rule  in  his  native  land,  but  when  he  became  better 
informed  on  political  matters,  he  joined  the  ranks 
of  the  Republican  party,  to  which  he  has  since 
adhered.  In  whatever  he  says  he  is  very  em- 
phatic, frank  and  open.  His  fellow-citizens  have 
bestowed  upon  him  the  highest  gift  within  their 
power:  election  as  Mayor  of  Amboy,  in  which 
capacity  he  has  served  several  terms.  He  is  also 
City  Treasurer,  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Alder- 
men, and  at  present  serving  on  the  Board  of  Edu- 
cation. In  his  religious  belief  he  is  a  firm  and 
devoted  member  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church, 
and  the  first  services  of  that  church  in  Amboy  were 
held  at  his  house.  In  whatever  position  he  lias 


been  placed,  he  has  served  with  characteristic  zeal 
and  devotion,  while  his  record  as  a  public  spirited 
citizen  makes  him  a  worthy  member  of  the  social 
and  business  circles  of  the  community. 


OLIVER  P.  COURTRIGIIT  was  born  on  the 
farm  where  he  yet  resides  on  section  2, 
Dixon  Township,  the  date  of  his  birth  being 
December  26,  1850.  He  is  an  enterprising  and 
successful  agriculturist  of  this  community  and  a 
worthy  representative  of  one  of  the  honored  pio- 
neer families.  His  father  was  John  Courtright,  a 
native  of  Luzerne  County,  Pa.,  and  his  grand- 
father was  Elisha  Courtright,  a  farmer  of  the  Key- 
stone State,  who  was  born  and  reared  in  Luzerne 
County  and  there  married  Miss  Sarah  Klinetop, 
also  a  native  of  the  same  county.  Nine  children, 
five  sons  and  four  daughters,  were  there  born'unto 
them  and  in  1836,  with  their  family,  they  emi- 
grated Westwaid,  traveling  in  a  covered  wagon 
drawn  by  ox-teams.  When  the  shades  of  night 
fell  upon  them,  they  would  camp  along  the  way- 
side and  in  the  morning  resume  their  journey. 
After  some  weeks  they  arrived  in  Lee  County,  and 
made  a  settlement  in  Dixon  Township.  The  work 
of  civilization  and  progress  was  then  hardly  begun 
and  in  the  development  and  upbuilding  of  the 
community  Elisha  Courtright  bore  a  considerable 
part.  He  died  on  his  original  farm  at  the  age  of 
seventy-six  years.  His  wife  survived  him  ten  years 
and  died  in  1880,  in  Milford,  Neb.,  at  the  home  of 
her  daughter,  Mi's.  Carleton  Mason.  Both  were 
members  of  the  Methodist  Church  and  were  people 
of  sterling  worth. 

John  Courtright  was  the  eldest  of  their  family. 
He  had  attained  his  majority  at  the  time  of  their 
emigration  Westward  and  after  his  arrival  in  Illinois 
made  a  claim  to  Government  land,  from  which  he 
developed  a  good  farm.  There  he  lived  and  labored 
for  many  years  and  at  length  passed  away  in 
August,  1886,  at  the  age  of  nearly  sixty-five.  He 
was  quite  a  prominent  and  influential  farmer  of 
this  community  and  was  numbered  among  the 
honored  pioneers.  He  experienced  all  the  hard- 


fi82 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


ships  and  trials  of  frontier  life  and  in  common 
with  others  in  those  early  days  had  to  haul  his 
grain  to  market  in  Chicago,  a  distance  of  one  hun- 
dred miles.  This  is  only  one  of  the  many  dis- 
advantages incurred.  He  was  a  worthy  citizen, 
had  a  host  of  warm  friends  in  this  community,  and 
was  a  man  of  unblemished  character.  In  religious 
belief  he  was  a  Methodist  and  in  politics  supported 
Republican  principles.  His  wife,  whose  maiden 
name  was  Lydia  Whitney,  was  born  in  the  Prov- 
ince of  Ontario,  Canada,  and  at  an  early  age  was  left 
an  orphan,  after  which  she  found  a  home  with  the 
family  of  John  McKinney  whose  sketch  is  given  on 
another  page  of  this  work  in  connection  with  that 
of  Fred  McKinney.  In  her  girlhood  she  came  with 
that  family  to  Illinois,  remaining  with  her  kind 
friends  until  her  marriage.  She  yet  survives  her 
husband  and  is  living  on  the  old  homestead  at  the 
age  of  sixty-eight  years.  Like  him  she  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Methodist  Church  and  for  her  many 
excellencies  of  character  she  is  highly  esteemed. 

We  now  take  up  the  personal  history  of  our  sub- 
ject who  has  spent  almost  his  entire  life  on  the 
farm  which  is  still  his  home.  In  the  schools  of  the 
neighborhood  he  acquired  his  education  during 
the  winter  season,  while  in  the  summer  he  aided 
his  father  in  the  farm  work.  He  owns  and  oper- 
ates the  old  Courtright  homestead  which  has  been 
his  property  for  three  years.  He  has  long  resided 
there,  having  never  left  it  save  when  he  spent 
four  years  in  Jackson  County,  Iowa.  He  has  the 
farm  under  a  high  state  of  cultivation.  He  votes 
with  the  Republican  party  but  takes  no  active  part 
in  public  affairs,  although  he  feels  a  deep  interest 
in  everything  pertaining  to  the  welfare  and  up- 
building of  the  community.  He  lives  a  quiet,  un- 
assuming life,  faithfully  discharging  his  duties  of 
citizenship  and  is  recognized  as  one  of  the  leading 
farmers  of  the  township. 

In  Ashton,  111.,  Mr.  Courtright  was  united  in 
marriage  with  Miss  Helen,  daughter  of  Dr.  Martin. 
She  was  born  in  Hazel  Green,  Wis.,but  the  days  of 
her  maidenhood  were  largely  spent  in  Iowa.  Her 
father  is  a  native  of  Ontario,  Canada.  In  his  na- 
tive province  he  was  educated  and  at  Mt.  Morris, 
111.,  after  which  he  embarked  in  the  practice  of 
medicine,  which  he  followed  until  within  the  past 


ten  years,  since  which  time  he  has  lived  a  retired 
life.  His  wife,  who  was  a  Canadian  lady,  died  in 
Iowa,  in  1880,  at  the  age  of  fifty  years.  The  Doc- 
tor makes  his  home  with  his  daughter.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  Methodist  Church,  as  is  also  Mrs. 
Courtright,  and  with  that  denomination  his  wife 
was  likewise  identified.  In  politics,  he  is  a  sup- 
porter of  the  Republican  principles.  The  union  of 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Courtright  has  been  blessed  with  an 
interesting  family  of  six  children:  Clarence,  Ora, 
Harry,' Ed  ward,  Mama  and  Louis,  all  of  whom  are 
still  at  home. 


flL^ON.  JOSEPH  CRAWFORD,  who  recently 
if^l)  passed  to  his  long  rest  full  of  years  and 
>s^7  honors,  bearing  with  him  the  love  and  rev- 
(jgg)  erence  of  the  many  who  knew  him,  was  a 
noble  type  of  the  pioneers  of  Lee  County,  and  his 
name  will  be  forever  linked  with  the  history  of  its 
rise  and  progress  from  the  early  days  of  the  settle- 
ment to  the  present  time,  and  with  all  that  is  high- 
est and  best  in  the  record  of  its  social,  religious 
and  educational  development.  He  was  one  of  its 
foremost  business  men,  its  most  skillful  and  success- 
ful financiers,  as  well  as  one  of  its  wealthiest  citi- 
zens; he  was  a  leader  in  its  public  life,  and  bore  a 
conspicuous  part  in  the  administration  of  the  lo- 
cal government  in  various  important  civic  capaci- 
ties; and  his  powerful  influence  and  generous  use 
of  his  money  insured  the  success  of  many  an  enter- 
prise that  advanced  the  interest  not  only  of 
Dixon,  where  he  has  made  his  home,  and  of  the 
county  besides,  but  of  other  parts  of  Illinois,  and 
even  other  States  where  he  had  extensive  dealings. 
A  native  of  Pennsylvania,  our  subject  was  born 
in  Columbia  County,  May  19,  1811,  a  son  of  John 
and  Catherine  (Cassidy)  Crawford.  When  he  was 
eleven  years  old  his  parents  removed  to  Hunting- 
don, in  Luzerne  County,  the  same  State,  and  he 
laid  the  foundation  of  a  sound  education  in  the 
schools  of  that  locality.  He  was,  however,  mainly 
self-educated,  and  being  naturally  of  a  bright 
and  studious  turn  of  mind,  and  fond  of  books, 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


even  before  he  attained  manhood  he  had  acquired 
a  reputation  for  thorough  scholarship  and  learn- 
ing, and  in  1831  he  entered  upon  the  profession 
of  teaching.  He  was  thus  engaged  for  four  years, 
and  devoted  .his  leisure  hours  to  studying  the 
art  of  surveying. 

Thus  well-equipped  for  life  on  the  frontier, 
April  4,  1835,  our  subject  started  on  that  momen- 
tous journey  which  led  him  to  this  part  of  the 
country,  with  whose  fortunes  in  the  years  to  come 
his  own  were  to  be  so  inextricably  woven,  and 
where  he  was  to  assist  in  the  upbuilding  of  a 
great  and  glorious  Commonwealth.  On  his  arri- 
val in  this  State,  he  passed  through  Chicago  and 
Dixon,  and  pushed  on  to  Galena.  But  he  had  been 
pleased  with  the  beautiful  Rock  River  country,  and 
he  soon  returned  to  locate  in  this  valley  at  Dixon 's 
Ferry,  selecting  a  tract  of  land  between  Dixon  and 
Grand  Detour,  on  which  he  settled  in  the  month 
of  May,  1835.  He  was  thus  among  the  first  pio- 
neers of  this  section,  as  settlements  were  then  but 
few  and  scattering,  and  a  log  cabin  and  flat-boat 
were  the  sole  signs  of  civilization  at  Dixon 's 
Ferry. 

Immediately  upon  establishing  himself  on  his 
farm,  our  subject,  besides  attending  to  its  cultiva- 
tion and  improvement,  began  to  utilize  his  knowl- 
edge of  surve3ring,  and  as  the  country  began  to 
develop  he  was  employed  by  the  incoming  set- 
tlers at  that  profession,  as  well  as  by  the  Govern- 
ment, and  in  time  he  built  up  a  large  business  in 
that  line,  becoming  noted  far  and  wide  for  the  ac- 
curacies of  his  surveys,  which  to  this  day  are  ac- 
cepted as  remarkably  correct  and  the  acknowledged 
standard  in  their  locnlity.  He  did  a  great  deal  of 
important  official  work,  as  he  was  employed  to  make 
the  original  surveys  for  all  the  towns  and  villages 
on  the  Rock  River  between  Rockford  and  Rock 
Island,  and  for  many  years  was  County  Surveyor. 
In  1836  he  was  appointed  Deputy  County  Sur- 
veyor for  all  the  northwestern  part  of  Illinois,  his 
especial  work  being  to  locate  and  layout  roads  and 
to  plat  villages.  In  the  same  year  he  was  elected 
County  Surveyor  of  Ogle  County,  which  then  in- 
cluded Whiteside  and  Lee  Counties,  the  latter  not 
being  set  off  from  Ogle  until  1839.  In  1841  Mr. 
Crawford  was  elected  one  of  the  three  County 


Commissioners  of  this  county,  he  having  been  pre- 
viously elected  County  Surveyor  at  the  time  of  its 
organization,  and  he  held  that  office  eighteen 
years. 

While  following  his  profession  as  Surveyor  our 
subject  went  into  business  very  extensively  as  a 
dealer  in  real  estate,  and  was  so  engaged  for  many 
years,  being  at  one  time  in  partnership  with  J.  C. 
Ayers  and  Milton  Santee.  He  dealt  principally  in 
farming  lands,  making  large  investments  for  him- 
self and  others,  buying,  selling  and  locating  land 
in  Northern  Illinois,  Iowa,  Wisconsin,  Minnesota 
and  Nebraska.  In  the  course  of  time,  his  extensive 
operations  brought  him  in  a  handsome  fortune 
that  made  him  one  of  the  richest  men  of  the  county, 
and  others  acquired  wealth  through  him.  It  was 
largely  through  his  instrumentality  that  the  Lee 
County  National  Bank  was  organized  in  1865,  when 
he  became  its  President,  and  to  his  vigorous  and 
sound  policy  in  the  management  of  its  finances 
during  the  many  years  that  he  was  its  presiding  offi- 
cer is  largely  due  its  high  reputation  as  one  of  the 
best  conducted  and  most  reliable  banking  institu- 
tions in  the  State.  He  was  one  of  the  Board  of  Di- 
rectors of  the  Nachusa  House  Company,  and  was 
interested  in  various  enterprises  that  were  calcu- 
lated to  build  up  the  city  and  county. 

Our  subject  found  much  of  the  happiness  and 
comfort  of  his  life  in  his  marriage  with  Mrs.  Hulda 
(Bowman)  Culver,  to  whom  he  was  wedded  Sep- 
tember 16,  1852. 

In  Mr.  Crawford  was  seen  that  rare  and  harmo- 
nious development  of  a  well-balanced  mind,  acute 
intellect,  and  good  sense;  accurate  judgment  in 
all  Business  matters  and  sagacious  foresight  were 
traits  of  his  character  that  not  only  brought  him 
success  in  his  private  pursuits,  but  made  him  pecu- 
liarly valuable  as  an  official  in  the  various  high 
positions  to  which  he  was  called  from  time  to  time 
by  his  admiring  and  appreciative  fellow-citizens. 
In  1873  he  was  called  to  the  head  of  the  munici- 
pal government  of  Dixon  as  its  Mayor,  was  re- 
elected  to  that  office  in  1874,  and  again  in  1875. 
Thus  forty  years  after  he  located  at  Dixon 's  Ferry, 
which  at  that  time,  with  its  one  log  house,  could 
not  even  be  called  a  hamlet,  he  found  himself  pre- 
siding over  the  affairs  of  a  populous  and  flourishing 


OS  I 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


city.  Several  years  previous  to  his  election  to  the 
Mayoralty  he  had  represented  Lee  and  Whiteside 
Counties  in  the  Illinois  State  Legislature  for  two 
terms,  during  the  sessions  of  1849  and  1850  and 
1853  and  1854,  and  had  won  honor  as  a  legislator 
and  as  an  active  and  useful  member  of  the  Commit- 
tee of  Township  Organization.  He  was  prominent  in 
educational  matters  as  a  member  of  the  Board  of 
Trustees  of  the  Northern  Illinois  Normal  School, 
and  he  was  always  a  generous  and  earnest  advo- 
cate of  whatsoever  would  tend  to  elevate  the  com- 
munity. 

Our  subject  was  a  Trustee  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  for  a  number  of  years,  and  he 
never  wavered  in  his  loyalty  to  the  denomination. 
He  was  a  Christian  in  character  and  life,  and  he 
hallowed  every  social  and  religious  tie  by  a  pure 
and  upright  life.  He  was  true  in  all  things  to  the 
obligations  imposed  upon  him  as  a  man  and  a  citi- 
zen, and  it  is  said  of  him  that  "he  never  betrayed 
a  trust." 

August  11,  1891,  he  laid  down  this  life  to  enter 
a  higher  Held  of  labor  to  perfect  that  which  was  so 
well  begun  here,  and  though  many  to  whom  lie  had 
been  a  warm  and  steadfast  friend  mourn  his  loss, 
all  feel  that  it  is  well  with  him. 

P  HARES  H.  LANDIS  is  successfully  pursuing 
his  business  as  a  general  farmer  on  his  farm 
of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  situated  on 
section  27,  Nelson  Township,  which  is  under 
excellent  improvement,  supplied  with  a  good  class 
of  buildings,  and  is  well  stocked  with  cattle,  horses 
and  swine  of  high  grades.     Mr.  Landis  was  born 
in  Lancaster  County,  Pa.,  in  the  township  of  the 
same  name,  March  6,  1843,  and  is  a  son  of  John  N. 
and  Susanna  (Hoover)  Landis,  who  were  also  na- 
tives of  that  county. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  a  son  of  Abraham 
Landis,  and  was  born,  reared,  and  died  at  a  good 
old  age  on  the  old  homestead  in  Lancaster  Count}' 
which  he  owned  for  many  years,  and  which  had 
been  in  the  family  nearly  two  centuries,  the  orig- 
inal owners,  from  whom  he  was  a  lineal  descend- 


ant, having  settled  on  it  upon  coming  from  Switz- 
erland in  early  Colonial  times,  and  it  is  still  in 
the  possession  of  some  of  their  descendants  to  this 
day.  Our  subject,  as  was  his  father,  also,  was  born 
on  this  ancestral  farm  that  was  hewed  from  the 
primeval  forests  of  the  "Woods  of  Penn."  The 
old  stock  were  Whigs  in  politics,  and  Mennonites  in 
religion. 

After  the  birth  of  seven  of  their  children,  John 
N.  Landis  and  wife  came  to  Illinois  in  1851,  and 
settled  among  the  pioneers  of  Whiteside  County, 
locating  on  an  eighty-acre  tract  of  land  in  Sterling 
Township.  The  father  was  a  hard-working  farmer, 
but  in  the  midst  of  a  busy  career  his  life  was  ter- 
minated by  his  untimely  death  in  1853,  at  the  age 
of  fortj'-four,  ere  he  had  lived  in  his  new  home 
scarcely  two  years.  He  was  a  conscientious  Chris- 
tian, and  a  member  of  the  Mennonite  Church.  After 
the  death  of  the  father,  the  mother  married  again, 
becoming  the  wife  of  Emanuel  Landis,  who  is  now 
a  retired  farmer,  living  in  Sterling.  He  also  is  a 
native  of  Pennsylvania,  but  was  not  related  to  his 
wife's  former  husband. 

Our  subject  is  one  of  the  three  children  still  liv- 
ing that  were  born  to  his  parents.  He  was  but  a 
boy  when  he  accompanied  them  in  their  journey  to 
their  pioneer  home  in  Whiteside  County.  He  grew 
to  maturity  there,  and  there  gained  his  first  exper- 
ience as  a  farmer.  In  1883  became  to  this  county 
and  purchased  the  quarter-section  of  fine  farming 
land,  comprising  his  homestead  on  section  27, 
Nelson  Township.  He-  has  every  convenience  for 
tilling  the  soil  and  raising  stock  to  the  best  advan- 
tage, and  is  prospering  exceedingly,  as  he  deserves 
to  do,  as  he  gives  careful  attention  to  his  business, 
is  diligent,  and  exercises  good  judgment  in  his 
expenditures  and  investments.  He  raises  a  good 
class  of  stock,  for  which  he  finds  a  ready  sale  in  the 
best  markets. 

To  the  lady  who  presides  over  his  home  and 
looks  solicitously  after  the  comfort  of  its  inmates, 
our  subject  was  married  during  his  residence  in 
Sterling  Township.  Mrs.  Landis  was  formerly 
Anna  E.  Shuler,  and  she  is  a  native  of  Whiteside 
County,  born  in  the  township  where  her  marriage 
occurred,  November  30,  1856,  and  she  received  her 
education  in  its  schools.  Her  parents,  George  F., 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


and  Elizabeth  (Rosen berry)  Shuler,  natives  respect- 
ively of  Germany  and  Pennsylvania,  came  to  this 
country  when  single,  and  afterward  united  their 
lives  and  fortunes.  The  father  purchased  and  im- 
proved a  large  farm  of  over  five  hundred  acres  of 
fine  farming  land.  lie  and  his  wife,  who  are  held 
in  high  honor  as  pioneers  of  Whiteside  County, 
are  now  living  retired  from  active  life  in  the  en- 
joyment of  the  wealth  that  they  have  gathered  to- 
gether by  their  united  work.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Land  is 
have  had  eight  children,  who  are  named  as  follows: 
Frank  F.,  Harvey  S.,  Cora  E.,  Bertha  M.,  Arthur 
R.,  Ida  S.,  Walter  E.  and  John  I.  Walter  E.,  and 
John  I.  are  deceased.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Landis  deserve 
to  bo,  and  are,  greatly  respected  by  the  entire 
community  of  people  among  whom  they  have  cast 
their  lot.  They  are  upright  in  their  daily  walk, 
and  their  neighbors  know  that  they  can  be  de- 
pended upon  for  those  many  nameless  friendly  acts 
that  draw  closer  the  ties  of  good-fellowship. 


«U  NSON  E.  THUMMEL,  who  resides  on  sec- 
I1OJ  tion  31,  Palmyra  Township,  is  one  of  the 

//Hi  extensive  and  successful  farmers  and  stock- 
^j  raisers  of  the  county.  Since  1872  he  has 
resided  at  his  present  place  of  residence,  where  he 
owns  two  hundred  and  fifty-eight  acres  of  valuable 
land,  the  greater  part  of  which  is  under  a  high 
state  of  cultivation.  The  farm  has  all  the  modern 
accessories,  including  good  buildings  and  the  latest 
improved  machinery,  its  fields  are  well  tilled  and 
the  stock  which  he  raises  is  of  high  grades.  He 
makes  a  specialty  of  breeding  high  grade  horses 
and  swine  and  thorough-bred  Durham  cattle. 

A  life  record  of  Mr.  Thummcl  is  as  follows:  He 
was  born  in  Lexington,  S.  C.,  on  the  22d  of  Septem- 
ber, 1842,  and  is  a  son  of  Rev.  C.  B.  and  Catherine 
(Latin)  Thummel.  His  father  was  a  native  of 
Germany,  who  when  a  young  man  came  to  this 
country.  Previously,  however,  he  had  obtained 
a  collegiate  education  in  his  native  land  and  after 
coming  to  America  was  graduated  from  one  of  the 
institutions  of  learning  of  this  country.  Entering 
the  ministry,  he  became  a  preacher  of  the  Lutheran 


Church  and  to  that  work  devoted  his  life.  He 
spent  some  years  in  the  South,  but  afterward  came 
North  and  died  in  Palmyra  Township,  April  8, 
1880,  at  an  advanced  age.  In  the  Empire  State 
he  had  married  Miss  Latin,  who  was  born  in  New 
York,  where  she  made  her  home  until  her  marriage. 
She  is  now  eighty-one  years  of  age,  but  her  years 
rest  lightly  upon  her,  she  still  retaining  her  mental 
and  physical  faculties  to  a  remarkable  degree.  She 
lives  in  Prairieville. 

Mr.  Thummel,  whose    name   heads    this  record, 

was  yet  a  lad  when  he  came  to  Illinois,  and  in  the 

schools  of  Lee  County  he  acquired  his  education. 

I   Here  he  has  made  his  home  since  1845,  with  the 

exception    of    a    few   years   spent   in   Iowa,   and 

j   the  four  years  in  which  he  valiantly  defended  the 

Union  at   the  front.     When  the  Rebellion   broke 

j   out,  he  enlisted  in  the  fall  of  1861,  as  a  member  of 

|   Company  D,  Thirty-fourth  Illinois  Volunteer  In- 

I   fantry,  under    Col.  Kirk   and    Capt.  T.  L.   Pratt, 

both  of   whom  are  now  deceased.     The  regiment 

j    was  soon  sent  to  the  South  and  assigned   to  the 

Second  Brigade  of  the  Second  Division,  Fourteenth 

I   Army  Corps,  under  command  of  Gens.  Buell  and 

I   Rosecrans,and  later  under  command  of  Gen.  Sher- 

|   man,  with   whom  he  marched  to  the  sea.     With 

his   company    Mr.  Thummel    participated    in    the 

battles  of  Shiloh  and  Stone   River,  the  battle  of 

Atlanta  and  all  the  other  engagements   of   that 

campaign.     He  also  fought  at  Bentonville,  N.  C., 

one  of  the  last  engagements  of  the  war,  where  nine 

of   his  company   were  killed   and  nine  seriously 

wounded.     On  the  celebrated  march  to  the  sea,  he 

passed  through  Lexington,  S.  C.,  his  native  city, 

and  was  permitted  to  visit  the  place  of  his  birth 

and  to  call  upon  his  old   friends.     Returning  to 

Washington,  he  participated  in  the  Grand  Review, 

where  "wave  after  wave  of  bayonet-crested  blue  " 

swept  by  the  President's  stand,  and  later  came  to 

Chicago,  where  he  was  mustered  out  in  July,  1865, 

after   having   served  almost  four  years.     During 

all  that  time  he  was  never  wounded  or  captured, 

but  was  always  found  at  his  post  of  dut_y,  faithful 

in  the  discharge  of  every  task  imposed  upon  him. 

In  Palmyra  Township,  Mr.  Thummel  was  united 

in    marriage    with    Miss   Helen    Powers,  who   was 

born  in  this  county  in   1845.     Her  education  was 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


acquired  in  the  public  schools  of  the  neighborhood 
and  at  Mt.  Vernon,  Iowa.  She  died  at  her  home 
in  this  township,  September  13,  1889,  at  the  age  of 
forty-four  years,  leaving  five  children,  all  of  whom 
are  yet  at  home,  namely:  Laura  M.,  Bertha  A., 
Blanche  E.,  Lloyd  A.  and  Mabel  K.  Mr.  Thummel 
and  his  family  are  members  of  the  Lutheran  Church, 
and  in  politics  he  is  a  stanch  Republican,  who  has 
often  served  as  delegate  to  the  conventions  of  his 
party.  He  has  held  the  office  of  Supervisor,  yet 
has  never  sought  political  preferment,  although  he 
is  deeply  interested  in  the  success  of  his  party.  By 
nature  he  is  genial  and  can  readily  appreciate  the 
humorous.  His  success  in  life  is  all  due  to  his  own 
efforts  and  his  prosperity  is  richly  merited. 


E  S.  DUNTON  holds  an  import- 
11  (=•>  ant  place  among  the  principal  farmers  and 
\^Jf|  stock-raisers  of  Viola  Township,  where  he 
has  valuable  farming  interests,  and  is  successfully 
engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits.  He  was  born  in 
Perry  Township,  Allen  County,  Ind.,  November 
20,  1837.  His  father  was  Horace  F.  Dunton,  who 
was  a  native  of  St.  Lawerence  County,  N.  Y.  He, 
in  turn,  was  a  son  of  Ep.iraim  Dunton,  a  pioneer 
of  that  county,  who  is  supposed  to  have  been  born 
in  Vermont.  In  1833  he  removed  to  Indiana,  and 
in  Allen  County,  that  State,  his  life  was  brought  to 
a  close  at  a  ripe  old  age.  His  wife,  Abigail  Ball 
in  her  maiden  days,  was  likewise  of  New  England 
birth. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  reared  on  a  farm 
in  his  native  county.  He  went  to  Indiana  from 
New  York  when  a  young  man,  and  was  employed 
to  assist  in  building  the  canal  leading  from  Fort 
Wayne  to  Toledo.  With  the  money  thus  earned 
he  entered  Government  land  in  Perry  Township, 
and  became  one  of  the  pioneers  of  Allen  County. 
He  erected  a  log  cabin  for  a  dwelling  and  in 
that  humble  abode  his  son,  of  whom  we  write,  was 
born.  The  father  devoted  his  time  to  clearing  a 
farm  and  tilling  the  soil,  and  resided  on  that  place 
a  number  of  years.  He  then  sold  that  at  a  good 
advance  on  the  original  price,  and  bought  a  farm 


of  two  hundred  and  forty  acres  one  mile  distant, 
and  advantageously  located  ten  miles  north  of  Fort 
Wayne,  where  he  is  passing  his  declining  years 
surrounded  by  all  the  comforts  of  a  good  home, 
the  fruit  of  his  early  labors. 

Like  many  of  his  countrymen,  Mr.  Dunton  Sr. 
had  an  experience  of  frontier  life  in  California 
during  the  period  of  the  excitement  over  the  dis- 
covery of  gold.  He  set  out  on  the  long  and  mem- 
orable journey  to  that  distant  State  on  the  20,  of 
March,  1850,  and  arrived  at  his  destination  on  the 
4th  of  the  following  August,  having  made  the 
trip  across  the  plains  and  mountains  without 
any  serious  misadventure.  At  that  time  the  only 
whites  living  between  the  Missouri  River  and 
California,  were  the  soldiers  stationed  at  one  or 
two  military  posts,  Indian  and  fur  traders,  and 
the  Mormons  at  Salt  Lake.  Buffalo,  deer  and  ant- 
elopes were  to  be  encountered  in  large  numbers. 
Mr.  Dunton  engaged  in  mining  until  1852,  and 
then  pocketed  his  gains  and  started  for  his  home 
in  Indiana,  by  the  way  of  the  Isthmus  of  Panama. 
The  maiden  name  of  his  wife,  the  mother  of  our 
subject,  was  Almena  Timmerman.  She  was  a  na- 
tive of  the  State  of  New  York,  and  a  daughter  of 
Henry  and  Abbie  Timmerman.  She  died  in  1890, 
thus  closing  a  wedded  life  of  many  years,  wherein 
ten  children  had  been  born  to  her  and  her  husband 
— nine  sons  and  one  daughter. 

Granville  Dunton  grew  to  a  stalwart  manhood 
under  the  pioneer  influences  that  prevailed  in  Ind- 
iana during  his  early  years,  and  he  obtained  his 
education  in  the  primitive  schools  of  the  time, 
that  were  taught  in  log  houses,  and  furnished  with 
rude  slab  seats  that  stood  on  wooden  legs.  Holes 
were  bored  on  either  side  of  the  buildings  and  a 
slab  laid  on  the  wooden  pins  inserted  therein 
served  as  writing  desks  for  the  larger  scholars. 
Young  Dunton  resided  with  his  father  and  helped 
him  in  the  management  of  his  farm  until  1859, 
and  since  that  year  has  made  his  home  in  Illinois. 
He  began  life  here  by  renting  land  in  Willow 
Creek  Township,  and  two  years  later  bought  a 
tract  of  wild  prairie,  now  included  in  his  present 
farm  in  Viola  Township,  which  was  without  tree  or 
shrub  and  had  no  improvements  on  it  whatever. 
He  has  worked  hard  to  bring  about  the  great 


•••£.  j «.-.., M 

OF'fHE 


V  ' 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


change  that  makes  it  a  very  desirable  farm  in  point 
of  tillage,  productiveness  and  equipments.  He 
has  erected  a  good  set  of  frame  buildings,  has 
planted  fruit  and  shade  trees,  and  has  the  greater 
part  of  two  hundred  acres  of  his  realty  under  fine 
cultivation. 

Mr.  Dunton  was  married  in  1861,  to  Miss  Caro- 
line Parker,  who  was  born  near  Rockville,  Park 
County,  Ind.  Their  marriage,"  which  has  been  one 
of  mutual  happiness,  has  brought  them  six  children, 
whom  the}'  have  named:  Charles  F.,  Ida  May, 
Edgar,  Lillie  B.,  Wilbert  and  Harry. 

Our  subject  takes  an  intelligent  interest  in  pol- 
itics, and  is  a  loyal  supporter  of  the  Republican 
part3%  He  has  filled  various  offices  of  trust,  as  his 
fellow-citizens  early  recognized  his  qualifications 
for  such  positions,  and  have  always  placed  reli- 
ance upon  his  inherent  honesty  and  integrity,  of 
purpose  and  act.  He  has  been  School  Trustee  and 
Director,  Highway  Commissioner  and  Justice  of 
the  Peace,  and  has  represented  Viola  Township  on 
the  County  Board  of  Supervisors.  He  was  a 
member  of  Company  I,  Fifteenth,  Illinois  Infantry, 
having  enlisted  February  13,  1865,  at  Dixon,  111., 
and  being  mustered  out  October  1,  1865,  at  Ft. 
Leavenworth,  Kan. 


WILLIAM  MICHAEL  KENNEDY,  formerly 
editor  and  proprietor  of  the  Dixon  Sun, 
was  a  journalist  of  rare  ability,  who  stood 
high  in  his  profession  and  made  his  paper  one  of 
the  foremost  publications  of  the  kind  in  Northern 
Illinois.  It  is  therefore  with  pleasure  that  we  in- 
vite the  reader's  attention  to  his  portrait  and  the 
following  outline  of  his  life.  He  was  born  in 
County  Limerick,  Ireland,  August  11,  1843,  and 
was  a  son  of  Edward  and  Winifred  (Meade)  Ken- 
nedy. His  father  died  in  County  Limerick  in 
1844,  leaving  a  widow  and  one  child.  Soon  after- 
ward his  mother  brought  him  to  America  (he  being 
an  infant  at  the  time)  and  first  settled  in  Brooklyn, 
N.  Y.  A  few  years  later  she  came  to  Dixon  to 
make  her  home,  and  her  son  was  reared  and  edu- 
cated in  this  city. 


At  the  age  of  twelve  years  the  bright  little  lad 
took  the  first  step  towards  entering  a  profession  in 
which  he  was  afterward  1o  win  bright  laurels,  as 
he  then  commenced  to  learn  the  trade  of  a  printer, 
completing  his  apprenticeship  in  the  office  of  the 
Telegraph.  He  followed  his  trade  as  a  journeyman 
a  few  years,  and  in  the  winter  of  1869-70  opened 
a  job  office,  which  he  operated  until  the  following 
November.  He  then  bought  the  office  of  the 
Lee  County  Democrat,  and  in  January,  1871,  started 
the  publication  of  the  Rock  River  Farmer  in  con- 
nection with  it,  a  paper  devoted  to  the  interests  of 
the  farmers.  The  following  year  he  established  the 
Iowa  Farmer,  which  he  subsequently  consolidated 
with  the  other  agricultural  paper  under  the  name 
of  the  Western  Farmer.  In  October,  1871,  lie 
changed  the  name  of  the  Lee  County  Democrat  to 
the  Dixon  Sun.  He  published  both  the  agricul- 
tural periodical  and  the  newspaper  until  1884, 
making  a  complete  success  of.  both,  and  then, 
owing  to  failing  health,  disposed  of  the  Western 
Farmer,  continuing  to  edit  and  issue  the  Sun  until 
his  untimely  decease,  April  28,  1890. 

When  death  set  his  seal  upon  his  lips  and  led 
him  into  the  silent  land,  our  subject  was  in  the 
prime  and  vigor  of  a  noble  life  that  seemed  to 
promise  many  more  years  of  usefulness.  He  had 
become  one  of  the  leaders  of  thought  and  action  in 
his  circle  as  an  editor  of  unusual  power,  who  had 
given  to  the  public  a  paper  carefully  and  wisely 
edited  in  the  highest  interests  of  city  and  county, 
exercising  a  beneficial  influence  in  business  and 
politics,  and  helping  to  elevate  the  tone  of  the 
community;  a  journal  that  possessed  excellent 
literary  qualities,  was  a  valuable  medium  of  infor- 
mation concerning  foreign  and  local  affairs,  was 
bright  and  progressive  in  its  methods,  and  had  a 
large  circulation  among  the  most  intelligent 
people. 

Mr.  Kennedy  was  one  of  the  foremost  members 
of  the  Illinois  Press  Association,  and  took  an 
active  part  in  its  meetings.  In  1884  he  delivered 
the  annual  address  to  his  fellow-editors,  assembled 
at  Urbana,  and  was  highly  -complimented  for  his  • 
brilliant  effort  on  that  occasion.  In  the  same  year  he 
was  honored  by  being  elected  Vice-President  of  the 
association,  and  in  1885  his  professional  brethren 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD: 


gave  him  another  proof  of  their  distinguished  con- 
sideration by  making  him  President  of  the  associ- 
ation. In  politics,  he  was  a  true  Democrat,  but 
was  by  no  means  radical  in  his  views,  or  a  partisan 
in  any  sense.  He  was  popular  in  social  circles  as  a 
member  of  the  following  organizations:  Friend- 
ship Lodge,  No.  7,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.;  Dixon  Chapter 
R.  A.  M.;  and  Dixou  Commandery,  K.  T. 

From  his  wife,  to  whom  lie  was  wedded  in  1879, 
our  subject  always  received  encouragement  in  his 
work,  and  when  he  laid  it  down,  on  account  of  ill 
health,  in  1886,  she  bravely  took  it  up,  and  under 
her  able  guidance  as  a  business  manager,  with  the 
assistance  of  John  Moore  as  editor  until  the  spring 
of  1892,  the  Dixon  Sun  retains  its  old  popularity 
as  a  newspaper  and  the  high  standing  that  it  en- 
joyed in  former  da3'S  when  in  the  hands  of  its  late 
lamented  editor  and  proprietor.  Mrs.  Kennedy  is 
a  lady  of  culture,  whose  bright,  quick  mind  and 
pleasant  ways  make  her  a  favorite  in  social  circles. 
She  has  a  good  head  for  business;  a  keen  insight 
into  the  best  methods  of  carrying  it  on  to  the  best 
advantage,  and  is  practical  and  sensible  in  regard 
to  money  matters.  She  has  a  genuine  love  for  art, 
and  is  one  of  the  leading  members  of  the  Phidian 
Art  Society.  Religiously,  she  is  of  the  Presbyter- 
ian faith,  and  a  member  of  the  church  of  that  de- 
nomination. Two  children  blessed  her  union — Rus- 
sell W.,  who  is  ten  years  old  (1892),  and  Jason 
A.,  six  years. 

Mrs.  Kennedy,  whose  maiden  name  was  Inez  A- 
Timothy,  is  a  native  of  China  Township,  Lee 
County,  of  which  her  parents,  Otis  and  Sarah 
Louisa  (Miner)  Timothy  were  pioneers,  and  where 
they  are  now  peacefully  spending  their  declining 
years  on  the  old  homestead  that  they  improved 
from  the  wilderness.  Her  father  was  born  in 
Northampton,  Mass.,  August  30,  1812,  a  son  of 
Ebenezer  Timothy,  who  was  a  farmer,  and  spent 
his  last  days  in  the  old  Bay  State.  Otis  Timothy 
was  reared  in  Massachusetts  and  Vermont.  He 
came  to  Illinois  in  1840,  and  was  an  early  settler 
of  China  Township,  where  he  bought  a  tract  of 
Government  land.  From  the  wilderness  he  de- 
veloped a  good  farm,  on  which  he  and  his  wife 
live  to  this  day.  For  some  years  there  were  no 
railways  in  this  part  of  the  country,  and  Chicago 


was  the  nearest  market,  whither  he  took  his  grain 
and  meat  with  teams.  Later  La  Salle  became  a 
market  town,  and  seemed  quite  convenient  in 
those  days.  The*  mother  of  Mrs.  Kennedy  was 
born  in  Elmira,  N.  Y.,  April  1,  1820,  and  is  a 
daughter  of  Cyrus  and  Eliza  Miner,  who  were 
pioneers  of  Lee  County. 


IIARLES  I.  WILL  is  a  fine  representative 
of  the  citizen-soldiers  of  the  United  States 
who  fought  in  the  ranks  in  the  late  war, 

|  and  to  whose  valor  and  patriotism  it  is  due  that 
our  glorious  flag  waves  over  a  free  and  undivided 
coiintry  to-day.  No  less  have  they  been  very  ser- 
viceable in  the  peaceful  times  that  have  followed 
and  this  county  holds  such  as  our  subject  among 
her  best  citizens.  He  is  a  practical  farmer,  and  his 
farm,  which  is  in  fine  order,  comprises  a  quarter  of 
sections  17  and  20,  in  South  Dixon  Township. 

Mr.  Will  was  born  in  Northampton  Township, 
Somerset  County,  Pa.,  August  15,  1845,  and  ob- 
tained his  education  in  the  district  schools.  He 
was  but  a  boy  when  the  rebellion  broke  out,  never- 
theless he  was  ready  to  do  battle  for  his  country, 
and  when  only  seventeen  years  of  age  enlisted  in 
August,  1862,  in  Company  F,  One  Hundred  and 

I    Forty-second  Pennsylvania  Infantry,   which    was 

I  commanded  by  Col.  R.  P.  Commons,  and  Capt.  F. 
A.  Edmonds,  and  was  assigned  to  the  Army  of  the 

I  Potomac.  The  regiment  did  conspicuous  service 
at  the  battles  of  Fredericksburg  and  Chancellors- 

'  ville,  and  also  fought  bravely  at  Gettysburg, 
Frankstown,  in  the  battles  of  the  Wilderness,  at 
Laurel  Hill,  Spottsylvania  Court  House,  Weldon 
Railway,  Hatchies  Run,  Chapin  Farm,  Second 
Hatchies  Run,  and  so  on  down  to  Appomatox 
Court  House,  the  last  mentioned  great  event  being 
the  twenty-fourth  engagement  in  which  it  bore  an 
active  part,  and  later  it  was  present  when  Lee  sur- 
rendered to  Grant,  and  at  the  Grand  Review  of  the 
Union  troops  at  Washington,  at  the  close  of  the 
war  it  was  one  of  the  leading  regiments  of  the 
aim}'.  At  Gettysburg  it  had  won  renown  as  one 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


of  the  first  infantry  corps  to  open  fire  upon  the 
enemy.  Our  subject  bore  an  honorable  part  in  all 
these  battles,  early  displaying  soldierly  qualities, 
and  contributing  to  the  high  reputation  of  his  regi- 
ment as  a  fine  body  of  well  disciplined  troops,  who 
were  always  on  hand  when  any  fighting  was  to  be 
done,  were  ever  cool  and  courageous  in  battle,  and 
never  feared  to  follow  where  others  dared  to  lead. 
He  bore  the  hardships  and  privations  of  army  life 
unflinchingly,  and  to  this  day  carries  a  bullet  in 
his  neck,  which  he  received  while  in  the  thickest 
of  the  second  battle  of  Hatch ies  Run.  It  was 
thought  that  he  was  mortally  wounded,  but  so 
great  were  his  recuperative  powers  that  he  was 
enabled  to  return  10  his  regiment  at  the  end  of  six 
weeks,  and  continued  in  active  service  until  hon- 
orably discharged  at  Harrisburg,  Pa.,  June  3, 1865. 
Thus  before  he  was  twenty  years  of  age  he  had 
experienced  all  the  vicissitudes  and  horrors  of  war, 
and  had  shown  himself  worthy  of  the  citizenship 
of  this  great  Republic. 

Returning  to  his  father's  house  from  the  battle- 
fields of  the  South,  our  subject  served  his  sire  for 
more  than  a  year,  coming  Westward  with  the  fam- 
ily in  the  fall  of  1865,  and  since  then  has  made 
his  home  in  South  Dixon  Township.  He  attained 
his  majority  several  months  after  his  arrival,  and 
during  the  quarter  of  a  century  that  has  elapsed 
since  that  date  he  has  placed  himself  among  our 
most  thrifty  and  prosperous  farmers.  His  farm,  of 
which  he  became  the  proprietor  in  1877,  is  a  fine 
piece  of  property,  comprising  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres  of  land  on  sections  17  and  20,  and  is 
known  as  the  old  Mossholder  homestead.  Its  im- 
provements are  of  a  good  class,  and  among  them 
is  a  comfortable  residence  and  a  good  barn,  lately 
built,  36x64  feet  in  dimensions.  Mr.  AVill  is  deeply 
interested  in  all  that  concerns  his  adopted  town- 
ship, and  heartily  supports  all  schemes  devised  for 
its  advancement.  He  is  an  active  local  politician, 
and  throws  the  weight  of  his  influence  in  favor  of 
the  Republican  party. 

Our  subject  is  a  son  of  Hiram  Will,  a  well-known 
resident  of  this  township,  who  is  a  native  of  Penn- 
sylvania. He  was  there  married  to  Miss  Kezia 
Meese,  and  there  their  children  were  born  and 
reared,  and  when  the  war  broke  out  they  sent  three 


of  their  sons  to  the  front  in  defense  of  their  coun- 
try. In  the  fall  of  1865  the  family  came  to  Illi- 
nois, and  made  settlement  in  South  Dixon  Town- 
ship, where  the  father  and  mother  are  yet  living, 
aged  respectively  seventy-two  and  sixty-eight 
years.  Mr.  Will  is  a  well-to-do  farmer  and  large 
land-holder.  In  politics,  he  is  an  unswerving  Re- 
publican. Religiously,  both  he  and  his  good  wife 
are  members  of  the  Evangelical  Association. 

Charles  Will  was  married  to  Miss  Mary  E.  Moss- 
holder  on  the  farm  on  which  he  now  lives,  this  old 
homestead  being  the  birthplace  of  his  bride.  Here 
she  was  born  October  12,  1856,  and  it  was  always 
her  home  until  she  passed  out  of  life  February  18, 
1891.  She  was  a  true,  womanly  woman,  whose 
many  pleasant  attributes  endeared  her  to  a  large 
circle  of  friends  who  sorrowed  with  her  bereaved 
family  in  the  loss  of  one  who,  as  daughter,  sister, 
•wife  and  mother,  had  ever  been  tender  and  loyal 
in  those  various  relationships.  For  her  parental 
history  see  sketch  of  her  brother,  William  H.  Moss- 
holder.  Three  children  were  born  of  the  union 
of  our  subject  and  his  wife,  namely:  Ida  F.,  Myr- 
tle M.,  and  Ralph  O. 


R.  BURTON  D.  VAUGHN,  a  wide-awake 
and  progressive  young  physician  and  sur- 
geon of  Dixon,  who  Was  born  in  Chatfield, 
Minn.,  has  been  well  fitted  for  his  life 
>rk.  In  the  State  of  his  nativity,  he  began  his 
school  life,  and  his  early  training  was  supplemented 
by  a  regular  collegiate  course.  When  it  became 
time  to  make  choice  of  some  business  which  he 
would  wish  to  make  his  life  work,  he  determined 
to  engage  in  the  practice  of  medicine,  and,  with 
this  end  in  view,  entered  the  Eclectic  Medical  Col- 
lege of  Chicago,  111.,  from  which  he  was  graduated 
on  the  23d  of  March,  1886,  after  having  pursued 
a  thorough  course.  He  then  located  in  Chats- 
worth,  111.,  where  he  engaged  in  practice  for  about 
four  years.  He  was  residing  in  that  town  at  the 
time  when  the  Chatsworth  railroad  wreck  occurred, 
and  by  his  labors  did  much  to  assuage  the  suffer- 
ing of  the  injured.  He  was  among  the  first  to 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


arrive  on  the  scene  of  the  disaster.  Having  been 
awakened  by  the  crash,  his  suspicions  were  aroused 
that  something  was  wrong  and  he  hurried  out, 
making  his  way  to  the  place  w.here  the  accident 
occurred.  The  scene  was  a  terrible  one,  and  he 
saw  it  in  all  its  horror.  His  medical  skill  was  at 
once  called  into  action,  and  Dr.  Vaughn  proved 
himself  equal  to  the  emergency,  doing  much  for 
the  suffering  and  wounded. 

In  Livingston  County,  111.,  the  Doctor  led  to 
the  marriage  altar  Miss  Jennie  Speiuher,  a  native 
of  that  county,  who  was  there  reared  and  educated 
and  under  the  parental  roof  remained  until  her 
hand  was  bestowed  upon  the  Doctor  in  marriage. 
Their  union  has  been  blessed  with  one  child,  a 
daughter  —  Bertha  M.  About  two  years  ago  they 
came  to  Dixon,  and  although  their  residence  here 
has  been  of  short  duration,  they  have  already  won 
many  friends  and  are  held  in  high  regard  by  all 
who  know  them. 

Socially,  Dr.  Vaughn  is  a  Knight  Templar  Mason. 
He  takes  quite  an  active  interest  in  public  affairs, 
especially  such  as  will  benefit  the  public  or  pro- 
mote the  general  welfare,  and  in  politics  is  a  stanch 
Republican,  but  in  no  sense  an  office-seeker.  In 
the  line  of  his  practice  he  is  making  a  good  success. 
He  has  associated  with  him  in  his  office,  to  assist 
him  in  necessary  ways,  Henry  A.  Sheer.  Enter- 
prising, industrious,  and  possessed  of  a  worthy 
ambition,  he  will  undoubtedly  make  of  life  a  suc- 
cess. Already  he  has  acquired  a  liberal  patronage 
in  Dixon  among  the  best  class  of  citizens,  and 
among  his  professional  brethren  he  has  taken  the 
front  rank. 


ARK  WILLIAMS,  a  retired  farmer  living 
on  section  22,  Palmyra  Township,  has 
there  made  his  home  since  1867,  and  is  one 
of  the  self-made  men  of  the  county  who 
certainly  deserves  great  credit  for  his  success. 
Since  locating  where  he  now  lives,  he  has  accumu- 
lated two  hundred  and  seventy-six  acres  of  land, 
and,  with  the  exception  of  a  sixteen-acre  tract,  the 
entire  amount  is  under  a  high  state  of  cultivation. 


The  buildings,  including  residence  and  outbuild- 
ings, are  such  as  are  found  on  a  model  farm,  and 
all  the  accessories  are  in  keeping  with  the  enter- 
prising and  progressive  spirit  of  the  owner.  Of 
late  years,  Mr.  Williams  has  laid  aside  the  more 
heavy  cares,  his  farm  being  controlled  by  his 
sons. 

A  native  of  Pennsylvania,  our  subject  was  born 
in  Locust  Township,  Columbia  County,  in  1819. 
His  father,  Jonathan  Williams,  was  a  native  of 
Virginia,  and  when  four  years  old  accompanied 
his  father,  Owen  Williams,  to  Pennsylvania,  the 
family^  settling  in  the  wilds  of  Columbia  County, 
at  a  time  when  the  Indians  were  still  numerous 
in  the  neighborhood.  The  grandfather  made  a 
home  at  the  foot  of  Little  Mountains  and  there 
spent  the  remainder  of  his  life.  He  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Society  of  Friends  and  descended  from 
a  family  of  Welsh  origin  who  embraced  that  re- 
ligion. The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  Martha 
Miller  and  she  was  born  in  Virginia  of  German 
descent.  She,  too,  was  a  member  of  the  Friends 
Church  and  died  in  Columbia  County,  Pa.,  at  the 
age  of  seventy  years. 

The  boyhood  days  of  Jonathan  Miller  were  de- 
voted to  farm  work,  and  in  the  Keystone  State  he 
met  and  married  Miss  Eleanor  Hughes,  who  was 
born  in  Columbia  County,  whither  her  parents  had 
removed  from  Berks  County  in  an  early  day.  Her 
father,  Edward  Hughes,  died  suddenly  of  heart  dis- 
ease in  Columbia  County,  and  his  wife  was  called 
to  her  final  rest  at  the  advanced  age  of  four-score 
years.  The  parents  of  our  subject  also  spent  their 
last  days  in  Columbia  County,  upon  the  home 
farm  in  Locust  Township,  where  the  father  died  in 
1836,  at  the  age  of  fifty-six  years.  Mrs.  Williams 
survived  him  five  years  and  passed  away  at  the 
age  of  fifty  years.  They,  too,  embraced  the  faith 
of  the  Society  of  Friends  and  in  political  sentiment 
the  father  was  a  Whig.  Their  family  numbeied 
eleven  children,  five  of  whom  grew  to  mature 
years. 

Mark  Williams,  however,  is  the  only  one  now 
living.  In  the  county  of  his  nativity  the  days  of 
his  childhood  and  youth  were  passed,  and  after 
leaving  the  parental  roof  he  was  united  in  mar- 
riage, in  Locust  Township,  with  Miss  Ruth  Anna 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


Davis,  who  after  a  short  wedded  life  of  five  years, 
was  called  to  the  home  beyond,  leaving  two  chil- 
dren: Hannah,  wife  of  C.  H.  Hughes  of  Palmyra 
Township,  this 'county;  and  Columbus  who  is  mar- 
ried and  resides  on  a  farm  near  Hastings,  Adams 
County,  Neb.  Mr.  Williams  was  a  second  time 
married  in  Columbia  County,  Pa.,  the  lady  of  his 
choice  being  Miss  Elizabeth  Hoagland,  who  was 
born  in  Locust  Township,  March  22,  1834,  and  is  a 
daughter  of  John  and  Rachel  (Mettler)  Hoagland, 
also  natives  of  Columbia  County,  where  her  father 
died  at  the  age  of  fifty-six  years.  By  occupation 
he  was  a  farmer  and  followed  that  vocation  through- 
out life.  Some  years  after  his  death,  his  widow 
went  to  Hastings,  Neb.,  where  she  died  in  Novem- 
ber,  1889,  at  the  age  of  eighty-one.  They  were 
both  members  of  the  Methodist  Church  and  lived 
consistent  lives,  which  won  them  the  respect  of  all 
who  knew  them.  In  politics,  Mr.  Hoagland  was 
first  a  Whig,  but  on  the  organization  of  the  Repub- 
lican party  became  one  of  its  stancli  supporters. 
In  their  family  were  eleven  children  and  with  one 
exception  all  reached  mature  years  and  were  mar- 
ried, while  six  yet  abide.  One  brother,  Lieut. 
Henry  H.,  a  soldier  of  the  late  war,  was  killed  at 
the  battle  of  Fredericksburg,  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
two. 

Under  the  parental  roof  Mrs.  Williams  was  care- 
fully reared  and  educated  and  taught  the  princi- 
ples and  doctrines  of  the  Methodist  Church  to 
which  she  now  belongs.  She  is  a  lady  of  many 
excellencies  of  character  and  worthy  of  the  high  re- 
gard of  her  many  friends.  By  the  union  of  our 
subject  and  his  wife,  have  been  born  five  children, 
three  of  whom  arc  now  deceased.  Rosetta  was  the 
wife  of  Frank  M.  Coe,  whose  sketch  appears  else- 
where in  this  work;  Sarena  C.  died  at  the  age  of 
seventeen  years;  and  Osborn  G.  died  when  three 
years  old.  Harrison,  who  wedded  Mary  Phillips, 
is  the  owner  of  a  good  farm  in  Palmyra  Township. 
Ellwood  Curtis  now  operates  the  old  homestead. 
He  was  joined  in  wedlock  with  Mary  Daved  and 
their  union  has  been  blessed  with  three  children: 
R.  Ethel,  Mark  and  Alice  E.  Mr.  Williams  and 
sons  are  supporters  of  the  Republican  party  but  he 
has  never  been  an  officer-seeker,  preferring  to  de- 
vote his  entire  time  and  attention  to  his  business 


interest,  in  which  he  has  met  with  signal  success. 
He  gives  his  support  to  public  enterprises  calcu- 
lated to  benefit  the  community  and  is  everywhere 
recognized  as  a  prominent  and  progressive  citi- 
zen. Farming  has  been  his  life  work,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  fifteen  years  which  he  spent  in  Locust 
Township,  Columbia  County,  Pa.,  as  a  general 
merchant,  before  his  emigration  to  Illinois. 


GEORGE  RIKERT.  The  Prairie  State  with 
vast  prairies  is  noted  throughout  the 
Union  for  its  splendid  agricultural  regions, 
and  the  tillers  of  the  soil  know  just  how  to  culti- 
vate the  land  so  as  to  bring  rich  and  productive 
harvests.  Such  an  one  is  the  gentleman  whose  name 
initiates  this  life  record,  who  is  a  successful  general 
farmer  in  Palmyra  Township,  having  a  fine  estate 
of  two  hundred  and  eighty  acres  near  Prairieville, 
where  he  has  lived  for  almost  four  decades.  He 
came  to  this  State  in  1855,  and  lived  seven  years 
in  Whiteside  County.  He  came  here  a  poor  man, 
$700  in  debt,  all  of  which  he  has  since  paid  with 
interest,  having  borrowed  the  money  in  New  York 
State.  He  was  born  in  Dutchess  County,  N.  Y., 
July  20,  1820,  being  the  son  of  John  I.  Rikert,  a 
native  of  the  Empire  State,  whose  parents  were 
natives  of  Holland  and  came  when  young  with 
their  parents  to  the  United  States  from  Holland, 
settling  in  New  York,  where  they  spent  the  re- 
mainder of  their  days. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  united  in  marriage 
in  the  Empire  State  to  Betsey  Patner.  She  was 
born  and  reared  in  Dutchess  County,  N.  Y.,  and  is 
also  of  Holland  descent.  Some  years  after  their 
marriage,  this  couple  removed  to  Delaware  County, 
the  same  State,  and  there  they  lived  and  died,  the 
father  passing  away  in  March,  1845,  and  the 
mother  in  1866.  They  were  honored  members  of 
the  Lutheran  Church  and  'always  followed  the  vo- 
cation of  farming,  being  successful  in  this  line  of 
business.  Mr.  Rikert  was  in  his  political  views  a 
Whig. 

After  coming  to  this  State,  the  subject  of  this 
hiograpl^-  journeyed  across  the  plains  to  Pike's 


694 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


Peak,  in  1860,  and  remained  there  one  year  en- 
gaged in  mining.  He  then  returned  to  this  county 
and  took  up  the  farm  on  which  lie  now  resides.  He 
was  married  in  Greene  County,  this  State,  to  Miss 
Phoebe  Bennett.  This  lady  was  born  and  reared 
in  her  native  county,  her  birth  occurring  October 
10,  1822.  She  has  been  a  true  helpmate  to  her 
husband  and  is  a  loving  and  faithful  mother.  She 
bore  her  husband  three  children,  one  of  whom, 
Hiram,  is  deceased.  He  fell  off  a  stone  fence  at  the 
age  of  three  years  and  received  injuries  that  caused 
his  death  a  few  days' later.  Those  living  are  Emma, 
wife  of  Fred  F.Klostermann,a  resident  of  Sterling, 
Whiteside  County,  111.,  who  is  engaged  in  the  stock 
business  with  his  father-in-law,  our  subject;  Ma- 
thias,  a  farmer  in  this  township  and  a  hard-working 
and  thrifty  man.  He  took  to  wife  Rena  Miller. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rikert  are  connected  with  the  Luth- 
eran Church,  religiously,  and  Mr.  Rikert  is  a  stanch 
supporter  of  the  Prohibition  party,  being  formerly 
a  Republican. 


BROWN,  who  is  widely  known 
(@/J[i  and  greatly  respected  as  a  man  of  en- 
jnfi  lightened  views,  of  great  intelligence  and 
(fgj  marked  force  of  character,  is  distinguished 
in  the  annals  of  Northern  Illinois  as  one  of  its  early 
pioneers  who  has  long  been  variously  identified 
•with  the  interests  of  this  section  of  the  coun- 
try. He  was  for  many  years  in  the  postal  service  at 
different  points,  and  was  atone  time  connected  with 
the  mercantile  business  of  this  portion  of  the  State, 
but  for  the  last  twenty-five  or  thirty  years  he  has 
devoted  himself  principally  to  farming  in  this 
county.  He  is  located  on  a  pleasant  spot  on  sec- 
tion 13,  South  Dixon  Township,  where  he  owns  a 
fine  farm,  complete  in  its  appointments,  compris- 
ing one  hundred  and  thirty-four  acres  of  land  of 
exceptional  fertility. 

Our  subject  was  born  November  17,  1816,  in 
the  Canadian  village  of  Temperance  (on  Talbert 
Street),  in  the  township  of  Yarmouth,  nine  miles 
east  of  St.  Thomas.  His  father's  name  was 
George  Brown,  and  he  was  born  in  the  State  of 


New  York,  being  a  kinsman  of  Gen.  Brown,  who 
fought  the  celebrated  battle  of  Lundy's  Lane  with 
Gen.  Scott.  George  Brown  grew  to  manhood  in 
the  state  of  his  nativity,  and  then  crossed  the 
border  into  Canada,  where  lie  was  married  to  Elsie 
Merritt,  whose  brother,  Hamilton  Merritt,  was  the 
engineer  of  the  Wellington  Canal.  The  Merritts 
were  a  prominent  English  family  that  lived  in 
Canada  for  some  years.  The  Browns  were  a  Colo- 
nial family  of  New  York,  and  some  of  the  old 
stock  were  prominent  millers  at  Rochester  for 
years.  They  were  of  the  Netherland  Dutch  blood. 

After  their  marriage,  the  parents  of  our  subject 
began  their  wedded  life  on  a  two-hundred  acre 
tract  of  wild  land,  which  later  became  the  seat  of 
the  village  of  Temperance.  They  lived  on  their 
farm  at  that  place  for  many  years,  and  not  till 
after  ail  their  children  were  born  did  they  come 
to  the  States,  removing  to  Michigan  during  the 
McKinzie  Rebellion  in  Canada.  They  settled  in 
St.  Clair  County,  and  there  George  Brown  died  at 
the;  age  of  seventy-five.  He  had  become  a  promi- 
nent man  in  that  region,  and  was  held  in  high 
estimation.  His  wife,  the  faithful  companion  of 
his  early  manhood,  had  passed  out  of  his  life  while 
the  family  dwelt  in  Canada,  her  death  occurring 
when  she  was  in  the  very  prime  of  womanhood. 
They  were  both  devoted  members  of  the  Baptist 
Church. 

In  1837  Abram  Brown,  who  was  then  on  the 
threshold  of  a  vigorous  manhood,  with  a  splendid 
equipment  of  intellect  and  physique  to  enable  him 
to  cope  with  the  difficulties  that  lay  before  him  in 
the  pioneer  life  upon  which  he  was  about  to  enter, 
came  to  Northern  Illinois.  He  located  at  Grand 
Detour,  Ogle  County,  establishing  himself  as  a 
pioneer  merchant  of  that  place,  and  soon  after  he 
was  appointed  Postmaster  of  the  little  vjllage  by 
President  Van  Buren.  He  had  charge  of  the  post- 
office  at  that  point  five  years,  and  at  the"  expira- 
tion of  that  time  came  to  Dixon  in  the  year  1842. 
lie  was  made  Postmaster  of  that  city,  and  retained 
the  position  under  the  administration  of  Tyler 
and  Polk.  He  was  subsequently  Postmaster  at 
Franklin  Grove  for  some  years  during  his  resi- 
dence in  China  Township.  After  leaving  Dixon, 
he  took  up  a  piece  of  wild  land  adjoining  Franklin 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


Grove,  and  for  two  years  spent  his  time  in  im- 
proving and  cultivating  it.  He  raised  corn,  for 
which  the  market  price  near  home  was  eight  cents, 
and  he  could  obtain  forty  cents  a  bushel  for  it 
when  lie  took  it  to  Chicago.  The  markets  were 
poor,  and  he  sold  cows  as  low  as  *f>  a  piece, 
and  a  yoke  of  oxen  brought  him  $'20.  He  has 
lived  to  see  the  wondrous  changes  wrought 
by  the  hand  of  man  in  Lee  and  Ogle  Counties, 
which  he  saw  in  all  their  primeval  wildness; 
and  he  has  noted  with  great  interest  the  his- 
torical events  of  the  past  fifty  or  sixty  years, 
whereby  the  world  has  been  revolutionized,  and 
these  United  States  have  grown  into  one  of  the 
most  powerful  republics  on  earth.  He  has.  watched 
closely  the  advance  made  in  the  arts,  sciences  and 
inventions,  regai ding  the  latter  as  re-discoveries  of 
old  laws,  and  has  given  much  thought  and  study  to 
what  he  calls  "the  greatest  study  on  earth:  man, 
his  progress  and  destiny."  In  so  doing  he  has 
freed  himself  from  all  creeds  and  their  dictates,  and 
from  all'  political  parties,  considering  their  falla- 
cies in  both  cases  as  against  reason,  and,  in  the 
latter  case,  as  unpatriotic. 

Mr.  Brown  was  married  in  Franklin  Grove,  at  the   I 
bride's  home,  to  Miss  Correlia,  a  daughter  of  the 
late   Col.  Nathan  Whitney,  who  was  known   and   , 
honored  far  and  wide  as  an  early  and  prominent   i 
pioneer  of  Lee  County,  whose  many  friends  and 
acquaintances  always  spoke  of   him  affectionately 
as  "Father  Whitney,"  who  lived  to  be  over  one 
hundred  years  old.     He  is  represented  elsewhere   • 
in  this   volume.     Mrs.  Brown  was  born    April  10,   j 
1818,  in  the  township  of  Barry,  Orleans  County,   j 
N.  Y.     She  came  to  Illinois  with  her  mother  and 
other  members  of  the  family  in    1838,  her  father 
having  come  hither  prospecting  two  years  before, 
and  finally  settling  in  Franklin  Grove,  where  his 
wife  and  children    joined    him    in    the    primitive   | 
pioneer  home  that  he  had  prepared  for  them. 

Our  subject  and  his  wife  are  the  parents  of  six 
children,  one  of  whom,  Charles  A.,  died  at  the  age  of 
three  years.  The  surviving  children  are  as  follows: 
Virginia,  who  was  highly  educated,  and  for  sev- 
eral years  was  a  teacher,  but  is  now  the  comfort 
and  stay  of  her  parents  in  their  home;  Olga,  who 
is  also  finely  educated  and  lives  at  home;  Mary, 


who  manages  a  boarding  house  at  Dixon;  Henry 
A.,  who  was  educated  at  the  Champaign,  (111.)  State 
College,  was  for  a  time  railway  postal  clerk,  and  is 
now  a  photographic  artist  at  Dixon,  and  who 
married  Jennie  Johnson;  and  George  M.,  a  prac- 
tical machinist  and  inventor,  who  runs  a  large 
furnace  and  machine  shop  at  Van  Buren,  Ark. 

A  due  regard  for  the  laws  of  health,  and  strict 
temperance  in  eating  and  drinking,  including  the 
non-use  of  tobacco  or  liquor  in  any  form,  have 
been  the  means  of  preserving  our  subject's  bodily 
and  mental  faculties  in  an  unusual  degree,  when 
it  is  considered  that  three  quarters  of  a  century 
has  rolled  by  since  he  first  took  up  the  burden  of 
life  in  that  distant  village  in  the  forest  of  Canada. 
He  has  been  blessed  in  his  wedded  life  by  a  true 
wife,  who  is  a  woman  of  rare  intelligence,  and 
both  hold  a  warm  place  in  the  hearts  of  the  people 
among  whom  their  lot  has  been  cast  for  many 
years. 


MISSMAN.  The  farm  belonging 
([Mr  to  Herman  Missman,  which  comprises  a 
^^  quarter  of  section  29,  South  Dixon  Town- 
(§Sy)  ship,  is  a  fine  piece  of  property,  all  under  a 
high  state  of  cultivation,  and  a  good  class  of  build- 
ings add  to  the  attractiveness  of  the  place,  and 
well-kept,  graded  stock  find  sustenance  in  the 
fields  and  pastures.  Our  subject  has  lived  in  this 
county  since  he  was  a  boy  of  six  years,  coming 
here  in  1856,  with  his  parents,  G.  H.  and  Mary 
(Leydig)  Missman,  from  Pennsylvania,  his  native 
State  where  he  was  born  February  23,  1850,  his 
birthplace  being  near  Berkley's  Mill,  in  Somerset 
County.  His  father  and  mother  were  natives 
respectively  of  Oldenburg,  Germany,  and  Somer- 
set County,  Pa.,  the  former  born  sixty-seven  years 
ago,  and  the  latter  sixty-four  years,  coming  of 
Pennsylvania  Dutch  stock.  The  father  passed  his 
boyhood  in  the  land  of  his  birth,  and  as  he  lost  his 
sire  when  he  was  very  young,  he  was  early  thrown 
on  his  own  resources.  The  little  lad  decided  to 
seek  his  fortunes  in  America  as  soon  as  he  was  old 
enough,  and  at  sixteen  he  had  secured  sufficient 
means  to  put  his  resolve  of  trying  his  fortunes  in  the 


696 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


United  States  into  execution.  He  not  only  earned 
money  enough  to  come  himself,  but  paid  for  the 
passage  of  his  mother,  brothers  and  sisters.  He 
first  met  his  wife  in  Pennsylvania,  and  there  mar- 
ried, and  spent  the  early  part  of  his  wedded  life 
in  that  State.  Coming  to  this  county,  he  located 
on  a  farm  in  Nelson  Township,  where  he  lived  and 
prospered  until  his  retirement  from  active  busi- 
ness. He  has  accumulated  a  handsome  fortune, 
and  he  and  his  beloved  companion  are  enjoying  it 
at  their  leisure,  in  one  of  the  most  comfortable  of 
the  attractive  homes  in  Dixon,  pleasantly  located 
on  Third  Street,  west.  His  honorable  career  is  a 
fine  illustration  of  what  a  man  may  accomplish, 
who  has  his  own  way  to  make  in  the  world,  by  the 
exercise  of  pluck,  perseverance  and  prudence,  to- 
gether with  downright  hard  labor.  He  and  his 
wife  are  simple  and  unostentatious  in  their  man- 
ners, unselfish  in  the  use  of  their  money,  and  both 
are  valued  members  of  the  Lutheran  Church. 

Our  subject  is  one  of  a  family  of  three  sons  and 
three  daughters,  one  of  the  latter  now  dead,  and  of 
the  others  all  are  married  but  one.  He  attended 
the  local  schools  in  his  boyhood,  and  on  his  fath- 
er's farm  gained  that  insight  into  agriculture  that 
has  made  him  successful  from  the  start.  He  first 
owned  and  occupied  a  farm  on  section  24,  Nelson 
Township,  living  upon  it  and  attending  to  its  im- 
provement for  a  period  of  fifteen  years.  In  1890, 
he  purchased  his  present  farm  in  South  Dixon 
Township.  Everything  about  the  place  is  neat 
and  orderly,  a  good  system  of  tillage  is  employed 
in  keeping  up  the  natural  productiveness  of  the 
soil,  and  in  the  management  of  his  farming  inter- 
ests our  subject  displays  a  natural  aptitude  for  his 
calling. 

The  farm  which  he  now  owns  was  the  scene  of 
Mr.  Missman's  marriage  with  Miss  Alice  Brierton, 
it  being  at  that  time  the  home  of  the  bride's  par- 
ents, Sylvester  and  Elizabeth  (Kelley)  Brierton. 
They  are  natives  respectively  of  Luzerne  County, 
Pa.,  and  the  State  of  New  York.  They  had  come 
Westward  when  young,  and  had  married  in  Dixon. 
They  subsequently  located  on  and  improved  a 
farm  in  Minnesota.  Returning  to  this  State,  they 
settled  in  South  Dixon  Township,  and  from  here 
removed  to  a  farm  in  Nachusa  Township,  where 


they  arc  comfortably  passing  their  declining  years, 
both  having  attained  the  age  of  sixty -seven.  They 
are  members  of  the  Evangelical  Association,  and 
are  highly  esteemed  by  all  who  know  their  worth. 
Our  subject  and  his  wife  have  established  a  home 
that  is  known  for  its  coziness  and  pleasant  hospi- 
tality, and  their  two  sons  complete  the  family  cir- 
cle—Arthur E.  and  Oscar  E.  Mr.  Missman  pos- 
sesses those  elements  of  character  that  command 
respect  and  confidence;  is  of  an  honest,  fearless  na- 
ture, keeping  his  credit  sound  in  all  things;  and 
he  always  maintains  pleasant  social  and  business 
relations  with  his  neighbors  and  other  associates. 
His  political  sympathies  are  with  the  Republican 
party.  He  has  concerned  himself  in  the  public 
life  of  his  township,  and  has  held  the  office  of  Col- 
lector for  some  years.  Religiously,  both  he  and 
his  wife  are  members  of  the  Lutheran  Church. 


ENNIS  B.  DOYLE,a  teacher  in  the  grammar 
department  of  the  Amboy  schools,  is  a 
son  of  Bernard  and  Alice  (Harvey) 
Doyle,  natives  of  Ireland.  The  former 
was  born  in  1819,  and  the  latter  in  1829.  Bernard 
Doyle  was  left  an  orphan  when  quite  young  and 
was  reared  by  an  uncle,  Michael  Doyle,  a  lawyer. 
In  1844  and  at  the  age  of  twenty-five  years,  he 
left  the  Emerald  Isle  and  sailed  for  America,  land- 
ing in  New  York  City,  where  he  remained  about 
ten  years.  While  there  he  was  married  to  Alice 
Harvey,  January  25,  1854,  and  one  year  later  they 
came  to  Amboy  where  the  young  husband  worked 
on  the  farm  of  Gen.  Wyman  seven  years.  He  then 
entered  the  employ  of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad 
in  whose  employ  he  is  still  working. 

The  mother  of  our  subject  was  born  in  County 
Armagh,  in  the  north  of  Ireland  and  came  to  the 
United  States  with  her  sisters.  She  had  one  brother 
who  came  to  this  country  previous  to  her  coming 
who  is  now  a  resident  of  Lawrence,  Minn.  She 
has  three  sisters  living:  Ann,  now  Mrs.  Burns  of 
Amboy;  Kate,  Mrs.  James  McCoy  of  Marion;  and 
Mary,  Mrs.  McCoy  of  St.  Johns,  New  Brunswick. 
The  parents  of  our  subject  had  born  to  them  nine 


OF  IH£ 

INIHFKKITV   'IF 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


699 


children,  six  of  whom  are  now  living.  Two  died 
in  infancy  and  Joseph  P.  died  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
five  years.  He  was  a  jeweler  by  trade  and  one  of 
the  best  engravers  in  Illinois.  He  was  born  at 
Amboy,  September  25,  1863,  and  died  November 
19,  1887.  He  learned  his  trade  at  Aurora,  III., 
serving  an  apprenticeship  for  three  years.  While 
working  at  Chicago  in  1886,  he  contracted  a  severe 
cold  which  resulted  in  his  death.  He  was  married 
to  Miss  Nellie  McAndrew  of  Louisville,  Ky.,  July 
16,  1885,  at  St.  Paul,  Minn.,  and  was  the  father  of 
one  son,  Joseph.  The  living  children  of  this  fam- 
ily are:  Katie  A.,  a  dressmaker  at  Amboy;  James 
H.,  a  merchant  at  this  place;  Dennis  B.,  our  subject; 
Edward  M.,  a  boiler-maker  at  Seattle,  Wash.;  John 
W.,  a  workman  in  the  machine  shops  of  the  Illinois 
Central  Railroad,  and  Alice,  who  is  at  home.  This 
family  all  had  good  educational  advantages. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  born  at  Amboy, 
November  19,  1859.  He  graduated  from  the 
schools  at  Amboy,  in  1877,  and  taught  school  two 
years  in  the  country  and  then  took  a  business 
course  at  the  Northern  Indiana  Normal  and  Busi- 
ness Institute.  He  then  learned  the  trade  of  a 
boiler-maker  at  Decatur,  111.,  in  the  Novelty  Works 
and  worked  there  about  two  years,  then  went  to 
Rock  ford,  and  worked  in  McCarren  Bros.  Boiler 
Works.  He  kept  books,  made  estimates  and  worked 
at  his  trade  one  year.  In  1 885  he  began  as  a  teacher 
in  the  schools  at  Amboy  and  for  five  years  has  had 
charge  of  the  grammar  department.  He  is  a  very 
thorough  teacher,  sagacious  and  persevering,  and 
is  well  liked  by  all  his  pupils.  The  family  to  which 
our  subject  belongs  are  all  members  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church,  and  in  politics  Mr.  Doyle  is  a 
Democrat. 


frILSON  E.  MECHEM,  a  retired  farmer, 
residing  in  Dixon,  was  born  in  Belmont 
County,  Ohio,  August  22,  1822,  and  is  of 
Irish  descent.  His  father  and  grandfather,  both 
of  whom  bore  the  name  of  John  Mechem,  were 
natives  of  the  Keystone  State.  The  latter  married 
Miss  Sarah  Evans,  who  was  born  and  reared  in 


Pennsylvania  and  came  of  Welsh  lineage.  Upon 
M  farm  they  began  their  domestic  life  and  several 
years  afterward  removed  to  Ohio,  settling  in  Bel- 
mont County  at  a  very  early  day,  ere  the  Indians 
had  left  for  homes  farther  West.  Upon  the  farm 
which  Mr.  Mechem  there  developed  and  improved, 
he  and  his  wife  spent  their  remaining  days,  his 
death  occurring  at  about  the  age  of  one  hundred 
years,  while  his  wife  had  passed  four-score  years 
at  the  time  of  her  death.  The  husband  was  a 
Hixite  Quaker  in  religious  belief  and  Mrs.  Mechem 
was  a  member  of  the  Baptist  Church.  Their  family 
numbered  thirteen  children. 

John  Mechem,  the  father  of  our  subject,  was  a 
lad  of  twelve  summers  when  he  accompanied  his 
parents  to  Belmont  County,  Ohio,  where  amid  the 
wild  scenes  of  frontier  life  he  was  reared  to  man- 
hood, lie  there  became  acquainted  with  and 
wedded  Abigail  Moore,  who  was  born  in  that 
county  unto  Jacob  and  Elizabeth  (Picklehamer) 
Moore.  Her  parents  were  natives  of  Pennsylvania, 
and  were  of  German  descent.  They  resided  in  the 
Keystone  State  until  some  years  after  their  mar- 
riage and  spent  the  remainder  of  their  lives  as 
farming  people  in  Belmont  County,  Ohio,  where 
Mr.  Moore  passed  away  at  the  age  of  eighty  years, 
while  his  wife  was  called  to  the  home  beyond  when 
about  sixty  years  of  age.  They  were  members  of 
the  Christian  Church  and  people  of  sterling  worth. 
After  their  marriage  John  Mechem  and  his  wife 
resided  on  farms  in  Belmont  and  Monroe  Counties 
and  subsequently  spent  twelve  years  in  the  West, 
as  residents  of  Iowa  and  Illinois.  Later,- however, 
they  returned  to  Belmont  -County,  where  Mr. 
Mechem  departed  this  life  at  the  age  of  sixty-five 
years.  His  estimable  wife  survived  him  until 
1890,  and  died  in  Dallas  County,  Iowa,  at  the  age 
of  eighty-six.  He  was  first  a  Whig  and  afterward 
a  Republican  in  politics,  and  with  his  wife  held 
membership  in  the  Methodist  Church.  Their  lives 
were  in  harmony  with  their  professions  and  they 
well  merited  the  warm  regard  given  them  by  their 
many  friends. 

The   subject   of   this   sketch  was   the  eldest  of 

[   seven  children,  all  of  whom  grew  to  mature  years, 
while  four  are  yet  living.     In   the  State  of  his 

:   nativity  his  boyhood  and  youth  were  passed  in  the 


700 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


usual  manner  of  farmer  lads  and  in  1850,  he  sought 
a  home  on  the  broad  prairies  of  Illinois.  The  1st 
of  April  of  that  year  saw  him  a  resident  of  Put- 
nam County,  where  he  resided  until  the  spring  of 
1853.  During  that  time  he  wooed  and  won  Miss 
Rhoda  Simpson,  who  was  born  in  Hamilton,  Ohio, 
near  the  city  of  Cincinnati,  November  14,  1835. 
Her  parents,  Edward  and  Maria  (Ward)  Simpson, 
were  natives  of  Pennsylvania  and  Indiana  respect- 
ively, their  union  being  celebrated  in  the  latter 
State,  where  they  made  their  home  for  some  ten 
years  after  their  marriage.  They  then  spent  many 
years  upon  a  farm  in  Putnam  County,  111.,  but  Mr. 
Simpson  died  in  Dwight  at  the  age  of  ninety 
years.  Since  her  husband's  death,  Mrs.  Simpson 
has  gone  to  Monroe  City,  Mo.,  where  she  is  now 
living  at  the  age  of  eighty-six  years.  She  has 
lived  a  noble  Christian  life  as  a  member  of  the 
Methodist  Church,  with  which  denomination  her 
husband  was  also  connected. 

It  was  in  the  spring  of  1853,  as  before  stated, 
that  Mr.  Mechem  removed  with  his  family  to 
Marshall  County,  111.,  where  he  devoted  his  energies 
to  agricultural  pursuits  until  1875.  That  year 
witnessed  his  arrival  in  Lee  County  and  upon  a 
farm  in  Harmon  Township,  he  continued  to  make 
his  home  for  fifteen  years,  when  on  the  20th  of 
November,  1890,  he  came  to  Dixon.  He  is  non- 
living retired,  enjoying  the  rest  which  lie  has  so 
truly  earned  and  richly  deserved.  He  still  owns 
the  Washington  House  of  Dixon  and  has  large 
real-estate  interests  the  value  of  which  is  constant- 
ly increasing. 

Nine  children  have-  been  born  of  the  union  of 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mechem  and  witli  the  exception  of 
Eliza,  who  became  the  wife  of  Alonzo  Conner,  and 
died  at  the  age  of  thirty  years,  all  are  yet  living. 
Henrietta  is  the  wife  of  Frank  Skilton,  a  farmer  of 
Marshall  County,  111.;  Jefferson  is  connected  with 
a  seed  store  of  Chicago;  Hettie  married  Vincent 
Smith  and  resides  at  Lee  Centre,  this  county; 
Drucilla  is  the  wife  of  Lincoln  Carbaugh,  of  Lee 
Centre;  Mary,  Carrie,  Charles  and  Lena  are  at 
home.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mechem  are  faithful  members 
of  the  Methodist  Church,  in  which  he  has  served 
as  Trustee  and  Steward,  and  has  taken  an  active 
part  in  the  work  connected  therewith.  In  politics 


he  is  a  stalwart  supporter  of  Republican  principles. 
His  life  has  been  a  busy  and  useful  one,  well  and 
worthly  spent,  and  by  industry,  perseverance  and 
good  management  he  acquired  a  competence  which 
now  enables  him  to  live  in  retirement. 


jfL_  ENRY  SOUTHARD.     But  few  of  the  pio- 
lf)V  neers  of  Lee    County    have  met  with  more 
A^^   genuine  success  as  farmers  than  our  subject, 
((£§))     who  is  distinguished  as  being  the  oldest 
settler  now  living  in   Alto  Township,   in    whose 
agricultural  development  he  has  played  an  impor- 
tant part,  and  where  he  has  large  landed  interests, 
and  is  extensively  engaged  in  farming. 

Mr.  Southard  was  born  in  the  town  of  Windom, 
Greene  County,  N.  Y.,  April  4,  1825,  while  his 
father,  whose  name  was  John  Southard,  is  thought 
to  have  been  born  in  Dutchess  County,  in  the 
same  State.  He  was  a  son  of  Henry  Southard, 
who  was  a  farmer,  and  spent  the  latter  part  of  his 
life  in  Greene  County.  The  father  of  our  subject 
was  reared  on  a  farm.  He  accompanied  his  par- 
ents in  their  migration  to  Greene  County,  and 
subsequently  bought  a  tract  of  timber  land  in 
what  is  now  Sempronius  Township,  cleared  it,  and 
lived  upon  it  until  1830,  when  he  removed  to 
Cayuga  County,  after  disposing  of  his  farm.  He 
bought  a  tract  of  land  fourteen  miles  from -Auburn, 
which  was  partly  improved,  and  a  forest  growth 
stood  on  the  remainder  of  it.  There  were  no 
railways  there  for  some  years,  and  the  towns  on 
the  Erie  Canal  were  the  markets  for  produce. 

In  1883  the  father  of  our  subject  left  Cayuga 
County  for  the  wilds  of  Michigan,  taking  with 
him  his  wife  and  live  children,  and  making  the 
entire  journey  overland  with  a  team.  lie  bought 
a  tract  of  Government  land  in  the  primeval  for- 
ests four  miles  south  of  the  present  site  of  Bangor. 
At  that  time  Michigan  was  a  territory,  and  a  literal 
wilderness,  in  which  deer,  bears,  wolves  and  other 
wild  animals,  had  their  home.  There  were  no  rail- 
wax  s.  :md  the  roads,  where  there  were  any.  were 
poor.  Paw  Paw  and  St.  Joseph  were  the  nearest 
markets.  The  people  lived  in  the  most  primitive 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


701 


manner;  the  wives  and  daughters  of  the  pioneers 
cooked  by  the  open  fireplace,  and  the  children 
were  clad  in  garments  of  home  manufacture,  the 
cloth  being  made  of  flax  or  wool  raised  on  the 
place,  and  carded,  spun  and  woven  by  the  women. 
Mr.  Southard  built  a  typical  pioneer  habitation  of 
logs,  splitting  shakes  to  cover  the  roof,  and 
boards  for  the  floor  and  to  make  a  door,  no  sawed 
timber  entering  into  the  construction  of  the  house, 
and  the  chimney  was  made  of  earth  and  sticks. 
.The  father  died  on  the  farm  he  had  hewn  from 
the  Michigan  forests,  and  left  behind  him  a  good 
record  as  a  serviceable  pioneer  and  a  good  citizen. 
His  wife,  who  survived  him  some  years,  died  in  the 
village  of  Bangor.  She  was  a  native  of  New  Jer- 
sey— Harriet  Helen  Height,  her  maiden  name — and 
she  was  a  daughter  of  Caleb  and  Keturah  Height. 
She  was  the  mother  of  these  seven  children :  Henry, 
Oscar,  Julia  A.,  David,  Charles,  James  and  John. 

Henry  Southard  was  a  lad  of  twelve  years  when 
his  parents  went  to  Michigan,  and  his  education 
was  conducted  in  the  pioneer  schools  of  Van  Buren 
County,  which  were  taught  in  log  houses,  that 
were  furnished  with  rude  slab  benches,  and  had 
none  of  the  modern  conveniences  of  the  school 
houses  of  to-day.  He  was  very  young  when  lie 
began  to  assist  with  the  farm  work,  and  on  his 
father's  homestead  he  gained  an  experience  in 
farming  that  has  been  useful  to  him  in  his  after 
career  as  an  independent  farmer.  In  1847  he  left 
the  shelter  of  the  parental  roof  to  try  life  in  Illi- 
nois. He  secured  work  on  a  farm  in  Kane  County 
at  $12  a  month,  and  continued  thus  employed  until 
the  following  year,  when  he  came  to  Lee  County 
and  bought  a  quarter  of  a  section  of  land  at  Mal- 
ugin's  Grove,  Brooklyn  Township,  and  became  one 
of  the  early  settlers  of  that  region,  which  was  then 
sparsely  inhabited,  and  deer  and  other  game  were 
numerous.  In  the  absence  of  railways,  he  had  to  take 
his  grain  to  Chicago  with  ox  teams. 

The  spring  of  1852  finds  our  subject  wending 
his  way  to  the  gold  diggings  of  California.  He 
started  from  Lee  County  with  two  others,  April  13, 
and  made  the  journey  across  the  plains  and  moun- 
tains with  six  Indian  ponies  and  a  pair  of  mules, 
arriving  in  the  Golden  State  August  13.  At  that 
time  there  were  no  white  settlers  between  the  Mis- 


souri River  and  Salt  Lake,  with  the  exception  of 
soldiers  stationed  at  one  or  two  points,  and  some 
Mormons.  Buffaloes  were  very  numerous,  and 
our  subject  had  the  pleasure  of  killing  the  first  one 
he  saw.  After  his  arrival  in  California,  he  de- 
voted himself  to  mining  with  good  success,  and 
five  years  later  returned  to  Illinois,  coming  by  the 
way  of  the  Isthmus,  and  invested  in  eighty  acres 
of  land,  which  is  included  in  his  present  farm.  He 
has  bought  other  land  at  different  times,  and  is 
now  the  proprietor  of  seven  hundred  and  eighty- 
three  acres  of  choice  land,  the  greater  part  of  which  is 
improved.  He  has  risen  to  his  present  position  as  one 
of  the  substantial,  well-to-do  citizens  of  the  county 
solely  through  his  own  efforts.  He  has  applied 
himself  closely  to  his  business,  devoting  his  whole 
energies  to  the  successful  accomplishment  of  what- 
ever he  has  undertaken,  carrying  out  his  well-laid 
plans  systematically,  promptly  and  in  a  business- 
like manner,  exercising  forethought  and  that  wise 
economy  that  knows  how  to  spend  money  where 
it  is  needed  as  well  as  how  to  save  it.  He  is,  in 
short,  a  fine  type  of  our  self-made  men,  who  have 
made  a  success  in  life,  and  his  career  is  worthy  of 
emulation  by  the  young  men  of  to-day,  who  are 
beginning  where  he  began  so  long  ago. 

January  25,  1850,  Mr.  Southard  was  married  to 
Miss  Susan  Reed,  to  whose  devotion  to  his  interests 
he  is  much  indebted  for  the  comforts  of  the  pleas- 
ant home  that  he  shares  with  her.  They  have 
five  children  living,  namely:  Charles  M.,  Emmett 
M.,  H.  Adeline,  Cecilia  A.  and  James  M.  Emmett 
married  Arabella  Gallagher.  Adeline  has  been 
twice  married,  first  to  George  Merrill  and  the  sec- 
ond time  to  Charles  Flint.  Cecilia  married  Eugene 
Johnson,  and  they  have  one  child,  Esther  Adeline. 
James  married  Margaret  McNany,  and  they  have 
two  children.  Mabel  Gertrude  and  Florence  May. 

The  wife  of  our  subject  was  born  January  29, 
1826,  in  Hume,  Allcgany  County,  N.  Y.  Her 
father,  Ahimaaz  Reed,  was  a  native  of  Vermont, 
and  was  a  son  of  John  Reed,  who  was  of  English 
birth,  and  came  to  America  in  Colonial  times.  He 
served  in  the  Revolution,  and  passed  the  last  part 
of  his  life  in  Vermont.  Mrs.  Southard's  father 
went  to  New  York  when  he  was  a  young  man,  and 
was  a  pioneer  of  Hume,  where  he  was  married 


702 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


to  Adeline  Johnson,  a  native  of  Vermont,  and  a 
daughter  of  Hezekiah  and  Hannah  (French)  John- 
son. In  1831  Mr.  Reed  removed  to  the  Territory 
of  Michigan.  He  went  ahead,  rented  a  farm  in 
Kalamazoo  County,  and  then  sent  for  his  family. 
They  set  out  for  their  new  home  with  a  team,  with 
which  they  went  to  Dunkirk,  where  they  embarked, 
team  and  all,  on  board  a  vessel,  and  proceeded  by 
water  to  Detroit,  and  then  made  their  way  with  the 
team  through  the  wilderness  to  their  destination. 
In  1833  Mr.  Reed  located  in  Van  Buren  County, 
and  during  his  residence  there  improved  the  land 
that  he  bought  in  a  wild  condition  into  a  good 
farm,  whicli  he  sold  in  1843,  in  order  to  remove 
to  Illinois.  He  and  his  family  came  hither  with 
an  ox-team,  and  camped  and  cooked  by  the  way- 
side at  night  while  on  the  journey.  Mr.  Reed 
settled  at  Big  Rock,  in  Kane  County,  where  he 
purchased  two  hundred  acres  of  wild  land,  which 
he  developed  into  a  fine  farm — his  home  until  his 
death  at  a  ripe  age. 


JOSIAH  LITTLE.    This  gentleman  represents 
the   banking   interests  of  Amboy  and  en- 
joys the  distinction  of  being  the  first  merch- 
ant in  the  place.     He  located  here  in   the 
spring  of  1854,  before  the  completion  of  the  rail- 
road, and  established  a  general  store,  when  at  that 
time  there  were  only  three  houses  in  sight.     His 
first   stock,    consisting    of    dry-goods,    groceries, 
drugs,  hardware,  he  hauled  in  wngons  from  Men- 
dota.     He  conducted  a  successful   business  until 
1867,  when  his  store  was  destroyed  by  fire.     Dur- 
ing the  following  year,  he  embarked  in  the  bank- 
ing business  and  since  then  the  bank  of   Josiah 
Little   has   sustained    the  reputation  of  a  sound 
financial  institution. 

Mr.  Little  is  a  lineal  descendant  of  George  Lit- 
tle, of  Newbury,  Mass.,  who  emigrated  from  Uni- 
corn Street,  near  London  Bridge,  in  about  1640. 
The  line  of  descendants  is  as  follows:  George  (1), 
Moses  (2),  Moses  (3),  Moses  (4),  Josiah  (5),  Ed- 
ward (6),  Josiah  (7),  and  our  subject,  who  belongs 


to  the  eighth  generation.  The  ancestors  were  up- 
right, industrious,  God-fearing  men,  who  wielded 
a  great  influence  in  the  communities  where  they 
resided.  Edward  Little,  grandfather  of  our  sub- 
ject, was  born  in  1773  and  was  graduated  from 
Dartmouth  College  in  1797,  choosing  the  legal 
profession  and  settling  in  Auburn,  Me.  There  by 
inheritance  he  became  the  owner  of  a  large  part  of 
the  surrounding  territory  and  exerted  a  great  in- 
fluence in  directing  and  promoting  the  growth  of 
the- place.  He  gave  the  land  for  the  first  church- 
and  met  one-half  of  the  cost  of  its  erection,  as  well 
as  maintained  public  service  at  his  own  expense 
for  some  time  after  its  completion. 

Besides  the  good  which  he  did  in  other  ways. 
Edward  Little  established  and  endowed  an  ac- 
ademy which  continued  in  successful  operation  for 
j  forty  years,  when  the  grounds  and  funds  were 
transferred  by  the  trustees  to  the  town,  which  now 
maintains  an  "Edward  Little  High  School"  and 
erected  a  statue  in  his  honor.  In  temperance  re- 
forms, he  was  a  pioneer  and  held  radical  views 
which  he  was  not  slow  to  express.  His  death  oc- 
curred in  1849,  but  the  influence  which  his  upright 
life  exerted  over  others  is  still  felt  in  the  com- 
munity where  for  so  long  he  resided.  The  father 
of  our  subject,  Josiah,  was  born  in  1801,  and  was 
educated  at  Bowdoin  College,  studying  law  after- 
ward with  his  father,  and  for  several  years  practic- 
ing his  profession.  Later  he  engaged  in  trade  and 
manufacturing  at  Lewiston  and  Auburn,  Me.,  and 
passed  the  last  years  of  his  life  in  his  native  town, 
Newburyport,  Mass.  He  died  suddenly  August  9, 
1865,  at  Somes  Sound,  Mt.  Desert  Island,  whither 
he  had  gone  on  a  pleasure  excursion. 

Josiah  Little  was  four  times  married,  the  mother 
of  our  subject,  whose  maiden  name  was  Nancy  W. 
Bradford,  being  his  second  wife.  She  had  two 
children,  a  daughter  and  our  subject.  The  last- 
named  passed  his  early  life  in  Auburn  and  Lewis- 
ton,  Me.,  and,  at  the  age  of  seventeen  years,  com- 
pleted his  education  at  Auburn  Academy.  He 
then  went  to  Portland  and  assisted  his  father,  who 
was  engaged  in  a  wholesale  iron  business.  In  Octo- 
ber, 1851,  he  emigrated  to  Southwest  Missouri, 
where  he  clerked  in  a  country  store.  In  February, 
1854,  he  left  the  place  on  horseback,  clad  with  a 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


703 


Missouri  overcoat  (which  consisted  of  a  blanket 
with  a  hole  in  the  center)  and.  after  riding  forty 
miles  per  day  for  ten  days,  stopped  at  Amboy  and 
located  here  permanently,  as  above  stated. 

On  November  17,  1859,  Mr.  Little  was  married 
to  Mary  D.  Hussey,  who  was  born  at  Belleville, 
Ohio,  August  10,  1835,  and  was  the  daughter  of 
Amos  and  Jane  Fredonia  (Holly)  Hussey.  Her 
father  was  one  of  the  pioneers  of  Lee  County  and 
a  man  of  great  decision  of  character  and  energy  of 
purpose.  The  union  of  Mr.  Little  and  his  estim- 
able wife  has  been  blessed  by  the  birth  of  five  chil- 
dren: Josiah,  Nancy  Jane,  Mary  E.,  Edward  H. 
and  Mary  W.  The  eldest  daughter  became  the 
wife  of  Isaac  Newton  Perry,  of  La  Crosse,  Wis., 
and  died  leaving  two  children.  The  members  of 
the  family  are  identified  with  the  Congregational 
Church  and  are  welcomed  guests  in  the  most  select 
social  circles. 

Mr.  Little  is  a  member  of  the  Masonic  fraternity 
and  in  his  political  belief  is  a  stanch  Republican. 
For  twelve  years  he  served  as  Treasurer  of  Lee 
County  and  his  long  term  of  service  speaks  in  be- 
half of  his  success  more  eloquently  than  words 
could  do.  He  also  held  various  offices  of  a  local 
nature  and  was  a  delegate  to  the  National  Con- 
vention in  1888,  when  Benjamin  Harrison  was 
nominated  for  the  Presidency.  The  success  which 
has  crowned  his  work  represents  his  unaided 
efforts,  for  he  came  West  without  moneyed  capital. 
He  possesses  the  qualities  of  a  thorough  business 
man  as  well  as  the  gentlemanly  manners  and 
polished  demeanor  which  make  friends  of  all 
whom  he  meets. 


jl£_  IRAM  HETLER  owns  and  operates  a    fine 
ifjij  farm    of   two    hundred    and    seventy-five 
Jzffi?    acres   on    section     15,    Dixon    Township, 
(|g)     pleasantly  situated  within  a   few    miles    of 
the  city  of  Dixon.     Its  well-tilled    fields    indicate 
the  thrift  and  enterprise  of  the  owner   and  many 
of  its  improvements  stand    as  monuments  to   his 
ability.     In  connection  with  the  raising  of  cereals 
he  also  engages  .in   stock   dealing,   having   many 


head  of  cattle  and  horses  upon  the  farm,  including 
thirty  fine  milch  cows.     The  place  is  so  complete 

I  in  all  its  appointments,  that  it  may  well  be  termed 
a  model  farm,  while  its  owner  is  classed  among 
the  representative  agriculturists  of  the  commun- 
ity. 

Mr.  Hetler  has  made  his  home  in  Lee  County 
since  1837,  having  come  to  Illinois  in  that  year 
from  Columbia  County,  Pa.,  his  birth-place.  The 
family  is  of  Holland  descent.  The  father  of  our 
subject,  Nathan  Hetler,  was  born  and  reared  in 
Luzerne  County,  Pa.,  where  he  married  Catherine 
Gulp,  whose  brother,  Jeremiah  Gulp,  a  major  of  the 

j  late  war,  was  killed  at  the  battle  of  Antietam. 
Another  brother  owned  the  Gulp  farm  on  which 
the  battle  of  Perry ville,  Ky.,  was  fought.  In  1837, 

j  Mr.  Hetler  and  his  family,  in  a  covered  wagon, 
made  an  overland  journey  to  Illinois,  camping 
out  along  the  wayside  at  night.  On  the  6th  of 
June,  they  arrived  in  Dixon  and  the  father  pur- 
chased a  claim.  Subsequently,  he  entered  another 
claim  and  after  placing  some  improvements  upon 
it  sold  and  purchased  the  farm  on  which  our  sub- 
ject and  a  brother  John  now  reside.  He  was  quite 
successful  in  his  business  transactions  and  at  the 
time  of  his  death,  in  1887,  about  four  hundred 
acres  of  land  yielded  to  him  a  golden  tribute.  His 
widow  is  still  living  at  the  age  of  ninety  years, 
and  six  of  the  children  yet  abide. 

The  boyhood  days  of  our  subject  were  prin- 
cipally spent  in  the  Keystone  State,  but  after 
coming  to  Lee  County,  he  was  married  in  Dixon 
to  Miss  Nancy  Crippen,  a  native  of  the  Empire 
State.  With  her  parents,  Seth  and  Elizabeth  (Smith) 
Crippen,  she  removed  to  Wisconsin  during  her 
girlhood  and  from  there  to  Illinois,  their  home 
being  now  in  Dixon.  Three  children  graced  the 
union  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hetler,  but  Ida,  who  became 
the  wife  of  James  Sandford,  an  attorn ey-at-law  at 
Dixon,  died  in  1888,  leaving  three  children.  Lula 
M.  is  now  the  wife  of  Edward  S.  Miller,  a  resident 
farmer  of  Nachusa  Township,  and  Minnie  is  at 
home. 

During  the  late  war,  in  1862,  Mr.  Hetler  enlisted 
as  a  private  in  the  First  Illinois  Artillery  under 
Col.  Taylor,  of  Chicago,  and  Capt.  John  W. 
Cheney,  of  Dixon.  Witli  the  regiment,  he  served 


704 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


all  through  the  campaign  down  the  Mississippi 
River  with  Grant,  and  after  the  surrender  of  Vicks- 
burg  and  Jackson,  Miss.,  returned  to  Missionary 
Ridge,  where  another  battle  occurred.  The  reg- 
iment then  went  to  relieve  Gen.  Burnside  at 
Knoxville,  Tenn.,  and  afterwards  joined  Gen. 
Sherman  at  Atlanta,  Ga.  Subsequently,  the  troops 
were  sent  back  to  fight  Hood  and  later  held  the 
reserve  at  the  battle  of  Nashville.  Mr.  Hetler  saw 
three  years  of  active  service  and  through  it  all 
was  so  fortunate  as  to  escape  injury.  At  the 
battle  of  Atlanta,  however,  his  regiment  barely 
escaped  capture  and  had  it  not  been  for  the  skill 
and  daring  of  Gen.  John  A.  Logan  and  Col.  Wol- 
cott,  would  undoubtedly  have  been  taken  pris- 
oners. 

When  the  country  no  longer  needed  his  services, 
Mr.  Hetler  was  honorably  discharged  and  at  once 
returned  to  his  home  and  family.  He  then  re- 
sumed farming  which  he  has  since  followed  with 
signal  success.  In  politics,  he  is  a  stanch  Repub- 
lican and  a  warm  advocate  of  the  party  principles. 
Frequently  has  he  been  called  upon  to  fill  public 
positions  of  honor  and  trust  and  is  now  Super- 
visor of  Dixon  Township.  The  confidence  reposed 
in  him  is  never  misplaced,  and  he  discharges  every 
duty  witli  promptness  and  fidelity.  Himself  and 
wife  attend  the  Methodist  Church  and  are  well 
and  favorably  known  throughout  this  commun- 
ity. 


&jjl  BRAM  THOMAS,  now  a  resident  of  the 
(@/LJ||  village  of  Paw  Paw,  is  worthy  of  repre- 
III  IH  sentation  in  this  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD  as 
<^jl  a  pioneer  farmer  of  Northern  Illinois.  He 
was  born  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  July  26, 
1807.  His  father,  George  W.  Thomas,  was  a  na- 
tive of  London,  England.  The  father  of  the  latter, 
who  bore  the  same  name  as  our  subject,  was  also 
of  English  birth.  He  was  an  expert  gunsmith, 
and  was  employed  in  that  capacity  by  the  British 
Government.  He  came  to  America  just  before  the 
Revolution,  and  settling  in  Philadelphia,  was  there 
engaged  in  making  guns  for  the  Colonial  army. 
Many  years  after  the  close  of  the  war,  he  removed 


to  Cumberland  County,  in  the  same  State,  and 
spent  his  last  days  there. 

The  father  of  our  subject  learned  the  trade  of  a 
blacksmith  in  his  youth.  He  removed  from 
Philadelphia  to  Cumberland  County  in  1808,  and 
bought  two  hundred  acres  land  of  a  few  miles  from 
Carlisle.  He  opened  a  smithy  and  worked  at  his 
trade  a  part  of  the  time,  and  devoted  the  rest  of 
the  time  to  his  farm.  He  made  all  the  nails  that 
he  used  and  all  the  horse  sbo£s,  and  was  a  clever 
mechanic.  He  lived  on  his  farm  in  peace  and 
contentment  for  upwards  of  forty  years,  and  then 
took  up  his  residence  in  a  village  near  by,  in  Perry 
County,  where  his  life  was  rounded  out  at  a  good 
old  age.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  Hack- 
ett.  Her  father  was  a  native  of  England,  and  he 
too  was  a  gunsmith  like  the  paternal  grandfather 
of  our  subject,  and  came  to  America  in  the  same 
vessel  with  him.  He  worked  with  him  at  his  trade 
in  Philadelphia,  and  after  the  Revolution  estab- 
lished a  shop  on  Chestnut  Street,  now  the  principal 
business  street  of  the  Quaker  City.  From  there  he 
went  to  Cumberland  County,  and  bought  a  farm 
near  Carlisle,  where  he  lived  until  death  claimed 
him.  The  mother  of  our  subject  died  on  the  old 
homestead. 

Our  subject  was  very  young  when  his  parents 
took  him  to  their  future  home  in  Cumberland 
County,  and  there  he  received  his  education.  The 
little  lad  early  commenced  to  work  on  his  father's 
farm,  and  assisted  him  in  its  management  until 
1846,  when  he  left  the  shelter  of  the  parental  roof 
to  go  out  into  the  world.  He  started  Westward 
and  proceeded  with  a  team  to  Pittsburg,  from 
there  went  by  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Rivers  to 
St.  Louis,  and  thence  by  team  to  St.  Charles,  Mo., 
where  he  spent  the  winter.  In  the  spring  of  1847, 
he  made  his  way  with  a  team  to  the  wilds  of  Wis- 
consin, and  made  a  claim  to  a  tract  of  timber  land 
twelve  miles  west  of  Milwaukee,  which  was  then  a 
small  place  in  the  midst  of  a  sparsely  settled  coun- 
try. Mr.  Thomas  built  a  log  house  on  his  land, 
splitting  clapboards  for  the  roof,  and  by  down- 
right hard  labor  he  managed  to  clear  ten  acres  of 
his  claim,  which  he  then  sold  for  $175,  which  was 
an  advance  of  the  cost  price.  Coming  then  to 
Illinois,  he  rented  a  farm  in  Kendall  County  for 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


705 


two  3'ears.  His  next  move  was  to  Winnebago 
County,  where  he  rented  a  farm  for  cash  rent,  and 
as  he  was  unfortunate  in  losing  his  crops  by  the 
wet  weather,  it  took  all  his  stock  to  pay  the  rent. 
He  "rented  that  place  only  a  year,  and  the  follow- 
ing year  worked  by  the  day.  After  that  he  bought 
a  farm  of  eighty  acres  ill  De  Kalb  County,  paying 
$75  in  cash,  and  going  in  debt  for  the  remaining 
$325.  Success  rewarded  his  efforts  that  year,  and 
he  was  enabled  to  pay  his  entire  indebtedness.  At 
the  expiration  of  two  j'ears,  he  sold  that  place  for 
$800,  double  what  he  paid  for  it,  and  bought  an- 
other farm  of  one  hundred  and  forty  acres  near 
by,  for  $1,600.  For  sixteen  years  he  lived  on  that 
farm,  adding  to  its  acreage  from  time  to  time,  un- 
til he  had  two  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  well- 
improved  land.  From  there  he  removed  to  Men- 
dota,  and  after  residing  in  that  city  a  year  bought 
a  farm  three  miles  out,  and  made  it  his  dwelling 
place  the  ensuing  three  years.  Coming  to  Paw 
Paw  at  the  end  of  that  time,  he  bought  a  home  in 
this  village,  in  which  he  remained  six  years.  During 
that  time  he  divided  his  farm  into  lots,  which  he 
sold  at  a  good  price.  After  he  had  thus  disposed  of  his 
farm,  he  went  to  Kendall  County  and  once  again 
took  up  his  abode  within  its  limits,  buying  a  home 
in  the  village  of  Bristol.  He  terminated  his  resi- 
dence in  that  place  at  the  end  of  the  year,  and  for 
four  years  made  Mt.  Morris  his  home.  He  then 
came  back  to  Paw  Paw,  and  buying  a  farm  south 
of  the  grove,  he  lived  on  it  one  year.  Disposing 
of  that  farm  advantageously,  he  bought  a  home  in 
tire  village,  but  only  lived  in  it  two  years,  when 
he  bought  a  farm  on  the  Chicago  it  Dixon  Road. 
In  the  fall  of  1891,  he  sold  that  for  a  goodly  sum 
of  money,  and  once  more  became  a  resident  of  Paw 
Paw,  where  he  is  at  present  making  his  home. 

Mr.  Thomas  was  married  the  first  time  in  1837 
to  Miss  Susanna  Kunej7,  a  native  of  Pennsylvania, 
and  a  daughter  of  Samuel  Kuney.  She  died  in  De 
Kalb  County,  111.,  and  these  are  the  six  children 
living  born  of  her  wedded  life  with  our  subject: 
Samuel.  David,  Mary,  Daniel,  Laura  and  Amanda. 
Her  sons.  Ceorgc  and  John  William,  are  dead. 
Samuel.  George  and  David  served  in  the  late  war. 
The  second  marriage  of  our  subject,  which  took 
place  June  17, 1868,  was  with  Miss  Hannah  B.  Cook, 


a  native  of  Campion,  N.  II.  Her  father,  Zeledee 
Cook,  was  also  a  native  of  Campton,  and  was  a 
son  of  Cutting  Cook,  who  spent  the  latter  part  of 
his  life  in  Campton  as  a  farmer.  Zeledee  Cook 
was  reared  and  married  among  his  native  hills. 
He  is  a  farmer  by  occupation,  and  went  from  New 
Hampshire  to  Dodge  County,  Minn.,  where  he  is 
living  on  a  few  miles  from  Mantorville.  His  wife 
has  died  since  their  removal  to  Minnesota.  Her 
maiden  name  was  Clarissa  Baker,  and  she  was  born 
in  Campton,  N.  H.,  a  daughter  of  Moses  and 
Mary  (Wyatt)  Baker.  Our  venerable  subject  is  a 
valued  member  of  the  United  Brethren  Church,  and 
throughout  a  long  and  honorable  life  he  has  ever 
been  a  consistent  Christian,  and  has  always  so  lived 
as  to  win  the  trust  and  full  respect  of  his  follow- 
men  in  whatsoever  community  he  has  dwelt.  Mrs. 
Thomas  is  an  active  member  of  the  Free-will 
Baptist  Church,  and  is  true  to  her  religious  con- 
victions. 


J  MADISON  SANTEE  was  born  on  the  farm 
where  he  now  resides,  September  11,  1845. 
His  birthplace  was  a  little  log  cabin  situated 
on  section  10,  Dixon  Township,  overlooking 
Rock  River.  The  claim  had  been  purchased  by  his 
father,  James  M.  Santee,  in  June,  1837,  and  was 
then  an  unbroken  tract  of  land  upon  which  not  a 
a  furrow  had  been  turned  or  an  improvement 
made.  The  father  there  erected  a  log  cabin,  and  to 
the  cultivation  of  the  land  devoted  his  energies 
until  his  death,  which  occurred  in  December,  1873. 
The  farm  at  that  time  comprised  two  hundred  and 
forty  acres.  This  locality  was  chosen  on  account 
of  the  water  facilities  and  the  timber  thereon,  both 
of  these  advantages  being  sought  by  the  early  set- 
tlers. 

Mr.  Santee,  Sr.,  resided  in  Dixon  Township,  be- 
fore the  division  of  Lee  and  Ogle  Counties,  and 
was  one  of  the  first  settlers  on  Rock  River  between 
Dixon  and  Grand  Detour.  He  took  an  active  in- 
terest in  all  public  affairs  and  was  a  leading  citizen 
of  this  community.  He  was  born  in  Salem  Town- 


706 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


ship,  Luzerne  County,  Pa.,  where  he  resided  until 
Ids  emigration  to  Illinois,  and  there  in  February, 
1837,  had  married  Miss  Margaret  Klintop,  also  a 
native  of  the  same  county.  Soon  afterward  the 
young  couple  started  on  an  overland  trip  along 
the  national  road  to  Chicago,  and  thence  westward 
to  Lee  County,  111.  Mrs.  Santee  yet  survives  her 
husband  and  is  living  on  the  old  homestead  at  the 
age  of  ninety  years.  She  is  a  Methodist  in  relig- 
ious belief,  as  was  her  husband,  who  in  political 
affairs  was  a.  Republican. 

Our  subject  is  the  youngest  of  a  family  of  four 
children,  but  Caroline  died  in  childhood  and 
Charles  fell  in  the  late  war,  being  shot  by  a  rebel 
at  Murfreesboro,Tenn.,  January  31, 1862.  He  had 
enlisted  in  1861,  as  a  member  of  Company  C,  Thirty- 
Fourth  Illinois  Infantry,  under  Capt.  D3rsart,  and 
at  the  time  of  his  death  was  Color-Bearer  of  the 
regiment.  One  sister,  Lydia,  is  now  living  with 
and  caring  for  her  mother. 

Under  the  sheltering  roof  of  his  parents'  home, 
Madison  Santee  was  reared  to  manhood,  among 
scenes  of  pioneer  life,  and  was  early  inured  to  farm 
labor.  That  occupation  he  has  followed  since  at- 
taining to  mature  years,  and  is  numbered  among 
the  enterprising  and  successful  agriculturists  of 
the  community.  In  Dixon  Township  he  was  united 
in  marriage  with  Miss  Susanna,  daughter  of  John 
and  Martha  (Cooper)  Blackman,  who  were  natives 
of  England,  as  is  also  Mrs.  Santee.  They  emigrated 
to  America  when  she  was  a  child  of  four  years  and 
settled  in  Illinois.  The  father  died  in  Dixon 
Township,  in  July,  1885,  at  an  advanced  age.  His 
widow,  with  her  two  children,  Edward  and  Estella, 
now  resides  on  the  old  home  farm,  on  Rock  River. 
Their  family  was  a  large  one,  and  eight  children 
are  still  living.  • 

Mrs.  Santee  acquired  her  education  in  the  schools 
of  this  community,  the  days  of  her  maidenhood 
were  here  spent  and  after  she  had  attained  to 
womanhood  she  here  gave  her  hand  in  marriage 
to  our  subject.  Three  children  grace  their  union: 
Charles,  Martha  and  Wilbur,  and  the  family  circle 
yet  remains  unbroken.  In  politics,  Mr.  Santee  is  an 
advocate  of  the  principles  of  Democracy.  His  wife 
is  a  member  of  the  Lutheran  Church  and  both  are 
well  and  favorably  known  throughout  this  com- 


munity, where  they  have  so  long  resided.  Mr. 
Santee  is  a  worthy  representative  of  one  of  the 
honored  pioneer  families,  and  his  life  has  been 
such  as  to  win  him  universal  confidence  and  re- 
gard. 


§HOMAS  G.  TAYLER,  M.  D.  The  subject 
of  this  sketch,  who  is  a  prominent  physi- 
cian of  Ash  ton,  was  born  in  Shabbona,  De 
Kalb  County,  111.,  September  9,  1862.  His  father 
was  the  late  Thomas  G.  Taylor,  a  native  of  Edin- 
burg,  Scotland.  His  mother,  whose  maiden  name 
was  Lucy  Moysey,  was  born  in  London,  England. 
They  emigrated  to  this  county  when  young,  and 
were  married  in  Hinsdale,  this  State,  and  settled 
in  Shabbona,  where  they  lived  until  the  fall  of 
1862. 

In  that  year  Mr.  Taylor  enlisted  in  Company  E, 
One  Hundred  and  Fifth  Illinois  Infantry,  in  the 
late  war,  serving  until  February  14,  1864,  when  he 
was  killed  while  on  picket  duty  before  Nashville, 
Tenn.  He  was  at  that  time  First  Sergeant  of  his 
company,  his  commission  as  Lieutenant  having 
been  signed,  but  not  being  received  by  him  before 
bis  death.  After  the  death  of  her  husband,  Mrs. 
Tayler  removed  to  East  Paw  Paw,  where  she  re- 
mained twenty-two  years.  She  then  came  to  Ash- 
ton  and  lived  two  years,  but  is  now  a  resident  of 
Paw  Paw. 

The  parents  of  our  subject  had  a  family  of  four 
children,  two  sons  and  two  daughters,  of  whom 
our  subject  is  the  youngest.  He  was  reared  to 
manhood  in  Paw  Paw  Township,  DeKalb  County, 
on  a  farm,  where  he  lived  until  1887.  His  educa- 
tion was  acquired  at  a  seminary  in  East  Paw 
Paw  and  at  the  Northwestern  University  at  Evans- 
ton,  after  which  he  took  up  the  study  of  medicine 
and  was  graduated  from  the  Jefferson  Medical 
College  in  Philadelphia,  in  1886.  He  began  the 
practice  of  his  profession  in  East  Paw  Paw,  where 
he  remained  for  about  one  year,  when  he  removed 
to  Ashton,  where  he  has  since  resided.  He  enjoys 
a  good  practice  and  is  the  leading  physician  of 
the  place. 


tt«tt»twanr 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


ill 


Dr.  Tayler  was  married  in  Ash  ton,  October  29, 
1889,  to  Miss  Victoria  Brown,  daughter  of  James 
and  Jane  (Walker)  Brown,  who  are  natives  of  Ire- 
land. Dr.  Tayler  and  his  wife  are  active  members 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  of  which  he  is 
Steward.  He  belongs  to  the  Central  Illinois  Med- 
ical Association  and  the  Illinois  State  Medical 
Society.  In  politics,  he  is  a  Republican. 

Dr.  Tayler  is  one  of  the  public-spirited,  progres- 
sive citizens  of  his  town  and  county,  is  influential 
in  all  matters  connected  with  public  interests,  and 
enjoys  the  confidence  and  esteem  of  all  with  whom 
he  is  connected  in  business,  as  well  as  the  affection- 
ate regard  of  his  more  intimate  associates.  His 
practice  is  large  and  constantly  increasing,  and  he 
is  deserving  of  all  the  good  fortune  that  may  be 
allotted  to  him. 


JACOB  ROSENKRANS  came  to  Lee  County 
many  years  ago  in  the  full  flush  and    vigor 
of  early    manhood,  with  the    intention  of 
building  a   home  for  himself.     His   means 
were  limited,  and  in  order  to  buy   a  farm,   which 
was  the  height  of   his  ambition,  he  had  to  earn 
money  to  purchase  the  land.     He  accomplished  his 
purpose,  and  to-day    is  one  of  the   substantial  far- 
mers of  Viola  Township. 

Mr.  Roseiikrans  was  born  in  the  town  of  Wall- 
pack,  Sussex  County,  N.  J.,  October  16.  1831. 
His  father,  Avert  Rosenkrans,  was  also  a  native  of 
that  State,  and  was  a  son  of  Col.  Benjamin  Rosen- 
krans, who  is  thought  to  have  been  born  in  the 
same  town  as  our  subject,  the  date  of  his  birth 
March  31,  1770.  He  had  five  brothers  whose 
names  were  Lcvi,  Simeon,  Jacob,  Aleck  and  John. 
Col.  Rosenkrans  was  reared  on  a  farm,  and  farm- 
ing was  his  life-long  occupation.  He  owned  a 
large  tract  of  land  in  Sussex  County,  N.  J.,  and 
spent  his  last  years  there.  At  his  death  his  body 
was  interred  in  the  Presbyterian  Churchj-ard  in 
Sandiston,  that  county.  He  was  Colonel  of  a 
regiment  during  the  War  of  lx\->,  and  was  a  brave 
and  fearless  officer.  The  maiden  name  of  his 
wife  was  Margaret  Schoonover,  and  her  death  also 
35 


occurred  on  the  old  homestead  in  Wallpack. 
They  had  a  family  of  fourteen  children,  namely: 
Rachel,  John,  Roanna,  Nicholas,  Avert,  Levi, 
Maria,  Abraham,  Elijah,  Sarah,  Amanda,  Lucinda, 
Anson  and  Margaret.  Anson  died  in  infancy. 

Avert  Rosenkrans  was  reared  in  the  paternal 
home,  early  gained  a  good  insight  into  farming, 
and  when  he  arrived  at  years  of  discretion  adopted 
agriculture  as  his  life-calling.  He  bought  a 
farm  in  Wallpack,  which  he  occupied  many  years, 
and  then  selling  it,  bought  a  home  in  the  same 
township,  and  retiring  to  it  to  enjoy  his  ample  in- 
come, spent  his  remaining  days  therein.  He 
was  twice  married,  his  first  wife,  whose  maiden 
name  was  Mary  Smith,  dying  in  1834  in  Wallpack, 
where  she  spent  her  entire  life.  She  left  three 
children:  our  subject,  Benjamin  and  Phebe. 
Benjamin  was  a  successful  farmer  of  Sussex  Coun- 
ty, N.  J.,  owning  a  well-improved  farm  of  two 
hundred  and  forty  acres,  and  at  his  death,  in  1875 
left  a  wife  and  two  children:  Philip  and  Eugene. 
Phebe  married  John  Swartwood,  a  mechanic  resi- 
ding in  Bushkill,  Pa. 

When  three  years  old  our  subject  was  orphaned 
by  the  death  of  his  mother  and  was  reared  by  his 
step-mother,  who  gave  him  good  care  in  his  child- 
hood. He  had  nine  half-brothers  and  sisters, 
namely:  Martin,  a  successful  lawyer  of  Newton, 
N.  J.;  John,  who  operates  the  old  homestead  of 
two  hundred  and  eighty  acres;  Seeley,  who  is  a  mer- 
chant at  East  Stroudsburg,  Pa.;  Sarah,  Mauda, 
Maria,  Alice,  Aquilla,  and  Celestia,  all  of  whom 
are  married  and  reside  in  New  Jersey  with  the 
exception  of  Maria,  whose  home  is  in  Dakota. 

In  much  the  usual  manner  of  farmer  lads,  Ja- 
cob Rosenkrans  passed  his  childhood  in  attendance 
at  the  district  school  and  doing  chores  on  the  farm. 
He  remained  at  home  and  aided  his  father  in  the 
cultivation  of  the  farm  until  1856.  He  had  heard 
much  of  the  great  Prairie  State  and  the  many  ad- 
vantages offered  by  its  fertile  soil  to  the  active 
young  farmer,  and  accordingly  in  the  year  above- 
mentioned  he  came  hither  when  the  country  was 
still  in  the  hands  of  the  pioneers.  Not  having 
money  enough  to  invest  in  land  he  worked  on  a 
farm  by  the  month  for  a  time,  and,  was  finally  en- 
abled to  buy  eighty  acres  of  desirable  land,  which 


712 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


is  now  included  in  his  present  farm.  He  has  added 
to  his  original  purchase  at  different  times,  and 
now  has  two  hundred  and  eighty  acres  of  as  product- 
ive farming  land  as  lies  in  Viola  Township.  Its 
fields  are  admirably  tilled  and  the  improvements 
on  the  place  are  of  a  substantial  and  durable  or- 
der. 

The  marriage  of  our  subject  with  Miss  Martha 
Stevens  was  solemnized  February  26",  1861,  and 
to  her  helpfulness,  wise  council  and  devotion  to 
household  interests,  he  attributes  much  of  his 
good  fortune  in  life.  They  have  two  children 
living,  Mary  and  Frank.  The  latter  is  a  successful 
teacher  in  the  public  schools.  Mary  is  a  consis- 
tent member  of  the  United  Brethren  Church. 
Mrs.  Rosenkrans  is  a  native  of  Wayne  County,  Pa., 
born  October  7,  1830,  and  is  a  sister  of  N.  D.  Ste- 
vens, of  whom  a  sketch  appears  elsewhere  in  this 
volume.  Our  subject  and  his  amiable  wife  are 
people  of  high  character,  possessing  many  pleas- 
ant personal  attributes  and  none  in  their  commu- 
nity are  more  worthy  of  esteem  than  they. 

In  connection  with  this  sketch  may  be  found  a 
lithographic  portrait  of  Mr.  Rosenkrans. 


eHARLES  E.  MOELLER  was  born  in  Palmyra 
Township,  September  21,  1851,  and  is  now 
a  valued  member  of  that  class  of  its  citizens 
whoso  materially  contribute  to  its  growth  and  solid 
prosperity  by  their  ability  as  practical,  thoughtful, 
enterprising  and  hard-working  farmers  and  stock- 
raisers.  The  pleasant  old  homestead  on  section 
26,  where  he  has  lived  for  many  years,  and  which 
once  belonged  to  his  father,  is  now  the  property  of 
our  subject,  and  the  stock  that  he  raises  upon  it, 
together  with  the  goodty  harvests  that  he  reaps 
from  its  well-tilled  fields,  bring  him  in  a  comfort- 
able income  every  year. 

Augustus  Moeller,  the  father  of  our  subject,  was 
born  in  Germany,  November  18,  1807,  his  birth- 
place being  in  the  Kingdom  of  Prussia.  He  was  a 
descendant  of  an  ancient  family  of  pure  German 
stock,  and  several  of  the  name  were  Lutheran 


ministers  for  many  generations,  and  filled  their 
;    places  with  honor  to  themselves  and  to  the  family. 
The  father  of  our  subject  was  carefully  reared  and 
well  educated  in  his  native  country,  and  was  there 
married    to    Caroline  Barthel,  who  was  born  and 
|    brought  up  in  the  same  neighborhood  as  himself, 
and  was  of  a  good  German  family,  which  had  been 
j   represented  in  that  kingdom   from  ancient  times. 
j   After  the  birth  of  five  of  their  children,  Augustus 
Moeller  and  wife  decided  to  emigrate  to  America, 
where  they  hoped  to  do  better  for  their  offspring 
than   was   possible  in  the  Old  Country.     They  set 
forth  on  their  long  journey  in  1850,  taking  passage 
in  a  vessel  that  conveyed  them  to  Hull,  England, 
where  they  embarked  on  an  American-bound  ship, 
which  landed  them  at  a  Canadian  port  seven  weeks 
later.     Thence  they  made  their  way  to  the  States, 
and  first  settled  in  Palmyra  Township  on  a   new 
and  partly  broken  farm,  which   they    rented  and 
operated  some  ten  years.     Mr.  Moeller  then  pur- 
chased the  farm  on  section  26  of  the  same  town- 
j   ship,  which  is  now  owned  by  his  son,  of  whom  we 
I    write.     Here  the  father  spent  the  rest  of  his  days, 
and  June  23,  1887,  passed  from  death  to  the  life 
beyond  at  a  ripe  old  age.     His  adopted  township 
had  in  him  a  good  citizen,  who  was  industrious  in 
i   his   habits,   was   peaceful   and  kindly  in  his  dis- 
|   position,    and    a    truly    pious    man,  true  to  his 
I    religion  as  a  Lutheran.    In  politics  he  was  a  Demo- 
crat.    His  wife  had  preceded  him  in  death,  dying 
j   on  the  farm  in  1883,  at  the  age  of  seventy  years. 
1   She  was  a  Lutheran  in  religion,  and  was  a  most 
estimable  woman. 

Our  subject  is  the  youngest  of  the  family,  and 
the  only  one  born  in  this  country.  All  of  his 
brothers  and  sisters  are  living  but  Richard.  The 
others  are  Theodore,  a  grocer  on  First  Street, 
Dixon,  who  married  Miss  Ellen  Seavey;  Rosalie, 
wife  of  John  Catta,  a  farmer  and  nurseryman  in 
Carroll  County,  not  many  miles  from  Lanark; 
Herman,  a  farmer  in  Saline  County,  Neb.,  who 
married  Miss  Hattie  Phillips;  and  Natalia,  who 
lives  with  her  brother,  our  subject,  and  carefully 
looks  after  his  personal  comfort.  He  and  his 
sisters  and  brothers  are  all  members  in  high  stand- 
ing in  the  Lutheran  Church,  and  give  generously 
to  the  support  of  the  faith  so  dear  to  their  fathers 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


713 


since  Martin  Luther  began  the  work  of  reformation 
in  the  church.  The  brothers  are  all  stanch  Repub- 
licans, standing  firmly  by  their  party,  whether  it  is 
triumphant  or  defeated. 

Mr.  Moeller  has  passed  his  entire  life  in  Palmyra 
Township,  obtaining  his  education  in  its  schools, 
and  learning  the  principles  of  agriculture  on  his 
father's  farm,  which  is  now  his,  having  been  in  his 
possession  for  the  last  fifteen  years.  It  comprises 
eighty  acies  of  land  that  have  been  brought  to  a 
high  state  of  cultivation,  and  it  is  amply  provided 
with  good  buildings  for  every  purpose. 


ERBES  is  deserving  of  great  credit 
for  what  he  has  accomplished  since  he  came 
to  Lee  County,  many  years  ago,  and  his  ca- 
reer as  a  farmer  illustrates  what  a  man  may  do 
who  works  steadily  and  with  a  set  purpose,  as  he 
has  thereby  placed  himself  among  the  solid,  well- 
to-do  men  of  his  calling,  who  are  carrying  on  the 
agricultural  affairs  of  Willow  Creek  Township, 
where  he  has  a  farm  that  ranks  with  the  best  in 
its  vicinity. 

The  village  of  Apenheim,  Hesse-Darmstadt, 
Germany,  is  the  native  place  of  our  subject,  and 
there  he  first  opened  his  eyes  to  the  light,  June  24, 
1824.  His  father,  who  bore  the  same  name  as  him- 
self, was  born  in  the  same  village,  as  was  his  father 
before  him,  who  was  a  farmer  and  life-long  resi- 
dent of  the  place.  George  Erbes,  Sr.,  learned  the 
trade  of  a  carpenter,  but  did  not  work  at  it  long, 
giving  his  attention,  instead,  to  various  other 
kinds  of  employment.  He  came  to  America  in 
1855,  and  the  short  space  of  life  that  remained  to 
him  was  passed  in  the  home  of  his  son,  our  sub- 
ject, his  death  occurring  in  May,  1856.  The 
maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  Philipena  Schwaben- 
lant,  and  she  was  also  a  native  of  that  far-away 
German  village,  which  was  the  birthplace  of  her 
husband  and  children.  She,  too,  spent  the  latter 
part  of  her  life  in  this  country,  dying  in  1859,  in 
the  home  of  her  daughter  in  Bureau  County.  Of 
her  nine  children,  these  four  grew  to  maturity: 
George,  Charlotte,  Frederick  and  Catherina. 


In  the  excellent  schools  of  his  native  land,  our 
subject  obtained  a  good  practical  education,  at- 
tending school  steadily  until  he  was  fourteen 
3'ears  old,  in  accordance  with  the  law  of  his  coun- 
try. After  leaving  school  he  worked  out  by  the 
year,  receiving  $28  and  his  board  in  repayment  for 
his  services  for  that  length  of  time.  Ambitious 
to  do  more  for  himself  than  was  possible  in  the 
Fatherland,  he  resolved  upon  emigration  to  the 
United  States  of  America,  in  1853.  Accordingly, 
he  set  sail  from  Havre,  in  April,  in  the  ship.  "Hel- 
vetia," and  landed  in  New  York  thirty-one  days 
after  he  had  embarked  on  the  voyage.  He  came 
directly  to  Illinois,  and  took  up  his  abode  in  Bu- 
reau County.  When  he  began  life  there,  he  was  in 
debt  for  a  sum  of  money  that  he  had  borrowed  to 
pay  his  fare  from  New  York,  and  his  first  work 
was  to  earn  money  to  discharge  that  indebtedness. 
He  engaged  in  farming  by  the  year,  at  $110  for -a 
year's  work.  He  was  afterward  employed  by  the 
month  for  three  years,  and,  carefully  saving  his 
earnings,  at  the  end  of  that  time  lie  applied  them 
to  renting  1-md  in  Bureau  County,  until  1858.  In 
that  year  he  came  to  Lee  County,  and  the  two  sub- 
sequent years  rented  land  in  Sublette  Township. 
In  1860,  he  came  to  Willow  Creek  Township,  and 
the  ensuing  three  years  farmed  here  as  a  renter. 
He  then  bought  eighty  acres  of  land,  comprising 
a  tract  of  prairie,  located  on  the  west  third  of  the 
northeast  quarter  of  section  11,  the  price  being 
$10  an  acre,  with  ten  years'  time  to  pay  for  it,  at  ten 
per  cent,  interest.  This  proved  to  be  a  fine  invest- 
ment, and  its  possession  has  made  him  independ- 
ent. He  has  greatly  increased  its  value  by  the 
substantial  improvements  that  he  has  been  con- 
stantly making,  including  ihe  erection  of  a  fine 
set  of  well-ordered  buildings,  and  the  planting  of 
the  fruit  and  shade  trees  that  so  profusely  adoni 
the  place.  Our  subject  has  added  more  land  to 
his  original  purchase,  and  now  has  two  hundred 
and  forty  acres  of  highly  improved  land. 

Mr.  Erbes  was  married,  in  1854,  to  Miss  Eliza- 
beth Grossrardt,  who  was  born  in  the  same  village 
as  her  husband,  December  27,  1826.  Her  father 
was  Wilhelm  Grossrardt,  and  he,  too,  was  a  native 
of  Apenheim,  as  was  his  father,  William  Gross- 
rardt, who  carried  on  farming  there  until  his 


714 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


death.  Wilhelm  Grossrardt  was  bred  to  the  life  of  ' 
a  fanner  on  his  father's  farm.  He  came  to  Amer- 
ica in  1853.  with  his  wife  and  twelve  children, 
sailing  from  Havre,  April  5,  in  the  ship  "Ger- 
mania,"  and  landing  at  New  York  thirty-four  days 
later.  He  and  his  family  came  to  Illinois,  and 
after  a  short  stay  in  Bureau  County,  he  bought  a 
farm  in  La  Salle  County,  and  he  and  his  good  wife 
spent  their  remaining  days  on  that.  The  maiden 
name  of  his'wife  was  Katherine  Schwadenlant,  and 
she  was  a  native  of  Hesse-Darmstadt  likewise. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Erbes  have  four  children,  namely: 
George  L.,  Frederick  W..  William  D.  and  Kather- 
ina  E.  The  family  are  all  members  of  the  Luth- 
eran Church,  and  stand  high  in  the  community  as 
people  of  intelligence  and  sterling  worth.  Mr. 
Erbes,  as  will  be  seen  by  a  perusal  of  this  sketch,  is 
a  genuine  self-made  man,  who  has  made  the  most 
of  his  opportunities,  and  all  who  know  him  are 
heartily  glad  to  see  him  prosper  as  lie  deserves. 


JOHN  C.  JACOBS,  Superintendent  of  the 
Amboy  Division  of  the  Illinois  Central  Rail- 
road, has  held  this  position  since  October  8, 
1856,  and  now  enjoys  the  distinction  of  hav- 
ing served  as  Superintendent  for  a  longer  period 
than  any  other  man  in  the  employ  of  the  railway 
company.  Through  the  exercise  of  patient  perse- 
verance, he  has  risen  from  an  humble  position  to 
one  of  great  trust  and  responsibility,  which  calls 
into  activity  his  keenest  powers  of  intellect  and 
most  acute  perceptive  qualities.  His  residence  in 
Amboy  dates  back  to  the  year  1856,  when  he  suc- 
ceeded James  C.  Clark  as  Superintendent  of  the 
Northern  Division  of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad, 
between  Dubuque  and  Centralia,  a  distance  of  three 
hundred  and  forty-three  miles.  In  January,  1891, 
a  new  division  was  formed,  and  the  Northern  Divi- 
sion, which  was  shortened,  is  now  known  as  the 
Amboy  Division  of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad, 
extending  from  Freeport  to  Centralia. 

The  ancestors  from  whom  Mr.  Jacobs  is  de- 
scended originally  came  from  England.  His  par- 
ents, Corbin  and  Mary  (Rice)  Jacobs,  were  natives 


of  Frederick,  Md.,  and  the  father  was  a  soldier  in 
the  War  of  1812.  In  the  pursuit  of  his  trade  as  a 
contractor  and  builder,  he  erected  man}7  fine  resi- 
dences, as  well  as  a  number  of  churches  and  public 
buildings,  in  the  vicinity  of  Harper's  Ferry.  His 
entire  life  was  passed  in  Maryland,  witli  the  excep- 
tion of  about  three  years,  during  which  he  made 
his  home  near  Chillicotlie,  Ohio.  A  sincere  Chris- 
tian, he.  held  membership  in  the  Episcopal  Church. 
He  died  September  17,  1832,  when  forty-five  years 
old,  and  his  wife  passed  away  in  1844,  at  the  age 
of  fifty-four  years. 

The  parents  of  our  subject  reared  a  family  of 
six  children,  four  sons  and  two  daughters:  Ben- 
jamin L. -was  first  engaged  as  a  clerk,  later  as  a 
painter,  and  afterward  became  military  director  of 
railroads  in  the  South,  occupying  that  position 
until  his  death  in  1863;  John  C.,  our  subject,  was 
the  second  child,  and  was  born  near  Chillicothe, 
Ohio,  November  15,  1819;  Oliver  C.  was  for  some 
years  in  the  employ  of  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Rail- 
road, and  later  settled  on  a  farm  near  Palmyra, 
Mo.,  where  he  died  in  1888;  Maria  married  Sam- 
uel Greggs,  and  died  in  Wheeling,  W.  Va.,  in 
1878;  Ann  V.  became  the  wife  of  Thomas  Martin, 
a  stonecutter  in  Baltimore,  Md..  and  died  in  that 
city  in  1877;  William  F.,  a  graduate  of  William 
and  Mary  College  in  Virginia,  became  a  minister 
in  the  Episcopal  Church,  and  died  at  Alexandria. 

In  Frederick  County,  Md.,  John  C.Jacobs  passed 
his  boyhood  days  and  was  but  thirteen  years  old 
when,  on  account  of  his  father's  death,  it  devolved 
upon  him  to  assist  in  the  support  of  the  family. 
His  school  days  were  thus  brought  to  a  sudden 
close,  and  he  commenced  to  work  on  a  farm,  where 
he  continued  for  one  year  at  a  compensation  of  $15. 
In  1837  he  entered  the  employ  of  the  Baltimore  & 
Ohio  Railway  Company,  working  on  the  track  at 
eighty-seven  and  one-half  cents  per  day,  from 
which  humble  beginning  he  rose  to  the  position  of 
brakeman,  fireman  and  engineer  successively.  In 
1850  he  became  supervisor  of  trains  over  the 
mountains  during  the  construction  of  tunnels  at 
different  places  on  the  main  line. 

As  above  stated,  Mr.  Jacobs  came  to  Amboy  in 
1856,  and  here  accepted  the  position  which  he  still 
retains.  His  pleasant  home  on  Main  Street  is  pro- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


715 


sided  over  by  the  lady  with  whom  he  was  united 
in  marriage,  November  4,  1846.  She  was  Miss  Har- 
riet A.,  daughter  of  Samuel  H.  Hough,  of  Middle- 
town,  Conn.,  and  was  there  born  January  21,  1821. 
Four  children  blessed  the  union  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Jacobs,  namely:  Mollie,  who  died  at  the  age  of 
twenty  years;  John  C.,  who  died  in  infancy;  Will- 
iam F.,  who  is  trainmaster  for  the  Illinois  Central 
Railroad  at  Amboy;  and  Charles  C.,  a  mechanical 
engineer,  who  has  been  in  the  employ  of  the  rail- 
way company,  but  is  at  present  in  charge  of  the 
electric  light  system  at  Amboy.  Mr.  Jacobs  finds 
a  religious  home  in  the  Congregational  Church,  to 
which  the  members  of  his  family  also  belong. 


OELSON  F.  SWARTWOUT  is  at  the   head 
of  an  important   industry   as  a  manufac- 
turer of  tile  and  brick  at  Dixon.     He  is 
a  native  of  Illinois,  born  at  Rock  Island,  February 
4,  1844,  and  is  a  worthy  descendant  of  some   of 
the  old  pioneer  stock  of  the  State.     He  was  one  of 
the  many  brave  citizen-soldiers  that  this  Common- 
wealth sent  to  the  front  during  the  Civil  War. 

Our  subject  is  a  son  of  Nelson  J.  Swartwout, 
who  was  born  in  Otsego  County,  N.  Y.,  September 
2,  1814,  his  father  being  Francis  Swartwout.  The 
father  of  our  subject  was  reared  and  educated  in 
the  State  of  his  birth,  and  served  an  apprentice- 
ship to  a  blacksmith  to  learn  that  trade  and  that 
of  wagon-making  at  Ballston  Spa.  In  1837  he 
came  to  Illinois,  making  the  entire  journey  with 
a  horse  and  carriage.  He  did  not  locate  aU  that 
time  in  this  State,  however,  but  crossing  the  Miss- 
issippi found  employment  in  the  Government  shop 
at  Davenport,  Iowa,  lie  worked  in  that  a  year, 
and  then  opened  a  shop  of  his  own  in  that  city, 
and  carried  on  business  there  for  a  3rear.  He  then 
re-crussed  the  Mississippi  River,  and  took  up  his 
quarters  at  Rock  Island,  where  he  had  previously 
bought  properly.  He  followed  his  trade  in  that 
place  until  1845,  and  in  that  year  came  to  Lee 
County,  making  the  removal  with  teams,  and 
bringing  all  his  household  goods  along,  as  there 
were  then  no  railways  in  Illinois,  and  he  was 


thereafter  numbered  among  the  most  active  and 
useful  pioneers  of  this  section.  He  bought  a  small 
farm  at  Lee  Centre,  and  the  family  moved  into 
the  log  house  that  stood  on  the  place,  and  occu- 
pied it  a  few  years  until  he  erected  a  more  commo- 
dious frame  dwelling.  He  built  a  smith}-,  and 
engaged  at  his  trado  in  connection  with  farming, 
continuing  to  live  on  that  farm  until  1855,  when 
he  took  up  his  residence  on  a  farm  that  he  pur- 
chased at  Sublette.  The  ensuing  two  years  he 
carried  on  a  lumber  business,  and  at  the  same  time 
made  some  improvements  on  his  farm,  finally 
devoting  his  whole  attention  to  it,  and  made  his 
home  there  until  he  folded  his  hands  in  death  in 
1868.  He  and  his  good  wife  were  stanch  Chris- 
tians, and  were  devoted  members  of  the  Baptist 
Church,  and  reared  their  children  in  that  faith. 

The  venerable  mother  of  our  subject  now  makes 
her  home  with  her  children,  who  care  for  her  ten- 
derly in  her  declining  years,  in  grateful  remem- 
brance of  her  devotion  to  them  in  childhood.  Her 
maiden  name  was  Abigail  Ricker,  and  she  was  born 
April  13,  1819,  in  one  of  the  early  pioneer  homes 
of  this  State,  situated  in  Covington.  Her  father, 
Rufus  Ricker,  was  a  native  of  York  County,  Me., 
where  he  grew  to  manhood  and  married  in  due 
season,  Lydia  Chitman,  a  native  of  the  city  of 
Portland,  Me.,  becoming  his  trusty  companion 
and  wife.  At  some  period  in  the  first  quarter  of 
this  century,  he  migrated  from  the  Pine  Tree  State 
to  that  part  of  the  country  that  was  then  known 
as  the  Western  frontier.  Travelling  slowly,  as 
one  must  need  in  those  days,  he  finally  arrived  at 
the  Monongahela  River,  and  floated  down  that 
stream  and  the  Ohio  to  Cincinnati,  and  there  he 
penetrated  the  interior  of  the  country,  travelling 
through  the  wilderness  to  Illinois.  He  located  at 
Covington,  and  had  a  hard  struggle  to  maintain 
his  family  on  his  limited  means  in  so  sparsely  set- 
tled a  region.  In  1823  lie  removed  to  Salem, 
Marion  County,  where  he  bought  a  tract  of  timber 
land,  upon  which  he  resided  until  1836,  when  he 
became  a  pioneer  of  Scott  County,  Iowa,  which 
was  then  but  little  inhabited,  and  where  Daven- 
port now  is  there  were  but  two  or  three  houses. 
He  bought  a  farm  two  or  three  miles  from  that 
city,  and  engaged  in  farming  there  until  his  death 


716 


POETRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


in  1847.  His  wife  survived  him  until  1873,  when 
she  too  passed  away,  her  death  occurring  at  Daven- 
port. Our  subject's  parents  reared  three  other 
children  besides  himself.  Their  son  Ahram  L., 
who  is  now  a  clerk  in  the  treasury  department  at 
Washington,  D.  C.,  and  did  good  service  in  the 
war  as  a  soldier.  He  was  in  Gompany  D,  Thirty- 
fourth  Illinois  Infantry  three  years,  and  for  one 
year  was  a  member  of  Hancock's  Veteran  Corps. 
Their  daughter  Hattie  married  Frank  H.  Wright, 
of  Toronto,  Canada.  Their  son  Fred  R.,  a  resident 
of  Stillman  Valley,  111.,  is  a  minister  of  the  Bap- 
tist Church. 

Nelson  Swartwout,  of  this  biography,  was  only 
a  year  old  when  his  parents  brought  him  to  Lee 
County,  and  his  earliest  recollections  are  connec- 
ted with  the  pioneer  home  of  his  childhood.  He 
attended  school  in  his  younger  days,  assisted  in 
the  labors  of  the  farm,  and  at  the  age  of  twenty 
years,  in  the  fall  of  1864,  left  the  parental  home 
for  the  first  time  to  join  the  brave  boys  at  the 
front  to  help  fight  his  country's  battles.  He 
enlisted  in  Company  D,  Thirty-fourth  Illinois 
Infantry,  and  in  his  experience  of  the  viciss- 
itudes of  war,  in  the  battle  of  Nashville  he  was 
wounded.  He  was  confined  in  the  hospital  for  a 
time,  in  consequence,  and  was  then  granted  a  fur- 
lough. At  the  expiration  of  his  leave  of  absence, 
he  rejoined  his  regiment  at  Goldsboro,  N.  C.,  with 
his  ardor  nothing  dampened  by  what  he  had  suf- 
fered, and  marching  with  his  comrades  through 
Richmond  to  Washington,  took  part  in  the  Grand 
Review.  He  was  honorably  discharged  in  July,  1865, 
with  a  well-earned  reputation  as  a  soldier  of  true 
courage  and  fidelity  to  the  cause  for  which  he 
fought. 

Mr.  Swartwout  resumed  farming  when  he  returned 
home  from  the  army,  and  soon  bought  a  farm  in 
Sublette  Township.  He  devoted  himself  to  its 
management  until  1883,  when  he  sold  it,andcame 
to  Dixon  to  engage  in  the  manufacture  of  tile  and 
brick,  which  he  has  carried  on  ever  since  very 
profitably.  He  has  kilns  here  with  a  capacity  of 
three  hundred  and  sixty  thousand  bricks  and 
twenty-five  thousand  tiles.  At  present  he  is 
making  about  fourteen  thousand  bricks  a  day, 
and  has  a  good  market  for  them,  as  they  are  of 


excellent  quality  and  are  durable.  He  is  a  good 
manager,  keeps  his  money  matters  well  regulated, 
and  maintains  good  credit  with  all  with  whom  he 
deals.  He  stands  well  in  social  and  religious  cir- 
cles. He  is  a  member  of  Dixon  Post,  No.  299,  G. 
A.  R.;  and  belongs  to  Lodge  No.  56,  M.  W.  A. 
He  and  his  wife  are  exemplary  members  of  the 
Baptist  Church. 

Mr.  Swartwout  was  married  October  5,  1869,  to 
Miss  Amelia  Nettleton,  who  understands  well  how 
to  make  their  home  pleasant  and  inviting.  Three 
children  have  been  born  to  them,  Walter  R.,  Mina 
L.  and  Nellie  A.  Mrs.  Swartwout  is  a  native  of 
Massachusetts,  born  in  the  pretty  village  of  Stock- 
bridge,  among  the  hills  of  Berkshire  County.  Her 
father,  Alfred  Nettleton,  was  born  in  the  town  of 
Milford,  Conn.,  and  there  grew  to  manhood.  He 
was  a  carpenter  by  trade,  and  settling  at  Stock- 
bridge,  Mass.,  in  1819,  he  followed  his  calling 
there  as  a  carpenter  and  builder.  He  rounded 
out  a  long  life  in  that  place  in  March,  1875.  His 
wife  bore  the  name  of  Maria  Button,  and  she  was  a 
daughter  of  Gilbert  Button.  She  died  in  1859. 
Mrs.  Swartwout  was  given  the  advantages  of  a 
good  education,  of  which  she  laid  the  foundation 
in  the  public  schools  of  her  native  town.  She 
then  became  a  student  at  the  Hudson  River  Insti- 
tute and  Ripley  Female  Seminary,  in  Vermont, 
and  was  there  fitted  for  a  teacher.  She  entered 
upon  the  duties  of  her  profession  when  she  was 
eighteen  years  old,  and  taught  in  Massachusetts 
until  1865,  when  she  came  to  Illinois,  and  was 
successfully  engaged  in  teaching  in  Lee  County 
until  her  marriage. 


JACOB    FISHER.     The    fine   old  homestead 
that  was  purchased  by  Jacob  Fisher,  Sr.,  and 
was  only  partly   improved    when   it  came 
into  his  hands,  is  now  owned  and  success- 
fully managed  by   his   son,  our   subject,  who    has 
become  one  of   the  principal    farmers  of   Willow 
Creek  Township,  where  most   of  his   life  has  been 
passed.     He  is  a  native  of  Ohio,  and  was  born  in 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


717 


Franklin  County  October  1,  1851.  His  father 
was  born  in  Pennsylvania,  and  there  grew  to  a 
stalwart  manhood.  When  a  young  man  he  went 
to  Ohio,  and  was  a  pioneer  of  that  State.  He  was 
married  in  that  commonwealth  to  Ruth  Carleton, 
and  in  1853  came  to  Illinois,  accompanied  by  his 
wife  and  eleven  children,  making  the  removal 
with  teams.  He  located  in  that  part  of  Lee 
County  now  included  in  Willow  Creek  Town- 
ship, where  he  purchased  a  tract  of  partly  im- 
proved land.  There  was  a  rude  frame  dwelling 
on  the  place  and  a  log  cabin  that  served  as  a 
stable,  and  he  commenced  at  once  to  make  further 
improvements.  He  was  not  destined  to  enjoy  his 
new  home  very  many  years,  as  his  pioneer  labors 
were  brought  to  a  close  by  death  in  1856,  and  he 
rested  from  his  work.  His  widow  was  thus  left 
to  battle  with  the  world  alone,  and  rear  as  best 
she  could  her  numerous  progeny.  She  bravely 
faced  the  situation,  and  with  all  a  true  mother's 
devotion  and  self-sacrifice  worked  early  and  late 
to  keep  her  children  together,  and  cared  for  them 
until  they  were  able  to  earn  their  own  living, 
ten  of  them  growing  to  manhood  and  womanhood. 
Well  may  they  "rise  up  and  call  her  blessed,"  and 
hold  her  memory  in  reverence.  She  "died  April 
24,  1889.  In  the  sketch  of  our  subject's  brother, 
Adolphus,  will  be  found  further  facts  of  family 
history. 

Jacob  Fisher,  of  whom  this  biography  is  writ- 
ten, was  but  two  years  old  when  the  family  came 
to  the  pioneer  wilds  of  this  county,  and  he  has 
been  a  witness  of  much  of  its  growth.  Since  at- 
taining man's  estate,  he  has  been  a  promoter  of 
its  material  prosperity  by  the  good  work  that  he 
has  done  as  a  practical  farmer  and  stock-raiser, 
that  having  been  his  business  from  the  time  that 
he  started  out  in  life  on  his  own  account,  he  hav- 
ing previously  had  good  experience  in  farming 
from  his  early  days,  when  he  first  began  to  make 
himself  useful  in  doing  the  numberless  things  re- 
quired of  a  small  boy  on  a  farm.  He  lived  with 
his  mother  until  his  marriage,  assisting  her  in  the 
management  of  the  old  homestead.  He  has  here 
a  very  desirable  farm  of  two  hundred  and  thirty- 
eight  acres  of  choice  land,  all  lying  in  a  body  in 
Willow  Creek  Township.  It  is  under  careful  cul- 


tivation, its  improvements  are  of  a  good  class,  and 
the  whole  place  wears  an  air  of  thrift  and  pros- 
perity, indicative  of  wise  and  prudent  manage- 
ment. 

Mr.  Fisher  and  Miss  Elma  J.  White,  a  native 
of  the  State  of  New  York,  were  united  in  mar- 
riage in  1878,  and  have  found  mutual  happiness 
in  their  wedded  life,  that  has  been  furthei-  blessed 
to  them  by  the  birth  of  three  Children:  Carleton, 
Eunice  Estella  and  Bertha  Lulu.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Fisher  are  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  and  their  daily  lives  show  them  to  be 
consistent  Christians.  Mr.  Fisher  is  an  exemplary 
temperance  man,  and  votes  with  the  Prohibition 
party. 

'' 

ACOB  WAGNER,  who  resides  on  section 
12,  Bradford  Township,  is  one  of  the  promi- 
nent citizens  of  German  birth  who  have 
done  so  much  to  aid  in  the  progress  of  this 
township  and  county.  He  was  born  in  the  Father- 
land, October  28,  1840.  Wken  about  fifteen  years 
old,  he  accompanied  his  parents,  George  and  Mariah 
Wagner,  to  the  United  States,  where  they  settled 
near  FYanklin  Grove,  in  this  county,  and  where 
the  father  died  the  following  October. 

Jacob  Wagner  was  in  the  employ  of  A.  R.  Whit- 
ney, at  Franklin  Grove,  for  some  five  or  six  years, 
and  when  reaching  his  majority  he  decided  to 
make  a  start  in  life  for  himself.  Purchasing 
eighty  acres  of  railroad  land  on  section  12,  Brad- 
ford Township,  he  entered  on  the  improvement 
of  his  land,  to  which  he  has  added  from  time  to 
time  until  he  now  owns  four  hundred  and  eighty 
acres.  On  this  he  has  placed  good  buildings,  and 
has  all  the  necessary  appliances  for  carrying  on  a 
farm  in  the  best  manner. 

Mr.  Wagner  was  married,  in  Bradford  Town- 
ship, to  Sophia  Rice,  who  died  in  1883.  Their 
family  comprised  ten  children:  Martha,  Charles, 
John,  George,  Anna,  Jacob,  Mary,  Emma,  Sarah 
mid  Minnie.  Mr.  Wngner  was  married  a  second 
time  in  Dixon,  111.,  February  16,  1887,  to  Anna 
Fenian,  who  was  born  in  Germany,  August  26, 


718 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


1849.  Of  this  union  one  child  has  been  born, 
Frederick  C.  Of  the  first  family  of  children, 
Martha  is  the  wife  of  Charles  Hebenthal;  Charles 
married  Anna  Bower;  John  was  united  in  mar- 
riage to  Mary  Krug;  George  married  Anna  Sand- 
rock,  and  Anna  is  the  wife  of  George  Kresten. 

Mr.  Wagner  in  politics  is  a  stanch  Republican, 
and  has  held  the  offices  of  School  Director  and 
Commissioner  of  'Highways.  He  is  deeply  inter- 
ested in  wha'ever  pertains  to  the  welfare  of  his 
community,  and  is  always  willing  to  contribute 
his  time  and  money  to  promote  any  worthy  public 
enterprise.  He  has  been  successful  in  business, 
and  he  and  his  family  are  held  in  high  esteem  by 
their  associates. 


^AVID  G.  BOOK,  who  is  engaged  in  gen- 
eral farming  on  section  8,  Palmyra  Town- 
ship where  he  owns  a  highly  improved 
farm  of  one  hundred  and  eighty-six  acres, 
claims  Pennsylvania  as  the  State  of  his  nativity.  He 
was  born  in  Lancaster  County,  on  the  18th  of 
March,  1837,  and  is  the  third  in  a  family  of  nine 
children,  numbering  six  sons  and  three  daughters, 
of  whom  four  sons  and  the  daughters  are  yet  liv- 
ing. The  father,  John  Book,  was  born  in  Lan- 
caster County,  and  throughout  his  life  has  made 
farming  his  chief  occupation.  He  is  yet  living  at 
the  advanced  age  of  eighty-seven  years.  The  fam- 
ily is  of  German  origin  and  was  founded  in  Amer- 
ica by  David  Book,  the  grandfather  of  our  subject, 
who,  on  emigrating  to  America,  settled  near  Lan- 
caster City,  Pa.,  where  he  spent  the  remainder  of 
his  days,  engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits.  He 
married  a  lady  of  German  birth  and  both  reached 
an  advanced  age.  In  religious  faith  thejr  were 
Dunkards.  John  Book  was  married  in  Lancaster 
County,  Pa.,  the  lady  of  his  choice  being  Miss 
Anna  Geist,  a  native  of  the  Keystone  State,  of  Ger- 
man descent.  They  began  their  domestic  life  upon  a 
farm  in  Lancaster  County,  where  they  continued 
to  make  their  home  until  called  to  their  final  rest. 
Both  were  members  of  the  Mennonite  Church.  Mrs. 
Book,  the  mother  of  our  subject,  died  at  her  home 


in  Pennsylvania  at  the  age  of  seventy-three  years. 
She  held  membership  with  the  Dunkard  Church, 
as  does  her  husband,  who  in  politics  is  a  Republi- 
can, having  supported  that  organization  since  the 
dissolution  of  the  Whig  party. 

The  advantages  which  our  subject  received  in 
his  youth  were  limited.  His  educational  oppor- 
tunities were  such  as  the  common  schools  afforded 
and  these  he  could  not  attend  all  the  time.  He 
came  to  Illinois  in  1852,  locating  in  Whiteside 
County,  where  he  worked  as  a  farm  hand.  At 
length,  by  industry,  economy  and  good  manage- 
ment, having  acquired  a  sum  of  money,  he  pur- 
chased a  farm  on  Rock  River.  While  residing  in 
Whiteside  County  he  was  joined  in  wedlock  witli 
Miss  Mary  A.  Weaver,  a  native  of  Lancaster 
County,  Pa.,  and  a  daughter  of  Everhart,  and 
Eliza  (Hershey)  Weaver.  Hor  father  was  a  native 
of  Germany  and  when  he  crossed  the  Atlantic  took 
up  his  residence  in  Lancaster  County,  Pa.,  where 
he  married  Miss  Hershey.  They  spent  their  lives 
as  farming  people  and  continued  to  reside  in  that 
county  until  called  to  the  home  beyond.  In  her 
maidenhood,  Mrs.  Book  came  to  Whiteside  County, 
111.,  with  her  uncle  and  aunt,  with  whom  she  resi- 
ded until  her  marriage. 

Our  subject  brought  his  wife  to  Lee  County  in 
1865,  when  he  purchased  the  farm  on  which  they 
yet  reside.  It  comprises  one  hundred  and  eight}'- 
six  acres  of  highly  improved  land  and  along  its 
southern  boundary  flows  the  Rock  River.  It  is 
well  improved  with  a  good  residence,  a  view  of 
which  is  presented  on  another  page  of  this  volume. 
The  fields  are  well  tilled  and  the  stock  which  he 
raises  is  of  good  grades.  An  enterprising  and 
industrious  farmer,  Mr.  Book  has  achieved  success, 
and  a  good  income  derived  as  the  result  of  his 
labors  places  him  in  comfortable  circumstances.  He 
and  his  worthy  wife  are  ranked  among  the  best 
citizens  of  this  community,  being  well  and  favor- 
ably known  througout  the  township  and  county. 
In  politics  he  is  a  Republican  but  has  never 
sought  or  desired  public  office,  preferring  to  devote 
his  entire  attention  to  his  farm  work  and  the  en- 
joyment of  his  home. 

In  the  family  circle  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Book  were 
once  numbered  twelve  children,  bul  three,  Elam, 


RESIDENCE   OF    D.G.  BOOK, SEC  8.,  PALMYRA    TP.,  LEE  CO.,  I  LL. 


RESIDENCE  OF  JOHN     W.    LI  E  VAN  ,  SEC.  8.,SOUTH    D1XON  TP. ,  LEE  CO.,  I  LL 


OHHE 

'»• 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


721 


Saloain  and  Benjamin,  died  in  early  childhood. 
Aaron,  who  wedded  Fannie  Ebersole  and  is  now 
living  on  a  farm  in  Whiteside  County;  Leander 
wedded  Mary  Fay  and  is  an  agriculturist  of  Pal- 
myra Township;  Ann  Eliza  is  the  wife  of  Henry 
Stauffer,  a  farmer  of  Adams  County,  Neb.;  Frank- 
lin married  Dora  V.  Lee,  of  California,  where  they 
now  live;  Harry  is  a  farmer  of  Whiteside  County; 
Mary  Alice  is  the  wife  of  Thomas  Shannon,  who 
is  engaged  in  farming  pursuits  in  Whiteside 
County;  Edward,  Ida  May  and  David  Guy,  who 
complete  the  family,  are  still  under  the  paternal 
roof. 

Although  Mr.  Book  has  met  with  many  reverses 
in  life,  he  has  used  the  obstacles  as  stepping  stones 
to  something  higher,  and  throughout  his  business 
career  he  has  been  regarded  as  an  honorable  and 
upright  man,  worthy  of  the  confidence  of  all. 


JOHN  W.  LIBYAN.  It  is  not  alone  on  ac- 
ount  of  the  marvelous  fertility  of  its  soil 
and  other  fine  natural  advantages,  that  this 
section  of  Illinois  has  attained  its  present 
high  standard  of  development,  as  one  of  the 
richest  and  best  improved  centers  of  agriculture  in 
the  State;  but  it  is  in  part  owing  to  the  fact  that 
its  extensive  farming  and  stock  interests  are 
handled  by  men  who  are  wide-awake,  sagacious 
and  full  of  resource,  their  equipment,  mentally 
and  physically,  fitting  them  for  their  calling. 

One  of  this  class,  John  W.  Lievan,  is  the  subject 
of  this  biographical  review.  His  homestead,  which 
he  devotes  to  grain  and  stock  raising,  and  to  the 
dairy  business,  is  on  section  8,  South  Dixon  Town- 
ship, and  he  also  owns  seventy  acres  of  well  im- 
proved land  in  another  part  of  the  same  township. 

Mr.  Lievan  is  a  native  of  Somerset  County,  Pa., 
born  February  24,  1851,  but  the  most  of  his  life' 
has  been  passed  in  this  county,  as  he  was  but  six 
years  old  when  his  father,  Mathias  Lievan,  of 
whom  a  sketch  appears  on  another  page  of  this 
work,  brought  his  family  hither,  and  settled 
among  the  pioneers  of  South  Dixon  Township. 


He  was  reared  on  his  father's  old  homestead,  re- 
ceiving an  excellent  training  in  nil  that  appertains 
to  farming,  and  was  well  fitted  for  that  occupa- 
tion when  he  assumed  its  duties  on  his  own  ac- 
count. He  has  lived  on  his  homestead  thirteen 
years,  and  has  devoted  himself  assiduously  to  its 
improvement. 

The  buildings  rank  among  the  best  in  the  local- 
ity, and  include  u  well-built,  commodious  resi- 
dence, a  view  of  which  appears  on  another  page, 
and  a  large,  conveniently  arranged  barn,  40x64 
feet  in  dimensions,  with  a  good  basement,  besides 
other  out-houses  for  various  purposes.  This  farm 
;  contains  one  hundred  and  forty  acres  of  land  well 
adapted  to  general  farming,  and  is  fully  stocked 
with  cattle,  horses  and  swine  of  the  best  breeds, 
including  thirty  good  cows  used  in  his  dairy  busi-. 
ness,  of  which  Mr.  Lievan  makes  a  specialtj7.  He 
is  a  man  of  push  and  energy,  and  an  excellent  man- 
ager, always  maintains  his  credit  in  all  financial 
transactions,  and  the  community  of  which  he  has 
formed  a  part  as  boy  and  man  for  more  than  three 
decades,  knows  him  to  be  strictly  reliable  in  all 
things.  Politically,  he  is  a  thorough  Republican ; 
religiously,  he  is  of  the  Evangelical  faith,  and  is  a 
member  of  the  church  of  that  denomination,  to 
which  his  wife  also  belongs. 

The  marriage  of  Mr.  Lievan  united  him  with 
Miss  Sophia  C.  Bremer,  of  Marion  Township.  To 
them  have  been  born  two  children,  Pearl  V.  and 
Myrtle  M.  Mrs.  Lievan  is  a  native  of  this  county, 
her  birth  occurring  in  Palmyra  Township,  August 
21,  1859.  She  was  well  educated  in  the  city  of 
Dixon,  and  at  Amboy  High  School,  and  is  an 
accomplished  woman  of  much  force  and  decision 
of  character.  At  the  age  of  seventeen  she  began 
teaching  school,  and  was  engaged  in  that  profes- 
sion until  her  marriage.  Mrs.  Lievan  is  a  daughter 
of  the  late  Edo  A.  and  Etta  (Ahmels)  Bremer, 
who  were  born  in  Oldenburg,  Germany,  near  the 
North  Sea,  and  came  of  good  German  stock.  Her 
father  was  a  farmer  by  occupation.  After  the 
birth  of  their  three  eldest  children,  he  and  his 
wife  emigrated  with  their  family  to  the  United 
States,  sailing  hither  in  June,  1854,  and  coming  to 
Illinois,  made  settlement  in  Palmyra  Township. 
Soon  after,  their  third  child,  John,  died. 


722 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


Some  years  after  locating  in  this  county,  Mr. 
Breraer  purchased  eighty  acres  of  land  in  Marion 
Township,  and  improved  it  into  a  good  farm. 
In  1882  he  retired  to  Dixon,  and  subsequently 
became  an  inmate  of  the  home  of  our  subject,  and 
was  tenderly  cared  for  in  his  last  days  by  his 
daughter  and  wife,  who  survive  him.  He  died 
December  16,  1889,  at  the  age  of  sixty-five  years. 
He  was  a  Lutheran  in  religion,  and  a  Democrat  in 
politics.  To  him  and  his  wife  were  born  six 
children,  two  sons  and  four  daughters,  of  whom 
one  son  and  one  daughter  are  deceased.  Mrs. 
Lievan's  mother  is  a  loved  member  of  her  house- 
hold. '  On  her  last  birthday,  August  15,  1891,  she 
was  sixty-nine  years  old.  She  has  been  connected 
with  the  Lutheran  Church  all  her  life,  and  is  one 
•of  its  most  conscientious  and  consistent  member. 


eAPT.    PRESCOTT    BARTLETT,  an  officer 
of   an  Illinois    regiment    during   the    late 
war,    was    one    of    the    pioneers    of    Lee 
County,  and   occupies  an  important  place  among 
its  leading  farmers  and   stockmen  of   the    present 
day.     One  of  the  early  settlers  of  Sublette  Town- 
ship, he  is  still  closely  associated  with  its  agricul- 
tural interests,  and  his  handsome  stone  residence  on 
section    27   is  one   of  the  most  inviting  homes  in 
this  locality. 

Captain  Bartlett  was  born  in  Con  way,  Franklin 
County,  Mass.,  August  19, 1821,  and  is  a  representa- 
tive of  one  of  the  distinguished  New  England 
Colonial  families,  and  the  blood  of  a  soldier  of  the 
Revolution  runs  in  his  veins,  his  grandsire,  Amos 
Bartlett,  serving  in  the  ranks  of  the  Continental 
army  during  the  noble  struggle  of  the  Colonists 
for  freedom  from  the  Mother  Country.  The 
father  of  our  subject,  who  bore  the  same  name 
and  title  as  himself,  was  born  in  1789.  He  was  a 
tanner  by  trade.  He  was  captain  of  a  company  of 
State  militia  for  many  years,  and  when  the  War  of 
1812  broke  out,  he  was  on  hand  to  fight,  as  his 
father  had  fought,  against  British  oppression,  and 
raising  a  company  of  soldiers,  he  did  his  Govern- 
ment good  service.  His  demise  occurred  while 


yet  he  was  in  life's  prime,  at  the  age  of  forty-two 
years.  His  wife,  Narcissa  (Robinson)  Bartlett, 
who  was  born  in  1787,  attained  the  venerable  age 
of  eighty-four  years.  They  were  blessed  with  six 
children:  Narcissa,  who  died  at  the  age  of  fifteen 
years:  Watson  R.,  a  gunsmith  by  trade,  who  went 
to  Arkansas  to  buy  furs  for  a  St.  Louis  firm,  and 
died  in  that  State;  Clarissa,  who  married  George 
F.  Wilson, and  died  in  Providence,  R.  I.;  Prescott; 
Benjamin  F.,  a  soldier,  in  Company  C,  Seventh  Illi- 
nois Cavalry,  who  died  in  Kansas  in  1888;  and 
Emerson,  who  settled  in  the  State  of  New  York. 
He  was  a  jeweler,  and  manufactured  the  first  regu- 
lator clocks  in  the  United  States,  and  made  and  put 
up  a  clock  in  the  State  House  at  Nashville,  Tenn. 

Our  subject  is  the  only  surviving  member  of  the 
family.  lie  was  reared  on  his  father's  farm  amid 
the  fine  scenery  of  his  birthplace,  and  resided  in 
the  old  Bay  State  until  1844.  In  that  year  he 
and  his  brother-in-law,  George  F.  AVilson,  started 
Westward.  The  Captain  had  $57  in  money  as  his 
capital  with  which  to  begin  life  on  the  frontier, 
and  Mr.  Wilson  had  a  box  of  books,  which  proved 
serviceable  after  his  arrival  in  Chicago,  although  a 
burden  to  carry  thither.  On  their  arrival  in  that 
city,  our  subject  divided  his  money  with  his 
brother-in-law,  and  the  latter  started  a  school.  lie 
met  with  marked  success  in  his  venture  as  an  edu- 
cator, and  laid  the  foundation  of  the  fortune  he 
afterward  accumulated  on  his  return  to  the  East, 
whereby  he  became  one  of  the  wealthy  men  of 
Providence,  R.  I. 

Capt.  Bartlett  did  not  make  a  long  stay  in 
Chicago,  but  went  to  DuPage  County,  whence  he 
came  in  a  short  time  to  Lee  County,  and  made  a 
claim  on  section  20,  Sublette  Township.  When 
the  land  came  into  the  market,  he  purchased  eighty 
acres,  and  made  improvements  on  the  same.  Five 
years  later  he  removed  to  Bureau  County,  where 
he  purchased  a  partly  developed  farm.  In  1854 
he  sold  that  to  his  brother,  and  came  tolas  present 
location,  where  he  had  four  years  previously 
bought  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  land  of 
William  Erskine  for  $500.  In  1855  lie  made  an 
extensive  tour  through  Arkansas  and  Texas,  and 
from  observations  made  on  that  journey  became 
convinced  that  a  civil  war  was  imminent.  The 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


723 


patriotic  spirit  that  he  had  inherited  in  full  force 
from  his  father  and  grandfather  was  roused,  and, 
like  thorn,  he  was  willing  to  sacrifice  his  personal 
interests  for  his  country.  He  devoted  much  time 
to  studying  cavalry  tactics,  and  in  June.  1861,  he 
enlisted  in  the  army  to  help  his  countrymen  to 
preserve  the  Union.  He  subsequently  raised  a 
company  of  ninety-eight  men,  which  was  mustered 
into  service  August  7,  as  Compan_y  C,  Seventh  Illi- 
nois Cavalry,  and  he  was  elected  and  commissioned 
its  captain.  In  the  trying  years  that  followed,  he 
nobly  stood  the  test  that  proved  the  worth  of  his 
manhood,  his  loyalty  to  the  cause  and  his  good 
soldiership,  and  was  often  commended  by  his 
superiors  for  those  qualities  that  fitted  him  for  his 
responsible  position  as  a  leader. 

After  its  organization,  the  Seventh  Illinois  Cav- 
alry regiment  was  dispatched  to  Missouri  and  thence 
through  Kentucky  to  Tennessee.  In  September, 
1862,  it  was  encamped  at  Tuscumbia,  Ala.,  at 
which  time  Company  C  was  detached  as  special 
escort  to  Gen.  John  M.  Palmer,  and  acted  as  such 
until  January,  1864.  Our  subject  and  his  men 
were  in  all  the  hard  fighting  of  the  Rosecrans 
campaign,  taking  an  active  part  in  over  one  hun- 
dred battles  and  skirmishes,  showing  of  what  metal 
they  were  made  on  every  occasion  that  called  for 
fearlessness,  prompt  action  and  ability  to  cope  with 
the  enemy.  Their  first,  encounter  with  the  rebels 
was  at  Stone  River,  and  they  conducted  themselves 
so  as  to  win  the  approval  of  the  commanding 
officers.  Then  followed  the  battles  of  Chicka- 
mauga,  Missionary  Ridge,  Chattanooga,  Ringgold, 
Ga.,  and  many  other  engagements  too  numerous  to 
mention.  Capt.  Bartlett  was  at  one  time  Presi- 
dent of  a  Military  Commission  at  Memphis  for 
six  weeks.  After  three  years'  gallant  service,  he 
was  honorably  discharged,  and  returned  to  his 
home  a  war-worn  veteran,  whom  his  fellow-citi- 
zens honored  for  what  he  had  done  in  defense  of 
our  flag.  He  quietly  resumed  his  formeY  pursuits, 
and  became  rather  extensively  engaged  in  raising 
stock,  frequently  having  over  fifty  horses  on  his 
place.  In  1868,  he  built  a  stone  residence  of  a 
fine  style  of  architecture,  at  a  cost  of  $12,000,  and 
has  since  made  other  substantial  improvements 
that  have  increased  the  value  of  his  farm.  He 


has  given  some  of  his  time  to  public  life,  and,  be- 
sides having  been  Deputy  Sheriff,  he  has  held 
local  offices,  and  has  always  displayed  true  public 
spirit,  losing  no  opportunity  to  benefit  his  adopted 
township  and  county  whenever  his  influence  would 
in  any  way  promote  schemes  for  their  advance- 
ment. In  politics,  his  views  are  as  much  in  accord 
with  the  principles  of  the  Republican  party  as  in 
the  days  long  gone  by  when  he  fought  on  Southern 
battle-fields  to  uphold  them. 

January  4,  1849,  Captain  Bartlett  was  united  in 
marriage  to  Miss  Caroline  Whitney,  and  the  forty 
years  and  more  that  they  have  lived  together  have 
been  fraught  with  the  tu'ue  happiness  of  a  congenial 
union.  Uuto  them  have  been  born  four  children: 
Silas  Wilton,  a  lawyer  at  Mendota;  Prescott  Eu- 
gene, a  painter,  who  resides  with  his  parents; 
Howard  R.,a  lawyer  at  Dixon;  and  Cora  M.,  wife 
of  J.  C.  Stough,  of  Mendota.  The  wife  of  our 
subject  is  a  native  of  Warren  County,  Ohio,  born 
January  30,  1829.  Her  parents,  Ephraim  and 
Mary  (Livingston)  Whitney,  were  natives  respect- 
ively of  Maine  and  Ohio.  They  were  among  the 
early  settlers  of  Lee  Township,  locating  there  in 
1845,  and  there  they  lived  to  a  ripe  old  age.  The 
father  died  May  11,  1883,  aged  eighty-two  years; 
the  mother  died  in  1886,  aged  eighty-three  years. 
They  had  six  children,  namely:  Joseph,  a  resident 
of  Linn  County,  Iowa;  David  L.,  of  San  Francisco, 
Cal.;  Mrs.  Bartlett;  Phebe,  Mrs.  Brown,  of  Walden  'a 
Ridge,  Tenn.;  Silas  D.,  who  died  in-  Montana,  in 
1887;  and  Rebecca  C.,  wife  of  Edwin  Shaw,  of 
Colorado. 


ORIAII    STROUP,    proprietor  of    the    City 
Hack  and  'Bus  Line,  of  Dixon,  established 
,   the  hack  line  in  1875,  and  in  the  following 
year  succeeded  Mr.  Sterling  in  the  omnibus   busi- 
ness.    He  is  also  the   United   States   mail   carrier 
from  the  Illinois  Central  and  Northwestern    Rail- 
road Companies. 

Mr.  Stroup  was  born  July  17,  1840,  in  Owego, 
Tioga  County,  N.  Y.,  where  he  lived  until  he  was 
twelve  years  of  age,  when  he  came  with  his  parents 


724 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


to  Illinois.  His  father,  Uriah,  was  a  native  of 
Philadelphia,  Pa.,  coming  of  Pennsylvania  Dutch 
stock.  He  learned  the  profession  of  an  architect, 
removing,  after  his  marriage,  to  the  State  of  New 
York.  He  was  married  in  Philadelphia,  to  Miss 
Anna  Relyea,  who  was  born  of  French  parents, 
who  settled  in  Philadelphia,  where  she  was  reared 
and  educated.  The  parents  of  our  subject  came  to 
Illinois,  and  settled  in  Dixon,  where  they  spent 
their  last  years,  Mr.  Stroup  dying  when  sixty-one 
years  of  age,  and  his  wife  fifteen  years  later.  They 
were  consistent  members  of  the  Baptist  Church. 
Mr.  Stroup  was  a  prominent  Mason,  being  one  of 
the  organizers  of  that  order  in  this  city.  In  poli- 
tics he  was  an  old-line  Whig.  Uriah  Stroup,  our 
subject,  is  one  of  three  sons  and  five  daughters 
born  to  his  parents.  He  was  married  in  Dixon,  in 
1875,  to  Miss  Sarah  Armstrong.  She  was  born  on 
Staten  Island,  and  was  five  years  old  when  her 
parents  removed  to  Dixon,  in  which  place  she  was 
reared  and  educated.  She  is  a  woman  of  great  in- 
telligence and  ability,  and  is  highly  esteemed  by 
all  who  know  her.  Her  parents,  Jacob  and  Mary 
Ann  Armstrong,  were  natives  of  New  York,  and 
died  in  Dixon.  Mr.  Armstrong  was  a  money 
leaner,  and  was  associated  with  E.  B.  Stiles,  in  con- 
ducting a  land-office,  and  was  well  known  through- 
out this  community.  He  was  a  prominent  Mason, 
and  was  influential  in  building  up  that  order  in 
this  city.  His  death  occurred  while  in  Ft.  Collins, 
Col. 

Mr.  Stroup,  in  his  youngest  days,  was  a  railroad 
man,  and  served  in  various  capacities  for  nineteen 
years,  at  one  time  running  an  engine  for  several 
years.  He  was  employed  by  both  Eastern  and 
Western  roads,  and  for  a  long  time  was  in  the  ser- 
vice of  the  Northwestern,  being  thus  engaged 
when,  on  account  of  his  failing  health,  he  was 
obliged  to  change  his  occupation.  He  then  took 
up  his  present  business,  his  health  having  greatly 
improved  therein,  and  being  also  very  successful 
from  a  business  point  of  view.  He  began  in  a  small 
way,  with  one  poor  team  and  a  single  hack.  He 
now  keeps  constantly  employed  a  wagonette,  two 
omnibuses,  two  hacks  and  a  cab.  Mr.  Stroup  has 
been  a  resident  of  Dixon  for  thirty-seven  years, 
and  is  well  known  throughout  the  community  as 


an  honest  and  reliable  business  man,  and  a  public- 
spirited  citizen.  In  politics  he  is  a  Democrat.  Hie 
wife  and  a  daughter  are  attendants  of  the  Episco- 
pal Church. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stroup  have  been  the  parents  of 
four  children,  two  of  whom,  Ada  and  Ida,  are  de- 
ceased. Those  living  are  Hattie  E.  and  Edward, 
both  residing  at  home,  the  former  being  a  music 
teacher. 


K.  NKIR  has  bec-n  long  and  worth- 
associated  with  the  farmers  and  stock- 
raisers  of  Lee  County,  and  though  he  is  now 
living  in  retirement  from  active  business  at 
Paw  Paw,  he  still  retains  his  agricultural  interests 
and  has  two  well-equipped  farms  in  Wyoming 
Township.  He  was  born  i:.  Cumberland  County, 
Pa.,  October  14,  1822.  His  father,  Francis  T.Neir, 
was  a  native  of  Germany,  as  was  his  father  also. 
The  grandfather  of  our  subject  married  in  his  na- 
tive land  and  had  a  family  of  children  growing 
around  him,  when  the  determination  grew  strong 
within  him  to  emigrate  to  America,  that  land  of 
promise  whither  so  many  of  his  countrymen  had 
gone,  and  where  he  thought  he  would  be  able  to 
provide  better  for  his  dear  ones  than  in  the  Old 
Country.  Accordingly,  one  day  he  embarked  with 
his  wife  and  offspring  on  a  ship  bound  for  these 
shores.  But  he  was  not  destined  to  make  port 
here,  as  ere  the  voyage  was  ended,  he  and  his  fam- 
ily, with  one  exception,  had  passed  through  the 
gates  of  death  to  the  land  of  the  immortals.  One 
child  remained  in  Germany. 

The  father  of  our  subject,  then  a  lad  of  eight  sum- 
mers, was  the  sole  survivor  of  the  little  family 
group  that  a  few  short  weeks  before  had  left  the 
German  Fatherland  to  found  a  new  home  across 
the  sea,  and  thus  sadly  bereft  of  all  his  kin.  lie. 
landed  in  Baltimore,  orphaned  and  penniless, 
without  friends  or  a  home  to  go  to.  But  he  was 
taken  in  charge  and  kindly  cared  for  by  James 
Ilemphill,  a  fanner  of  Cumberland  County.  Pa.. 
with  whom  he  remained  until  he  attained  his  ma- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


725 


jority.  He  was  a  steady,  studious  youth,  made 
the  best  of  his  opportunities  to  obtain  an  educa- 
tion while  with  his  employer,  and  after  leaving 
him  taught  and  attended  school  alternately  for 
some  time.  After  his  marriage  he  rented  land  and 
engaged  in  farming  in  Cumberland  and  Franklin 
Counties,  Pa.,  until  death  ended  his  work.  The 
maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  Margaret  E.  Earley, 
and  she  was  a  daughter  of  Robert  Earley.  She  was 
a  native  of  Pennsylvania  and  died  in  Franklin 
County,  that  State.  She  was  the  mother  of  eight 
children;  one  died  in  infancy. 

Our  subject  was  the  eldest  son  of  the  family, 
and,  when  he  was  very  young,  he  commenced  to 
assist  his  father  on  the  farm,  and  thus  early  gained 
a  good  experience  in  the  calling  which  he  was  af- 
terward to  pursue  so  successfully  on  his  own  ac- 
count. He  remained  with  his  parents  until  he  was 
twenty  years  old,  and  then  served  a  three  years' 
apprenticeship  to  learn  the  trade  of  a  cabinet- 
maker in  Roxbury,  Franklin  County.  He  then 
carried  on  business  in  that  line  for  two  years  and 
at  the  end  of  that  time  left  his  native  State  to 
establish  himself  at  Ft.  Seneca,  Seneca  County, 
Ohio,  where  he  worked  at  the  trade  of  a  carpenter 
and  joiner  until  1857.  In  that  year  he  came  to 
Lee  County  ;md  identified  himself  with  its  pio- 
neers, settling  in  Wyoming  Township  on  a  tract  of 
land  on  section  31,  that  he  bought.  He  erected 
suitable  buildings  and  busied  himself  with  tilling 
the  soil,  continuing  to  reside  on  his  farm  until  he 
removed  to  Paw  Paw  in  1881,  where  he  lias  since 
lived  in  retirement  from  active  labor.  He  is  still 
interested  in  farming,  however,  and  owns  two  hun- 
dred and  ten  acres  of  choice  farming  land  in  Wyo- 
ming Township,  said  land  being  divided  into  two 
farms  that  are  under  excellent  tillage  and  are 
amply  supplied  with  good  buildings. 

Mr.  Neir  has  been  twice  married.  April  22, 
1847,  his  marriage  with  Miss  Sarah  A.  Shuman  was 
celebrated.  Their  wedded  life  was  brief,  as  she 
died  in  1851,  leaving  two  children:  Jefferson  S. 
and  Francis.  The  maiden  name  of  our  subject's 
present  wife  was  Catherine  Hade.  She  was  born 
in  Franklin  County,  Pa.,  and  is  a  daughter  of 
Jacob  Hade,  who  is  supposed  to  have  been  a  native 
of  that  county  also.  He  removed  from  there 


to  Ohio,  and  was  an  early  settler  of  Seneca  County, 
where  he  bought  a  tract  of  timber  land,  one-fourth 
of  a  mile  from  Ft.  Seneca.  He  erected  a  log 
cabin  and  in  the  course  of  time  hewed  out  a  good 
farm  from  the  surrounding  wilderness  and  made  it 
his  home  until  death.  The  maiden  name  of  his 
wife  was  Margaret  Snyder.  She  died  in  Pennsyl- 
van  ia. 

The  marriage  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Neir  has  been 
blessed  to  them  by  two  sons:  Ray  S.  and  Clark  E. 
Our  subject  is  one  of  the  solid,  self-made  men  of 
the  county,  whose  only  capital  when  they  started 
in  life  was  what  lay  in  themselves  in  the  shape  of 
muscle  and  brain  and  a  steadfast  determination  to 
accomplish  all  they  could  and  always  to  do  their 
best  in  whatever  position  they  might  be  placed. 
That  he  has  used  these  God-given  faculties  well 
may  be  seen  not  only  in  the  fact  that  he  has  be- 
come one  of  the  moneyed  men  of  his  community, 
but  by  the  sincere  respect  and  regard  in  which  he 
is  held  by  his  fellow-citizens.  Religiously,  he  and 
his  wife  are  esteemed  members  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  and  are  active  in  its  every  good 
work.  Politically,  he  is  a  Republican  and  is  ever 
true  to  his  colors. 


JF._KNRY  W.  HILLISON  is  one  of  the  most 
ffjj)  successful  of  Lee  County's  native-born  cit- 
^ffi?  izcns  who  are  devoting  their  energies  to 
(^)  sustaining  and  extending  her  great  agricul- 
tural interests.  He  is  prominent  as  a  farmer  and 
stock-dealer,  who  is  ably  managing  an  extensive 
business  in  his  line  in  China  Township,  and  he  is 
also  known  for  the  honorable  part  he  has  taken  in 
the  administration  of  public  affairs  and  in  local 
politics. 

Mr.  Hillison  was  born  in  Bradford  Township, 
September  12,  1850.  His  father,  Omen  Hillison, 
who  was  a  native  of  Norway,  came  to  this  country 
in  1838,  and  was  a  pioneer  of  Lee  County.  He 
first  located  in  Lee  Centre  Township,  but  subse- 
quently took  up  a  claim  in  Bradford  Township,  of 
which  he  thus  became  an  ea.rly  settler.  He  was 
married  after  coming  to  this  county  to  Miss  Cath- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


erine  E.  Reinhart,  a  sister  of  Andrew  Reinhart, 
and  their  wedded  life  was  passed  on  his  homestead 
in  Bradford  Township,  which  was  too  early  de- 
prived of  his  services  by  his  untimely  death.  Two 
children  were  born  to  him  and  his  wife:  Henry  W. 
and  Betsy  J.,  the  latter  of  whom  is  the  wife  of 
Conrad  Brandau.  A  sketch  of  the  mother,  Mrs. 
C.  E.  Aschenbrenner,  who  married  again  after  the 
death  of  the  father,  is  given  on  another  page  of 
this  volume. 

Our  subject  grew  to  man's  estate  in  his 
native  township,  and  made  his  home  there  until 
his  marriage  in  1873,  when  he  settled  on  section 
25,  China  Township,  where  he  h:is  a  farm  of  two 
hundred  and  forty  acres,  which,  under  his  super- 
vision, has  become  a  valuable  piece  of  property, 
ranking  among  the  best  improved  estates  in  the  | 
locality.  The  land  is  well  cultivated  and  very 
productive,  and  Mr.  Hillison  has  erected  a  fine  set 
of  farm  buildings,  and  has  all  the  conveniences  of 
n  model  farm  for  carrying  on  his  operations.  lie- 
sides  tilling  the  soil,  raising  grain  and  other  farm 
products,  he  is  engaged  in  buying  and  shipping 
live  stock,  a  business  which  he  makes  exceedingly 
profitable,  as  his  keen  judgment  is  seldom  at  fault 
in  making  his  purchases,  and  he  is  quick  to  take 
advantage  of  favorable  opportunities  to  sell  at  any 
sudden  rise  in  prices,  or  when  the  markets  are  active. 

The  marriage  of  Mr.  Hillison  with  Miss  Elizabeth 
Roth  was  celebrated  at  Dixon,  May  8, 1873.  In  their 
cozy  home,  five  children  complete  their  pleasant 
household,  whom  they  have  named  John  H.,  Christie 
E.,  William  C.,  Reinhart.  A.  and  Celia.  Mrs.  Hilli- 
son is  a  native  of  Germany,  born  on  the  18th 
of  February  1853.  Her  parents,  John  and  Bar- 
bara (Barnhart)  Roth,  were  also  of  German  birth. 
They  came  to  the  United  States  in  1860,  and  have 
ever  since  been  residents  of  Lee  County. 

The  fellow-citizens  of  our  subject,  appreciating 
the  fact  of  his  ability  to  handle  his  own  affairs  so 
as  to  make  the  most  of  his  resources,  and  knowing 
him'  to  be  utterly  trustworthy,  have  twice  elected 
him  to  the  office  of  Supervisor,  and  both  terms  that 
he  was  a  member  of  the  County  Board  he  worked 
earnestly  to  secure  public  improvements  that  would 
not  only  be  of  advantage  to  the  township  that  he 
represents,  but  would  benefit  the  county  at  large. 


He  is  a  true  Republican,  an  ardent  supporter  of 
the  principles  of  his  party,  and  is  active  in  political 
matters.  He  and  his  wife  are  members  in  high 
standing  of  the  Lutheran  Church. 


§  HUMAN  JOHNSON,  of  Viola  Township,  is 
a  member  of  the  Lee  County  Board  of  Su- 
pervisors, and  is  not  only  prominent  as  one 
of  our  most  valued  public  officials,  but  he  occupies 
a  leading  position  among  the  farmers  and  stock- 
raisers  of  this  region.  He  is  of  sturdy  pioneer 
stock,  his  father,  Smith  H.  Johnson,  being  an  early 
settler  of  Viola  Township,  and  an  active  promo- 
ter of  its  highest  interests,  educationally  and  mor- 
ally, as  well  as  affording  material  aid  in  the  devel- 
opment of  its  agricultural  resources. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  a  native  of  Ver- 
mont, whence  he  went  to  New  York  when  a  young 
man,  walking  from  that  place  to  New  York,  and 
in  that  State  he  met  and  was  married  to  Miss  Ziba 
K.  Tompkins.  He  bought  a  tract  of  laud  in  Alle- 
gany  County,  and  resided  there  until  1836,  when 
he  pushed  Westward  into  the  forest  wilds  of  the 
Territory  of  Michigan,  going  by  lake  to  Detroit, 
and  thence  with  a  team  penetrating  into  the  in- 
terior of  Van  Buren  County,  of  which  he  became 
a  pioneer.  He  bought  a  tract  of  timber  land,  and 
made  his  home  there  some  years.  He  was  a  man  of 
superior  intelligence,  who  knew  full  well  the  value 
of  an  education,  and  to  him  his  fellow-pioneers 
owed  the  chance  to  give  their  children  some  school- 
ing, for  he  built  one  of  the  first  schoolhouses  in 
that  section  of  country,  on  his  own  land.  There 
were  but  few  signs  of  civilization  then  in  those 
parts,  and  deer,  bears,  wolves,  coons  and  other  wild 
animals  were  frequently  seen  in  the  woods  near  the 
settlements  or  in  the  clearings  made  by  the  pio- 
neers. 

In  1843,  Mr.  Johnson  left  his  pioneer  home  in 
Michigan,  to  found  another  in  the  great  Prairie 
State,  coming  hither  with  his  wife  and  four  chil- 
dren, with  teams.  He  located  at  Big  Rock,  Kane 
County,  buying  a  tract  of  Government  land  at 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


727 


that  point.  A  few  months  later,  in  the  fall  of  the 
year,  he  went  back  to  Michigan,  but  returned  to 
his  place  in  Kane  County  the  following  spring, 
whence  he  came  to  Lee  County  eight  years  later, 
and  was  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  Viola  Town- 
ship. He  bought  a  tract  of  wild  prairie  land  on 
section  13,  upon  which  he  erected  suitable  build- 
ings, and  at  the  time  of  his  death  February  11. 
1873,  bad  a  well-improved  farm.  His  wife  also 
spent  her  last  years  on  the  old  homestead.  Viola 
Township  owes  him  a  debt  of  gratitude  for  his  gen- 
erous efforts  in  establishing  educational  institu- 
tions in  her  midst,  as,  soon  after  settling  here,  he 
built  a  schoolhouse  on  his  farm,  employed  the  first 
teacher  that  ever  taught  here,  paying  her  from  his 
own  funds.  A  liberal,  broad-minded,  public-spir- 
ited citizen,  his  name  should  be  honored  as  that  of 
one  of  our  most  worthy  pioneers. 

Truman  Johnson  was  born  in  Allegany  County, 
N.  Y.,  April  3,  1832,  and  he  was  but  four  years  old 
when  his  parents  removed  to  Michigan.  His  early- 
education  was  obtained  in  the  schoolhouse  that  his 
father  buill  on  his  land,  which  was  a  primitive 
structure,  but  answered  the  purpose  as  well  as  a 
more  ornate  building.  The  seats,  which  were  with- 
out backs,  were  .made  of  slabs,  with  wooden  pins 
for  legs,  and  had  no  desks  in  front.  As  soon  as 
large  enough,  our  subject  had  to  work  on  the  farm 
and  help  his  father  in  clearing  his  land. .  He  was 
twelve  years  old  when  the  family  came  to  Illinois, 
and  at  that  time  the  country  was  very  sparsely  set- 
tled, deer  and  other  kinds  of  game  roaming  at  will 
where  are  now  smiling  farms  and  thriving  towns. 
There  were  no  railways  for  some  years,  and  Chi- 
cago was  the  nearest  market. 

Mr.  Johnson  continued  with  his  parents  until 
his  marriage,  and  he  then  rented  land  for  a  year. 
At  the  expiration  of  that  time  he  settled  on  the  old 
homestead  in  Viola  Township,  which  he  now  owns 
and  occupies.  It  comprises  one  hundred  and  twent}- 
acres  of  very  fertile,  highly  cultivated  laud, abun- 
dantly provided  with  all  the  improvements  of  a 
well-equipped  farm.  Mr.  Johnson  has  three  hun- 
dred and  twenty  acres  of  laud  besides  his  home 
farm,  two  hundred  and  forty  of  which  are  in  Rey- 
nolds Township,  and  the  remainder  in  Viola  Town- 
ship. He  has  acquired  his  property  partly  by  judi- 


cious investment,  by  skillful  cultivation  of  the 
.  soil,  and  by  excellent  judgment  in  carrying  out 
his  plans. 

In  writing  the  outline  of  the  life  of  our  subject, 
we  should  be  doing  him  but  scant  justice  if  we 
omitted  his  war  record.  He  enlisted  in  February, 
1865,  in  Company  I,  Fifteenth  Illinois  Infantry, 
and  started  from  Chicago  to  join  the  army  in  North 
Carolina.  He  was  taken  .sick  at  New  York,  which 
detained  him  there  about  a  month,  and  he  was 
then  sent  to  Newburn,  N.  C.  In  a  short  time  he 
was  despatched  from  there  to  Alexandria,  Va., 
where  he  joined  the  command  and  proceeded  with 
it  to  Washington,  and  was  in  that  city  at  the  time 
of  the  Grand  Review  of  the  Union  troops.  He  then 
started  with  the  troops  for  the  Western  frontier, 
but  was  again  taken  ill  at  St.  Louis,  and  entered 
the  hospital,  from  which  he  was  honorably  dis- 
charged in  July,  1865,  and  returned  home  to  re- 
sume the  calling  that  he  had  abandoned  at  his 
country's  call. 

Mr.  Johnson's  assistance  has  often  been  sought 
in  the  guidance  of  public  affairs,  and  he  has  held 
almost  all  the  important  local  offices.  He  has  served 
as  School  Trustee,  School  Treasurer  and  School  Di- 
rector; has  been  Constable,  Collector  and  Justice 
of  the  Peace;  and  in  1890  he  was  elected  to  repre- 
sent Viola  Township  on  the  County  Board  of 
Supervisors  for  a  period  of  two  years.  He  was 
formerly  a  Republican  in  politics,  but  is  now  In- 
dependent. 

Mr.  Johnson  was  married  January  29,  1860,  to 
Miss  Mary  E.  Malugin,  a  representative  of  some  of 
the  oldest  pioneer  families  of  Illinois.  Ten  chil- 
dren complete  the  household  of  our  subject  and 
his  wife,  named  as  follows:  Harvey,  Addie,  Rosa, 
George,  Walter,  Frank,-  May,  Dollie,  Maud  and 
Wilber. 

Mrs.  Johnson  was  born  at  Malugin's  Grove  in 
the  pioneer  home  of  her  parents,  Zachariah  and 
Mar}'  (Ross)  Malugin.  Her  paternal  grandfather, 
Jonathan  Malugin,  was  one  of  the  early  settlers  of 
Sangamon  County,  this  State,  whither  he  had  come 
from  Tennessee.  He  lived  there  some  years,  and 
then  came  to  Lee  County  and  spent  the  remainder 
of  his  life  here.  His  son  Zachariah  was  reared  in 
Tennessee,  and  came  to  this  State  with  his  parents 


728 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


in  early  manhood.  He  was  living  in  Sangamon 
County  at  the  time  of  the  Black  Hawk  War,  and 
as  a  soldier  during  that  contest  with  the  Indians 
came  to  Northern  Illinois  with  his  regiment.  He 
was  attracted  by  the  beauty  of  the  country,  and 
in  1833  carried  out  his  resolution  to  settle  hereby 
becoming  a  pioneer  of  Lee  County. 

Mr.  Johnson  made  a  claim  to  the  grove  which 
has  since  borne  his  name-,  and  which  was  then  iso- 
lated and  lonely,  for  his  nearest  neighbor  on  the 
west  was  Father  Dixon,  at  Dixon  Ferry,  and  the 
nearest  settlers  on  the  east  were  the  Ross  family  at 
Ross  Grove,  De  Kalb  County.  He  did  not  find 
them  too  far  away  to  be  neighborly  with,  how- 
ever, and  presumably  made  good  use  of  his  time 
in  visiting  them,  as  that  same  year  he  married  one 
of  the  Ross  girls,  and  in  the  log  cabin  that  he  built 
on  his  claim  he  and  his  bride  commenced  housekeep- 
ing together.  His  life  was  cut  short  by  his  untimely 
death  in  that  home  in  December,  1841,  and  Lee 
County  was  deprived  of  the  services  of  an  active 
and  valuable  pioneer.  His  wife  survived  him 
mam'  years,  and  finally  died  in  1880  at  a  venerable 
age.  She  was  a  native  of  Virginia,  and  a  daugh- 
ter of  Joseph  and  Jane  (Norman)  Ross.  Further 
mention  is  made  of  her  parents  in  the  sketch  of  O. 
P.  Johnson,  which  will  be  found  elsewhere  in  this 
book. 


OELSON  POWELL,  a  successful  farmer  and 
stock-raiser,  whose  home  is  on  section  7, 
Palmyra  Township,  is  a  native  of  this  State. 
His  birth  occurredjOn  the  13th  of  March,  1854,  in 
Sterling,  and  he  is  a  worthy  representative  of  one 
of  the  early  families  of  Northern  Illinois.  His 
father,  Nathaniel  Powell,  was  born  and  reared  in 
Saratoga  County,  N.  Y..  where  he  wedded  Miss 
Abbie  Brown,  also  a  native  of  that  locality.  She 
was  his  second  wife.  By  his  former  union,  he  had 
one  daughter,  Dora,  who  became  the  wife  of 
George  Howe  and  now  resides  in  Nebraska.  By 
the  second  union  were  born  two  sons:  Charles  and 
Nelson.  The  parents  came  to  Illinois  in  an  early 
day  and  settled  in  Sterling,  where  their  deaths  oc- 


curred in  the  fall  of  1855.  They  both  died  the 
same  night  of  typhoid  fever.  Their  elder  son, 
Charles,  was  then  reared  b}r  his  uncle,  Nelson 
Powell,  in  the  Empire  State,  and  is  now  a  resident 
of  Monroe  County,  N.  Y.,  where  he  engaged  in  the 
butchering  business. 

Our  subject  was  only  seven  months  old  when  he 
was  left  an  orphan,  and  by  a  relative  he  was 
reared.  From  his  native  county  he  removed  to 
Lee  County,  and  the  farm  which  he  now  owns  was 
j  given  him  by  his  uncle,  Jacob  Powell,  who  secured 
large  tracts  of  land  from  the  Government  in  a  raw 
I  state.  Jacob  Powell  became  one  of  the  well-known 
!  and  prominent  citizens  of  this  community.  He 
owned  very  large  landed  interests,  and,  by  judi- 
cious investments  and  sagacious  sales,  became  quite 
wealthy.  He  started  out  with  only  a  few  hundred 
dollars,  but  at  his  death,  in  1888,  was  woith 
$100,000.  Mr.  Powell  had  come  to  Illinois 
from  Saratoga  County,  N.  Y.,  his  birthplace. 
In  Whiteside  County  he  wedded  Mrs.  Eliza 
Brown,  who  is  now  living  on  the  old  home- 
stead in  Sterling  Township,  at  the  age  of  sixty-six 
years.  Both  the  husband  and  his  wife  were  Spir- 
itualists in  faith,  and  in  his  political  views,  Mr. 
Powell  was  a  Republican. 

The  education  of  our  subject  was  begun  in  the 
public  schools  of  Sterling  and  completed  by  a 
business  course  in  Des  Moines,  Iowa.  Farming 
and  stock-raising  have  been  his  life  work,  and  in 
this  he  has  been  very  successful.  He  now  owns 
and  operates  two  hundred  acres  of  valuable  land, 
the  greater  part  of  which  is  under  a  high  state  of 
cultivation,  and,  in  consequence,  yields  to  him  a 
golden  tribute.  For  the  past  three  years  he  has 
also  engaged  extensively  in  stock-raising,  making 
a  specialty  of  sheep,  and  now  has  a  fine  flock, num- 
bering two  hundred  head  of  a  high  grade.  The 
appointments  of  his  farm  are  all  in  keeping  with 
his  practical  and  progressive  ideas,  and  the  neat 
appearance  of  the  place  indicates  the  supervision 
of  a  careful  manager  who  thoroughly  understands 
his  business. 

In  Kasson  City,  Dodge  County,  Minn.,  Mr. 
Powell  led  to  the  marriage  altar  Miss  Cecelia  Cors- 
caden,  who  was  born  in  the  Empire  State,  but  was 
reared  and  educated  in  Wisconsin  and  Minnesota. 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


729 


She  became  a  teacher  and  for  some  years  success- 
fully followed  that  vocation.  The  union  of  our 
subject  and  his  worthy  wife  has  been  blessed  with 
two  children,  a  son  and  daughter,  Leroy  and  Nellie 
.T.  The  Powell  household  is  the  abode  of  hospital- 
ity, and  the  members  of  the  family  rank  high  in 
the  social  world.  Mr.  Powell  exercises  his  right  of 
franchise  in  support  of  the  Republican  party,  and 
his  wife  is  a  member  of  the  Episcopal  Church, 
while  he  is  a  Spiritualist. 


eORNELIUS  FREDERICK  VAN  PATTEN 
is  well-known  as  one  of  the  principal  far- 
mers and  stock-raisers  of  Viola  Township, 
where  he  has  a  large  and  well-conducted  farm, 
provided  with  first-class  improvements.  He  was 
born  in  Glenville,  Schenectady  County,  N.  Y., 
January  6,  1826,  and  is  a  son  of  Frederick  Van 
Patten,  who  was  a  native  of  the  same  township  as 
himself.  He,  in  turn,  was  a  son  of  Simon  Van 
Patten,  who  is  supposed  to  have  been  born  in 
Holland,  and  to  have  come  to  this  country  when 
he  was  young.  He  was  a  thrifty  farmer,  and  was 
engaged  at  his  occupation  in  Glenville  Township, 
where  he  died  in  the  course  of  time.  He  was  for 
many  years  noted  as  a  teacher  of  vocal  music,  and 
carried  on  that  profession  while  superintending 
the  management  of  his  farm. 

The  father  of  our  subject  passed  his  boyhood  on 
the  old  farm  in  Glenville,  and  devoted  his  entire 
life  to  agricultural  pursuits  in  his  native  township. 
The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  Sarah  Bartlctt. 
She  came  of  distinguished  Colonial  ancestry,  and 
was  a  native  of  New  England,  Brattleboro,  Vt., 
her  birthplace.  Her  father,  Charles  Bartlett,  was 
born  in  England,  but  came  to  America  in  Colonial 
times,  and  settled  in  Brattleboro,  Vt.  He  was 
greatly  interested  in  the  events  that  led  up  to  the 
Revolution,  took  sides  with  the  Colonists,  and  was 
an  ardent  patriot.  He  displayed  his  devotion  to 
his  adopted  country  on  various  occasions,  and 
bore  an  active  part  in  the  famous  tea  party  that 
resulted  in  throwing  the  tea  from  the  English 


vessels  overboard  into  the  waters  of  Boston  Harbor. 
After  the  war  closed,  he  spent  his  remaining  days 
peacefully  in  the  pretty  Vermont  town  where  he 
had  first  located.  The  mother  of  our  subject  was 
a  woman  of  superior  intelligence  and  education, 
and  taught  school  in  her  early  womanhood  until 
she  was  married.  She  died  on  the  farm  in  Glen- 
ville where  she  had  passed  her  wedded  life.  She 
bore  her  husband  ten  children,  of  whom  these 
nine  grew  to  manhood  and  womanhood:  Simon  B., 
Jemima,  Nathan  B.,  John,  Ira,  Nicholas,  Swart, 
Hester  and  Cornelius  F. 

The  latter,  who  forms  the  subject  of  this  bio- 
graphical review,  grew  to  man's  estate  in  his 
native  town,  and  was  there  educated.  He  was 
early  instructed  in  all  kinds  of  farm  work,  and 
although  he  was  young  when  his  father  died,  he 
was  perfectly  competent  to  take  charge  of  the 
farm,  and  did  so  until  he  was  twenty-six  years  of 
age.  Then,  as  his  services  were  no  longer  needed 
in  that  direction,  he  was  engaged  at  various  em- 
ployments for  three  or  four  years.  In  1856,  he 
made  a  new  departure,  having  determined  to  im- 
prove his  fortunes,  if  possible,  by  farming  on  the 
marvellously  fertile  soil  of  Northern  Illinois,  and 
after  coming  here  he  engaged  in  tilling  land  on 
shares  at  Shabonna  Grove,  DeKalb  County.  Some 
seven  years  later  he  bought  eighty  acres  of  land 
in  the  town  of  Milan,  the  same  county, and  farmed 
it  the  ensuing  four  years.  At  the  expiration  of 
that  time,  he  came  to  Viola  Township,  and  pur- 
chased a  quarter  of  a  section  of  land  that  is  now 
included  in  his  present  farm,  that  contains  three 
hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  as  fine  land  for  agri- 
cultural purposes  as  can  be  found  in  this  locality. 
Its  fields  are  under  the  best  of  tillage,  its  pastures 
afford  sustenance  for  many  sleek  and  well-kept 
cattle,  horses  and  hogs  of  good  breeds,  which  are 
raised  on  the  place  and  bring  in  a  good  yearly 
income.  The  buildings  are  neat,  roomy  and  sub- 
stantial, and  everything  about  the  farm  is  in  good 
order. 

Mr.  Van  Patten  was  married  in  1855  to  Miss 
Mary  J.  Young,  a  native  of  the  same  New  York 
town  in  which  he  was  born,  and  a  daughter  of 
Frank  and  Margaret  (Dickerson)  Young.  She  is 
a  most  estimable  woman,  and  in  her  the  Methodist 


7. SO 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


Episcopal  Church  has  an  active  Christian  member. 
These  are  the  names  of  the  fifteen  children  that 
complete  the  family  of  our  subject  and  his  wife: 
Margaret,  Childes,  Frank,  Sarah,  Ella,  Sherman, 
Cora,  Addie,  Hannah,  Ida,  Seth, Stella,  Olive,  Edith 
and  Cornelius  F. 

Mr.  Van  Patten  is  a  typical  self  made  man,  as 
he  has  arisen  to  his  present  position  solely  through 
his  own  efforts.  He  has  strength  of  character,  a 
firm  will,  good,  round-about  common  sense,  and  a 
good  capacity  for  planning  and  executing  what- 
ever work  he  wishes  to  carry  out.  For  many 
37ears  he  was  a  good  Democrat  in  his  politics,  but 
he  is  now  a  member  of  the  Farmers'  Alliance.  He 
attends  the  church  to  which  his  wife  belongs,  and 
is  a  liberal  supporter  of  whatever  will  benefit  the 
township. 


JOHN  CROMBIE  has  passed  the  most  of  his 
life  as  boy  and  man  in  Lee  County,  and  has 
attained  an  honorable  place  among  its  farm- 
ers  and    stock-raisers.     He   has  a  farm  on 
section  25,  China  Township,  that  is  in  a  fine  con- 
dition, owing  to  his  excellent  management,  has  a 
good  class  of  improvements,  and  its  carefully  tilled 
fields  and  rich  pastures  yield  him  a  desirable  in- 
come. 

The  town  of  Byron,  Genesee  County,  N.  Y.,  is 
the  birthplace  of  our  subject,  and  February  26, 
1830,  the  date  of  his  birth.  He  is  descended  from 
hardy  New  England  stock,  and  both  of  his  parents. 
Moses  and  Louisa  (Morse)  Crombie,  were  born 
among  the  granite  hills  of  New  Hampshire,  Ches- 
shire  being  their  native  county,  and  Dublin  the 
town  where  the  father  first  saw  the  light  of  day. 
A  portion  of  their  married  life  was  spent  in  New 
York,  but  they  passed  their  last  days  in  this  State. 
They  were  among  the  early  pioneers  of  Northern 
Illinois,  coming  here  in  the  first  years  of  its  settle- 
ment. They  lived  some  two  or  three  years  in  what 
is  now  the  village  of  Grand  Detour,  Ogle  Count}', 
but  in  1840  they  settled  near  Amboy,  in  this 
county,  whence  they  subsequently  removed  to  Lee 
Centre,  and  there  death  found  them  well  advanced 


in  years.  Those  worthy  people  reared  a  family  of 
three  children,  of  whom  our  subject  is  the  eldest. 

John  Crombie  was  but  a  boy  when  his  parents 
came  to  this  State,  and  the  remainder  of  his  youth 
was  passed  chiefly  in  this  county,  in  Lee  Centre 
Township,  and,  with  the  exception  of  five  years  in 
Iowa,  he  has  been  a  resident  of  this  county  ever 
since.  He  has  made  farming  his  life  work,  and 
was  engaged  at  that  calling  in  Lee  Centre  Town- 
ship for  some  years  after  his  marriage.  In  the 
winter  of  1862-63  he  removed  with  his  family  to 
Wheatland,  Clinton  County,  Iowa,  and  was  a  resi- 
dent of  that  county  some  five  years.  At  the  ex- 
piration of  that  time  he  returned  to  Lee  County, 
which  from  old  associations,  and  for  what  he  con- 
sidered better  advantages,  both  as  a  place  of  resi- 
dence and  for  the  pursuit  of  his  vocation,  had 
superior  attractions  for  him.  He  then  located  in 
China  Township,  and  in  the  years  of  toil  that  have 
since  followed  has  made  his  farm  attractive  as  a 
home,  and  valuable  as  a  finely  improved  piece  of 
property.  It  has  an  area  of  one  hundred  and 
seventy-two  acres,  on  which  he  has  erected  a  good 
set  of  buildings,  and  evidences  of  thrift  and  un- 
ceasing care  are  seen  on  every  hand. 

The  marriage  of  our  subject  with  Miss  Sarah  E. 
Warnick  took  place  July  4,  1854,  in  Lee 
Centre  Township,  and  neither  contracting  party 
has  seen  cause  to  regret  the  important  step  taken 
on  that  glorious  "Independence  Day"  that  lies 
back  in  the  past  thirty-seven  years,  as  it  has  brought 
them  much  that  is  pleasant.  Among  its  blessings 
are  the  six  children  that  have  been  born  unto 
them,  namely:  George  M.,  who  married  Miss  Polly 
Landon;  Charles,  who  died  in  childhood;  Nancy 
L.,  the  wife  of  Fred  L.  Ayers;  Mamie,  Adelaide  S., 
and  Alice  M.  Mrs.  Crombie  was  born  in  Steuben 
County,  N.  Y.,  July  7,  1834,  and  is  the  youngest 
of  the  five  children  of  James  and  Nancy  (Gard- 
ner) Warnick,  who  were  natives  respectively  of 
Montgomery  County,  N.  Y.,  and  of  Swansea,  Mass. 
They  were  pioneers  of  Lee  Count}7,  whither  they 
came  from  their  former  home  in  Steuben  County, 
N.  Y.,  in  1849,  and  were  residents  of  Lee  Centre 
Township  many  years,  her  death  occurring  there, 
while  he  died  in  the  home  of  his  son  in  Edgar 
County. 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


731 


Mr.  Crombie  is  a  man  of  sound  understanding, 
and  has  clear,  common-sense  views  on  all  subjects 
with  which  he  is  familiar,  while  his  many  excellent 
personal  traits  have  commended  him  to  the  people 
among  whom  he  has  lived  so  long,  and  they  have 
often  placed  him  in  responsible  public  offices,  feel- 
ing sure  that  he  would  discharge  the  duties  thus 
imposed  upon  him  in  the  most  satisfactory  manner. 
He  has  been  Constable,  Justice  of  the  Peace,  Asses- 
sor, Collector  and  School  Director,  and  in  those 
various  capacities  has  always  acted  with  wisdom 
and  discretion,  and  has  favored  whatsoever  would 
be  of  benefit  to  the  township.  In  politics,  he  is  a 
strong  believer  in  the  doctrines  of  the  Democratic 
party.  Socially,  he  is  identified  with  the  Masonic 
fraternity.  Mrs.  Crombie  shares  the  respect  in 
which  her  husband  is  held,  and  she  is  a  devoted 
member  of  the  Congregational  Church. 


E MANUEL  BRIERTON,  a  successful  farmer 
of  Dixon  Township,  living  on  section  26, 
has  the  honor  of  being  a  native  citizen  of 
the  county.  He  was  born  on  his  father's  farm  in 
the  town  of  Nachusa,  July  10,  1846,  and  is  the 
youngest  child  of  Joseph  Brierton,  an  honored 
pioneer  of  this  county.  His  father  was  a  native  of 
Yorktown,  Mass.,  and  his  grandfather,  John  Brier- 
ton,  was  born  in  England  and  came  of  pure  Eng- 
lish lineage.  In  that  land  he  married  Jane  Brew- 
ster,  and  ere  the  Revolutionary  War  crossed  the 
Atlantic  to  America.  When  the  Colonies  attempted 
to  throw  off  the  British  yoke  of  tyranny,  he  aided 
in  the  struggle  for  independence.  In  his  later  life 
he  left  Massachusetts  and  went  to  Pennsylvania, 
where  he  died  at  an  advanced  age.  By  occupation, 
he  was  a  farmer,  and  both  he  and  his  wife  were 
members  of  the  Methodist  Church.  In  their  fam- 
ily were  eleven  children,  all  of  whom  lived  to  be 
quite  olil,  but  are  now  deceased.  With  the  excep- 
tion of  John,  who  engaged  in  merchandising  for 
many  years,  the  sons  made  farming  their  life  work. 
Joseph  Brierton,  father  of  our  subject,  was  the 
eldest  of  the  family  and  the  last  to  pass  away.  It 
was  during  his  boyhood  that  his  parents  removed 


to  the  Keystone  State,  the  family  settling  in  Lu- 
zcrne  County,  where  he  began  serving  an  appren- 
ticeship to  a  distiller  in  1801,  but  he  only  worked 
at  that  trade  for  about  two  years.  Subsequently, 
he  learned  the  blacksmith's  trade,  which  he  fol- 
lowed more  or  less  for  a  long  period.  In  the  early 
part  of  the  '40s,  emigrating  Westward,  he  settled 
in  Lee  County,  and  purchased  eleven  hundred  acres 
of  land,  which  he  highly  improved,  and  as  it  rose 
in  value  he  became  quite  wealthy.  This  county 
was  the  scene  of  his  labors  from  that  time  until 
his  death  on  the  7th  of  August,  1889,  at  the  very 
advanced  age  of  ninety-seven  years.  He  was  a  man 
of  prominence  in  the  community  and  was  widely 
known  throughout  the  county.  In  politics,  he  was 
an  inflexible  adherent  of  Republican  principles, 
which  he  advocated  on  account  of  the  abolition 
sentiment  they  embodied,  and  in  religious  belief 
was  a  Methodist.  Mrs.  Brierton  bore  the  maiden 
name  of  Elizabeth  Garrison,  and  their  marriage 
was  celebrated  in  Luzerne  County,  Pa.,  where  she 
was  born  and  reared.  She  died  at  her  home  in  Lee 
County,  in  1870,  at  the  age  of  sixty-nine  years, 
after  a  noble  and  well-spent  life.  She,  too,  was  a 
faihful  member  of  the  Methodist  Church  and 
many  warm  friends  sincerely  mourned  her  death. 

No  event  of  special  importance  occurred  during 
the  boyhood  of  our  subject  to  vary  the  monotony 
of  farm  life,  for  in  the  usual  manner  of  farmer  lads 
his  childhood  days  were  passed.  At  the  age  of 
eighteen  he  enlisted  in  the  late  war  as  a  member 
of  Company  C,  Seventh  Illinois  Cavalry  and  for 
one  year  was  in  the  service,  but  much  of  the  time 
was  confined  in  the  hospital  from  pneumonia  and  a 
sunstroke.  This  so  impaired  his  health  that  he 
engaged  only  in  skirmishing  and  other  light  duty. 
On  his  return  he  continued  to  reside  in  Lee  Count}' 
until  1879,  when  he  went  to  St.  Louis.  For  one 
year  he  was  foreman  of  Capt.  Thompson's  cane 
plantation,  and  for  the  three  succeeding  years  was 
connected  with  the  implement  house  of  J.  A. 
Field,  of  St.  Louis.  He  then  returned  to  his  native 
county  and  has  since  given  his  Attention  to  agri- 
cultural pursuits.  In  1889  he  purchased  an  im- 
proved farm  of  one  hundred  and  eighty  acres  on 
section  26,  Dixon  Township. 

A  marriage  ceremony  performed  in  that  town- 


732 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


sbip  united  the  destinies  of  Mr.  Brierton  and 
Emma  Coltren,  a  native  of  the  Buckeye  State,  who 
came  to  Illinois,  when  about  two  years  old,  with 
her  parents,  Elisha  and  Mary  (Osborne)  Coltren, 
who  located  at  Palestine,  and  afterward  settled  on 
a  farm  near  Amboy.  They  then  came  to  Dixon 
and  some  years  later  went  to  Russell  County,  Kan., 
where  Mr.  Coltren  died,  near  Bunker  Hill,  in 
1888,  at  the  age  of  eighty-eight  years.  By  occu- 
pation, he  was  a  farmer,  which  business  he  followed 
throughout  his  life.  His  wife,  who  survives  him, 
resides  with  her  son  Orin  in  Nachusa  Township,  at 
the  age  of  seventy-four  years. 

Eleven  children  grace  the  union  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Brierton  and  the  family  circle  yet  remains 
unbroken.  In  order  of  birth  they  are  as  follows: 
Alice,  Edna,  Henry,  Frank,  Joseph,  Tyler,  Pearl, 
Blossom,  Myrtle,  and  Daisy.  This  family  is  well 
and  favorably  known  throughout  the  community, 
and  the  Brierton  household  is  the  abode  of  hospi- 
tality. In  politics,  our  subject  is  a  warm  supporter 
of  Republican  principles  and  is  a  valued  citizen  of 
the  community  where  he  has  so  long  made  his 
home.  He  takes  a  just  pride  in  the  growth  and 
upbuilding  of  his  native  county,  in  whose  history 
he  has  been  identified  for  forty-five  years. 


DANIEL  CURRAN,  senior  member  of  the 
firm  of  Daniel  Curraii  &  Sons,  mason 
contractors  of  Dixon,  is  one  of  the  leading 
citizens  of  Irish  birth  residing  in  Lee 
County.  He  was  born  in  County  Tyrone,  Ireland, 
March  29,  1839,  and  is  a  son  of  James  and  Bessie 
(Cady)  Cm-ran.  His  mother  died  in  1846,  after 
which  his  father  was  again  married,  and  in  1849 
brought  his  family  to  the  United  States,  crossing 
the  Atlantic  from  Liverpool  to  New  York  City  in 
the  sailing  vessel  "Kingston,"  which  dropped  an- 
chor in  New  York  harbor  after  a  voyage  of  five 
weeks  and  three  days.  They  lived  in  New  York 
City  four  years  and  theji  came  at  once  to  Illinois, 
where  Mr.  Curran  and  his  wife  are  yet  residing  on  a 
farm  on  the  Rock  River,  near  the  city  of  Dixon. 


Although  he  is  now  more  than  eighty  years  of  age, 
lie  retains  much  of  the  vigor  which  characterized 
him  in  earlier  life,  being  still  hale  and  hearty. 
Himself  and  wife  are  members  of  the  Catholic 
Church. 

We  now  take  up  the  personal  history  of  our 
subject,  who  is  so  widely  and  favorably  known 
throughout  this  community.  From  an  early  age 
he  has  made  his  own  way  in  the  world,  and  well 
deserves  to  be  numbered  among  the  self-made  men 
of  the  county.  In  Dixon  he  learned  his  trade  of 
a  mason  with  the  firm  of  Robinson  &  Means,  and 
after  his  term  of  apprenticeship  had  expired,  went 
to  New  York  City,  where  he  entered  the  employ 

j  of  John  Hankinson,  with  whom  he  worked  for  six 
years.  His  long  continuance  in  the  service  of  one 
man  attests  the  quality  of  his  excellent  workman- 
ship and  his  fidelity  to  the  interests  of  him  he 

!   served. 

During  his  residence  in  the  East,  Mr.  Curran  led 

;  to  the  marriage  altar  Miss  Catherine  Donahue,who 
came  to  this  country  from  her  native  land,  Ireland, 
during  her  girlhood.  She  died  at  her  home  m 
Dixon,  in  1872,  leaving  five  children:  James,  who 
wedded  Miss  Mary  Swam,  of  California,  and  is  now 
a  brickmaker  and  contractor  of  Bakersfield,  Cur- 

1  ran  County,  Cal.;  Charles,  who  wedded  Alice  Mc- 
Graw, and  is  associated  in  business  with  his  father; 
William  H.,  who  is  employed  as  yardman  in  the 
service  of  the  Southern  Pacific  Railroad  Company 
at  Sumner,  Cal.;  Thomas  F.,  a  member  of  the  firm 
of  Curran  <fe  Sons;  and  Anza  B.,  wife  of  John  Mc- 
Graw,  who  is  engaged  in  merchandising  in  Osong, 

1  111.  Mr.  Curran  was  again  married  in  Dixon,  his 
second  union  being  with  Miss  Mary  Lyons,  a  na- 
tive of  Vermont,  who  came  to  this  State  during  her 
childhood  with  her  parents,  Edward  and  Bridget 
(Hines)  Lyons,  both  of  whom  are  now  deceased. 
They  were  natives  of  the  Emerald  Isle  and  crossed 
the  Atlantic  after  their  marriage.  Some  years  they 
spent  in  the  New  England  States  and  then  came  to 
Lee  County,  111.,  where  they  died,  the  father  at  the 
age  of  sixty-five  years  and  the  mother  in  her  sixty- 
first  year.  They  were  members  of  the  Catholic 
Church. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Curran  have  two  children:  Patrick 
G.  and  Daniel  A.,  and  have  lost  five.  They  are 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


733 


members  of  the  Catholic  Church,  and  in  political 
sentiment  our  subject  is  a  Democrat.  The  firm  of 
Cm-ran  &  Sons,  located  at  the  corner  of  Ninth 
Street  and  Nachusa  Avenue,  have  a  liberal  patron- 
age, and  rank  among  the  leading  contractors  of 
Dixon.  Daniel  Curran  has  a  high  reputation  as  a 
skilled  workman  and  has  superintended  many  of 
the  best  buildings  in  this  city,  which  now  stand  as 
monuments  to  his  ability  and  enterprise.  The 
faithfulness  with  which  he  fulfills  his  part  of  the 
contract  has  won  him  the  confidence  of  all,  and 
the  custom  accorded  him  is  well  merited. 


rfj^  EORGE  HUNT  has  been  a  useful  and  highly 
III  <-— ,  respected  citizen  of  Lee  County  for  thirty- 
%JJ|  five  years.  He  has  devoted  himself  prin- 
cipally to  farming  during  all  these  years  and  is 
entitled  to  a  worthy  place  among  the  pioneers  of 
China  Township,  where  he  has  improved  a  good 
farm,  comprising  a  part  of  section  22.  He  was 
born  in  Leicestershire,  England,  March  14,  1815. 
He  grew  to  a  stalwart  manhood  in  the  land  of  his 
birth,  and  having  learned  the  trade  of  a  black- 
smith, he  followed  it  there  until  he  was  twenty- 
four  years  old.  He  then  turned  his  back  on  his 
-old  English  home  and  crossed  the  ocean  to  this 
country.  For  several  years  he  was  engaged  at  his 
trade  in  Oneida'  County,  N.  Y.,  and  at  the  same 
time  kept  a  country  tavern  in  the  town  of  Marcy. 
In  the  spring  of  1856,  he  wound  up  his  affairs  there, 
having  decided  to  try  agricultural  pursuits  on  the 
fertile  soil  of  the  great  Prnirie  State. 

Mr.  Hunt  chose  Lee  County  as  his  future  home, 
and,  buying  a  farm  on  section  22,  China  Township, 
has  ever  since  been  a  resident  of  this  part  of  Illi- 
nois. He  has  been  engaged  chiefly  iu  farming  and 
owns  eighty  acres  of  valuable  farming  land,  which 
is  under  admirable  tillage,  is  provided  with  suita- 
ble buildings,  and  is  a  very  desirable  and  well- 
kept  place. 

During  his  residence  in  Oneida  County,  N.  Y., 
Mr.  Hunt  was  married,  April  19,  1847,  to  Eliza- 
beth Moseley,  who  was  a  native  of  the  same  Eng- 
lish shire  as  himself,  born  March  11,  1824.  For 


forty  years  and  more  she  walked  by  his  side,  was 
to  him  a  cheerful  helper,  encouraged  him  by  her 
presence  and  wise  counsel,  and  left  nothing  un- 
done that  would  contribute  to  his  comfort  and 
well-being,  December  16,  1888,  death  crossed  the 
threshold  of  the  home  where  they  had  lived  so 
long  together,  and  the  beloved  wife  fell  into  that 
sleep  that  knows  no  waking  this  side  of  eternity. 
She  was  a  Christian  and  a  devoted  member  of  the 
Church  of  England,  in  which  faith  she  had  been 
bred. 

Industry  and  frugality,  combined  with  good 
judgment  and  honesty  of  purpose  and  act,  have 
brought  our  subject  due  reward,  and  he  is  well 
fortified  against  want  and  the  necessity  of  hard 
labor.  His  sterling  merits,  his  kindly  nature,  and 
his  ueighborlincss  have  gained  him  a  warm  place 
in  the  hearts  of  his  fellow-citizens.  He  has  sensi- 
ble opinions  on  all  subjects  with  which  he  is  famil- 
iar, and  in  his  political  views  is  not  bound  to  any 
party,  but  is  independent. 

J"  OHN  L.  SHAW,  a  retired  farmer  and  resi- 
dent of  Lee  Center  Township,  this  county, 
is  highly  esteemed  as  one  of  the  old  pio- 
neers- of  this  State,  and  a  man  who  has 
witnessed  and  aided  in  the  growth  and  prosperity 
of  the  county  which  he  made  his  home  at  an  early 
day.  He  was  born  in  Ontario  County,  N.  Y.,  May 
19,  1816,  where  he  grew  to  manhood  and  resided 
until  the  fall  of  1844,  when  he  came  with  his  wife 
to  Hancock  County,  111.,  remaining  there  until  the 
spring  of  1846,  when  he  removed  to  Lee  County 
anu  settled  in  Bradford  Township.  Here  he  took 
up  a  claim  on  which  he  lived  for  over  twenty 
years,  later  removing  to  another  farm  in  the  same 
township.  After  residing  in  this  township  for 
upwards  of  thirty  years,  he  removed  to  Belvidere, 
this  State,  where  he  lived  a  retired  life  for  some 
eight  years,  after  which  he  returned  to  Lee  Center, 
where  he  now  resides.  He  has  followed  farming 
throughout  his  life,  and  now  owns  eighty  acres  in 
this  township. 

Mr.  Shaw  was  married  in  Orleans  County,  N.  Y., 


734 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


September  27,  1844,  to  Miss  Tryphena  Mcrrill,who 
was  born  in  Paris,  Oneida  County,  N.  Y.,  July  30, 
1821.  Her  parents,  Chauncy  and  Hannah  (Austin) 
Merrill,  were  natives  of  Rutland,  Vt..  and  Bristol, 
R.  I.,  respectively.  They  were  married  in  Otsego 
County  and  died  in  Darion,  Genesee  County, 
N.  Y. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Shaw  have  had  two  children, 
Ellen  A.,  who  is  the  wife  of  Giles  A.  Hodges,  and 
John  M.,  who  died  when  four  and  one-half  years 
old.  Mr.  Shaw  has  held  some  of  the  local  town- 
ship offices  and  has  been  School  Director.  In  pol- 
itics he  is  a  Democrat.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Shaw  are  in- 
clined to  be  liberal  in  their  religious  views,  and 
are  people  who  make  the  best  of  everything  and 
enjoy  life,  thereby  making  it  happier  for  everyone 
who  comes  in  contact  with  them.  Mrs.  Shaw  is  a 
most  estimable  woman  and  has  many  warm  friends, 
who  enjoy  visiting  this  couple  at  their  comfort- 
able home. 


ELLE  L.  BUSINGA,  who  is  now  living 
in  retirement  in  one  of  the  finest  homes 
in  Franklin  Grove,  acquired  his  wealth 
by  extensive  and  well-directed  fanning 
operations,  and  is  still  identified  with  the  agri- 
cultural interests  of  Northern  Illinois  as  the 
owner  of  many  acres  of  choice  farming  land  in 
Ogle  County. 

Our  subject  was  born  in  Hanover,  Germany,  April 
3,  1831,  and  he  was  the  only  member  of  the  family 
to  come  to  the  United  States.  His  father  was  a 
rich  man,  but  he  twice  lost  his  fortune  by  a  disease 
attacking  his  large  herds  of  cattle.  Our  subject 
was  reared  on  a  farm  in  the  Old  Country,  and  con- 
tinued to  live  in  the  Fatherland  until  1855,  when 
he  came  to  America  in  the  full  flush  and  vigor  of 
early  manhood.  He  landed  in  New  York  after 
being  on  the  ocean  in  a  sailing  vessel  fifty-one  days. 
He  at  once  came  to  Illinois,  and  first  stopped  at 
Freeport,  where  he  found  himself  not  only  without 
funds,  but  in  debt,to  the  extent  of  two  dollars,  to  a 
friend  of  whom  ho  had  borrowed  the  money  in 


Chicago.  He  was,  however,  equal  to  the  emergency, 
with  his  capital  of  health,  strength,  readiness  of 
resource,  and  ability  to  work;  and  so  zealously  did 
he  apply  himself  to  searching  for  a  situation  after 
his  arrival  in  that  town  at  three  o'clock  in  the  af- 
ternoon that  he  had  secured  one  before  nightfall,ancl 
was  busy  performing  his  appointed  labors  when  the 
hour  for  the  evening  meal  came.Two  months  later,he 
hired  out  to  work  in  Ogle  County  at  thirteen  dol- 
lars a  month,  and  was  engaged  there  six  summers, 
being  in  the  employ  of  Jacob  Piper,  who  is  still  a 
resident  of  that  county,  for  five  summers.  In  the 
winter  seasons  he  availed  himself  of  the  opportunity 
to  attend  school  and  to  gain  a  more  complete  knowl- 
edge of  the  English  language  and  advance  his  edu- 
cation generally. 

While  he  was  working  for  others  in  Ogle  County, 
Mr.  Businga  managed  to  save  seven  hundred  dol- 
lars of  his  earnings,  and  with  that  good  start  as  the 
result  of  six  years'  hard  work,  he  began  his  inde- 
pendent career  as  a  farmer  in  Ogle  County  soon 
after  his  marriage  in  1860,  buying  forty  acres  of 
land  in  Leaf  Run  Township,  which  was  simply 
broken,  and  investing  in  one  hundred  and  sev- 
enty more  acres,  which  he  improved.  In  1871  he 
sold  that  place,  and  removing  to  Winnebago  Coun- 
ty, purchased  a  quarter  of  a  section  there,  for  which 
he  paid  sixty-five  dollars  an  acre,  and  made  it  his 
home  for  some  time.  He  subsequently  bought  two 
hundred  and  forty  acres  in  Ogle  County,  to  which 
he  added  an  adjoining  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres 
in  1882.  He  made  elegant  and  substantial  improve- 
ments on  the  Ogle  County  farm,  putting  five 
thousand  dollars  into  commodious  buildings,  and 
resided  there  two  years.  Then,  in  1884,  he  let  his 
on  take  charge  of  the  farm,  and  coining  to  Frank- 
j  lin  Grove,  purchased  one  of  the  finest  places  within 
its  precincts.  He  still  owns  his  three  hundred  and 
twenty  acres  in  Ogle  County,  but  he  disposed  of 
his  Winnebago  County  farm  at  the  rate  of  eighty- 
one  dollars  an  acre,  a  great  advance  on  the  cost 
price.  Mr.  Businga  is  public-spirited  as  a  citizen, 
generously  using  his  money  where  it  will  do  the 
most  good  for  the  material  advancement  of  the 
community,  and  exerting  his  influence  to  promote 
its  higher  interests.  lie  is  a  truly  religious  man.  a 
high  estimation  being  placed  upon  his  character  as 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


735 


a  conscientious  Christian,  and  is  one  of  the  most 
active  working  members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
of  which  he  is  an  Elder. 

The  marriage  of  our  subject  with  Miss  Lena 
Nellen  was  duly  solemnized  in  the  autumn  of  1860. 
The  sorrow  that  falls  sooner  or  later  on  every 
household  has  been  mingled  with  the  joys  of  their 
wedded  life,  as  two  of  their  three  children  have 
died,  one  dying  in  infancy,  and  their  daughter, 
Nettie  T.,  dying  in  1869,  in  her  fifteenth  year.  A 
son  is  spared  to  them  to  bless  their  declining  years, 
Sigel,  who  was  torn  May  26,  1862.  He  married 
Miss  Lizzie  Kirk,  and  they  have  two  children — 
Floyd  C.and  Claude  A. 

Our  subject's  estimable  wife  was  also  born  in 
Hanover,  Germany.  She  came  to  the  United  States 
with  her  family.  Her  father,  Nels  F.  Nellen,  set- 
tled in  Stephenson  County,  near  Freeport,  among 
its  pioneers.  She  has  four  brothers  and  sisters,  as 
follows:  Bruno,  a  resident  of  Ogle  County;  Matila, 
who  married  L.  Bruns,  and  died  in  Hardin  County, 
Iowa;  Fokka,  who  was  a  sailor  and  was  lost  at  sea; 
and  Grace,  who  married  the  Rev.  John  Reints,  of 
Kansas. 


foUFUS  H.  MELLEN.  It  would  be  difficult 
to  find  within  the  city  of  Amboy  a  more 
pleasant  home  than  the  residence  occupied 
)  by  Mr.  Mellen,  which  is  located  on  East 
Main  Street  and  surrounded  by  grounds  compris- 
ing fifteen  acres.  In  retirement  from  the  active 
duties  which  formerly  engaged  his  attention,  he  is 
enjoying  the  fruits  of  his  labors,  and  in  his  beau- 
tiful home,  with  the  loving  care  of  his  family  to 
contribute  to  his  happiness,  he  is  passing  his  de- 
clining years  in  peace  and  contentment.  In  the 
course  of  a  long  and  honorable  business  career, 
many  varied  business  experiences  have  been  his, 
and  heavy  losses  have  occasionally  met  his  enter- 
prise.*, but  the  losses  have  been  more  than  retrieved 
through  shrewd  investments,  so  that  now  he  has 
sufficient  of  this  world's  goods  to  free  his  old  age 
from  the  cures  of  poverty. 

The   ancestors   of   Mr.   Mellen    originally    came 


from  Scotland  (the  family  name  being  McMellen) 
and  were  among  the  first  settlers  of  the  Massachu- 
setts Colony.  By  occupation  they  were  farmers, 
and  were  industrious  and  honorable  members  of 
society.  Grandfather  William  Mellen  was  a  sol- 
dier in  the  Revolutionary  War,  and,  in  connection 
with  farming,  was  extensively  engaged  in  fruit- 
growing, and  made  as  much  as  four  hundred  bar- 
rells  of  cider  annually.  The  father  of  our  subject, 
John  L.,  pursued  farming,  and  after  his  son  came 
West,  made  him  a  visit,  and  being  pleased  with 
Amboy,  remained  there  seventeen  years,  until 
death  claimed  him  at  the  age  of  eighty-two  years. 

The  mother  of  our  subject,  whose  maiden  name 
was  Mary  Hyde,  was  born  in  Hampshire  County, 
Mass.,  and  there  died.  Her  union  with  John 
L.  Mellen  brought  to  them  eight  children,  only 
three  of  whom  attained  to  their  majority: 
Mary  J.  married  Samuel  Davis,  and  died  in  Massa- 
chusetts; Franklin  II.  was  a  soldier  in  the  Eighty- 
ninth  Illinois  Infantry,1  and  was  mortally  wounded 
at  the  battle  of  Stone  River.  Our  subject  is  the 
only  surviving  member  of  the  family  and  was  torn 
in  Hampshire  County,  Mass.,  February  5,  1818, 
receiving  his  education  at  the  Wilbraham  Acad- 
emy in  his  native  town,  Greenwich.  In  his 
early  manhood,  he  engaged  in  teaching  school,  and 
was  also  a  music  teacher,  traveling  in  New  Jersey 
in  the  pursuit  of  the  same  employment. 

In  connection  with  his  father,  our  subject  was 
interested  in  a  farm  in  Massachusetts,  and  during 
the  summer  season  he  tilled  the  soil,  but  made  the 
most  of  his  money  during  the  winter  when  the 
farm  was  buried  with  snow  and  he  was  educating 
the  children  and  teaching  singing  school.  In 
1854  he  started  to  see  the  Great  West,  and  coming 
to  Amboy  on  a  prospecting  tour,  was  well  pleased 
with  the  young  town  and  invested  some  money 
in  village  lots.  In  the  spring  of  1855,  he  removed 
his  family  hither,  and,  erecting  mills,  engaged  in 
the  manufacture  of  lumber,  sash,  doors,  etc.  He 
was  appointed  Postmaster  in  1861,  and  in  that 
connection  began  selling  books  and  stationery, 
and  later  added  musical  instruments. 

After  continuing  for  some  time  alone,  Mr.  Mel- 
len associated  his  son  Walter  with  him  in  partner- 
ship, the  firm  being  R.  H.  Mellen  &  Son,  and  con- 


736 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


tinned  in  that  way  for  some  years.  The 
business  is  now  conducted  by  the  son.  For 
twenty-one  consecutive  years,  Mi.  Mell'en  retained 
the  office  of  Postmaster,  and  in  that  position  was 
very  popular  with  his  fellow-citizens.  During 
the  course  of  a  long  and  active  life,  he  has  met 
many  famous  men,  among  them  being  personally 
acquainted  with  President  Lincoln.  His  first  bal- 
lot was  casl  for  Gen.  Harrison  for  President  in 
1840,  and  since  the  formation  of  the  Republican 
party  he  has  been  one  of  its  stanch  supporters. 
Besides  holding  the  office  of  Postmaster,  he  has 
been  City  Clerk  and  Alderman,  and  has  been 
prominent  in  the  public  life  of  the  county. 

In  1842  Mr.  Mellen  was  married  to  Miss  Laura 
E.  Patten,  who  was  a  native  of  Hampshire  County, 
Mass.  Their  union  has  been  blessed  by  the  birth 
of  four  children,  namely:  Ella  Frances,  wife  of  D. 
W.  Slauter;  Walter  Clayton;  Florence  Virginia; 
and  Mary  Georgianna,  wife  of  Howard  S.  Hazen. 
Since  he  was  fifteen  years  old,  Mr.  Mellen  has 
been  a  member  of  the  Congregational  Church,  to 
which  the  other  members  of  the  family  belong. 
Not  only  has  he  witnessed,  but  has  assisted  in, 
every  change  which  has  worked  out  the  wonder- 
ful transformation  apparent  in  Lee  County  to-day, 
compared  with  its  condition  forty  years  ago.  No 
one  takes  greater  pride  than  he  in  the  prosperity 
of  Amboy,  and  not  only  is  he  liked  by  the  rich 
and  fortunate,  but  by  the  young  and  needy,  and 
those  who  are  struggling  for  recognition. 


OLE  J.  PRESTEGARD,  an  extensive  farmer, 
residing  in  Alto  Township,  stands  among 
the  most  able  and  progressive  men  of  his  class 
in  Lee  County.  He  was  born  in  Odde,  Hardanger, 
Bergensteft,  Norway,  April  23,  1841.  His  father, 
Jorgen  Oleson,  was  a  native  of  the  same  place.  He 
was  reared  to  agricultural  pursuits,  and  after  mar- 
riage settled  on  the  Prestegard  farm,  and  there- 
fore, according  to  the  custom  of  that  country,  his 
name  became  Prestegard,  which  name  his  children 
bear.  He  was  a  resident  of  Norway  until  1869, 
when  he  came  to  America  and  settled  in  Alto 


Township,  where  he  died  at  a  ripe  age  in  1886. 
The  maiden  name  of  the  mother  of  our  subject 
was  Gunild  Buer,  and  she  was  a  daughter  of  Helje 
and  Gunild  Buer.  These  are  the  names  of  the 
six  children  that  she  reared  to  lives  of  usefulness: 
Ole  J.,  Gunild,  Helje,  Guro,  Bertha  and  Jorgen. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  commenced  to  work 
when  very  young,  and  at  thirteen  years  of  age  the 
stout,  self-reliant  little  lad  began  life  as  a  sailor  in 
a  fishing  vessel.  He  was  employed  in  fishing  off 
the  coast  of  Norway  until  1864.  Ambitious  to  see 
more  of  the  world  and  to  make  his  way  to  a  compe- 
tence under  more  propitious  circumstances  than  in 
the  hard  life  he  was  leading  before  the  mast,  in 
that  year  he  left  his  native  land  and  sailed  for 
America  in  the  good  ship  "Victor  Emanuel."  A 
voyage  of  five  weeks  brought  him  to  Quebec,  but 
he  did  not  tarry  in  the  Queen's  dominions, hasten- 
ing instead  to  the  States,coming  directly  to  Chicago, 
where  he  landed  June  1.  He  then  made  one  trip 
on  a  lake  vessel,  and  the  following  six  weeks  was 
employed  in  a  lumber  yard  in  Chicago.  After 
that  he  came  to  Lee  County,  and  began  his  new 
life  here  as  a  laborer  in  the  harvest  field  at  $2  a 
day.  When  the  crops  were  gathered  in  he  found 
employment  at  $21  a  month  for  three  months,  and 
later  worked  by  the  day  or  job,  turning  his  hand 
to  anything  at  which  he  could  earn  an  honest 
living. 

In  the  spring  of  1865  Mr.  Prestegard,  in  com- 
pany with  another  man,  purchased  eighty  acres  of 
prairie  land,  of  which  twenty  acres  were  broken, 
and  that  constituted  the  entire  improvements. 
During  the  same  year  his  partner  died,  and  the 
following  year  he  purchased  his  interest  in  the 
tract  of  the  heirs,  and  erected  a  frame  house  on 
the  place.  He  was  actively  engaged  in  farming 
until  1871,  when  he  removed  to  the  village  of  Lee 
in  order  to  engage  in  the  lumber  business,  which 
he  carried  on  until  1887.  Then  returning  to  his 
farm  he  has  since -devoted  his  energies  entirely  to 
agricultural  pursuits.  He  has  bought  other  tracts 
of  lands  at  different  times,  and  his  farm  now  com- 
prises three  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  well  im- 
proved land.  In  1888  he  erected  his  present  resi- 
dence, a  view  of  which  appears  on  another  page. 
It  is  a  commodious  brick  house,  of  a  modern  style 


RESIDENCE  OF  OLE  J.  PRESTEGARD  ,SCC.  35.,  ALTO     TR,  LEE  CO.,  ILL. 


RESIDENCE  OP   MERIT    SMITH,   SEC.  17.,  PALMYRA  TP,  LEE  CO.,  I  LL 


IHE  UBRAftT 

OF  (HE 

*""  HJUUSiUS 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


789 


of  architecture,  conveniently  arranged  and  ,well 
appointed.  He  has  a  large  frame  barn  and  other 
buildings,  which  rank  with  the  best  in  the  township. 

Our  subject  found  a  wise  and  able  helper  in  his 
marriage  in  December,  1868,  to  Jound  Peterson 
Maakestad,  who  is  all  to  him  that  a  true  wife  can 
be.  She  was  born  in  Hardanger,  Norway,  and  is  a 
daughter  of  Lars  and  Segri  Peterson  Maakestad. 
She  came  to  America  with  her  parents  in  the  same 
vessel  with  her  husband.  Their  marriage  has  been 
productive  to  them  of  twelve  children,  three  of 
whom  are  deceased  and  the  following  survive: 
Gunild,  Lars,  Jorgen,  Sarah,  Anna,  Peter,  Olaf, 
Bernt  and  Henry. 

The  family  are  all  members  of  the  Lutheran 
Church,  and  their  standing  in  the  community  is 
high.  Mr.  Prestegard  is  a  true  Republican  in  poli- 
tics, and  is  loyal  in  his  citizenship  to  his  adopted 
country.  He  has  a  thoughtful,  intelligent  mind, 
has  always  been  a  reader,  and  is  well  informed  on 
all  matters  of  general  interest,  while  the  appear- 
ance of  his  fine  farm  demonstrates  his  ability  as  an 
enlightened  farmer. 


ERRITT  SMITH,  who  resides  in  Palmyra 
Township  is  one  of  the  extensive  land 
owners  of  the  community,  his  farm  com- 
prising four  hundred  and  eighty  acres  on 
sections  17  and  18.  Much  credit  does  he  deserve 
for  his  success  in  life  as  it  is  due  entirely  to  his 
own  efforts,  being  the  result  of  his  industry,  per- 
severance and  good  management.  He  was  born  in 
Sandwich,  Carroll  County,  N.  H.,  October  2, 
1833.  The  Smith  family  is  of  Irish  origin  and  was 
established  in  New  Hampshire  during  Colonial 
days. 

The  father  of  our  subject,  John  Smith,  was  born 
in  the  old  Granite  State  nnd  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Sandwich  lived  and  labored  for  many  years. 
He  died  at  the  age  of  seventy-seven  and  left  to  his 
family  an  untarnished  name.  At  the  age  of  eigh- 
teen he  had  united  with  the  Methodist  Church  and 
was  ever  afterward  one  of  its  consistent  and  faith- 
ful members,  living  a  life  of  uprightness  and  in- 


tegrity; in  politics  he  was  a  Democrat.  His  wife, 
whose  maiden  name  was  Phebe  Clough,  was  also 
born  in  Carroll  County,  N.  H.,  and  was  of  Scotch 
descent.  She  held  to  the  faith  of  the  Methodist 
Church  and  died  one  of  its  consistent  members 
when  in  the  prime  of  life.  The  family  of  this 
worthy  couple  numbered  nine  children,  of  whom 
two  sons  and  two  daughters  are  yet  living. 

Our  subject  is  the  only  member  of  the  family 
living  in  Illinois.  He  was  a  lad  of  only  nine  sum- 
mers when  his  mother  died  and  at  an  early  age  he 
began  to  earn  his  own  living.  Without  the  aid  of 
capital  or  influential  friends,  he  started  out  in  life 
for  himself  and  deserves  all  the  more  credit  that, 
by  his  own  unaided  efforts,  he  has  arisen  to  the 
eviable  position  which  he  to-day  occupies.  For 
seven  years  he  labored  hard  in  Massachusetts,  and 
though  his  wages  were  small,  in  that  time  he  saved 
$1,100.  He  now  determined  to  try  his  fortune  in 
the  West  and  with  that  sum  in  his  pocket  came  to 
Lee  County,  111.,  in  1853.  The  only  money  he 
ever  inherited  was  about  $125,  left  him  by  his 
grandmother  in  New  Hampshire.  This  was  in- 
vested in  a  buggy  and  harness  to  be  shipped  him 
from  the  East  but  the  vessel  on  which  it  was 
shipped  was  lost  in  Lake  Michigan  and  he  there- 
fore reaped  no  benefit  from  his  inheritance. 

When  he  arrived  in  the  county,  Mr.  Smith  began 
the  development  of  a  farm  from  the  unbroken 
prairie  and  as  the  result  of  his  labors  has  now  a 
valuable  home.  Every  improvement  upon  the 
place  is  the  work  of  his  own  hands  and  stands  as  a 
monument  to  his  thrift  and  enterprise.  One  of 
the  finest  set  of  farm  buildings  in  the  county  is 
included  among  the  improvements.  Of  the  four 
hundred  and  eighty  acres  embraced  within  the 
boundaries  of  the  farm,  almost  the  entire  amount 
yields  to  the  owner  a  golden  tribute  in  return  for 
his  care  and  cultivation.  To  stock-raising,  Mr. 
Smith  also  devoted  considerable  attention, making  a 
specialty  of  Polled  Angus  cattle  and  Poland  China 
hogs  and  horses  of  superior  breeds.  A  view  of  his 
homestead  may  be  found  on  another  page. 

In  Palmyra  Township,  Mr.  Smith  was  united  in 
marriage  with  Miss  Eliza  B.  True,  who  was  born 
in  Holderness,  Grafton  County,  N.  II.,  January  13, 
1835,  and  came  to  Illinois  in  1854,  with  her  father 


740 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


and  step-mother.  Levi  S.,  and  Lydia  M.  (Rogers) 
True,  the  parents  of  Mrs.  Smith,  were  natives  of 
the  Granite  State.  Her  father  was  born  October  30, 
1807,  and  wedded  Miss  Rogers  who  was  born  on 
February  2,  1813,  and  died  March  9,  1849.  For  a 
second  wife  Mr.  True  chose  Sarah  A.  Sinclair, 
whose  birth  occurred  on  August  17,  1818.  On 
coming  to  Illinois,  Mr.  True  devoted  his  energies 
to  farming  in  Palmyra  Township,  until  his  death, 
which  occurred  January  29,  1887,  at  the  age  of 
four-score  years.  His  wife  had  passed  away  April 
13,  1884.  In  politics  he  was  a  supporter  of  Dem- 
ocratic principles. 

The  able  and  untiring  assistance  of  Mrs.  Smith 
has  been  an  important  factor  in  the  success  of  her 
husband,  their  united  efforts  winning  them  pros- 
perity. They  have  a  wide  acquaintance  through- 
out this  community  and  those  who  know  them 
esteem  them  highly  for  their  sterling  worth.  In 
politics,  Mr.  Smith  is  a  stanch  Republican  who 
warmly  advocates  the  principles  of  that  party  and 
keeps  himself  well  informed  concerning  the  issues 
of  the  day.  In  the  family  of  our  subject  and  his 
worthy  wife  is  but  one  son,  Eugene  B.,  who  is  now 
a  successful  farmer  of  Palmyra  Township.  He 
married  Lillian  Stager  and  after  her  death  was 
united  in  marriage  in  Stephenson  County,  with 
Ida  Rager.  Unto  them  has  been  born  a  daughter, 
Eugenie  B. 


JOSEPH  ATHERTON,  M.  D.,  of  Paw  Paw, 
was  trained  for  his  profession  in  one  of  the 
best  medical  schools  in  the  country,  and  has 
won  for  himself  an  honorable  name  among 
the    intelligent  and    well-educated    physicians  of 
Lee  County  in  the  course  of  a  successful  practice. 
He  is  a  native  of  the  town  of  Scranton,  Luzerne 
County,  Pa.,  May  16,  1858,  being  the  date  of  his 
birth.     His  father,  Boyd  Atherton,  was  a  native  of 
the  same  place,  and  was  of  the   pioneer  stock  of 
the  State. 

John  Atherton,  the  grandfather  of  our  subject, 
was  also  a  native  of   Scranton,  while    his  father, 


who  bore  the  same  name  as  himself,  was  bora  in 
Massachusetts  in  Colonial  times.  He  was  reared  in 
the  old  Bay  State,  and  in  his  youth  learned  the 
trade  of  a  blacksmith.  lie  migrated  to  Pennsyl- 
vania during  the  Revolutionary  War,  and  was  an 
!  early  settler  of  Luzerne  County.  He  was  living 
i  there  at  the  time  of  the  famous  Wyoming  massacre, 
and  his  brother  Jonathan  fell  a  victim  to  the 
I  cruelty  of  the  Indians.  He  followed  his  trade  as  a 
I  blacksmith,  and  was  a  resident  of  Scranton  until 
his  death.  The  grandfather  of  our  subject  was 
also  a  blacksmith,  and  engaged  in  that  calling  his 
entire  life,  which  was  spent  in  the  place  of  his 
birth.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  Catherine 
Ward,  and  her  last  years  were  passed  in  Scranton. 
The  father  of  our  subject  was  reared  to  agricul- 
tural pursuits,  and  always  followed  farming.  He 
was  a  life-long  resident  of  Luzerne  County,  and 
died  in  1876.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was 
Melana  Drake.  She  was  born  in  Luzerne  County, 
and  is  a  daughter  of  Samuel  and  Parthenia  (Dilno) 
Drake.  She  now  makes  her  home  in  Pittston,  in 
her  native  county.  She  reared  but  two  children 
— Joseph  and  Parthenia.  the  latter  of  whom  is  the 
widow  of  Austin  Hughes,  and  resides  in  Pittston. 
Dr.  Atherton  laid  the  foundation  of  a  liberal 
education  in  the  public  schools  of  his  native  county, 
and  subsequently  pursued  an  excellent  classical 
course  of  study  in  the  High  School  at  Pittston, 
from  which  he  was  graduated  with  the  Class  of  '76. 
He  was  thus  well  prepared  to  enter  upon  his  medi- 
cal studies,  and  became  a  student  in  the  University 
of  Pennsylvania,  at  Philadelphia,  from  which  he 
was  graduated  in  the  Class  of  '79.  The  great  Prai- 
rie State  seemed  to  him  to  afford  an  excellent  field 
of  labor  for  an  ambitious  young  physician,  and 
coming  to  Lee  County,  he  established  himself  at 
East  Paw  Paw.  He  remained  theie  until  1886, 
when  he  removed  to  Paw  Paw,  where  he  has  prac- 
ticed continuously  since.  He  is  devoted  to  his 
profession,  and  has  steadily  gained  in  the  favor  of 
the  people  among  whom  he  has  settled,  as  one  whose 
sound  knowledge  of  medicine,  and  whose  caution 
and  wisdom  in  his  treatment  of  serious  cases,  merit 
their  confidence.  The  Doctor  is  a  member  of  An- 
chor Lodge,  No.  510,  I.  O.  O.  F.,  and  his  pleasant 
personality  makes  him  a  favorite  in  social  circles. 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


741 


•  Dr.  Atherton  was  married,  in  1880,  to  Miss  Etta 
Card,  a  native  of  De  Kalb  County,  and  a  daughter 
of  Charles  H.  and  Julia  (Greenman)  Card.  They 
have  a  home  that  is  attractive,  not  only  in  its  cozy 
appointments,  but  for  the  courteous  and  pleasing 
hospitality  of  which  it  is  the  center.  Two  children 
complete  their  household,  Boyd  and  Carl. 

^  ARIUS  SAWYER.  It  is  a  generally  con- 
ceded fact  that  the  farmer  enjoys  a  greater 
amount  of  personal  freedom  than  any 
other  man  who  is  engaged  in  the  busy 
and  almost  endless  task  of  accumulating  money. 
There  is  something  about  life  in  the  country,  where 
one  is  surrounded  by  nature,  that  seems  to  bring 
a  quietness  and  peace  found  nowhere  else. 

Our  subject,  who  is  at  present  a  prosperous 
farmer  of  Lee  Centre  Township,  was  born  in  Wa- 
terbury,  Vt.,  on  the  17th  of  April,  1816.  The 
August  following,  his  parents  left  Vermont  and 
emigrated  to  Ohio,  settling  in  Clarke  County, 
where  they  lived  nine  years.  At  the  end  of  that 
time  they  moved  to  Licking  County,  where  they 
remained  for  the  same  length  of  time,  and  in  Oct- 
ober, 1834,  they  left  the  Buckeye  State  and  spent 
the  following  winter  at  Terre  Haute,  Ind.,  and  in 
Edgar  County,  111.  In  the  spring  of  the  following 
year,  the  family  came  to  this  county,  settling  in 
Lee  Centre  Township. 

Mr.  Sawyer  came  to  this  place  with  his  parents 
when  he  was  eighteen  years  old,  assisting  his  father 
on  the  farm  for  the  following  four  years,  and  in 
March,  1839,  he  was  married  in  Lee  Centre  Town- 
ship to  Miss  Sophronia  Parker,  a  native  of  Syra- 
cuse, N.  Y.  She  has  borne  her  husband  ten  chil- 
dren, nine  living  to  manhood  and  womanhood: 
Charles  F.  is  a  farmer  in  Russell  County,  Kan.; 
Horace  P.,  who  was  a  member  of  Company  I, 
Forty-sixth  Illinois  Infantry,  died  on  the  Red 
River,  in  Louisiana,  after  the  close  of  the  war,  in 
1865;  Sarah  G.,  who  is  the  wife  of  John  A.  Liv- 
ingston; Darius  M.,  who  is  a  farmer  in  Lee  Centre 
Township;  Florence  is  the  wife  of  Francis  K.  Liv- 
ingston; Mattie,  who  died  when  about  eighteen 


years  old;  Rolla  F.  is  in  the  employ  of  the  Illinois 
Central  Railroad,  in  the  shops  at  Amboy;  Alice  F., 
the  wife  of  Samuel  B.  Starks,  and  Abi. 

The  mother  of  this  family  passed  from  this  life 
in  Lee  Centre  Township,  July  25,  1883.  The 
father  was  again  married  October  6,  1887,  to  Mrs. 
Jane  E.  Tinker,  who  bore  the  maiden  name  of  Jane 
E.  Borge  and  was  the  widow  of  Edward  B.  Tinker. 
She  was  born  in  Hartford  County,  Conn.,  in  the 
town  of  Windsor,  May  3,  1834. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  learned  the  trade  of  a 
blacksmith,  which  he  followed  for  several  years  in 
connection  with  farming.  He  now  owns  a  hand- 
some estate  of  one  hundred  and  forty  acres,  with 
good  improvements.  He  has  held  the  township 
office  of  Highway  Commissioner,  and  in  his  politi- 
cal views  is  a  Republican,  and  previous  to  the 
formation  of  that  party  was  an  old-line  AVhig.  He 
is  one  of  the  leading  members  of  the  Masonic  fra- 
ternity. 

The  mother  of  our  subject  died  in  Lee  Centre 
Township,  in  1837,  and  was  the  first  of  the  early 
settlers  here  who  died.  Her  husband  moved  to 
Marshall  County,  Ohio,  and  there  died  in  1872. 
This  couple  were  the  parents  of  eleven  children, 
ten  of  whom  grew  to  mature  years.  Three  of  the 
sons  were  in  the  late  war:  Joseph,  who  was  killed 
outright;  George  W.  met  his  death  at  the  siege  of 
Vicksburg,  and  Alonzo  died  in  Marshall  County, 
Iowa,  during  the  war. 


JOHN  SCHOEXHOLZ  came  to  this  country- 
many  years  ago  before  he  attained  manhood. 
He  was  without  money  when  he  first  made 
his  appearance  in  this  State.    He  acquired  a 
competency  and  was  well  fortified  against  poverty, 
as  by  his  industry  in   tilling  the  soil  he  earned  a 
place  among  the  well-to-do  farmers  of  Lee  County, 
and  had  a  highly  improved   farm  in  Willow  Creek 
Township,  that  was  well  stocked  with  horses,  cattle 
and  swine  of  fine  grades. 

Mr.  Schoeuholz  was  born  in  Bavaria,  Germany, 
December  31,  1839,  and  died  December  9,  1891. 
His  parents,  Jacob  and  Elizabeth  Schoenholz,  were 


742 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


natives  of  the  same  locality  as  himself,  and  the 
father  followed  his  trade  as  a  weaver  in  the  winter 
season,  and  the  remainder  of  the  year  was  engaged 
in  farming.  In  1861  he  emigrated  to  this  country 
with  his  wife,  and  for  two  or  three  years  he  resided 
near  Heunepin,  but  the  last  part  of  his  life  was 
spent  in  this  county.  The  mother  of  our  subject 
is  still  spared  to  her  children,  and  is  now  seventy- 
eight  years  old.  She  has  reared  five  children  to 
lives  of  usefulness,  namely:  Lena,  wife  of  John 
Yetter;  Jacob,  John,  Nicholas  and  Philip. 

The  worthy  parents  of  our  subject  gave  him 
such  advantages  of  obtainingan  education  as  the  ex- 
cellent schools  of  his  native  land  afforded,  to  which 
they  sent  him  regularly  until  he  was  thirteen  years 
old.  The  following  two  years  he  attended  the 
Sunday-school  in  the  village  near  his  home,  where 
the  higher  branches  were  taught.  As  soon  as  old 
enough,  he  began  to  assist  his  father  and  obtained 
a  good  drilling  in  farm  work.  lie  remained  with 
his  parents  until  he  was  eighteen  years  old,  and  he 
then  boldly  determined  to  try  life  in  America,  the 
land  to  which  so  many  of  his  countrymen  had  gone 
and  found  prosperity.  He  set  sail  from  Havre, 
and  after  a  voyage  of  forty-seven  days  landed  at 
New  York.  He  went  directly  to  Buffalo,  and  after 
remaining  there  a  few  weeks,  came  to  Illinois,  ar- 
riving here  a  stranger  in  a  strange  land,  and  with 
no  money.  He,  however,  was  well  equipped  for 
the  struggle  before  him,  as  the  blessings  of  a  strong 
physique  and  good  health  were  his  in  a  full  meas- 
ure, and  he  was  industrious  in  his  habits,  with  an 
excellent  capacity  for  turning  off  work  easily  and 
well.  The  first  two  years  of  his  life  in  the  Prairie 
State  were  passed  in  and  about  Hennepin,  Putnam 
County,  where  he  was  employed  on  a  farm.  After 
that  he  came  to  Lee  Count3'  and  worked  by  the 
month  the  ensuing  two  years.  He  had  carefully- 
saved  his  earnings  and  was  then  enabled  to  be 
more  independent  by  farming  on  his  own  account 
on  rented  land..  He  was  successful  in  that  venture, 
and  in  four  years'  time  had  enough  money  to  buy 
eighty  acres  of  wild  prairie  at  $16  an  acre,  lo- 
cated on  section  5,  Willow  Creek  Township,  the 
same  being  included  in  his  present  farm.  He  stead- 
ily devoted  himself  to  developing  a  farm,  erected 
a  good  set  of  frame  buildings,  placed  his  land  un- 


der cultivation,  planted  choice  fruit  and  beautiful 
shade  trees,  that  have  not  only  increased  the  value 
of  his  place  but  have  added  to  its  attractiveness, 
and  he  increased  the  acreage  of  his  farm  by  buying 
other  land,  and  to-day  it  comprises  three  hundred 
and  five  acres  of  well-improved  realty.  He  carried 
on  general  farming,  and  the  cattle,  horses  and 
hogs  that  he  raised  were  from  good  blooded 
stock. 

Mr.  Shoe.nholz,  undoubtedly,  was  much  indebted 
to  his  wife  for  her  ready  and  cheerful  helpfulness 
in  the  work  of  making  a  home.  Their  married 
life  began  in  1861  and  was  blessed  to  them  by  the 
birth  of  these  four  children:  Emma,  Philip,  Julia 
and  Frank.  Mrs.  Schoenholz  was  Ann  Maria  Yetter 
in  her  maiden  days,  and  the  is,  like  her  husband,  a 
native  of  Bavaria.  She  is  a  sister  of  John  Yetter, 
of  whom  a  sketch  appears  elsewhere  in  this  work. 


J.  HILL  is  a  general  farmer  and 
(liiiryniaii,  who  is  successfully  managing 
extensive  agricultural  interests  in  South 
Dixon  Township,  where  he  makes  his  home  on  a 
finely  improved  farm  on  section  29.  Mr.  Hill  is 
descended  from  one  of  the  old  families  of  Penn- 
sylvania, that  originated  in  Germany,  but  came  to 
this  country  in  Colonial  times,  and  he  is  a  native 
of  the  Keystone  State,  born  in  Luzerne  County, 
March  15,  1844,  the  fourth  child  and  third  son  of 
the  seven  sons  and  four  daughters  of  Nathan  and 
Judith  (Uilhimer)  Hill,,  who  were  also  natives  of 
that  county,  as  were  their  parents  before  them.  In 
1854,  they  broke  up  their  old  home  in  Pennsyl- 
vania, and,  with  their  family,  sought  to  establish  a 
new  one  on  the  wild  prairies  of  Lee  County.  They 
began  their  pioneer  life  on  an  unbroken  farm  in 
South  Dixon  Township,  and  here  the  father  ended 
his  days,  dying  in  1876,  at  the  age  of  fifty-nine. 
He  was  a  man  of  marked  force  of  character  and 
much  native  ability.  He  prospered  in  all  his  un- 
dertakings, became  one  of  the  wealthy  men  and 
large  land-owners  of  the  countj7,  and  at  his  death 
left  a  valuable  estate  of  eight  hundred  acres  of  land, 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


743 


nearly  all  of  which  is  under  cultivation  and  well- 
improved.  He  was  always  true  to  his  obligations 
in  every  relation,  was  faithful  to  his  duties  as  a 
citizen,  and  was  first,  last  and  always  a  Democrat. 
A  man  of  true  piety,  he  was  a  devout  member  of 
the  Lutheran  Church.  His  faithful  companion, 
who  contributed  much  to  his  success  in  life,  still 
makes  her  home  on  the  old  homestead. 

Thomas  J.  Hill,  of  this  biographical  review,  was 
a  child  of  ten  years  when  his  parents  brought  him 
to  share  their  new  home  amid  the  pioneer  scenes 
of  Lee  County.  His  father's  farm  was  a  good  train- 
ing ground  on  which  he  became  thoroughly  ac- 
quainted with  agriculture  in  all  its  branches  and 
and  was  well-equipped  for  his  work  when  he  be- 
gan farming  on  his  own  account.  He  purchased 
his  first  farm  in  Dixon  Township,  and  settled  on 
it  in  1880.  It  is  still  in  his  possession,  and  is  a 
very  desirable  piece  of  property,  with  its  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty  acres  of  carefully  tilled  land  and 
its  substantial  improvements.  He  occupied  that 
place  until  1891,  and  then  took  possession  of  the 
farm  on  which  he  now  makes  his  home  in  South 
Dixon  Township,  on  section  29.  This  has  two 
hundred  and  five  acres  of  very  fine  farming  land, 
and  it  is  fully  supplied  with  commodious  and  con- 
veniently arranged  buildings  and  good  machin- 
ery for  every  purpose.  Mr.  Hill  keeps  it  well- 
stocked,  and  among  his  finely  graded  cattle  are 
twenty-five  cows  of  the  best  breed  for  dairy  use, 
as  he  does  quite  a  business  in  that  line.  He  car- 
ries on  his  farming  operations  systematical!}-,  is 
quick  to  adopt  new  methods,  when  he  sees  that 
they  are  feasible  and  adapted  to  his  farm,  and  is,  in 
a  word,  an  enlightened  farmer. 

He  is  a  Democrat  in  national  politics,  believing 
the  affairs  of  the  Government  safest  in  the  hands 
of  that  party,  but  in  local  matters  he  exercises  his 
right  to  vote  for  whom  he  pleases. 

On  the  farm  that  he  now  occupies,  occurred  one 
of  the  most  important  events  of  Mr.  Hill's  life,  his 
marriage  with  Miss  Mahala  C.  Seybert.  Their 
union  has  brought  to  them  eleven  children,  two  of 
whom  are  dead — one  who  died  in  infancy  and 
Leonard,  aged  seven  months.  Those  who  are  still 
spared  to  bless  their  parents  are  Dora  A.  and  Cora 
E.,  twins,  the  former  the  wife  of  Barney  Bush,  of 


Dixon,  and  the  latter  the  wife  of  Lorin  L.  March,  a 
farmer  of  Nachusa  Township;  Hortense  E.,  Julius 
E.,  Nathan,  Olive  B.,  Jasper  R.,  Gertrude  and  Eva, 
all  of  whom  are  at  home  with  their  parents  with 
the  exception  of  the  two  first  named. 

Mrs.  Hill  is  a  native  of  the  same  Pennsylvania 
county  as  her  husband,  and  was  born  in  the  same 
township  as  he  (Salem  Township),  February  10, 
1844.  She  is  a  daughter  of  Wallace  and  Desire 
(Hill)  Seybert,  now  living  retired  at  Dixon,  who 
are  people  of  wealth,  well  known  in  this  county. 
An  account  of  them  appears  in  the  review  of  the 
life  of  their  son,  Charles  Seybert,  on  another  page 
of  this  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD.  Mrs.  Hill  was  a 
small  child  when  her  parents  took  up  their  resi- 
dence in  Beach  Haven,  in  her  native  county,  where 
she  grew  to  womanhood.  She  was  given  good  edu- 
cational advantages,  and  besides  attending  the 
public  schools  at  Beach  Haven,  was  a  student  at  a 
graded  school  at  Wilkesbarre  and  also  at  New 
Columbus.  She  was  eighteen  years  of  age  when 
the  family  came  to  Illinois,  in  1862.  She  is  a 
woman  of  much  spirit  and  character,  and  as  a 
daughter,  wife  and  mother,  is  true  to  the  obliga- 
tions imposed  upon  her  by  those  various  relations. 


ANIEL  C.  MILLER,  the  present  Clerk  of 
Reynolds  Township,  also  occupies  an  impor- 
tant place  among  the  farmers  of  Lee  County 
who  have  been  instrumental  in  developing  one  of 
its  leading  industries  and  have  made  this  section 
of  the  State  a  great  agricultural  centre.  Mr.  Mil- 
ler, though  of  German  ancestry,  is  a  native  of 
Canada,  his  birth  taking  place  April  6,  1845,  in  the 
Count}'  of  Brant,  Province  of  Ontario,  of  which 
his  grandfather  was  an  early  settler.  He  is  a  son 
of  Jacob  and  Esther  (Van  Sickle)  Miller,  and  an 
account  of  his  parents  will  be  found  in  the  sketch 
of  his  brother  Rinear. 

Daniel  Miller  was  but  two  years  old  when  the 
family  came  to  Illinois  for  the  first  time,  but,  not- 
withstanding he  was  so  young,  he  has  always  re- 
tained some  remembrance  of  the  wild  condition  of 
the  county  surrounding  their  new  home  at  that  time 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


when  there  were  no  railways  in  Illinois,  and  much  of 
the  land  was  owned  by  the  Government,  while  deer, 
wolves  and  other  wild  animals  not  now  encoun- 
tered in  this  region  were  plentiful.  As  soon  as 
large  enough,  he  was  put  to  work  on  his  father's 
farm,  and  continued  to  help  in  its  management 
until  his  father  died.  At  the  time  of  his  marriage) 
he  settled  on  a  farm  in  Reynolds  Township  that 
he  has  ever  since  owned  and  occupied,  When  it 
came  into  his  hands,  it  was  a  mere  tract  of  wild 
prairie,  and  no  attempt  at  cultivation  had  been 
made  upon  its  virgin  soil.  Our  subject  has 
wrought  a  wonderful  change  in  the  years  that 
have  since  passed,  and  now  has  a  valuable  and 
highly  productive  farm,  upon  which  he  has  erected 
suitable  buildings  for  every  needed  purpose, 
planted  fruit  and  shade  trees,  and  has  the  greater 
part  of  the  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres  well 
improved. 

Mr.  Miller  was  married  in  March,  1866,  to  Miss 
Margaret  Schultz,  and  among  the  blessings  that 
have  come  to  thorn  are  their  ten  children:  Minnie, 
Lorine  B.,  Ella  M.,  Bird,  Clark  C.,  Francis,  Maud, 
Cora  M.,  Lena  F.  and  Olive.  Minnie  married  Jo- 
seph Miller,  and  Lorine  married  Ida  Codney. 

Mrs.  Miller  was  born  in  Lycoming  County,  Pa., 
and  her  father,  Isaac  Schultz,  was  a  native  of  the 
same  State,  as  was  his  father  before  him,  the  family 
coming  originally  from  Germany  in  Colonial  times. 
Her  grandfather  was  a  farmer,  and,  so  far  as  known, 
spent  his  entire  life  in  Lycoming  County.  Mrs. 
Miller's  father  was  there  reared  and  married,  Mar- 
garet Stackhouse  becoming  his  wife.  He  bought  a 
tract  of  land  in  Lycoming  County,  and  there  he 
and  his  bride  began  life  together.  In  1853  he  sold 
his  farm  in  Pennsylvania  and  came  to  Illinois.  He 
settled  among  the  pioneers  of  Lee  County,  biding 
land  near  Malugin's  Grove,  and  resided  there  un- 
til 1871,  when  he  went  to  Floyd  County,  Iowa,  and 
bought  a  tract  of  land  one  mile  south  of  Marble 
Rock,  and  there  he  and  his  wife  dwelt  until  they 
closed  their  eyes  in  death,  she  dying  in  1877,  and 
he  in  August,  1884. 

Mr.  Miller  is  a  man  of  scrupulous  fairness  and 
honesty,  as  all  who  know  him  are  aware,  and  he  is 
trusted  implicitly  by  all  with  whom  he  associates, 
or  with  whom  he  does  any  business.  He  is  a 


streight-forward  Republican,  and  has  held  local  of- 
fices, and  whether  in  public  or  private  life  will  do 
all  that  he  can  to  further  the  interest  of  the  com- 
munity. He  was  United  States  Census  Commis- 
sioner for  Reynolds  Township,  in  1890,  has  served 
as  Highway  Commissioner,  and  so  satisfactory  have 
been  his  services  as  Township  Clerk,  he  is  now  fill- 
ing that  important  office  a  second  term. 


JOHN  M.    ABELL.     Lee   County    was    well 
represented   at   the  front   during  the   late 
war,  and  among  the  bravest  of  her  citizen- 
soldiers   were   Jabez   and   John    M.  Abell, 
father  and  son,  the  latter  of   whom  is  the  subject 
of   this  brief   biography.     He  is  now  one  of  the 
prosperous  farmers  of   this  county,  and  he  owns 
and   occupies  the  old    homestead   on  section   36, 
Viola   Township,  where    his   boyhood    days   were 
passed,  the  farm    being   the  one  which   his  father 
purchased  from  the  Government  in  the  early  years 
of   the  settlement  of   this  section,  when  he  came 
here  as  one  of   the  first  pioneers  to  locate  in  this 
region. 

Our  subject  was  born  December  25,  1844,  at  St. 
Charles,  Kane  County,  while  his  father  was  born 
near  Aylmer,  Province  of  Ontario,  Canada.  He 
was  a  son  of  Daniel  Abell,  who  was,  it  is  thought, 
born  in  the  State  of  New  York,  and  was  one  of 
the  descendants  of  an  old  English  family  that 
settled  in  this  country  in  early  Colonial  times. 
He  removed  from  New  York  to  the  Province  of 
Ontario,  and  was  one  of  the  pioneers  of  the  coun- 
try around  Aylmer.  The  land  that  he  bought  was 
heavily  timbered,  and  he  spent  his  remaining  days 
in  clearing  and  tilling  it.  He  and  his  wife  were 
Quakers. 

The  father  of  our  subject  learned  the  trade  of  a 
carpenter  in  his  native  country,  and  continued  to 
reside  in  Canada  until  1840,  and  then,  accompanied 
by  his  wife,  he  came  to  Illinois,  making  the  long 
and  tiresome  journey  through  the  intervening 
wilderness  with  a  team.  He  located  at  St.  Charles, 
Kane  County,  and  was  engaged  in  carpentering 
there  for  a  time.  He  afterwards  lived  in  Ogle 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


745 


County  until  his  removal  to  this  county  in  1848. 
He  was  among  the  first  to  select  what  is  now  Viola 
Township  as  a  suitable  location  for  a  home,  and  he 
bought  and  entered  a  tract  of  Government  land 
on  section  36.  He  devoted  his  energies  to  its 
improvement  until  1862,  when  he  went  forth  to 
help  fight  the  battles  of  his  adopted  country,  en- 
listing in  Company  I,  Eighty-ninth  Illinois  In 
fantry.  He  served  nearly  a  year,  and  was  then 
honorably  discharged  on  account  of  disability, 
from  which  he  never  fully  recovered,  and  his  death 
some  time  afterward  on  his  farm  was  in  a  measure 
due  to  that.  He  sacrificed  his  life  for  the  Gov- 
ernment under  whose  banners  he  had  fought  just 
as  much  as  though  he  had  died  on  the  battlefield. 
The  mother  of  our  subject,  who  now  resides  with 
her  daughter,  Mrs.  Annis  Craddock,  in  Willow 
Creek  Township,  bore  the  maiden  name  of  Susan 
Miller,  and  she  was  a  native  of  Canada. 

He  of  whom  we  write  was  very  young  when -he 
was  brought  to  thu  county,  and  his  earliest  recol- 
lections are  of  Viola  Township,  in  the  days  of  its 
transition  from  a  wilderness  to  a  well-cultivated, 
rich,  agricultural  center.  At  the  time  the  family 
settled  here,  and  for  some  years  afterward  there 
were  no  railways  in  Illinois,  and  the  farmers 
were  obliged  to  haul  their  grain  with  teams  to 
Chicago  to  market.  Our  subject  can  remember 
when  deer  and  other  kinds  of  game,  that  are  not 
now  seen  here,  were  abundant.  He  attended  school 
in  his  youth,  and  obtained  a  practical  training  in 
all  that  pertains  to  farming  on  the  old  homestead. 

Fired  with  youthful  patriotism,  our  subject  left 
school  in  January,  1864,  to  take  his  place  in  the 
ranks  with  the  brave  boys  in  blue,  his  name  being 
enrolled  as  a  member  of  Battery  G,  Second  Illi- 
nois Light  Artillery.  He  went  with  his  regiment 
to  the  South,  and  saw  active  service  in  the  States 
of  Kentuclty,  Tennessee,  Alabama,  Mississippi, 
Louisiana  and  Missouri.  He  was  with  his  regi- 
ment in  all  its  marches  and  campaigns,  until  after 
the  war  was  brought  to  a  close,  and  won  a  fine 
record  as  a  gallant  and  fearless  fighter.  After  his 
honorable  discharge  with  his  comrades  in  Septem- 
ber, 1865,  he  returned  to  his  old  home  and  quietly 
resumed  farming,  taking  charge  of  the  homestead, 
which  has  since  become  his.  The  excellent  con- 


dition of  his  farm,  with  its  highly  cultivated, 
neatly  fenced  fields,  and  its  substantial  improve- 
ments, shows  that  he  is  a  good  farmer,  and  is  well 
deserving  of  the  prosperity  he  enjoys.  He  is  a 
hard  worker  and  a  good  manager,  is  prudent  and 
thrifty,  and  at  the  same  time  is  open-handed  and 
uses  his  money  freely,  not  only  to  advance  his 
own  interests,  but  to  benefit  others.  His  fellow- 
citizens  have  confidence  in  his  honor  and  ability, 
and  have  called  him  to  positions  of  trust  in  various 
capacities.  He  has  been  a  member  of  the  School 
Board,  lias  been  Assessor,  and  has  represented 
Viola  Township  on  the  County  Board  of  Super- 
visors, and  in  all  cases  has  striven  to  promote  the 
best  interests  of  the  community.  In  politics,  he 
is  as  true  to  the  Republican  party  as  he  was  in  the 
days  when  he  was  supporting  its  principles  on 
Southern  battlefields.  His  army  record  is  com- 
memorated by  his  connection  with  the  Grand  Army 
of  the  Republic,  as  a  member  of  William  Thomp- 
son Post. 

Mr.  Abell  was  married  in  February,  1862,  to 
Miss  Leonora  Lazarus, a  native  of  Brooklyn  Town- 
ship, Lee  County,  and  a  daughter  of  Silas  and 
Mary  (Pierce)  Lazarus.  Our  subject  and  his  wife 
are  the  parents  of  eight  children,  namely:  Charles 
J.,  Philip  S.,  Harrie  H.,  Laura  L.,  Cecil,  Millie,  Stella 
and  Robert  L. 


E.  HART,  who  owns  and  operates  two 
hundred  and  forty  acres  of  land  on  sections 
25  and  26,  Nachusa  Township,  claims  Penn- 
sylvania as  the  State  of  his  nativity.  His  birth 
occurred  in  Venango  County,  on  the  30th  of  Au- 
gust, 1846,  his  parents  being  Erastus  and  Ruth 
(Wilcox)  Hart.  They  were  both  natives  of  Gen- 
esee  Cpunty,  N.  Y.,  the  former  born  December  14, 
1809,  and  the  latter  on  the  15th  of  December, 
1812.  Their  marriage  was  celebrated  in  Venango 
County,  Pa.,  March  15,  1831,  after  which  they  lo- 
cated on  a  farm,  where  were  born  unto  them  nine 
children,  our  subject  the  only  son.  He  has  three 
sisters  yet  living:  Alvisa,  wife  of  S.  M.  Lupher,  a 
farmer  of  Venango  County,  Pa.;  Jennie,  wife  of 


7-lC, 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


Samuel  Smith,  a  resident  farmer  of  the  same  county; 
and  Lura,  wife  of  James  Williams,  who  is  engaged 
in  agricultural  pursuits  in  Ringgold  County,  Iowa. 
The  year  1865  witnessed  the  emigration  of  the 
parents  to  Lee  County,  111.  Mr.  Hart  purchased 
land  in  Nachusa  Township,  and  to  its  improvement 
and  cultivation  devoted  his  energies  until  his  death, 
which  occurred  October  4.  1868.  He  was  a  worthy 
and  faithful  citizen,  a  prominent  member  of  the 
Methodist  Church,  and  his  house  was  always  the 
home  of  the  preachers  of  that  denomination.  His 
wife  resided  with  her  son  until  her  death,  December 
8,  1891,  at  an  advanced  age.  She,  too,  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Methodist  Church,  and  had  lived  the  life 
of  a  noble  Christian  woman. 

In  the  county  of  his  nativity,  Levi  Hart  spent 
the  days  of  his  boyhood  and  youth,  and  on  his 
eighteenth  birthday,  in  1864,  enlisted  for  the  late 
war,  joining  the  Fourth  Pennsylvania  Cavalry, 
which  was  then  stationed  in  front  of  Petersburg, 
where  he  remained  with  his  regiment  until  after 
the  surrender  of  Lee.  The  war  being  then  brought 
to  a  close,  he  received  his  honorable  discharge  in 
llarewood  Hospital,  in  Washington,  D.  C.,  where 
he  had  been  sent  on  account  of  illness.  For  nine 
months  he  was  actively  engaged  in  service  and 
proved  a  faithful  soldier.  He  participated  in  the 
Grand  Review  at  Washington  and  then  joined  his 
family  in  Illinois,  whither  they  had  come  a  few 
weeks  previous. 

Mr.  Hart  has  had  control  of  his  present  farm  for 
twenty-three  years  and  it  has  been  his  property  for 
some  years  past.  The  land  is  under  a  high  state 
of  cultivation  and  the  place  is  well  supplied  with 
good  farm  buildings,  such  as  one  expects  to  see  on 
the  place  of  a  model  farmer.  In  connection  with 
the  raising  of  cereals,  he  also  engaged  extensively 
in  the  dairy  and  creamery  business,  which  he  estab- 
lished in  1872,  and  carried  on  until  quite  recently, 
keeping  from  forty  to  fifty  cows  for  this  purpose. 
He  now  represents  the  Condensed  Milk  Company, 
and  has  twenty  cows.  Mr.  Hart  possesses  good 
business  ability,  and  by  his  enterprise  and  good 
management  has  become  a  substantial  farmer  of 
this  community. 

In  Dixon  Mr.  Hart  led  to  the  marriage  altar 
Miss  Emeline  Hinds,  a  native  of  Susquehanna 


County,  Pa.,  born  June  21,  1846.  Her  father, 
Almond  Hinds,  was  born  in  the  same  county,  where 
he  grew  to  manhood  and  married  Miss  Jane  Fowler, 
a  native  of  Greene  County,  N.  Y.  Both  were  of 
English  descent,  In  1855  they  left  the  East  for 
Illinois,  locating  in  Dixon,  where  Mr.  Hinds  fol- 
lowed his  trade  of  shoemaking  for  some  years,  but 
later  lived  retired.  He  died  in  Dixon  at  the  age  of 
sixty-eight.  His  wife  still  survives  him  and  is  liv- 
ing in  that  city  at  the  age  of  sixty-five.  .In  relig- 
ious belief  she  is  a  Baptist,  and  to  that  church  Mr. 
Hinds  also  belonged. 

Mrs.  Hart  is  the  youngest  of  four  daughters,  all 
of  whom  are  yet  living.  The  eldest,  Agnes,  is  the 
widow  of  Jerome  Holbrook,  and  resides  in  Dixon; 
Mary  is  the  wife  of  Almond  Doolittle,  of  Chicago; 
and  Laura  is  the  widow  of  John  Mcllvane,  also  of 
Chicago. 

In  the  public  schools  of  Dixon,  Mrs.  Ilnrt  ac- 
quired her  education.  She  is  a  lady  of  intelligence 
and  culture,  and  by  her  marriage  has  become  the 
mother  of  two  children:  Sybil  and  Leon.  Mr. 
Hart  exercises  his  right  of  franchise  in  the  support 
of  the  Republican  party,  of  which  he  is  a  stanch 
advocate,  and  in  his  social  relations  he  is  a  Mason 
and  a  member  of  the  Modern  Woodmen. 


PREDKR1CK  KEISTER  was  a  member  of  an 
Illinois  regiment  during  the  Civil  War, 
and  fought  nobly  for  his  adopted  country. 
He  is  now  serving  it  equally  as  well  in  his  capacity 
as  a  tiller  of  the  soil,  his  farm  of  forty-five  acres 
of  well-improved  land  lying  on  sections  20  and  21 
Nelson  Township.  He  was  born  in  Hanover,  Ger- 
many, December  31,  1844.  His  parents,  Augustus 
and  Vermenia  Keister,  were  also  natives  of  the 
Kingdom  of  Hanover.  They  were  there  married, 
and,  after  the  birth  of  five  children,  emigrated  to 
this  country,  where  they  hoped  to  do  better  by 
their  family  than  was  possible  in  the  Fatherland. 
They  sailed  from  Bremerhaven  in  the  spring  of 
1856,  and  six  weeks  and  four  days  later  landed  at 
New  York.  They  immediately  came  Westward  as 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


747 


far  as  this  State,  Dixon  being  their  destination. 
They  were  very  poor  at  that  time,  but  were  strong 
and  capable,  and  after  some  years  the  father  made 
his  first  purchase  of  land  in  1865,  on  section  21, 
Nelson  Township,  he  having  previously  farmed  as 
a  renter.  He  has  prospered,  and  now  owns  a  good 
farm  of  two  hundred  acres,  free  from  encumbrance. 
He  and  his  wife  are  people  of  sterling  merit,  and 
in  them  the  Lutheran  Church  finds  two  of  its 
most  faithful  members. 

Our  subject  came  to  this  county  first  in  1856. 
He  subsequently  saw  four  years  of  hard  service  in 
the  South  during  the  Rebellion.  After  that  he 
came  back  to  this  township,  and  has  been  a  resi- 
dent here  since  1865,  with  the  exception  of  a  few 
years  spent  in  Nebraska.  He  has  owned  his  pres- 
ent farm  eight  years,  and  has  toiled  hard  to  put  it 
into  the  fine  condition  it  is  in  to-day. 

Mr.  Keister  has  been  twice  married.  His  first 
wife  was  Ellen  Woolford,  who  was  born  in  Mary- 
land, and  came  to  Illinois  in  1864  with  her  parents, 
who  are  now  deceased.  She  was  quite  young  when 
the  family  removed  to  this  State.  She  was  mar- 
ried to  our  subject  in  1870,  and  died  in  1880,  leav- 
ing three  children:  Carrie,  Fred  and  Anna.  Mr. 
Keister  was  subsequently  married  to  Miss  Ida  Page 
in  Jordon  Township,  Whiteside  County.  She  was 
born  in  Dixon,  and  passed  the  early  years  of  her 
girlhood  in  that  city  until  she  went  to  Whiteside 
County,  where  she  lived  until  her  marriage.  Her 
parents,  Henry  and  Phoebe  (Groh)  Page,  died 
when  middle  aged  on  the  farm  in  this  county.  Mr. 
Page  was  a  German  by  birth,  and  came  to  this 
country  when  a  young  man.  He  was  married  in 
Lee  County,  111.,  Mrs.  Page  being  a  native  of  Penn- 
sylvania. Mr.  Keister  and  his  wife  have  had  three 
children:  Waiter,  now  deceased,  Harry  and  Jesse 
Leroy.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Keister  are  members  of  the 
Lutheran  Church,  and  their  thoughtfulness  for 
others,  true  neighborliness  and  social  qualities  give 
them  an  important  place  in  the  community.  Mr. 
Keister  is  in  full  sympathy  with  the  doctrines  of 
the  Republican  party.  He  holds  the  office  of  Jus- 
tice of  the  Peace  of  the  township  very  acceptably. 

We  should  be  doing  but  scant  justice  to  our 
subject,  did  we  not  refer  to  his  career  as  a  soldier. 
Shortly  after  the  late  war  broke  out,  he  entered  the 
37 


Union  Army,  with  the  patriotic  motive  of  helping 
to  fight  the  battles  of  the  Government  under 
whose  institutions  he  had  come  to  live.  His  name 
was  enrolled  as  a  -  member  of  Company  A,  Thirty- 
fourth  Illinois  Infantry,  which  was  under  the  com- 
mand of  Col.  Kirk  and  Capt.  W.  C.  Robertson.  His 
regiment  was  organized  in  September,  1861,  and 
was  dispatched  to  the  front  to  join  the  Army  of 
the  Tennessee.  Mr.  Keister  was  scarcely  more  than 
a  boy  when  he  enlisted,  but  his  fidelity  to  the 
cause,  his  efficiency  and  promptness  in  the  dis- 
charge of  his  duties,  and  his  bravery,  made  his  ser- 
vices as  valuable  as  those  of  many  a  battle-scarred 
veteran,  and  on  numerous  occasions  the  youth 
won  the  commendations  of  his  superiors.  He  was 
in  many  important  engagements,  scaling  the 
heights  of  Missionary  Ridge  in  the  famous  battle 
fought  there,  accompanying  Sherman  on  his  march 
to  the  sea,  assisting  in  the  capture  of  Atlanta,  and 
again  facing  the  enemy  at  Bentonville,  N.  C.,  and 
finally  taking  part  in  the  Grand  Review  at  Wash- 
ington in  May,  1865.  Through  all  those  terrible 
years  he  miraculously  escaped  unwounded,  but  in 
the  forced  march  from  Raleigh,  N.  C.,  when  the 
infantry  had  to  trudge  forty-five  miles  a  day  in 
the  intense  heat,  and  suffering  from  a  scarcity  of 
water,  he  succumbed  to  a  sunstroke  near  Richmond 
Va.,  May  15,  1865,  from  the  effects  of  which  he 
has  never  fully  recovered.  lie  was  honorably  dis- 
charged with  his  regiment  in  July,  1865,  and  since 
leaving  the  service  has  been  pensioned  by  a  grate- 
ful Government  for  what  he  suffered  in  its  defense. 


NDREW  J.  BRUBAKER  is  one  of  the  old- 
est established  merchants  of  Dixon,  hav- 
ing successfully  engaged  in  the  mercantile 
business  in  this  city  for  a  period  of  thirty- 
two  years.  He  is  a  native  of  Huntingdon  County, 
Pa.,  and  first  opened  his  eyes  to  the  scene  of  his 
birth,  January  15,  1830.  His  father  was  Benjamin 
Brubaker,  also  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  born  in 
Lancaster  Count}-.  He  was  a  son  of  J.  Brubaker, 
a  Pennsylvanian  by  birth,  and  a  life-long  farmer, 


748 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


carrying  on  his  occupation  in  Lan caster  County. 
The  father  of  our  subject  was  reared  on  a  farm  in 
his  native  county,  and  continued  to  reside  there 
for  some  years  after  his  marriage  to  Elizabeth 
Kauffmaii,  a  native  of  Pennsylvania.  He  then 
took  up  his  abode  in  Huntingdon  County,  and  was 
there  until  1847,  when  he  sold  his  property, 
in  order  to  remove  to  Illinois,  coming  hither  with 
his  wife  and  ten  children  by  the  way  of  canal  to 
Pittsburg,  and  from  there  on  the  Ohio,  Mississippi 
and  Illinois  Rivers  to  Peru,  whence  they  proceeded 
with  a  team  to  their  destination  in  Ogle  County, 
arriving  after  a  three  weeks'  journey.  Mr.  Bru- 
baker bought  a  farm  near  Polo,  on  which  he  lived 
a  few  years,  and  then  he  removed  to  the  village  of 
Polo,  where  he  lived  retired  with  his  wife  until 
death  called  them  hence. 

Our  subject  received  an  excellent  education  in 
the  schools  of  Huntingdon  County  and  was  well 
trained  at*  home  by  his  worthy  parents  in  all  that 
goes  to  make  a  self-ieliant,  efficient,  straightfor- 
ward man.  He  accompanied  his  parents  and  the 
other  members  of  the  family  to  their  pioneer  home, 
when  they  located  in  Ogle  County,  this  State,  and 
in  1841.  at  the  age  of  seventeen  years,  he  came  to 
Dixon,  and  entered  upon  his  first  experience  of  a 
mercantile  life  as  a  clerk  in  the  employ  of  J. 
B.  Brooks.  He  continued  with  that  gentleman 
in  the  same  capacity  until  1859,  and  by  that 
time  had  become  thoroughly  acquainted  with 
every  detail  of  the  business,  so  that  he  was 
fully  prepared  to'begin  his  independent  career  as 
a  merchant  in  that  year,  in  partnership  with  Will- 
iam II.  Van  Epps  and  Mr.  Ferguson,  under  the  firm 
name  of  Brubaker,  Van  Epps  <fe  Ferguson,  they 
being  successors  to  the  father  of  Mr.  Van  Epps.  Af- 
terwards Mr.  Ferguson  withdrew  from  the  firm, 
which  was  then  changed  to  Wm.  II.  Van  Epps  &  Co. 

Mrs.  Van  Epps,  after  the  death  of  her  husband, 
sold  her  interest  in  the  establishment,  in  1881,  to 
John  R.  Carpenter, and  the  firm  changed  to  Bru- 
baker and  Carpenter.  He  has  a  store  that  is  neat 
in  its  appointments,  and  is  well  stocked  with  a  first- 
class  line  of  goods, and  he  commands  a  good  trade, 
numbering  among  his  customers  many  people 
who  have  dealt  with  him  for  .years.  lie  stands 
well  in  financial  circles  as  one  of  the  solid  business 


men  of  the  community,  who  is  always  fair  and 
above-board  in  all  his  transactions,  has  made  his 
money  honorary,  honesty  and  truthfulness  being 
conspicuous  traits  of  his  character,  and  his  fellow- 
citizens  place  implicit  confidence  in  his  word.  He 
is  an  earnest  Christian  and  has  used  his  influence  to 
elevate  the  moral  and  religious  status  of  the  com- 
munity. In  him  and  his  estimable  wife,  the 
Presbyterian  Church  has  two  valued  members,  who 
contribute  cheerfully  of  their  means  toward  its 
support.  He  has  served  as  Trustee  of  the  church, 
and  for  several  years  was  leader  of  the  choir,  which 
under  his  inspiration  furnished  the  congregation 
with  soul-stirring  music.  In  politics,  Mr.  Bru- 
baker has  been  a  devoted  Republican  ever  since 
the  formation  of  the  party,  and  his  first  Presiden- 
tial vote  was  cast  for  J.  C.  Fremont.  Socially,  he 
is  a  member  of  Friendship  Lodge,  No.  7,  A.  F. 
&  A.  M.,  and  was  Treasurer  for  a  number  of  years; 
and  of  Benevolent  Camp,  No.  56,  M.  W.  A.,  of 
which  he  was  a  charter  member,  and  its  first  banker. 
Mr.  Brubaker  was  married  in  1857  to  Miss  Sarah 
Mulligan,  a  native  of  Boston,  Mass.,  and  she  has 
made  their  home  cozy  and  attractive.  They  have 
taken  to  their  hearts  an  adopted  daughter,  Grace 
by  name,  who  has  never  lacked  the  tender  care  and 
affection  of  a  father  and  mother  since  she  came  to 
them. 

J.  RYAN,  a  successful  grocery  man  of 
Dixon,  has  been  engaged  in  business  in  this 
^  city  in  his  present  line  since  the  13th  of 
March,  1885,  and  has  met  with  prosperity  in  his 
undertakings.  He  keeps  a  first-class  store,  com- 
plete in  all  its  appointments,  and  from  the  begin- 
ning his  trade  lias  rapidly  increased  until  he  now 
has  a  large  paying  patronage.  In  order  to  enlarge 
his  facilities,  he  has  just  built  a  new  storeroom  on 
Hennepin  Avenue  that  is  conveniently  arranged 
and  will  be  opened  as  a  first-class  grocery  store  soon. 
By  courteous  treatment  of  his  customers  and  fair 
and  honest  dealing,  he  has  worked  up  the  excel- 
lent trade  which  he  now  receives  and  which  he 
justly  merits. 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


749 


Mr.  Ryan  claims  Connecticut  as  the  State  of  liis 
nativity,  his  birth  having  occurred  in  Torrington, 
Litchfield  County,  on  the  15th  of  July,  1846.  His 
parents,  Philip  and  Anastacia  (Londergou)  Ryan, 
were  natives  of  the  Emerald  Isle,  born  in  County 
Tipperary,  where  their  marriage  was  celebrated 
and  where  they  became  parents  of  four  children, 
all  having  been  born  in  this  country.  On  emigrat- 
ing to  America,  they  located  in  Connecticut,  and 
their  last  days  were  spent  in  Norfolk,  where  the 
father  died  at  the  age  of  eighty-four  years  and  the 
mother  in  the  sixty-seventh  year  of  her  age.  Both 
were  active  members  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church.  Five  of  their  children  are  yet  living, 
two  sons  and  three  daughters.  Three  of  their  sons 
wore  the  blue  during  the  late  war.  Our  subject 
enlisted  in  the  one-hundred-day  service  as  a  mem- 
ber of  Company  K,  Eighth  Massachusetts  Infantry, 
and  John  was  also  in  the  one-hundred-day  service. 
Another  brother,  Timothy,  who  was  an  attorney 
at  law  by  profession,  served  his  country  as  an  Or- 
derly-Sergeant and  laid  down  his  life  for  the  Un- 
ion. He  now  sleeps  on  Southern  soil. 

Mr.  Ryan,  the  subject  of  this  notice,  when  a 
youth  began  working  in  the  hosiery  factory  in 
Massachusetts,  where  he  learned  the  business  and 
was  employed  in  that  line  for  some  years.  He 
then  determined  to  seek  a  home  in  the  West,  and 
prior  to  coming  to  Dixon  had  resided  for  some 
time  in  St.  Joseph,  Mich.,  being  connected  with  the 
firm  of  Cooper,  Wells  <fc  Co.,  hosiery  manufacturers, 
as  manager  of  the  yarn  department.  His  previous 
training  had  well  fitted  him  for  the  position  and 
he  was  a  trusted  employe  of  the  firm  for  some 
j'ears. 

On  the  17th  of  June,  1884,  Mr.  Ryan  led  to  the 
marriage  altar  Miss  Mary  Kronewitter,  their  union 
being  celebrated  in  Mishawaka,  Ind.,  her  native 
city.  Her  parents,  Nicholas -and  Margaret  (Wine- 
kauf)  Kronewitter,  still  reside  in  that  place.  They 
are  both  natives  of  Bavaria,  Germany,  where  they 
resided  until  after  their  marriage  when  they  crossed 
the  Atlantic  and  took  up  their  residence  in'St. 
Joseph  County,  Ind.  With  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kronewitter  hold  mem- 
bership and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ryan  are  prominent 
members  of  the  church  of  that  denomination  in 


Dixon.  Unto  them  were  born  two  children  but 
both  died  in  infancy.  At  local  election,  Mr.  Ryan 
is  independent,  voting  for  the  man  whom  he  thinks 
best  qualified,  but  on  national  questions  he  supports 
Democratic  principles.  Although  numbered  among 
the  comparatively  late  arrivals  in  Dixon,  he  and 
his  wife  have  won  many  warm  friends  in  this  lo- 
cality and  are  held  in  high  respect  by  all  who 
know  them. 


<^ff  NDREW  RICKEY  is  a  prosperous  farmer 
(@/Li[j  of  this  county,  owning  and  occupying  a 
7/ni  fine  farm  that  is  located  partly  in  the  vil- 
^jj  lage  of  Paw  Paw.  He  comes  of  an  old 
pioneer  family  of  Stark  County,  Ohio,  where  he 
was  born  near  the  town  of  Fulton,  March  14, 1830. 
His  father,  John  Richey,  was  a  native  of  County 
Donegal,  Ireland,  and  was  a  son  of  James  Richey, 
who  is  supposed  to  have  been  born  in  the  same 
county,  as  he  was  there  reared  and  married.  He 
came  to  this  country  with  his  family  in  1797,  and 
was  one  of  the  (irst  settlers  of  Wayne  County, 
Ohio.  He  secured  a  quarter-section  of  land  in  the 
midst  of  the  primeval  forests,  and  there  hewed  out 
a  home,  in  which  he  lived  in  peace  and  content- 
ment the  remainder  of  his  life.  He  was  a  stanch 
member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  reared 
his  children  in  that  faith. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  a  lad  of  fourteen 
years  when  he  came  to  America  with  his  parents. 
He  went  to  Pennsylvania  after  he  attained  man- 
hood, and  was  a  resident  of  Beaver  County  until 
after  his  marriage.  He  subsequently  returned  to 
Ohio,  and  entered  a  tract  of  Government  laud  in 
Stark  County,  near  the  town  of  Fulton,  and  in  the 
log  cabin  which  he  erected  on  the  spot,  his  son  of 
whom  we  write  was  born.  After  he  had  built  this 
shelter,  the  father  returned  to  Beaver  County,  Pa., 
and  in  the  following  spring,  accompanied  by  his 
wife  and  the  two  children  that  had  been  born  t< 
them  there,  he  went  back  to  Ohio  with  a  team.  At 
that  time  and  for  some  years  after,  deer  and  other 
wild  game  were  abundant,  while  Indians  still 
lingered  in  the  forests  that  had  so  long  been  their 


750 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


home.  There  were  no  railways  or  canals  for  a 
time,  and  Cleveland,  forty  miles  away,  was  the 
nearest  market  to  which  the  pioneers  could  take 
their  produce  to  sell.  Busy  years  of  downright 
hard  labor  followed  his  settlement  in  that  region , 
but  when  he  folded  his  hands  in  death  Mr.  Richey 
left  as  the  result  of  his  toil  a  well-cleared  and  finely 
improved  farm.  In  his  work,  he  had  the  active 
assistance  of  his  wife,  who  survived  him  many 
years.  After  his  death,  she  came  to  Illinois,  and 
in  June,  1890,  passed  away  at  the  home  of  our 
subject  at  the  venerable  age  of  ninety-three  years. 
Her  maiden  name  was  Ellen  Nixon.  She  was  born 
in  Lancaster  County,  Pa.,  and  was  reared  in  Beaver 
County.  She  was  the  mother  of  eleven  children, 
eight  of  whom  are  still  living.  Robert,  Thomas 
and  James  served  with  honor  in  the  late  war,  and 
Thomas  died  in  battle  while  bravely  fighting  for 
his  country.  John  is  a  physician  in  Crawford 
County,  Ohio. 

The  subject  of  this  brief  biographical  review 
passed  his  early  years  amid  the  pioneer  scenes  of 
his  birthplace,  and  was  educated  in  the  early 
schools  of  his  native  State.  The  first  that  he  at- 
tended was  taught  in  a  log  house,  furnished  with 
slab  benches,  and  a  slab  against  the  wall  served  as 
the  only  desk  in  the  room.  Just  as  soon  as  large 
enough,  he  began  to  help  on  the  farm,  and  in  due 
time  acquired  a  thorough  practical  understanding 
of  agriculture  in  all  its  branches.  He  was  never 
separated  from  his  parents  until  their  death,  being 
their  mainstay  and  comfort  in  their  declining 
years.  He  lived  on  the  old  homestead  in  Ohio 
until  1865,  when  he  came  to  Lee  County  and  pur- 
chased a  farm  in  Brooklyn  Township.  In  1874  he 
sold  that  place  and  bought  the  farm  that  he  now 
occupies,  a  part  of  which  lies  in  the  village  of  Paw 
Paw.  Its  improvements  are  of  a  substantial  order, 
and  he  is  continually  adding  to  them,  and  increas- 
ing the  value  of  his  property  from  year  to  year. 

During  his  residence  of  a  quarter  of  a  century 
or  more  in  this  section  of  Illinois,  Mr.  Richey  has 
acquired  an  assured  position  among  the  most  reli- 
able and  respected  men  of  his  calling,  who  are 
diligently  upholding  and  extending  the  great 
agricultural  interests  that  are  so  important  in 
maintaining  the  prosperity  of  the  county.  He  is 


a  man  of  sound  and  sensible  views  on  all  subjects 
with  .which  he  is  conversant,  and  in  his  political 
opinions  is  an  unswerving  Republican,  and  has 
been  ever  since  he  east  his  first  Presidential  vote 
for  Gen.  Fremont,  the  first  candidate  of  the 
party. 


AJ.  JAMES  A.  WATSON,  who  wore 
military  honors  in  the  Civil  War  as  an 
officer  of  an  Illinois  regiment,  was  for 
many  years  a  prominent  business  man  of 
Dixon,  where  he  is  now  living  in  practical  retire- 
ment from  ah  active  life,  meriting  and  receiving 
the  respect  due  to  a  man  of  his  character  and 
position. 

Maj.  Watson  was  born  April  1,  1812,  in  the 
State  of  New  Jersey.  His  father,  George  Watson 
removed  from  there  to  New  York,  and  settled  in 
Seneca  County,  where  he  resided  a  few  years  and 
then  went  to  live  in  Wayne  County.  He  worked 
on  the  Erie  Canal  when  it  was  in  process  of  con- 
struction, and  continued  his  residence  in  Wayne 
County  until  1843,  when  he  took  up  his  abode 
with  his  son  David  in  Calhoun  County,  Mich., 
and  remained  with  him  until  his  death.  The 
maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  Hannah  Van  Shoyic. 
She  was  a  descendant  of  one  of  the  old  Holland 
families  that  peopled  New  York  in  the  early  years 
of  its  settlement,  and  she  died  in  Wayne  County, 
that  State. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  left  the  parental  home 
at  the  age  of  ten  years  to  live  with  a  cousin,  and 
remained  with  him  until  he  was  fifteen  years  old. 
He  then  started  out  even  with  the  world,  and  from 
that  time  has  earned  his  own  living.  His  first 
employment  was  as  a  driver  on  the  tow  path  on 
the  Erie  Canal,  and  he  made  three  trips  from  Clyde 
to  Albany  in  that  capacity.  He  then  turned  his 
attention  to  learning  the  trade  of  a  carpenter,  and 
after  a  three-years'  apprenticeship,  during  which 
time  he  became  an  expert  mechanic,  he  commenced 
business  on  his  own  account  as  a  contractor  and 
builder  near  St.  Catharines,  Canada,  where  he 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


751 


remained  six  years.  In  1839  he  returned  to  the 
States,  and  settling  in  Calhoun  County,  Mich.,  was 
a  pioneer  of  that  region.  He  bought  a  tract  of 
heavily  timbered  land  three  miles  from  Marshall. 
At  that  time  there  were  no  railways  in  that  county, 
and  the  abundance  of  deer  and  other  wild  animals 
was  evidence  that  the  pioneers  had  made  but  little 
headway  in  their  efforts  to  reclaim  the  land  from 
the  wilderness. 

The  Major  followed  his  trade  in  Michigan  until 
1845,  when  he  made  a  new  departure,  coming  to 
Illinois,  making  the  journey  hither  with  a  team, 
and  casting  in  his  fortunes  with  the  brave,  hardy 
and  intelligent  pioneers  that  had  preceded  him  in 
this  section  of  the  country.  He  took  a  contract 
shortly  after  his  arrival  to  build  bridges  over  the 
Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal,  and  later  took 
another  on  the  Chicago  and  Galena  Railway,  now 
the  Northwestern  Railway,  the  first  road  completed 
out  of  Chicago.  In  1852  he  came  to  Dixon,  as  a 
contractor  on  the  Illinois  Central  Railway,  and 
has  ever  since  been  an  honored  resident  of  this 
city,  with  the  exception  of  the  time  when  he  was 
at  the  front  helping  to  fight  his  country's  battles- 

In  1862  Major  Watson  volunteered  for  service 
in  the  army,  enlisting  in  Company  A,  Seventy- 
fifth  Illinois  Infantry,  and  was  at  once  commis- 
sioned as  Captain  of  his  company.     Two  months 
later  he  was  promoted  to   be  Major,  and  served 
with    his    regiment    in    that   capacity   until    the 
close  of  the  war.     His  promotion  was  due  solely 
to  his  merit,  as   from  the   very  beginning  it  was 
seen  that   he    possessed    the   native   energy,   the 
firmness,   executive  capacity  and  dauntless  cour- 
age  so   necessary   for   a   leader  of  men,   and  his 
subsequent     career     in     the    various     important 
battles      in      which      he      fought      justified      his 
selection   for  a  position  of  trust  and  honor.     He 
did  good  service  in  the  hotly  contested  battles  of   I 
Perrysville,  Chickamauga,  Mission  Ridge  and  Look-   j 
out   Mt.,   accompanied    Sherman    on   his   Atlanta   [ 
campaign,   and    was   active  in   all   the  important   ! 
engagements  with  the  enemy  from  Chattanooga  to   i 
Atlanta,  and  did  his  share  of  the    fighting   that 
took  place  in   the  siege  and  capture  of  that  city. 
After  that  he  was  present  at  the  battles  of  Frank- 
lin and  Nashville.     He  suffered  all  the  hardships 


and  privations  that  our  heroic  soldiers  bore  so 
uncomplainingly,  and  was  twice  wounded — once 
at  Buzzard's  Roost,  when  he  and  a  number  of 
others  were  injured  by  the  falling  of  a  tree  that 
had  been  shot  off,  and  once  by  a  spent  shot  before 
Atlanta.  After  the  war  closed,  he  was  honorably 
discharged  with  his  regiment. 

Returning  to  Dixon  from  the  battle-fields  of  the 
South,  our  subject  resumed  his  business  as  bridge 
builder,  which  he  carried  on  until  1873.  In  that 
year  he  was  appointed  commander  of  the  United 
States  boat  No.  4,  used  in  making  necessary  repairs 
on  the  Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal.  The  Govern- 
ment found  in  him  a  most  efficient  official,  who 
during  the  whole  period  of  eight  years  that  he 
held  the  position  was  faithful  in  the  discharge  of 
his  duties.  Since  that  time  he  has  lived  practically 
retired  in  his  pleasant  home  at  Dixon,  where  he  has 
many  warm  friends  that  he  has  gathered  from  a 
large  circle  of  acquaintances  during  the  many  years 
he  has  been  known  throughout  this  county. 

Maj.  Watson  lias  been  twice  married.  In  1836 
he  was  wedded  to  Miss  Catherine  Van  Riper,  a 
native  of  New  Jersey,  and  a  daughter  of  John 
Van  Riper.  She  died  in  1846,  leaving  these  four 
children:  Hester,  wife  of  George  Millen,  a  resident 
of  Rome,  Italy;  Jennie,  who  married  Charles 
Sweet,  of  Benton  Harbor,  Mich.;  Josephus  and 
Henry.  Josephus  served  with  credit  in  the  same 
regiment  with  his  father  during  the  Rebellion,  and 
continuing  in  the  service  in  the  regular  army  after 
the  war  ended,  he  lost  his  life  in  Arizona  while  in 
the  service.  The  second  marriage  of  our  subject, 
which  took  place  in  1853,  was  to  Mrs.  Susan  (Clute) 
Loveland.  By  this  union  there  are  two  children 
living:  Fred  and  Samuel.  The  former  is  superin- 
tendent of  the  Riverside  Shoe  Co.,  of  Dixon.  The 
latter  is  a  commercial  traveller  and  resides  at 
Fremont,  Neb.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Watson's  only 
daughter,  Nettie,  married  Theodore  Hyde,  and  died 
in  September,  1888.  Mrs.  Watson  has  two  children 
by  her  former  marriage  living:  Kittie,  the  wife  of 
Dr.  II.  E.  Paine,  and  George,  a  real-estate  dealer, 
of  Dixon.  Her  son,  Willet  O.,  was  a  brave  soldier 
in  the  late  war,  and  died  in  1890  from  a  disease 
contracted  while  in  the  service. 

Mrs.  Watson   was  born  in   Schenectady,  N.  Y., 


752 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


and  is  a  daughter  of  Wessel  and  Sarah  (Suitz) 
Clute,  who  arc  represented  in  the  sketch  of  F.  C. 
McKenney.  Mrs.  Watson's  first  husband,  Richard 
B.  Loveland,  was  born  in  Bainbridge,  N.  Y.,  and 
was  a  son  of  Otis  and  Mehitable  (Parker)  Love- 
land.  His  father  kept  a  hotel  at  Bainbridge  for 
several  years.  He  came  to  Dixon  in  1837,  and 
the  latter  part  of  his  life  was  passed  in  this  city. 
His  son,  Richard,  was  sixteen  years  old  when  he 
came  to  Dixon  to  accept  a  position  with  his 
brother-in-law,  Smith  Galbraith,  and  for  a  time  he 
was  overseer  of  a  corps  of  men  engaged  in  clear- 
ing the  rocks  from  the  river  at  Rock  Falls,  it  being 
then  the  intention  to  make  Rock  River  navigable. 
He  subecquently  secured  the  contract  to  carry  the 
mail  from  Madison  to  Milwaukee,  and  as  he  also 
carried  passengers  between  the  two  cities  the  busi- 
ness was  remunerative.  He  continued  in  that  until 
Frink  &  Walker's  stage  route  was  established, 
and  he  then  turned  his  attention  to  the  grocery 
trade.  He  was  successfully  engaged  in  that  busi- 
ness until  death  closed  his  promising  career  iu 
1851,  at  the  early  age  of  thirty-one  years,  and 
Dixon  was  deprived  of  one  of  its  most  enterprising 
business  men,  who,  if  his  life  had  been  spared, 
would  doubtless  have  been  an  important  factor 
in  promoting  its  growth  and  financial  prosperity. 


EVANS  C.  THOMAS,  a  retired  farmer  resid- 
ing at  Franklin  Grove,  was  born  in  Batavia, 
Genesee  County,  N.  Y.,  November  9,  1813. 
He  is  a  son  of  Silas  and  Rebecca  (Campbell)  Thomas, 
who,  soon    after    his    birth,  removed    to  Niagara 
County,  N.  Y.,  where   the   mother   died,  leaving 
three  children:     Mary,  who  married  William  Dun- 
can, died  in  Geuesee,  111.;  Samuel,  who  resides  in 
Florida,  and  our  subject. 

Evans  C.  Thomas  of  this  sketch  married  Mary 
Ann  Nichols,  who  was  a  native  of  Niagara  County, 
N.  Y.  The  young  couple  removed  to  Oakland 
County,  Mich.,  in  1836,  where  our  subject  was  en- 
gaged in  clearing  land,  splitting  rails,  etc.  Three 
years  later  he  came  to  Lee  County  and  passed  the 
first  winter  in  Franklin  Grove.  The  following 


spring  he  purchased  a  claim  near  the  Grove  and 
there  resided  until  1871,  and  then  removed  to  the 
village  of  Franklin  Grove.  On  locating  here,  he  be- 
came the  possessor  of  two  hundred  and  sixty  acres 
of  land,  but  now  owns  only  one  hundred  acres. 
The  father  of  our  subject  came  West,  and  departed 
this  life  in  1876. 

The  first  wife  of  Mr.  Thomas  died  in  1842,  hav- 
ing become  the  mother  of  three  children,  two  of 
whom,  William  H.  and  Ruba,  are  living.  In  1845 
he  married  Harriet  A.  Whitman,  who  was  born  in 
New  York  State,  and  died  in  1867.  By  that  union 
were  born  ten  children,  eight  of  whom  are  living, 
namely:  Julia,  Martha,  Mary,  Belle,  Ann  E.,  Lillian, 
Evans  W.  and  Abraham.  In  politics,  our  subject 
is  a  Republican. 


|s^  AMUEL  PETER  HOYLE.  This  gentle- 
^^L  man,  who  is  one  of  the  progressive  farmers 
1|/1|  of  South  Dixon  Township,  lias  a  beautiful 
and  well-improved  estate  located  on  sec- 
tion 35,  and  which  includes  one  hundred  and 
twenty  acres.  He  was  born  on  his  father's  old 
homestead  in  this  township,  June  10,  1865.  He 
was  given  a  good  education  in  the  common  schools, 
residing  with  his  parents  until  reaching  his  twenty- 
second  year,  since  which  time  he  has  lived  on  the 
farm  which  he  now  owns  and  occupies,  and  which 
adjoins  the  old  homestead.  He  is  a  progressive 
and  industrious  young  man  and  is  the  youngest 
son  of  John  Hoyle,  now  residing  in  Eldena,  for  a 
further  sketch  of  whom  the  reader  is  referred  to 
the  biography  of  Joshua  P.  Hoyle,  found  elsewhere 
in  this  book. 

Our  subject  was  married  in  South  Dixon  Town- 
ship to  Katie  Ulrich,  who  was  born  June  6,  1866, 
in  Sandwich,  DeKalb  County,  this  State.  She  is 
the  daughter  of  Joseph  and  Maggie  (Hunt)  Ulrich, 
now  residing  in  Marion  Township,  this  county, 
but  who  were  natives  of  France  and  Ireland,  re- 
spectively. Mrs.  Hoyle  is  the  eldest  of  the  parental 
family  of  five  sons  and  two  daughters  yet  living, 
and  was  reared  and  educated  in  Marion  Township. 
By  her  union  with  our  subject,  she  has  become  the 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


753 


mother  of  one  son,  John  J.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hoyle 
are  highly  esteemed  in  the  community  in  which 
they  reside,  and  in  her  religious  faith  the  wife  is 
a  Catholic.  Mr.  Hoyle  is  a  Republican  in  politics 
and  is  thoroughly  in  sympathy  with  all  good 
measures. 


EBENEZER  M.  PETTENGKR  is  contributing 
to  the  general  prosperity  of  Lee  County  by 
1  his  work  as  a  farmer  in  Willow  Creek 
Township.  A  native  of  Passaic  County,  N.  J.,  he 
was  born  March  23,  1840.  His  father,  Cortland 
Pettinger,  was  also  a  native  of  New  Jersey,  his 
birthplace  being  in  Somerset  County.  He  passed 
his  early  life  in  his  native  county  on  a  farm,  but 
he  was  married  in  Passaic  County,  and  carried  on 
his  occupation  there  until  his  untimely  death  in 
1846.  His  wife  survives  him,  and  now  makes 
her  home  in  Morris  County,  N.  J.,  where  she  was 
born.  Her  maiden  name  was  Sarah  Thorpe,  and 
she  is  a  daughter  of  Samuel  Thorpe. 

Our  subject  was  reaied  in  his  native  State,  and 
lived  with  his  mother  until  he  grew  to  manhood. 
In  1863  he  determined  to  seek  his  fortunes  in  the 
middle  Western  States,  and  for  a  year  and  a  half 
lived  in  Linn  County,  Iow;i.  He  then  recrossed 
the  Mississippi,  and  coming  to  this  county  has 
since  been  identified  with  the  industrious,  shrewd 
and  business-like  men  who  are  carrying  on  the 
immense  agricultural  interests  of  Northern  Illi- 
nois. For  a  while  he  was  employed  on  a  farm  by 
the  mouth,  and  then  for  twenty  years  he  rented 
the  farm  in  Willow  Creek  Township  on  which  he 
now  resides.  This  is  provided  with  suitable 
buildings,  its  fields  are  neatly  fenced  and  well 
tilled,  and  the  place  bears  evidence  of  good  care. 
Mr.  Pettenger  is  an  excellent  farmer,  is  a  good 
citizen,  his  neighbors  know  him  to  be  reliable 
and  trustworthy,  and  his  family  find  in  him  a  kind 
husband  and  a  devoted  father. 

Mr.  Pettenger  was  first  married  in  1867  to  Miss 
Emma  Barn  hart,  a  native  of  Lee  County,  and  a 
daughter  of  Henry  Barnhart.  Their  married  life 


was  but  brief,  as  she  died  the  following  year.  Our 
subject  was  again  named,  April  4,1870,  Miss  Lucy 
Blair  becoming  his  wife. 

They  have  five  children  living:  Lewis,  Albert, 
Reuben,  Morris  and  Levi.  Death  has  crossed  their 
threshold  and  removed  their  eldest,  Wesley,  who 
died  in  1890,  aged  twenty  years,  and  their  young- 
est born,  Winfield,  who  died  in  1890,  at  the  age  of 
two  years.  The  youth  just  entering  manhood, 
and  the  little  child  that  gladdened  the  hearts  of 
parents  and  brothers  for  so  brief  a  time,  have  but 
passed  from  their  home  to  a  broader  and  better 
life  beyond,  where  they  still  live  and  love: 

"Lost,  'tis  true, 

For  the  light  that  shines  for  you; 

But  in  the  light  ye  cannot  see, 

Of  undisturbed  felicity — 

lu  a  perfect  paradise, 

And  a  life  that  never  dies." 


"Weep  awhile,  if  ye  are  fain, 
Sunshine  still  must  follow  rain; 
Only  not  at  death,  for  death, 
Now  we  know,  is  that  first  breath 
Which  our  souls  draw  when  we  enter 
Life,  which  is  of  all  life  centre." 

Mrs.  Petlcuger  is  a  native  of  this  county,  born 
atMalugin's  Grove,  and  a  daughter  of  Robert 
Blair,  a  pioneer  of  this  part  of  Illinois.  Her  father 
was  born  in  Somerset,  N.  J.,  and  was  a  son  of 
another  Robert  Blair,  who  was  a  native  of  Ireland. 
The  father  of  the  latter  was  also  named  Robert,  who 
was  born  either  in  Scotland  or  in  Ireland,  and  was 
of  Scotch  ancestry.  He  was  one  of  five  brothers 
that  came  to  America  in  Colonial  times.  Mrs. 
Pettenger's  grandfather  was  a  clerk  in  one  of  the 
Government  departments  at  Washington,  D.  C. 
Some  years  later  he  went  to  Ohio,  and  after  a  resi- 
dence there  of  some  years,  he  came  to  Illinois,  and 
for  a  time  lived  in  Canton,  Fulton  County.  From 
there  he  went  to  Galesburg,  and  subsequently 
came  to  Lee  County  to  spend  his  declining  years 
with  his  children. 

Mrs.  Pettenger's  father  was  twelve  years  old 
when  his  parents  moved  to  Ohio,  and  he  there 
grew  to  manhood,  and  became  a  miller.  He  went 
from  Ohio  to  Indiana,  and  was  married  at  Ft. 
Wayne,  to  Lucy  Dunton,  a  native  of  Jefferson 


754 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


County,  N.  Y.,  and  a  daughter  of  Ephraim  and 
Abigail  (Ball)  Dunton.  In  1843  the  Blairs  came 
to  Illinois,  and  after  living  at  Galesburg  two 
years  came  to  Lee  Count}'  in  1845,  and  was  the 
second  family  to  settle  at  Twin  Grove,  where  the 
father  entered  a  tract  of  Government  land,  upon 
which  he  built  a  log  house  for  shelter.  At  that 
time  the  surrounding  country  was  in  a  sparsely 
settled  condition,  and  deer  and  other  kinds  of 
game  were  plentiful.  There  were  no  railways  for 
some  years,  and  the  settlers  had  to  go  to  Chicago 
to  market  their  grain  and  to  obtain  necessary 
household  supplies. 

Mr.  Blair  improved  a  farm  and  lived  on  it  some 
years,  and  then  removed  to  Malugin's  Grove, 
where  he  erected  and  operated  a  gristmill  for  a 
time.  After  the  death  of  his  wife  in  1856,  he  went 
to  live  with  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Robert  Armstrong, 
and  was  an  inmate  of  her  home  until  his  death  in 
1881. 


GE  A.  HARMS.  This  young  and  en- 
terprising  farmer  is  the  owner  of  one 
hundred  and  ten  acres  situated  on  sections 
3  and  4,  Palmyra  Township,  and  seventy-two 
acres  in  another  part  of  the  township.  A  thrifty 
and  judicious  farmer,  he  has  met  with  unusual 
success  in  tilling  the  soil,  and  has  brought  his 
property  to  a  high  state  of  cultivation.  He  was  born 
in  this  township  near  where  he  now  lives,  on  his 
father's  old  homestead,  July  6,  1852,  and  was  the 
oldest  child  in  his  father's  family.  He  was  reared 
and  educated  in  his  native  place  and  has  alwavs 
resided  here,  having  nothing  cosmopolitan  in  his 
nature.  His  father,  Anton  Harms,  who  was  born 
in  Oldenburg,  Germany,  in  August,  1800,  was 
descended  from  good  old  German  stock,  and  when 
he  was  young  emigrated  to  this  country,  and  after 
some  time  came  to  Illinois,  with  the  intention  of 
securing  a  good  home.  He  left  his  wife  and 
family  at  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  and  before  he  returned 
from  his  Western  tour  his  wife  died. 

Bringing  his  children  with   him,  the   father  of 
our  subject  again    came    to   Illinois   and    made  a 


permanent  settlement  in  Palmyra  Township,  this 
country.  In  this  place  he  was  united  in  marriage 
with  Anna  M.  Hector,  a  native  of  the  same  place 
as  her  husband.  She  made  the  journey  across  the 
water  when  a  young  woman  and  came  direct  to 
this  State.  After  marriage  the  parents  of  our 
subject  lived  in  this  township  the  remainder  of 
their  days,  the  death  of  the  father  occurring  July 
15,  1878.  He  was  the  possessor  of  four  hundred 
acres  of  land  in  this  township,  advocated  the 
principles  of  the  Democratic  party,  and  with  his 
wife  held  membership  in  the  Lutheran  Church. 

Our  subject  was  married  in  this  township  to 
Miss  Harriet  Brauer,  who  was  born  in  this  county, 
August  30,  1860,  and  was  reared  and  educated  in 
Nelson  Township.  Her  parents,  Louis  and  Louisa 
(Tole)  Brauer,  natives  of  Germany,  came  to 
America  before  their  marriage  and  met  in  Nelson 
Township.  They  lived  on  a  farm  in  that  town- 
ship until  the  death  of  Mr.  Brauer,  when  past 
middle  life.  The  wife  and  mother  now  resides  in 
Palmyra  Township.  She  is  a  faithful  and  con- 
scientious member  of  the  Lutheran  Church,  as  was 
her  husband.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Harms  are  the  parents 
of  two  children— Elsie  A.  and  Paul  B.  They  are 
members  in  good  standing  of  the  Lutheran 
Church,  and  in  politics  he  is  a  stalwart  Republican. 

The  cozy  residence  in  which  Mr.  Harms  and  his 
family  are  domiciled  is  one  of  the  most  conven- 
ient and  substantial  in  the  community,  and  a  view 
of  it,  with  its  pleasant  environments,  appears 
elsewhere  in  this  volume. 

^^  ILBERT  MESSER.  All  honor  is  due  to  the 
If  ,— ,  noble  pioneers  of  this  county  who  braved 
1^Jj)  the  hardships  of  frontier  life,  endured  many 
privations  and  sacrificed  much  in  order  to  redeem 
the  land  from  the  wilderness  and  establish  com- 
fortable homes  for  themselves  and  their  families. 
It  is  to  their  patient  and  persistent  labors  that  the 
growth  and  prosperity  of  this  section  of  the  coun- 
try were  laid  on  enduring  foundations.  Some  of 
these  men  are  still  living  among  us,  although  four 
or  five  decades  may  have  passed  by  since  their 


RESIDENCE    OF    G.  A .  HA  RMS  ,    SEC.  3.,  PALMYRA   TR,  LEE  CO.,  I  LL. 


RESIDENCE  OF    E.  H.RICKARD    SEC.  5.,PALMYRA  TR,  LEE  CO., I  LL. 


(HE  UftRARY 
OF1HE 

tl*IVfcfc.MI'V  Wf  MJUUHUS 


POETRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


757 


settlement  here,  and  they  are  among  our  most  val- 
ued citizens.  One  of  these,  whose  name  appears 
at  the  head  of  this  biography,  may  well  lay  claim 
to  respect  as  one  of  the  old  settlers  of  the  county, 
in  whose  development  he  has  borne  a  part  for  a 
length  of  time  lacking  scarcely  a  year  of  half  a 
century.  The  land  in  South  Dixon  Township 
that  he  purchased  of  the  Government  so  long  ago 
he  has  transformed  into  a  farm  that  is  classed 
among  the  very  best  in  this  locality  in  point  of 
tillage,  productiveness  and  a  high  state  of  improve- 
ment. 

Our  subject  is  a  sturdy  representative  of  the 
sons  of  New  Hampshire  who  have  become  adopted 
citizens  of  Illinois.  He  was  born  in  the  old 
Granite  State,  May  7,  1812,  his  birthplace  being  in 
the  town  of  Hopkinton,  near  the  town  of  New 
London,  in  Merrimac  County.  His  ancestors,  who 
were  of  Scotch  origin,  were  some  of  them  among 
the  early  settlers  of  New  Hampshire,  which  was 
the  native  State  of  'his  grandparents  on  both  sides 
of  the  house,  and  of  his  parents,  Richard  and 
Ruth  (Giles)  Messer,  his  mother,  a  native  of  Mer- 
rimac County,  being  ajso  of  Scotch  descent.  The 
Messers  and  Giles  were  mostly  fanners  for  genera- 
tions, as  far  back  as  anything  is  known  of  them. 
When  scarcely  past  the  prime  of  life,  Richard 
Messer  died  in  Merrimac  County,  where  he  had 
always  lived,  and  an  honest-minded,  industrious 
and  well-respected  citizen  was  lost  to  the  commu- 
nity by  his  untimely  death.  His  widow  subse- 
quently married  Austin  Cheney,  and  continued  to 
reside  in  her  native  county  until  her  demise,  at  the 
age  of  three-score  years  and  ten.  By  her  second 
marriage,  she  became  the  mother  of  thirteen  chil- 
dren, of  whom  Giles  Cheney  is  the  only  survivor. 
He  is  married  and  lives  at  Plaistow,  N.  H. 

Our  subject  was  the  only  child  born  to  his  fa- 
ther, and  he  was  very  young  when  the  latter  died. 
He  was  reared  by  his  mother  and  step-father  amid 
tho  beautiful  scenery  of  his  native  county.  A 
healthy,  self-reliant,  independent  spirit,  thrift, 
capability,  and  a  sturdy  common-sense  in  busi- 
ness matters,  traits  so  common  to  the  New  Eng- 
land character,  were  his  by  the  right  of  birth,  and 
to  them  he  owes  his  good  fortune.  In  his  youth 
he  learned  the  trade  of  a  blacksmith  after  his 


school-days  were  over,  and  followed  it  in  a  gen- 
eral way  for  some  years  before  he  left  his  native 
hills  to  try  life  on  the  prairies  of  Illinois.  He 
came  to  this  State  in  1843,  and,  as  we  have  seen, 
was  well  fitted  to  cope  with  the  trials  of  pioneer 
life.  He  at  first  established  a  smithy  in  Dixon, 
but  that  was  only  a  preliminary  step  until  he  could 
obtain  some  land  and  settle  down  to  farming.  He 
soon  purchased  a  tract  of  school  land  in  South 
Dixon  Township,  and  the  deed  which  gave  him 
the  title  to  it,  which  was  signed  by  Gov.  French, 
is  still  in  his  possession.  He  has  here  nearly  two 
hundred  acres  of  choice  farming  land,  which  he 
has  developed  into  a  fine  farm,  upon  which 
he  has  placed  modern  improvements,  his  well- 
built,  commodious  buildings  being  supplied  with 
every  convenience,  and  comparing  with  the  finest 
in  the  neighborhood;  his  neatly  fenced  fields  are 
under  an  admirable  system  of  tillage,  and  .the 
rich  pastures  are  capable  of  sustaining  a  great  deal 
of  stock.  Besides  this  place,  Mr.  Messer  has  some 
valuable  timber  land  in  Dixon  Township,  and  he 
is  one  of  the  substantial  men  of  his  community. 
Although  he  is  a  quiet,  unassuming  man,  the 
people  among  whom  he  has  dwelt  in  peace  and 
amity  these  many  years  hold  him  in  waim  re- 
gard, as  they  have  always  found  in  him  a  true 
friend,  ever  considerate  and  pleasant  in  his  man- 
ner, and  they  have  a  high  opinion  of  his  personal 
character,  knowing  him  to  be  a  man  of  principle 
and  sound  integrity.  In  politics,  he  is  a  sound 
Republican. 

While  a  resident  of  his  native  State,  Mr.  Messer 
was  married,  in  Fraiicistown,  to  Miss  Eliza  Gary, 
and  for  more  than  half  a  century  they  have  trav- 
eled life's  highway  together.  Mrs.  Messer  was 
born  February  22,  1809,  in  Hillsboro  County, 
N.  H.,  near  where  she  was  married,  and  she  there 
grew'to  womanhood  in  the  pleasant  home  of  her 
parents,  Charles  and  Martha  Gary,  who  were  na- 
tives of  New  Hampshire.  The  Gary  family  be- 
longed to  the  old  settlers  of  the  State,  and  were  of 
common  ancestry  witli  the  poets,  Alice  and  Phcbe 
Cary.  Charles  Gary  was  a  butcher,  and  followed 
that  trade  the  most  of  his  life,  living  to  be  quite 
an  old  man.  His  wife  survived  him  several  years 
and  attained  the  venerable  age  of  ninety-three 


758 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


years.  They  were  of  Scotch  blood.  They  were 
Congregationalists  in  religion,  as  were  the  Messers 
also.  Our  subject's  wife  was  one  of  a  good-sized 
family,  of  whom  she  and  her  two  sisters,  Mrs. 
Abby  Clarston  and  Mrs.  Sarah  Bigsby,  residents  of 
New  England,  are  the  only  survivors.  She  is  a 
member  in  high  standing  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  with  which  she  has  been  connected  for 
many  years. 

Mr.  and  Mi's.  Messer  are  the  parents  of  eight 
children,  of  whom  these  two  are  deceased:  Charles, 
who  died  young,  and  Martha  J.,  former  wife  of  C. 
Clogston,  who  died  in  1880.  The  remaining  chil- 
dren are:  Dennison,  a  harness-maker  in  Dixon, 
who  married,  but  has  lost  his  wife;  Eliza  A.,  widow 
of  William  S.  Dodge,  who  died  in  California; 
Ruth  A.,  now  at  home  with  her  parents,  who  is  a 
successful  teacher,  and  for  four  years  taught  at 
Sitka,  the  capital  of  Alaska;  Anna,  widow  of 
Capt.  George  W.  Fitch,  who  was  accidentally 
killed  at  Englewood,  Chicago;  George  G.,  a  suc- 
cessful farmer  of  South  Dixon,  residing  on  the 
old  homestead,  who  was  a  Sergeant  in  Company 
A,  Seventy-fifth  Illinois  Infantry,  and  though  he 
fought  bravely  with  his  regiment  in  every  cam- 
paign in  which  it  took  part  throughout  the  war, 
escaped  unhurt;  and  Frank,  who  is  a  progressive, 
well-educated  young  man,  and  assists  in  the  man- 
agement of  his  father's  farm. 

Mr.  Messer 's  son-in-law,  William  S.  Dodge,  was 
a  man  of  much  prominence  in  his  life-time  and 
was  well  known  as  an  historian,  writing  on  topics 
connected  with  the  war.  his  connection  with  the 
commissary  department  during  that  time  giving 
him  peculiar  advantages  for  collecting  facts  con- 
cerning the  Rebellion.  'He  wrote  the  histoiy  of 
the  old  Second  Division  and  of  the  Seventy-fifth 
Illinois  Regiment,  and  he  was  the  author  of  the 
"Drummer  Boy  of  Shiloh."  Capt.  Fitch  was  also 
prominently  connected  with  the  war  as  a  brave 
officer.  He  was  Captain  of  a  colored  regiment, 
and  at  one  time  was  captured  and  shot  by  the 
guerrillas  in  a  hard  fight  with  them.  They  left 
him  for  dead  on  the  field,  with  six  others,  who 
were  shot  outright,  lying  around  their  gallant 
leader.  He  revived,  and  was  taken  by  a  negro 
to  the  Union  lines.  He,  however,  carried  the  bul- 


let in  his  head  the  remainder  of  his  life,  and  at 
times  it  affected  him.  After  the  war  he  became  a 
lumberman,  and  was  engaged  in  that  business 
when  his  career  was  cut  short  by  his  untimely 
death. 


ISAAC  B.  BERRY  is  worthy   of  all   honor  and 
respect   as  one    of  the  pioneers   of   Northern 
Illinois,    who   was    identified    with    its   early 
growth,  both  as  a  skillful  mechanic  and  a  practical 
farmer.     He  came  to  Lee  County  in   1862,  and  for 
several  years  devoted  himself  'exclusively  to  agri- 
cultural pursuits  in  Wyoming  Township,  where  he 
still  owns  a  good  farm,   although    lie   now    makes 
his  home  in   the  village  of  Paw  Paw,  having  re- 
tired from  active  business. 

Our  subject  was  born  March  24,  1813,  his  birth- 
place being  two  miles  from  Onondaga  Hill,  and 
two  and  one-half  miles  from  Syracuse,  N.  Y. 
James  W.  Berry,  his  father.,  is  thought  to  have 
been  a  native  of  New  Jersey.  The  grandfather  of 
our  subject  removed  from  that  State  to  New  York, 
and  settled  three  miles  below  Ft.  Edward,  near  the 
North  River,  where  he  resided  until  his  demise. 
The  father  of  our  subject  was  reared  on  a  farm. 
He  removed  to  Onondaga  County  about  1812, 
and  was  one  of  its  early  settlers.  That  was  before 
the  time  of  railways  and  canals,  and  the  removal 
to  his  new  abode  in  the  wilderness  was  made  witli 
teams.  He  leased  land,  and  was  a  resident  there 
until  1828,  when  he  settled  in  Oswego  County, 
buying  a  tract  of  timber  in  the  town  of  Volney, 
and  clearing  a  farm  from  the  forests  primeval, 
making  his  home  there  until  death  closed  his  eyes 
in  the  sleep  that  knows  no  waking  this  side  of 
eternity.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was 
Margaret  Baldwin.  Her  parents  were  pioneers  in 
the  vicinity  of  Ft.  Edward.  She  too  passed  from 
deatli  to  the  life  immortal  on  the  old  homestead  in 
Oswego  County. 

-Isaac  Berry  gained  his  education  in  the  rude 
pioneer  schools  of  his  native  county,  the  first 
school  that  he  attended  being  taught  in  a  log 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


759 


building,  that  was  furnished  with  slab  scats, 
supported  by  wooden  pins,  and  a  board  against 
the  wall  serving  as  the  only  desk  for  the 
pupils  to  write  on.  When  he  was  a  youth,  there 
were  no  railways  or  canals,  and  the  farmers  had  to 
haul  their  produce  to  Albany  with  teams.  He  was 
a  small  boy  when  he  first  began  to  make  himself  of 
use  on  the  farm,  and  he  continued  to  help  his 
father  until  he  was  nineteen  years  of  age.  Then 
his  natural  taste  for  mechanics  led  him  to  adopt 
the  trade  of  a  carpenter,  and  in  order  to  gain  a 
thorough  mastery  of  his  chosen  calling,  he  served 
a  three  years'  apprenticeship  at  Oswego,  which  was 
then  but  a  village.  The  first  year  he  received  $96 
in  payment  for  his  work,  and  the  second  year  $3 15. 
After  he  completed  his  apprenticeship,  he  did 
journey-work  in  his  native  State  until  1838,  when 
he  boldly  resolved  to  try  his  fortunes  in  the 
flourishing  village  of  Chicago,  which  at  that  time 
had  a  population  of  about  four  thousand  people, 
and  making  his  way  thither,  he  was  for  a  time 
actively  employed  at  carpentering.  He  became  a 
citizen  of  the  place,  and  voted  at  the  first  city 
election,  in  1837.  Business 'was  .very  dull  there 
that  year,  and  he  took  a  contract  to  build  a  hotel 
at  Warrenville,  in  Du  Page  County.  He  was 
pleased  with  that  part  of  the  country,  and  cast  in 
his  lot  with  its  pioneers,  buying,  in  1838,  a  claim  to 
a' tract  of  Government  land  one  mile  from  Warren- 
ville, seeming  his  title  to  it  as  soon  as  the  survey 
was  completed  and  the  land  came  into  the  market. 
At  that  time  deer  and  wolves  were  plentiful,  and 
there  were  other  wild  animals  there  also,  showing 
that  the  country  was  but  little  advanced  from  a 
state  of  nature. 

Mr.  Berry  worked  busily  at  his  trade  at  Warren- 
ville and  Naperville,  and  contributed  much  to  the 
upbuilding  of  those  places,  and  at  the  same  time  he 
superintended  the  improvement  of  his  land.  He 
was  a  resident  of  DuPage  County  until  1862, 
when  he  came  to  Lee  County,  and  has  been  identi- 
fied with  its  farming  interests  ever  since.  He 
bought  a  farm,  pleasantly  located  in  Wyoming 
Township,  and  vigorously  engaged  in  tilling  the 
soil  and  raising  stock  for  some  years.  In  1867  he 
rented  the  farm,  and  the  ensuing  six  years  lived 
in  the  village  of  Earlville.  At  the  expiration  of 


that  time,  he  returned  to  his  farm,  and  spent  the 
next  nine  years  upon  it  very  profitably  and  pleas- 
antly. He  then  rented  it,  and  coming  to  Paw  Paw, 
has  since  lived  there  in  retirement,  in  the  enjoy- 
ment of  the  income  that  is  the  fruit  of  his 
industry. 

Mr.  Berry  has  been  twice  married,  his  first  wife, 
to  whom  he  was  wedded  in  1847,  being  Mary 
Louise  Ward,  a  native  of  New  York  State,  and  a 
daughter  of  Dr.  Levi  and  Lillis  Ward.  She  de- 
parted this  life  in  December,  1849.  Our  subject's 
marriage  to  his  present  wife  was  solemnized  in 
1856.  Mrs.  Berry  was  formerly  Harriet  E.Rogers. 
She  is  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  and  a  daughter  of 
David  B.  and  Eliza  (Jones)  Rogers.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Berry  have  two  children  living:  Mary 
Louise,  wife  of  David  Dale,  of  Wichita,  Kan.;  and 
Mury  E.,  wife  of  W.  A.  Pratt. 

Our  subject's  course  throughout  a  long  career 
of  usefulness  has  been  such  as  to  justify  the  trust 
in  which  he  is  held,  as  all  who  have  ever  had  deal- 
ings with  him  have  recognized  his  inherent 
honesty  and  truthfulness,  and  all  who  are  ac- 
quainted with  him  know  that  lie  possesses  other 
excellent  traits  of  character  that  go  to  the  making 
of  a  good  man,  a  loyal  citizen,  a  kind  neighbor, 
and  a  devoted  husband  and  father.  In  politics,  he 
stands  with  the  Republicans.  Religiously,  both  he 
and  his  good  wife  are  members  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  and  are  strong  in  the  faith. 


TEPHEN  WILTSE,  who  was  one  of  the 
pioneers  of  Wisconsin,  has  done  important 
pioneer  work  in  Lee  County  since  he  took 
up  his  residence  here,  as  his  valuable  farm 
on  section  13,  Reynolds  Township,  was  a  tract  of 
wild,  unbroken  prairie  land  when  it  came  into  his 
possession,  nearly  twenty  years  ago,  but  now  ranks 
with  the  best  in  point  of  cultivation  and  improve- 
ment. 

Mr.  Wiltse  was  born  in  Duanesburgh.  Schenec- 
tady  County,  N.  Y.,  November  8, 1817.  His  father, 
Henry  Wiltse,  who  was  a  native  of  Vermont,  went 
to  the  State  of  New  York  when  a  young  man.  He 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


learned  the  trade  of  clothier  and  dyer,  but  after  his 
marriage  he  engaged  in  farming,  buying  a  farm  in 
Duanesburgh.  In  1847  he  sold  his  property  there, 
and  moving  to  Wisconsin  cast  in  his  lot  with  the 
early  settlers  of  Racine  County,  where  he  died  the 
following  year.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was 
Susan  Ladd.  She  was  a  native  of  Duanesburgh, 
N.  Y.,  and  spent  her  entire  life  there.  Her  father, 
William  Ladd,  a  farmer,  was  a  resident  of  that 
town  many  years,  passing  the  latter  part  of  his  life 
there.  The  parents  of  our  subject  reared  fifteen 
children,  of  whom  he  was  the  eighth  in  order  of 
birth.  He  spent  his  boyhood  on  the  home  farm  on 
which  he  was  born,  and  obtained  his  education  in 
the  local  schools.  He  remained  an  inmate  of  the 
parental  home  until  he  was  twenty-one  and  then 
began  his  independent  career  as  a  farmer  on  rented 
land  in  Duanesburgh.  In  1847  he  determined  to 
take  advantage  of  the  cheap  lands  of  Wisconsin, 
and  with  his  wife  and  two  children  started  for  that 
State.  They  journeyed  by  the  Erie  Canal  to  Buf- 
falo, and  by  the  lakes  to  Racine.  At  that  time 
Racine  County  was  scarcely  more  than  a  wilder- 
ness, in  which  deer,  wolves,  bears,  wild  turkeys 
and  other  game  roamed  at  will,  while  there  were 
but  very  few  settlements  throughout  its  length 
and  breadth. 

Mr.  Wiltse  bought  a  tract  of  heavily- timbered 
land  in  the  forests,  five  miles  north  of  Racine,  and 
building  a  log  house  for  a  dwelling,  he  at  once  set 
about  the  hard  task  of  clearing  his  land.  Timber 
then  had  but  little  value,  and  large  logs  that 
would  now  command  a  great  price  were  rolled  to- 
gether and  burned.  He  felled  the  greater  part  of 
the  trees  on  his  land  and  in  time  had  an  excellent 
farm,  upon  which  he  lived  for  the  space  of  seven- 
teen years.  In  1864  he  disposed  of  his  property 
in  Wisconsin,  and,  coming  to  Illinois,  bought  a 
farm  on  section  6,  Malta  Township,  De  Kalb  County. 
In  1870  he  sold  that  at  an  advance  on  the  original 
cost,  but  did  not  immediately  buy  another,  as  he 
thought  that  perhaps  the  value  of  the  land  would 
depreciate  from  war  prices.  He  rented  instead 
until  1872,  when  he  came  to  Lee  County,  and 
purchased  the  land  on  section  13,  Reynolds  Town- 
ship, that  forms  his  present  farm.  lie  has  placed 
the  entire  tract  of  two  hundred  and  forty  acres 


under  a  high  state  of  cultivation,  has  planted  fruit 
and  shade  trees,  erected  a  substantial  house,  stables 
and  other  buildings,  and  as  an  active,  capable, 
wide-awake  farmer,  has  proved  to  be  a  valuable 
addition  to  the  farming  population  of  this  section 
of  the  county. 

Mr.  Wiltse  and  Miss  Sylvia  Sisson  united  their 
lives  and  fortunes  in  the  sacred  tie  of  wedlock, 
July  3,  1841,  and  in  the  half-century  that  they 
have  been  together  they  have  been  devoted  to 
each  other  and  have  been  faithful  to  all  the  obli- 
gations of  a  true  marriage,  of  which  theirs  is  an 
example.  They  have  lived  in  amicable  relations 
with  their  neighbors,  who  have  alwaj's  found  them 
open-hearted,  responsive  to  appeals  for  sympathy 
or  help,  and  genuine  friends  at  all  times.  Their 
hospitality  is  well  known,  and  strangers  have  often 
been  the  recipients  of  their  bounty.  They  have 
five  children:  Susanna,  Willard,  Amelia,  George 
and  William,  to  whom  the}'  been  wise  and  tender 
parents,  and  who  may  well  "rise  up  and  call  them 
blessed." 


§RITTAIN  J.  AGLER  is  a  progressive  and 
wide-awake  f aimer  and  stock-raiser,  resid- 
ing on    section    10,    Wyoming   Township, 
one-half    mile    north    of    the    village   of 
Paw  Paw,  who, besides  his  landed  estate  in  this  vi- 
cinity, has  valuable  farming  interests  in  Nebraska, 
and  is  managing  his  property  with  excellent  judg- 
ment ar.d  practical  skill,  carrying  on  his  agricul- 
tural operations  after  the  best  modern  methods. 

•  Mr.  Agler  was  born  in  Lycoming  County,  Pa., 
April  15,  1848.  His  father,  Jerome  Agler,  was  a 
native  of  the  same  State,  and  was  a  son  of  Jere- 
miah Agler,  who  is  also  supposed  to  have  been  a 
Pennsylvania!!  by  birth.  He  was  a  blacksmith  and 
wagon-maker,  and  carried  on  business  as  such  in 
Lycoming  County.  He  was  a  man  of  much  enter- 
prise, and  manufactured  all  the  lumber  that  he 
used,  operating  a  sawmill  and  dry-house  in  con- 
nection with  his  other  business.  He  spent  his  last 
years  in  that  county,  where  he  was  well-known  and 
greatly  respected.  He  reared  quite  a  large  family. 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


761 


Jerome  Agler  assisted  his  father  in  the  shop  and 
mill  even  when  quite  a  young  lad,  and  later  was 
employed  on  a  farm.  He  thus  acquired  a  taste  for 
agricultural  pursuits  and  made  farming  his  life 
work.  He  married  in  Lycoming  County,  and  re- 
sided there  until  1849,  when  he  came  to  Illinois 
and  identified  himself  with  the  pioneers  of  Lee 
County,  which  at  that  time  was  but  sparsely  settled 
and  much  of  the  land  was  still  in  the.hands  of  the 
Government.  He  was  accompanied  hither  by  his 
wife  and  seven  children,  and  the  entire  journey, 
which  consumed  eight  weeks'  time,  was  made  by 
land.  The  father  bought  a  tract  of  land  in  what  is 
now  Wyoming  Township,  where  deer,  wolves  and 
other  wild  animals  were  roaming  at  will  over  the 
prairies,  or  through  the  timber  on  the  banks  of  the 
streams.  His  first  work  was  to  build  a  small  frame 
house,  for  which  he  hewed  the  frame  and  rived  the 
shingles  by  hand.  He  resided  on  that  land  three 
years,  and  then  sold  it,  with  the  intention  of  re- 
turning to  the  East,  but  he  changed  his  mind,  and 
for  awhile  rented  land  until  he  bought  forty  acres 
on  section  23.  He  lived  there  for  several  years, 
and  actively  engaged  in  its  improvement,  but  in 
1875  he  disposed  of  it,  in  order  to  take  up  his  resi- 
dence in  Nebraska,  where  he  purchased  a  tract  of 
wild  prairie  in  Wayne  County.  He  devoted  his 
time  to  the  improvement  of  a  farm,  and  at  the 
time  of  his  death,  March  23,  1885,  had  his  land  un- 
der good  tillage,  had  erected  the  necessary  build- 
ings and  had  everything  in  good  order  about  his 
place.  At  his  decease,  the  county  was  deprived  of 
the  services  of  a  practical,  hard-working  pioneer 
who  had  done  what  he  could  to  develop  the  coun- 
try. 

The  maiden  name  of  the  mother  of  our  subject 
was  Sarali  Brittain,  and  she  was  a  native  of  Lycom- 
ing County,  Pa.  She  died  February  1,  1880,  at 
the  home  of  a  son  in  Lee  County,  while  here  on  a 
visit.  Her  father,  William  Brittain,  was  a  native 
of  Pennsylvania,  and  was  of  English  antecedents, 
his  ancestors  having  been  among  the  early  Colonial 
settlers  of  the  Keystone  State  in  the  days  of  Will- 
iam Penn.  He  was  both  a  shoemaker  and  a  farmer, 
and  carried  on  those  callings  in  Lycoming  County, 
where  he  spent  his  last  years.  There  were  nine 
children  born  to  the  parents  of  our  subject,  of 


whom  all  are  living  except  Maggie,  who  died  at 
the  age  of  thirty-five  years.  The  others  are:  Al- 
mira,  William,  Mary  E.,  Joseph  W.,  John  E.,  Syl- 
vester C.,  Brittain  J.  and  Martha.  Joseph  and 
John  did  gallant  service  in  the  late  war. 

The  subject  of  these  lines  was  but  one  year  old 
when  his  parents  brought  him  to  Illinois,  and  he 
was  reared  and  educated  in  Wyoming  Township. 
When  he  was  large  enough  to  be  of  use,  he  was  set 
to  work  on  the  farm,  and  thus  early  acquired  the 
necessary  experience  to  make  a  good  farmer.  He 
made  his  home  with  his  parents  until  his  marriage, 
but  prior  to  that  he  began  his  independent  career 
as  a  tiller  of  the  soil  on  rented  land,  and  about  one 
year  after  he  married  he  bought  forty  acres  of  land 
of  his  father.  He  soon  sold  that,  however,  to  pur- 
chase two  hundred  and  forty  acres  in  Wayne 
County,  Neb'.,  intending  to  take  up  his  residence 
there,  but  the  raid  of  the  grasshoppers  in  that 
region  changed  his  plans,  and  the  ensuing  four 
years  he  rented  his  father-in-law's  farm  in  this 
county.  At  the  expiration  of  that  time  he  bought 
a  quarter  of  section  2,  Wyoming  Township,  and 
lived  there  until  1885.  He  then  rented  the  farm, 
and  for  six  months  visited  Dakota  and  Nebraska. 
Returning  to  Paw  Paw  the  following  fall,  lie  again 
located  on  his  farm  in  the  spring,  which  he  oc- 
cupied until  1889,  when  he  bought  the  place  on 
which  he  now  resides  on  section  11,  of  the  same 
township,  within  a  convenient  distance  of  the  vil- 
lage of  Paw  Paw.  He  now  owns  two  hundred  and 
fort3--five  acres  of  choice  farming  land  in  Wyo- 
ming Township  and  a  quarter  of  a  section  in  Wayne 
County,  Neb. 

Mr.  Agler  was  married  September  21,  1873,  to 
Miss  Mary  E.  Pulver,  in  whom  he  has  a  wife  who 
makes  his  interests  her  own,  and  looks  well  to  the 
comfort  of  her  household.  She  is  a  daughter  of 
James  F.  and  Sarah  Pulver,  and  was  born  in  the 
town  of  Florida,  Montgomery  County,  N.  Y., 
April  18,  1852.  Her  marriage  with  our  subject 
has  brought  them  two  children:  James  J.,  born 
April  13,  1875,  and  Fred  W.,  September  7,  1879. 

Our  subject  is  endowed  with  an  ambitious,  ener- 
getic spirit,  is  an  excellent  manager,  and  in  all  his 
undertakings  exercises  a  due  amount  of  prudence 
and  discrimination.  In  his  politics,  he  is  a  Repub- 


702 


POETEAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   EECOED. 


lican,  sound  and  true.  He  and  his  wife  are  greatly 
esteemed  by  their  neighbors  and  all  who  know 
them,  and  Mrs.  Agler  is  an  active  worker  in  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  of  which  she  is  a 
member. 


eHABLES  A.  GUYOT,  who  owns  and  oper- 
ates one  hundred  and  sixty-nine  acres  of 
valuable  land  on  section  9,  Palmyra  Town- 
ship, where  he  has  made  his  home  continuously  since 
1861,  was  born  in  the  West  Indies  in  Guadeloupe, 
August  11,  1820.  The  family  is  of  French  origin. 
The  paternal  grandfather,  John  Francis  B.  O. 
Guyot,  was  born  in  Normandy,  in  the  city  of 
Eouen,  and  came  of  good  French  stock.  He  was 
educated  for  a  military  life  and  assumed  the 
duties  of  an  officer  in  Normandy,  where  for  years 
his  family  had  figured  prominently  in  public  af- 
fairs, but  his  eye-sight  failing  him,  he  was  sent  to 
Guadeloupe,  West  Indies,  where  he  married  the 
daughter  of  a  prominent  planter,  Miss  Desbonns, 
whose  parents  had  gone  from  Turenne,  France,  to 
the  West  Indies  in  the  early  part  of  the  seventeenth 
century.  John  Francis  B.  O.  Guyot,  on  leaving 
France,  gave  up  his  title  for  he  believed  in  Ee- 
publican  principles.  He  died  in  Guadeloupe  in 
1798,  at  the  age  of  forty-eight  years  after  a  thir- 
teen years'  residence  in  the  West  Indies.  While 
yet  a  young  man  in  his  native  land  he  had  organ- 
ized a  French  company,  of  which  he  was  made 
Captain,  to  aid  the  American  Colonies  in  their 
struggle  for  independence  and  fought  in  many 
battles,  including  the  one  at  Yorktown.  After 
his  death  his  widow  came  to  the  United  States 
with  her  two  children,  one  of  whom  died  soon 
afterward  and  located  in  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  hop- 
ing to  secure  a  pension  in  recognition  of  her  hus- 
band's services.  This  was  granted  her  and  she 
continued  to  reside  in  Philadelphia  until  her  death, 
which  occurred  at  an  advanced  age. 

John  F.  O.  Guyot,  the  father  of  our  subject,  was 
one  of  the  two  children  above  mentioned.  He 
was  born  in  Guadeloupe,  West  Indies  in  1790, and 
when  a  boy"  was  sent  to  Madison,  N.  J.,  to  be  edu- 


cated. He  afterward  returned  to  the  West  Indies, 
where  he  carried  on  a  large  sugar  plantation,  hav- 
ing under  his  control  from  one  hundred  and 
seventy-five  to  two  hundred  and  thirty  slaves.  At 
the  time  of  his  death  he  owned  a  large  property 
and  about  one  hundred  and  seventy  negro  slaves. 
He  married  a  lady  of  the  West  Indies,  Augustine 
Lyou,  who  was  born  and  reared  in  the  French  pos- 
sessions of  those  islands  and  came  of  French 
Huguenot  ancestry.  Her  father  was  born  in  the 
south  of  France  and  was  a  French  merchant,  who 
at  the  beginning  of  the  present  century  emigrated 
to  Guadeloupe.  His  political  views  were  Eepub- 
lican  and,  in  1815,  he  had  a  quarrel  with  one  of 
the  supporters  of  monarchy,  which  ended  in  a  duel 
in  which  both  he  and  his  antagonist  were  killed. 
He  was  then  in  the  prime  of  life.  Mrs.  Guyot  sur- 
vived her  husband  some  years  and  died  in  1857,  at 
the  age  of  fifty-five. 

We  now  take  up  the  personal  history  of  our  sub- 
ject, in  whom  the  people  of  Lee  County  are  most 
interested.  When  a  lad  of  nine  years  he  was  sent 
to  France  to  be  educated  and  remained  in  the 
schools  of  Paris  until  eighteen  years  of  age.  He 
was  educated  in  French,  Latin,  Greek  and  classics, 
after  which  he  returned  to  his  father's  plantation 
in  the  West  Indies,  managing  the  same  until  the 
slaves  on  those  islands  were  emancipated  in  May, 
1848,  when  in  consequence  all  business  relations 
were  materially  changed.  Soon  afterward  he 
came  to  this  country  and  the  following  year  made 
an  overland  trip  to  California,  where  he  engaged  in 
mining  on  the  Yuba  and  Feather  Eivers,  until  1852. 
He  experienced  man3r  of  the  hardships  and  da*n- 
gersof  such  a  life,  on  one  occasion  was  lost  in  the 
mountains  and  at  an  other  time  engaged  in  fight- 
ing Indians  in  New  Mexico.  Eeturning  to  Illi- 
nois, he  purchased  his  farm  in  Palmyra  Township, 
which  he  operated  until  1856. 

Soon  after  his  return  from  California  Mr.  Guyot 
married  Miss  Sarah  Graham  who  was  born  and 
reared  in  New  York  City  but  was  educated  in 
Troy,  N.  Y.  Her  father,  Capt.  Graham,  now  de- 
ceased, was  for  many  years  captain  of  a  ship  and 
was  prominent  in  marine  circle.  He  died  in  New 
York.  Unto  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Guyot  were  born  seven 
children,  five  of  whom  are  yet  living:  M.  Blanche, 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


763 


at  home;  Charles  L.  who  wedded  Elizabeth  Law- 
rence and  resides  on  a  farm  in  Palmyra  Township; 
Emil  O.,  Hugh  L.  and  Edward  J.  The  deceased 
are  Mary  L.  and  Charles  A. 

When  Mr.  Guyot  left  his  farm  in  1856  he  re- 
turned to  the  West  Indies  and  carried  on  his  sugar 
plantation  until  1861,  when  he  again  came  to  his 
farm  in  Illinois  and  has  since  devoted  his  energies 
to  its  cultivation.  He  owns  one  hundred  and 
sixty-nine  and  a  half  acres,  the  greater  part  of 
which  is  under  the  plow  and  in  return  for  his  care 
and  labor  yields  to  him  a  golden  tribute.  He  has 
made  a  success  in  this, his  life  work.  A  well  edu- 
cated man,  he  keeps  himself  informed  on  all  the 
question  of  the  day  and  is  ranked  among  the  best 
citizens  of  the  community. 


^ILLIAM  AMBLER  is  a  worthy  member  of 
the  farming  community  of  Lee  County, 
who  has  aided  in  carrying  on  the  agricul- 
tural interests  of  this  section  for  more  than  thirty- 
one  years,  and  in  that  time  has  improved  a  choice 
farm  in  Willow  Creek  Township.  He  was  born 
ten  miles  east  of  Romney,  Hampshire  County,  Va., 
June  2,  1828.  His  father,  who  was  named  John 
Ambler,  is  thought  to  have  been  a  native  of  the 
same  county,  while  his  father,  David  Ambler,  is  be- 
lieved to  have  been  born  in  Fauquier  County,  Va. 
He  was  a  pioneer  of  Hampshire  County  during 
some  part  of  the  last  century,  and  improved  a  farm 
from  the  wilderness,  upon  which  he  resided  many 
years.  He  finally  emigrated  to  Pendleton  County, 
Ky.,  and  made  his  home  with  his  son,  the  father  of 
our  subject,  until  his  demise  at  a  ripe  old  age.  The 
maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  Mollie  Monroe,  and 
she  was  also  a  native  of  Virginia.  She  was  a 
daughter  of  Dr.  John  Monroe,  who  was  a  Virgin- 
ian by  birth,  and  was  of  Scotch  antecedents.  The 
grandmother  of  our  subject  died  in  Hampshire 
County,  Va. 

John  Ambler  passed  the  early  years  of  his  life  in 
his  native  county,  and  was  there  married.  In  1858 
he  removed  to  Pendleton  County,  Ky.,  bought  land 


there,  and  in  the  course  of  time  developed  it  into 
a  fine  farm,  upon  which  he  dwelt  in  comfort  and 
contentment  until  death  closed  his  life  at  a  ripe 
age,  in  1875.  He  was  twice  married.  The  maiden 
name  of  his  first  wife,  the  mother  of  our  subject, 
was  Elizabeth  Price,  and  she  is  thought  to  have 
been  a  native  of  Marshall  County,  Va.  She  died 
in  Hampshire  County,  that  State.  After  her  death, 
Mr.  Ambler  married  a  second  time,  taking  as  his 
wife  Lizzie  Lindabood,  and  there  are  two  children 
living  of  that  marriage.  Thirteen  were  born  and 
reared  of  the  first  marriage. 

Our  subject  grew  to  manhood  amid  the  pleasant 
scenes  of  his  native  county.  When  he  was  but 
fifteen  years  old,  he  commenced  to  work  at  the 
saddler's  trade,  and  he  subsequently  taught  school, 
farmed,  or  carried  on  his  trade  in  Hampshire  until 
1850.  In  that  year,  he  went  to  Kentucky,  going 
by  rail  to  the  Ohio  River,  and  thence  with  team  to 
Falmouth,  Pendleton  County,  where  he  worked  at 
his  trade  one  year.  At  the  end  of  that  time,  he 
returned  to  his  native  county,  and  continued  to 
live  either  in  West  Virginia  or  in  Kentucky  until 
1859,  when  he  came  to  Illinois,  attracted  thither 
by  the  many  advantages  the  cheap  lands  and  rich 
soil  of  this  State  offered  to  a  thrifty  and  indus- 
trious farmer.  He  rented  the  farm  that  he  now 
owns  in  Willow  Creek  Township,  and  four  years 
after  bought  it  at  $20  an  acre.  He  has  greatly  in- 
creased its  value  by  the  erection  of  substantially- 
built  buildings,  and  by  placing  the  land  under  a 
high  state  of  cultivation,  and  on  every  hand  one 
sees  evidences  of  neatness  and  good  management. 

A  capable  wife,  to  whom  he  was  married  in  1857, 
has  done  much  for  our  subject  in  her  hearty  co- 
operation with  him  in  his  work.  In  her  maiden 
days,  Mrs.  Ambler's  name  was  Frances  A.  Burd.and 
she  was  born  in  Hampshire  County,  Va.  She  is  a 
daughter  of  Peter  and  Julia  Ann  Burd,  who  are 
represented  in  the  sketch  of  William  Burd,  which 
appears  on  another  page  of  this  volume.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Ambler  are  held  in  high  consideration  by  their 
neighbors,  who  know  them  well  as  kind,  charitable 
and  obliging  people,  ever  ready  to  help  others  in 
trouble.  They  have  two  children,  Ladema  Flor- 
ence and  Julia  Price.  Ladema  is  the  widow  of 
William  II.  Smith  and  the  mother  of  two  children, 


764 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


Myrtle  Floy  and  William  Arthur.  Mrs.  Ambler 
and  her  elder  daughter  are  valued  members  of  the 
German  Baptist  Brethren  Church.  Julia  Price 
married  William  G.  Durin,  September  16, 1891,  and 
now  resides  in  Willow  Creek  Township. 


JAMES    NE ALIS,     a    capable,    prosperous 
farmer,  who  is  the  proprietor  of  a  well-im- 
proved farm    in    Reynolds   Township,  was 
born  in    the    County  of  Donegal,  Ireland, 
May  12,  1836.     His  father,  George  Nealis,  was  a 
native  of  the  same  county,  as  was  also  his  grand- 
father, James  Nealis.    The  latter  came  to  this  coun- 
try in  1836  with  other  members  of  the  family,and 
spent  the  remainder  of  his  days  in  Pennsylvania. 
His  six  children,  four  sons  and  two  daughters,  all 
became  citizens  of  the  United  States. 

The  father  of  our  subject  spent  the  first  part  of 
his  life  in  the  land  of  his  birth,  and  was  there  mar- 
ried to  Nancy  Coyle,  whose  native  place  was  like- 
wise in  County  Donegal.  In  1836  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Nealis  emigrated  to  this  country,  where  they 
hoped  to  have  better  opportunities  to  rear  and 
educate  their  children  than  were  afforded  by  their 
own  country.  They  located  in  the  wilderness  in 
what  is  now  Hampshire  County,  W.  Va.,  where  Mr. 
Nealis  bought  a  tract  of  land  partly  covered  with 
timber,  ten  miles  east  of  Romney.  He  devoted  his 
energies  to  clearing  his  land  and  tilling  the  soil, 
and  in  due  time  had  developed  a  good  farm,  on 
which  he  makes  his  home.  He  has  had  the  misfor- 
tune to  lose  his  beloved  wife  and  companion,  who 
crossed  the  waters  with  him  to  aid  him  in  building 
up  a  home  in  a  strange  land.  She  was  the  mother 
of  nine  children  that  grew  to  maturity. 

When  the  family  came  to  America,  James 
Nealis  was  but  an  infant,  and  has  no  recollection 
of  other  than  his  adopted  home.  He  began  very 
early  to  assist  his  father  in  the  farm  work,  and 
continued  to  live  with  his  parents  until  his  twenty- 
second  year,  when  he  came  to  Illinois  to  take  ad- 
vantage of  the  many  facilities  offered  by  its  rich 
soil  to  a  practical,  energetic  farmer.  He  began  life 
here  by  working  on  a  farm  at  $15  a  month.  He 


was  very  industrious  and  prudent,  saved  his  earn- 
ings, and  at  the  end  of  two  years  was  enabled  to 
buy  forty  acres  of  wild  land  in  Willow  Creek 
Township,  the  price  being  $16  an  acre.  He  ac- 
tively entered  upon  its  improvement,  and  lived  on 
the  place  six  years,  then  sold  and  bought  the  farm 
that  he  now  owns  and  occupies.  This  comprises 
two  hundred  acres  of  well-improved  land,  amply 
provided  with  good  buildings,  pleasantly  located 
on  section  35,  Reynolds  Township.  A  view  of  the 
place  appears  on  another  page  of  this  volume. 

A  part  of  our  subject's  prosperity  is  attributable 
to  the  valuable  asssistance  he  has  received  from 
his  good  wife,  whom  he  secured  in  the  person  of 
Mrs.  Mary  A.  (Davison)  Miller,  to  whom  he  was 
wedded  December  25,  1870.  They  have  one  son, 
James  M.  Mrs.  Nealis  was  born  in  Kingston, 
Province  of  Quebec,  Canada,  a  daughter  of  Abra- 
ham and  Mary  Davison.  She  was  reared  in  her 
native  country,  and  was  first  married  after  coming 
to  Lee  County,  to  Abram  Miller,  who  was  also  born 
in  Canada.  After  coming  here  he  purchased  a 
farm  near  Compton,  where  he  resided  for  a  time 
after  marriage.  He  then  removed  to  Twin  Grove, 
where  he  bought  a  farm,  which  Mrs.  Nealis  still 
owns.  He  resided  there  until  his  death  in  1868, 
which  deprived  his  community  of  a  useful  and 
worthy  citizen.  Mrs.  Nealis  reared  three  children 
by  her  first  marriage:  Josephine,  who  married 
Charles  Griffin,  and  died  near  Sheffield,  Iowa,  in 
December,  1886;  Oliver,  who  married  Stella  Wiley; 
and  Joseph,  who  married  Minnie  Miller.  Both 
sons  reside  on  the  Twin  Grove  farm. 


ILLIAM  C; RAVES  occupies  a  leading  place 
among  the  farmers  and  stock-men  of  this 
part  of  Lee  County,  where  he  has  made 
his  home  since  boyhood,  as  he  is  a  man  of  enlight- 
ened and  progressive  views,  carries  on  his  opera- 
tions systematically  and  in  a  thoroughly  business- 
like way,  and  keeps  pace  with  the  times  in  the 
introduction  of  new  and  approved  methods  lie 
and  his  associates  have  changed  China  Township 
from  an  uncultivated  waste  to  a  finely  developed 


RESIDENCE  OF  FRANKW.  BRAUER^  SEC.-^.,  PALMYRA  TP,  LEE  CO.,  I  LL. 


RESIDENCE  OF  JAM  E5   NEALIS,  5EC.35.  REYNOLDS  TP.LEE  CO.,!  LL. 


(HE  LIBRARY 
OF  (HE 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


767 


fanning  region,  and  iiis  farm  on  section  15,  with 
its  extensive  and  valuable  improvements,  is  one  of 
the  many  choice  farms  for  which  this  township  is 
justly  noted. 

Mr.  Graves  was  born  in  Broome  County.  N.  Y., 
February  19,  1839.  He  comes  of  sterling  New 
England  stock,  and  his  parents,  William  and  Sarah 
M.  (Bostwick)  Graves,  were  both  natives  of  Mass- 
achusetts. He  died  in  Broome  County,  N.  Y.,  and 
she  in  Amboy,  III.  Our  subject  is  the  second  in 
order  of  birth  of  the  nine  children  born  to  his  par- 
ents. He  passed  the  early  years  of  his  life  in  his  na- 
tivecounty  until  1852,  when  he  came  to  Yorkville, 
Kendall  County,  this  State,  a  sturdy,  self-reliant 
lad  of  fourteen  years,  and  for  a  year  he  was  a  res- 
ident of  that  place.  In  1853  he  joined  his  mother 
in  Lee  County,  she  having  come  hither  with  three 
of  her  children,  and  settled  on  section  15,  China 
Township.  Our  subject  grew  to  mail's  estate  here, 
and  early  entered  upon  his  career  as  a  farmer  and 
stock-raiser,  to  which  he  has  always  been  devoted, 
and  he  has  risen  to  a  place  of  prominence  among 
his  fellow-farmers.  He  is  now  the  owner  of  three 
hundred  and  forty-eight  acres  of  excellent,  well- 
cultivated  land,  and  he  has  erected  a  good  class  of 
farm  buildings,  and  made  other  improvements,  has 
his  pastures  well  stocked  with  .cattle,  horses  and 
swine  of  fine  breeds,  and  everything  about  the 
place  is  indicative  of  watchful  care  and  superior 
management. 

Mr.  Graves  and  Miss  Martha  A.  Thomas  were 
united  in  marriage  February  15,  1870,  in  China 
Township.  Mrs.  Graves  is  a  native  of  this  county, 
born  in  China  Township, March  17, 1848,a  daugh-  j 
ter  of  Evans  and  Harriet  (Wliitmore)  Thomas, 
early  pioneers  of  this  county,  of  whom  a  sketch  is 
given  in  the  biography  of  Evans  Thomas.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Graves  are  the  parents  of  these  four 
children:  Grace,  the  wife  of  Harry  Williamson; 
Lewis  E.;  Mamie  and  Hazel 

Our  subject  has  much  originality  and  decision 
of  character,  an  evenly-balanced  mind,  and  his 
fellow-citizens  find  him  wise  and  helpful  in  coun- 
sel. They  are  appreciative  of  these  traits,  and 
knowing  full  well  that  he  is  a  safe  man  to  trust, 
and  lias  the  requisite  qualifications  for  civic  posi- 
tions, they  have  elected  him  to  one  of  the  highest 


offices  within  their  gift,  selecting  him  to  represent 
China  Township  on  the  Lee  County  Board  of  Super- 
visors, and  he  has  held  that  office  for  three  years. 
He  has  been  School  Director,  and  as  such  has 
assisted  in  raising  the  standard  of  education  in  this 
vicinity,  so  that  our  schools  compare  with  the  best 
in  the  county.  His  politics  are  of  the  Republican 
order,  and  he  is  unswerving  in  his  loyalty  to  his 
party. 


BIAS  SWEITZER  is  a  young  man  of  ster- 
ling merit  and  much  ability,  who  for  the 
past  six  years  has  had  control  of  the  Genck 
farm  on  section  35,  Nelson  Township,  which  is 
the  property  of  his  father-in-law,  John  Genck,  and 
he  is  keeping  it  up  to  the  same  high  standard  that 
it  had  attained  when  it  came  under  his  manage- 
ment. He  was  born  in  the  township  of  Berlin, 
Somerset  County,  Pa.,  March  9,  1857,  but  he  was 
reared  and  educated  in  Westmoreland  County,  in 
the  same  State.  His  father,  Cornelius  Sweitzer,  was 
also  a  native  of  Somerset  County,  and  was  born 
of  Pennsylvania  parents,  who  were  of  German 
descent,  his  ancestors  having  been  among  the  early 
pioneer  farmers  of  his  native  county.  He  grew  up 
on  a  farm,  and  later  learned  the  trade  of  a  black- 
smith. He  was  married  in  Somerset  County  to 
Mary  Shaulis,  a  daughter  of  Henry  Shaulis,  a 
Somerset  County  farmer  who  died  there  when 
past  ninety  years  old.  He  married  a  Penns3'lvania 
iady,  who  also  died  in  Somerset  County.  Both 
were  members  of  the  Lutheran  Church. 

Cornelius  Sweitzer  and  wife  lived  for  some  years 
in  Berlin  Township  after  their  marriage,  and  then 
removed  to  Mt.  Pleasant,  in  Westmoreland  County, 
and  there  Mrs.  Sweitzer  died  in  1871,  at  middle 
age,  leaving  behind  her  a  worthy  record  as  a  good 
woman,  and  one  of  the  saintly  Christians  of  the 
Lutheran  Church,  of  which  she  was  for  many  years 
a  member.  Mr.  Sweitzer  carried  on  his  business 
as  a  blacksmith  in  that  county  until  1875,  when 
he  came  to  Lee  Count}-  with  his  children,  and 
here  he  began  to  farm  in  Nelson  Township,  where 
he  was  a  second  time  married,  taking  as  his  wife 


768 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD, 


Mrs.  Lena  Tolen,  nee  Osway.  She  was  a  native 
of  Germany,  who  came  to  this  country  when  a 
young  woman,  and  was  first  married  in  Ogle 
Count3r,  to  Mr.  Tolen,  who  died  in  Dixon  after 
the  birth  of  their  two  children.  In  1887  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Sweitzer  removed  to  Daysville,  Ogle  County, 
where  Mrs.  Sweitzer  died  in  middle  life,  leaving 
three  children  by  her  last  marriage,  till  of  whom 
are  living. 

Tobias  Sweitzer  had  not  attained  his  majority 
when  he  came  to  this  county  from  his  old  Penn- 
sylvania home  in  1877,  he  being  then  in  the  full 
flush  and  vigor  of  early  life,  and  all  but  one  year 
since  then  he  has  been  actively  engaged  in  farm- 
ing in  Nelson  Township.  The  farm  that  he  is  now 
operating  is  finely  improved,  is  amply  supplied 
with  buildings  of  a  good  class  and  with  all  kinds 
of  modern  farming  machinery.  He  has  two  hun- 
dred and  forty  acres  under  his  control,  and  is 
cultivating  the  soil  after  the  best  methods  known 
to  the  present  generation.  He  is  a  most  excellent 
manager,  is  orderly  and  systematic,  and  is  prompt 
and  sagacious  in  carrying  out  his  plans.  He  is  a 
man  of  a  truthful,  sincere  disposition,  who  early 
made  a  favorable  impression  on  the  people  among 
whom  he  had  come  to  settle,  and  he  maintains  a 
high  personal  standing  in  his  community.  Polit- 
ically, he  is  with  the  Democrats;  religiously  both  he 
and  his  amiable  wife  are  Lutherans. 

Our  subject  was  married  on  the  farm  that  he 
now  occupies,  which  was  the  home  of  his  bride, 
Miss  Amanda  Genck.  As  much  of  her  life  has 
been  passed  on  this  old  homestead,  Mrs.  Sweitzer  is 
well  known,  and  her  pleasant  social  qualities  make 
her  popular  with  her  large  circle  of  acquaintances 
and  friends.  Her  happy  marriage  with  our  sub- 
ject has  brought  them  two  children,  Claude  and 
Howard.  Mrs.  Sweitzer  was  born  in  Nachusa 
Township  in  1866,  but  was  reared  and  educated 
in  Nelson  Township,  whither  her  parents,  John 
and  Barbara  (Smith)  Genck,  had  removed  when 
she  was  a  small  child.  They  are  natives  of  Byron, 
Germany,  but  came  to  the  United  States  when 
young  people,  and  were  afterwards  married  in 
Illinois.  They  subsequently  established  them- 
selves in  Nachusa  Township,  whence  they  came  a 
few  years  later  to  Nelson  Township,  and  settled 


on  a  new,  unbroken  farm  on  section  35.  Mr. 
Genck  improved  two  good  farms  at  this  point, 
erecting  good  farm  buildings,  and  supplying  them 
with  all  the  modern  conveniences.  He  has  three 
hundred  and  sixty  acres,  the  most  of  which  is 
finely  cultivated,  and  the  whole  forms  a  valuable 
property,  worth  several  thousand  dollars.  Mr. 
Genck  has  thus  raised  himself  to  be  one  of  our 
wealthy  men,  and  is  enjoying  his  riches,  for 
although  he  is  past  sixty-eight  years  of  age,  he  is 
by  no  means  an  old  man  if  his  activity  of  body 
and  mind  are  taken  into  consideration.  He  is  at 
present  visiting  friends  and  kinsmen  in  Pennsyl- 
vania. Politically  he  is  a  Democrat,  and  relig- 
iously, a  member  of  the  Lutheran  Church.  His 
beloved  wife,  who  was  also  a  faithful  member  of 
that  church,  departed  this  life  June  7,  1890,  at 
the  age  of  three-score  3'ears. 


P REDBRICK  A.  TRUMAN  is  among  the 
foremost  of  the  men  of  brain,  business  abil- 
ity, liberality  and  progressive  public  spirit, 
who  have  been  instrumental  in  promoting  the 
growth  of  Dixon,  and  of  the  county  at  large.  He 
had  not  attained  his  majority  when  he  entered  the 
business  circles  of  Northern  Illinois  as  early  as 
1861,  and  from  that  time  he  has  devoted  his  ener- 
gies to  various  business  enterprises,  has  borne  an 
active  part  in  the  management  of  municipal  affairs, 
and  his  name  is  associated  with  many  important 
movements  that  have  enhanced  the  prosperity  of 
city  and  county. 

Our  subject  is  a  native  of  the  town  of  Owego, 
Tioga  County.  N.  Y.,  the  date  of  his  birth  August 
13,  1843.  His  father  was  Edward  D.  Truman,  who 
was  for  a  few  years  prior  to  his  death  a  prominent 
business  man  of  Dixon.  He  was  also  a  native  of 
Owego,  and  was  a  son  of  Asa  H.  Truman,  who  was 
born  in  Livingston  County,  N.  Y.  He  was  for 
many  years  a  leading  merchant  of  Owego,  estab- 
lishing himself  in  business  in  that  town  before  the 
era  of  railways,  and  for  some  time  his  goods  were 
freighted  by  team  from  Ithaca.  He  died  at  Owego 
at  a  ripe  age. 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


769 


The  father  of  our  subject  commenced  clerking 
when  a  mere  boy,  and  when  he  attained  manhood  en- 
gaged in  business  on  his  own  account  in  his  native 
town.  In  1857  he  wound  up  his  affairs  there,  and, 
coining  to  Dixon,  opened  a  land  and  loan  office,  in 
which  he  conducted  a  successful  business.  His  un- 
timely death  in  1861  deprived  the  city  of  a  valued 
citizen,  who  during  the  few  years  he  had  lived 
within  its  precincts  had  made  himself  helpful  in 
its  upbuilding.  His  wife  survives  him  and  is  still 
a  resident  of  Dixon.  She  is  the  mother  of  three 
children,  of  whom  two  are  living:  our  subject  and 
his  sister  Eleanor.  Her  son,  Augustus  E.,  was  for 
a  number  of  years  associated  with  his  brother  in 
business,  and  managed  the  book  and  stationery 
business  now  conducted  by  our  subject  until  his 
death,  March  23,  1891. 

The  mother  of  our  subject  was  born  at  Clarksville, 
Otsego  County,  N.  Y.,  her  maiden  name  Eleanor 
M.  Soule,  and  she  is  a  daughter  of  Charles  Soule. 
Her  father  was  born  in  Springfield,  Mass.,  a  son 
of  Dr.  Charles  Soule,  who  spent  his  last  years  in 
that  city,  where  he  was  one  of  the  leading  physi- 
cians. The  grandfather  of  our  subject  was  but  an 
infant  when  his  father  died,  and  when  he  was  three 
years  old  his  mother  removed  to  New  York,  and 
he  grew  to  manhood  in  Otsego  County.  He  bought 
a  tract  of  timber  near  Clarksville,  when  he  began 
life  on  his  own  account,  and  cleared  a  farm  from 
the  wilderness.  He  used  to  have  to  carry  his  pro- 
duce to  market  at  Albany,  sixty  miles  distant. 
He  was  a  resident  of  Otsego  County  until  his 
death.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  Dorcas 
Adsit.  She  was  born  in  Dutchess  County,  N.  Y., 
and  was  a  daughter  of  James  and  Phebe  (Smith) 
Adsit,  who  were  also  natives  of  the  State  of  New 
York,  and  were  pioneers  of  Montgomery  County, 
where  he  died,  his  wife  dying  in  Otsego  County. 

Frederick  Truman  laid  the  foundation  of  a  lib- 
eral education  in  the  public  schools  of  Owego  and 
Dixon,  and  subsequently  attended  Chicago'  Uni- 
versity. Although  he  was  only  eighteen  years  old 
at  the  time  of  his  father's  death,  he  immediately 
took  charge  of  his  business  as  a  real-estate  and 
loan  agent,  and  has  followed  in  that  line  since. 
He  early  displayed  a  marked  aptitude  for  affairs,  a 
keen  insight  into  business  matters,  and  has  his  va- 


rious  interests  well  in  hand,  directing  them  with 
unerring  skill,  and  so  as  to  turn  them  to  a  profit- 
able account.  He  has  a  valuable  farm  of  five  hun- 
dred acres  near  the  city,  where  for  some  years  he 
was  engaged  in  rearing  cattle  and  horses,  but  at 
present  he  devotes  it  to  dairy  purposes,  it  being 
well  stocked  with  a  fine  herd  of  ninety  cows,  from 
which  he  sells  the  milk  to  a  condensed  milk 
factory. 

Mr.  Truman  has  been  connected  with  various 
enterprises,  which  have  redounded  greatly  to  the 
benefit  of  the  city.  He  was  associated  with  Judge 
J.  D.  Crabtree  and  H.  J.  and  W.  G.  Stevens  in  the 
building  of  the  Opera  House,  in  which  the  city 
justly  takes  so  much  pride.  In  1873  he  became 
connected  with  the  Dixon  National  Bank  and  was 
cashier  of  that  institution  eight  years.  He  was 
at  one  time  President  of  the  Gas  and  Electric 
Light  Company,  and  is  a  stockholder  in  the  Build- 
ing and  Loan  Association,  and  in  various  other 
ways  his  influence  has  been  felt  in  whatsoever 
would  promote  the  substantial  growth  of  the  city. 
Mr.  Truman  is  a  Republican,  and  is  unswerving  in 
his  fealty  to  his  party.  He  has  taken  part  in  the 
local  government  as  a  member  of  the  City  Council 
for  several  terms,  and  Dixon  is  greatly  indebted 
to  him  for  the  deep  interest  he  has  taken  in  her 
school  during  the  several  years  that  he  has  been  a 
member  of  the  Board  of  Education,  of  which  he  is 
at  present  President;  he  has  also  served  two  terms 
as  County  Treasurer. 


ANIEL  MILLER  is  a  prominent  and  highly 
respected  farmer  of  Brooklyn  Township, 
who  has  filled  various  offices  of  trust  and 
has  taken  an  active  part  in  the  public 
life  of  this  section.  He  was  born  in  what  is  now 
Summit  Township,  Somerset  County,  Pa.,  October 
12,  1822.  His  father,  Abraham  Miller,  was  a  native 
of  Lancaster  County,  that  State,  the  son  of  a 
farmer  who  spent  his  last  years  in  Pennsylvania. 
Abraham  Miller  went  to  Somerset  County  as  a 
pioneer  when  a  young  man  and  bought  a  tract  of 
forest-covered  land  in  what  is  now  Summit  Town- 


770 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


ship.  He  built  a  log  cabin,  cleared  the  greater 
part  of  Iris  land,  and  at  the  time  of  his  death  in 
1832  had  a  goodly  farm.  AVhen  he  settled  in  that 
place  there  were  no  railways,  canals  or  carriage 
roads  in  that  part  of  Pennsylvania  then  or  for  some 
years  after,  and  at  one  time  he  went  to  Harrisburg, 
three  hundred  miles  distant,  for  salt.  The  people 
were  principally  home  livers,  subsisting  on  the 
products  of  the  soil  and  on  wild  game,  such  as  deer, 
bears,  etc.,  which  were  very  plentiful.  The  mother 
of  our  subject  used  to  card  and  spin  flax  and  wool 
and  her  daughters  wove  all  the  cloth  used  in  the 
family.  The  mother  of  our  subject  bore  the  maiden 
name  of  Mary  Troutman,  and  she  was  a  native  of 
Pennsylvania.  She  spent  her  last  years  en  the 
home  farm,  surviving  her  husband  many  years. 
She  reared  five  children  by  her  second  marriage, 
and  three  by  a  former  marriage.  The  father  of 
our  subject  reared  ten  children  by  his  first  mar- 
riage. 

Daniel  Miller  was  ten  years  old  when  his  father 
died.  After  that  he  resided  with  an  older  brother 
in  his  native  county  until  he  was  fourteen  years 
old,  and  then  went  with  him  to  Ohio,  making  the 
removal  with  a  team.  He  worked  for  his  brother 
by  the  month  for  four  years,  and  at  the  end  of 
that  time  returned  to  his  old  home,  and  worked 
out  there  by  the  month  the  ensuing  four  years. 
During  that  time  he  was  employed  in  teaming  with 
six  horses  between  different  parts  of  Pennsylvania, 
Maryland,  Virginia  and  the  District  of  Columbia. 
It  was  then  that  he  saw  a  railway  for  the  first 
time.  It  was  a  primitive  affair  of  wooden  rails 
with  iron  straps  on  top,  and  extended  from  Wash- 
ington to  Baltimore. 

Returning  once  more  to  Ohio  at  the  end  of  the 
four  years  mentioned,  in  the  year  1844,  our  sub- 
ject rented  a  farm  in  Wayne  County  and  resided 
there  until  1855,  when  he  came  to  Illinois  to 
try  farming  on  the  fertile  soil  of  the  Prairie  State. 
The  journey  was  made  by  rail  to  Mendota,  whence 
he  made  his  way  to  this  part  of  Lee  County,  and 
invested  in  eighty  acres  of  wild  prairie  in  what  is 
now  Brooklyn  Township,  and  commenced  at  once 
the  pioneer  labor  of  developing  a  farm.  Subse- 
quently, lie  bought  eight}'  acres  more,  making  one 
hundred  and  sixty.  He  has  put  his  land  under 


fine  cultivation,  and  has  placed  upon  it  many  val- 
uable improvements,  including  a  substantial  dwell- 
ing. In  the  terrible  cyclone  of  June  20, 1890,  fiat 
devastated  the  country  hereabouts,  much  of  the 
work  of  years  was  destroyed  in  a  second's  time;  all 
his  buildings  were  demolished  except  his  residence, 
and  that  was  removed  from  its  foundations  about 
three  inches,  the  fence  and  fruit  trees  were  laid 

j   low,  and  the  crops  were  spoiled. 

Mr.  Miller  was  first  married,  in  1844,  to  Miss 
Elizabeth  Lewis,  who  was  born  in  Virginia  near 

;  Wheeling.  She  died  in  1848,  leaving  one  child, 
Ephraim,  who  died  at  the  age  of  thirty-five  years. 

i  Mr.  Miller  was  married  to  his  present  wife,  for- 
merly Leah  Kittenger,  August  2, 1849.  They  have 

,   nine  children  living:  Sarah,  wife  of  Hubbard  Ran- 

i  stead;  Milo  T.,  Lewis,  Frank,  David;  Mary,  wife 
of  William  Troutman;  William,  John, and  Martha, 
wife  of  Edward  Berry. 

Mrs.  Miller  was  born  in  Lancaster  County,  Pa., 
January  3,  1831.  Her  father,  David  Kittenger, 
was  a  native  of  the  same  county  as  herself,  and  was 
a  son  of  Abraham  Kittenger.  Mrs.  Miller's  great- 
grandfather was  born  in  Switzerland.  Her  grand- 
father was  married  in  Pennsylvania,  and  subse- 
quently removed  from  there  to  Stark  County,  Ohio, 
in  1837, and  passed  the  remainder  of  his  life  there. 
He  was  a  pioneer  of  that  region,  and  engaged  at 
his  trade  there  as  a  carpenter.  The  father  of  Mrs. 
Miller  was  reared  and  married  in  Pennsylvania. 
He  went  to  Ohio  to  settle  in  1837,  making  the  en- 
tire journey  with  a  team  and  camping  and  cook- 
ing by  the  wayside  at  noon  and  nightfall.  He 
was  a  pioneer  of  Canal  Fulton,  where  he  passed  the 
rest  of  his  days  in  the  comfortable  home  that  he 
bought  in  that  place.  His  wife,  whose  maiden 
name  was  Elizabeth  Kling,  also  lived  in  that  town 
until  her  death.  She  was  a  native  of  Lancaster 
County,  Pa.,  and  a  daughter  of  Lewis  and  Martha 
Kling.  Mrs.  Miller  is  a  member  of  the  Reformed 
Church  and  a  sincere  Christian. 

Our  subject  has  been  true  to  Republican  princi- 
ples ever  since  the  formation  of  the  party.  His 
fellow-citizens  have  shown  their  appreciation  of 
his  merits  by  entrusting  to  him  various  import- 
ant offices,  and  he  has  been  honored  by  election 
to  the  County  Board  of  Supervisors  to  repre- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


771 


sent  Brooklyn  Township  nine  terms.  Whenever 
he  has  occupied  that  responsible  position,  he  has 
done  his  whole  duty  as  a  civic  official,  and  h;is 
exerted  himself  to  push  forward  the  numerous 
plans  for  the  advancement  of  the  county  since  he 
became  one  of  its  active  citizens. 


EWIS  HULLINGER,  who  came  to  Lee 
County  in  1855,  was  among  the  first  set- 
tlers of  Harmon  Township,  the  first  settle- 
ment here  being  made  in  1854,  the  year  before  he 
located  on  his  present  homestead  on  section  7,  and 
he  has  risen  to  an  important  place  among  its  lead- 
ing farmers  and  stock  men,  and  in  the  civic  life  of 
this  section  of  the  State.  He  is  of  Pennsylvania 
birth,  born  in  -Somerset  County,  that  State,  Decem- 
ber 23,  1820,  and  comes  of  sturdy  German  and 
Revolutionary  stock.  His  parents  were  Frederick 
and  Catherine  (Studer)  Hullinger.  His  maternal 
grandfather,  Philip  Studer,  was  born  in  Germany, 
and  emigrated  to  America  when  a  young  man  in 
Colonial  times.  He  proved  a  patriotic  citizen  of 
his  adopted  country,  as,  when  the  Revolution 
broke  out,  he  volunteered  his  services,  enlisting 
in  the  Continental  Army  for  three  years,  and  then 
fought  throughout  the  entire  war.  He  subse- 
quently became  a  pensioner  of  the  Government 
that  he  helped  to  establish,  and  received  $140  a 
year  as  long  as  he  lived.  He  settled  in  Bedford 
County,  Pa.,  where  he  married,  and  reared  a  family 
of  four  daughters  and  one  son:  Polly,  Charlotte, 
Christina,  Catherine  and  John. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  born  in  Germany, 
and  was  one  of  a  large  family.  He  came  to  the 
United  States  alone  in  early  manhood  and  settled 
in  Bedford  County,  Pa.,  where  he  pursued  his 
trade  as  a  tailor.  He  married,  and  for  a  time  re- 
sided in  Somerset  County.  He  afterward  returned 
to  Bedford  County,  where  he  died  while  yet  in 
life's  prime,  leaving  these  three  children:  Mnry 
Ann,  who  married  William  Lashley,  and  resides 
in  Bedford  County.  Pa.;  Simon,  who  died  in  in- 
fancy, and  our  .subject.  The  mother  of  our  subject 


married  a  second  time,  becoming  the  wife  of  Will- 
iam Sherley,  and  they  had  three  children,  all  of 
whom  died  young.  She  died  in  Bedford  County 
at  an  advanced  age. 

Lewis  Hullinger  passed  his  early  life  in  Bedford 
County,  and  was  educated  in  the  district  schools. 
When  he  was  sixteen  years  old  he  went  to  Alle- 
ghan^v  County, Md., where  he  was  employed  in  driv- 
ing a  cart  for  some  time,  at  $3  a  month  the  first 
two  years,  and  for  $4  a  month  for  eighteen  months. 
He  then  apprenticed  himself  to  a  blacksmith,  and 
after  he  had  mastered  the  trade  carried  it  on  in 
Maryland,  the  ensuing  nine  years,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  one  3'ear  spent  in  Zanesville,  Ohio.  He  was 
married  while  in  that  State  in  the  year  1847,  to 
Miss  Susan  Long,  a  daughter  of  Jonathan  and 
Sarah  (Troutman)  Long,  and  a  native  of  the  same 
Pennsylvanian  county  in  which  he  was  born.  Mrs. 
Troutman  was  a  daughter  of  William  Troutman, 
of  German  descent.  Six  children  have  been 
born  of  their  pleasant  married  life,  as  follows: 
Katie,  wife  of  Charles  Stirling,  of  Parker,  S.  Dak.; 
Jonathan,  a  resident  of  Stewart,  Iowa;  Lillie  Ellie, 
wife  of  Lewis  Lashley,  of  Girard,  Kan.;  Leona  M., 
wife  of  A.  C.  Me  Williams,  Of  Whiteside,  and  Ella 
Virginia,  wife  of  Douglas  Murray,  of  Rock  Falls. 
William  Lewis,  who  married  Hattie  Heckler,  lives 
in  Whiteside  County,  111. 

Mr.  Hullinger  came  to  Illinois  in  1855,  travel- 
ing by  team  and  boat  to  Pittsburg,  Pa.,  and  thence 
by  rail  to  Dixon,  whence  he  made  his  way  to  this 
part  of  the  county  where  he  proposed  to  locate, 
and  soon  proved  himself  a  valuable  acquisition  to 
the  pioneer  force  that  had  preceded  him.  He  pur- 
chased one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  his  present 
farm  on  section  7,  Harmon  Township,  which  at  that 
time  was  a  tract  of  raw  prairie  land,  with  not  a 
furrow  turned.  It  was  a  lonely  spot,  as  when  our 
subject  first  settled  upon  it  there  were  but  very 
I  few  people  within  a  radius  of  several  miles,  and 
his  nearest  neighbors  were  a  long  distance  away. 
With  the  exception  of  his  four  years'  residence  at 
Rock  Falls,  when  he  rented  his  farm,  he  has  made 
it  his  home  for  thirty-six  .years,  and  in  that  time 
fortune  has  smiled  on  his  efforts  and  secured  to 
him  a  handsome  competency.  He  now  has  three 
hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land  valuable  for  tillage 


772 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


and  pasture,  has  it  under  high  cultivation,  has 
ample  and  substantial  buildings,  and  has  his  farm 
well  stocked  with  cattle,  horses  and  hogs  of  good 
standard  breeds.  He  is  a  typical  self-made  man, 
as  all  that  he  is  and  all  that  he  has  are  the  results 
of  his  own  exertions.  He  had  to  learn  the  lesson 
of  self-reliance  when  very  young,  and  when  scarcely 
more  than  a  boy,  he  not  only  earned  his  own  living 
but  helped  his  mother  besides.  His  life  record  is 
that  of  a  good  son,  a  true  husband,  a  wise  father, 
a  kind  neighbor  and  a  loyal  citizen.  His  strong 
common  sense,  his  keen  judgment,  and  other  qual- 
ifications, have  made  him  influential  in  the  public 
life  of  the  county^  and  his  counsel  and  assistance 
have  often  been  sought  in  the  administration  of 
the  affairs  of  township  and  county.  He  has  been 
Supervisor  several  times,  representing  Harmon 
Township  as  a  member  of  the  County  Board  of 
Supervisors  ten  years,  holding  the  office  at  one 
time  for  eight  consecutive  years.  His  politics  are 
of  the  true  Republican  order,  and  in  religion  he 
clings  to  the  Lutheran  faith  in  which  his  fore- 
fathers were  bred. 


PAYID  H.  LAW,  M.  I).,  a  prominent  physi- 
cian and  surgeon  of  Dixon,  and  one  of  the 
influential  and  progressive  citizens  of  Lee 
County,  well  deserves  presentation  in  this  volume, 
for  he  has  done  much  toward  the  upbuilding  and 
development  of  the  county,  and  with  the  promo- 
tion of  its  best  interests  his  name  is  inseparably 
connected.  A  native  of  the  Empire  State,  he  was 
there  born  and  reared,  and  in  1840  came  to  Lee 
County.  His  life  has  been  a  varied  and  eventful 
one,  and  his  experiences  have  made  him  an  excel- 
lent judge  of  human  nature  and  also  an  able  and 
interesting  conversationalist. 

In  the  spring  of  1852,  the  Doctor  joined  a  party 
en  route  for  California.  With  teams  they  crossed 
the  plains,  living  upon  the  wild  game  which  they 
could  secure  and  the  milk  furnished  by  the  cows 
they  took  with  them.  Many  of  his  comrades  died 
while  they  were  on  the  way,  of  cholera,  which  was 
then  epidemic.  Ere  they  reached  their  destination, 


!  they  encountered  the  red  men,  and  the  Doctor  won 
I  for  himself  a  gallant  record  for  bravery.  AVere  all 
!  of  his  experiences  in  crossing  the  plains  told,  much 
of  the  story  would  hardly  be  credited  by  those  who 
did  not  experience  such  a  life.  Four  years  he 
spent  in  the  West,  engaging  in  mining,  and  his  rec- 
ollections of  that  period  of  his  life  are  very  vivid. 
On  his  return  in  1856,  he  entered  upon  the  study 
of  medicine  with  his  brother-in-law,  Dr.  Oliver 
Everett,  a  well-known  physician  of  Lee  County, 
now  deceased.  Later,  he  entered  the  College  of 
Physicians  and  Surgeons,  of  Keokuk,  Iowa,  from 
which  he  was  graduated  in  the  Class  of  '61.  The 
Civil  War  was  then  in  progress  and  he  relin- 
quished all  thought  of  private  practice. 

Enlisting  in  Company  A,  Thirteenth  Illinois  In- 
fantry, Dr.  Law  became  Assistant  Surgeon  of  his 
regiment  and  later  was  detailed  as  Stiff-Surgeon 
for  Gen.  Curtis,  discharging  the  duties  of  a  Bat- 
talion Surgeon.  After  some  time,  he  was  discharged 
in  order  that  he  might  accept  a  commission  as 
Lieutenant-Colonel  of  a  Missouri  regiment,  but  as 
the  war  was  then  drawing  to  a  close,  the  troops 
were  never  called  forth  and  the  Doctor  acted  as 
private  surgeon  for  different  generals  in  the  late 
war,  who, recognizing  his  skill  and  ability,  did  not 
wish  him  to  leave  the  service  and  hired  him  on  a 
salary.  His  braveiy  and  his  Io3-alty  to  his  country 
were  frequently  tested  and  never  failed.  On  one 
occasion  he  broke  up  a  meeting  of  the  Knights  of 
the  Golden  Circle  that  convened  in  a  hotel,  where 
he  had  occasion  to  stop.  His  military  record 
is  one  of  which  he  may  well  be  proud.  For  four 
years  he  served  his  country  faithfully  and  well  and 
when  the  war  was  over,  and  his  services  no  longer 
needed,  he  resumed  private  practice. 

On  his  return  to  Dixon,  Dr.  Law  formed  a  part- 
nership with  his  former  preceptor,  Dr.  Everett,  the 
connection  continuing  until  1873,  when  he  went  to 
Chicago,  where  for  some  time  he  was  connected 
with  a  barb-wire  manufactory.  Since  again  locat- 
ing in  Dixon,  he  has  devoted  his  energies  untir- 
ingly to  the  practice  of  medicine,  and  his  skill  and 
ability  are  recognized  by  a  large  number  of  pat- 
rons. He  is  also  the  owner  of  a  farm  of  two  hun- 
dred acres,  which  is  stocked  with  milch  cows  and 
supplies  milk  to  the  great  Swiss  Milk  Condensing 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


773 


Company.  After  thorough  investigation  at 
of  this  product,  Dr.  Law  has  found  it  to  be  one  of 
the  best  foods  manufactured  for  infants  and  lie  has 
spent  considerable  sums  of  money  in  making  the 
food  what  it  is.  His  dairy  is  a  model  of  conveni- 
ence and  cleanliness,  lacking  in  no  particular. 

In  Sterling,  111.,  the  Doctor  was  joined  in  wed- 
lock with  Miss  Mary  P.  Dillon,  who  died  leaving 
one  son,  David  II.,  who  is  now  connected  with  the 
Dixon  National  Bank.  For  a  second  wife,  Dr. 
Law  chose  Miss  Dorothy  Taylor,  of  Chicago,  where 
their  union  was  celebrated.  They  also-  have  one 
son,  James  E.  Their  home  is  one  of  the  largest 
and  most  beautiful  residences  of  Dixon.  It  is 
built  in  the  modern  approved  style  with  a  view  to 
the  best  sanitary  conditions,  and  the  arrangement 
is  a  model  of  convenience.  The  furniture  is  taste- 
fully arranged  and  the  walls  are  decorated  with 
many  beautiful  pictures,  the  work  of  Mrs.  Law, 
who  possesses  marked  artistic  ability. 

The  Doctor  has  traveled  extensively  over  this 
country  and  is  versed  in  the  topography  and  geo- 
graphy of  the  United  States.  In  all  his  travel,  he 
says  he  has  found  no  better  located  city  as  re- 
gards conditions  of  health  and  comfort  than 
Dixon,  which  is  so  beautifully  located  on  the 
"Hudson  of  the  West."  The  cause  of  education 
has  ever  found  in  the  Doctor  a  warm  friend,  and 
he  and  his  wife  have  done  much  for  its  further- 
ance. They  advocate  all  reforms  for  the  benefit  of 
humanity  and  are  progressive  and  public-spirited 
people  who  occupy  a  warm  place  in  the  hearts  of 
their  many  friends,  and  rank  high  in  the  esteem  of 
all  who  know  them.  In  politics,  the  Doctor  is  a 
Republican,  who  warmly  advocates  the  party  prin- 
ciples, but  has  never  been  an  office-seeker. 


JOSHUA  P.  HOYLE    devotes   his  time  and 
energies  to     general   farming,   conducting 
his    operations    on    sections    26    and    27, 
South     Dixon    Township,    where    he     has 
every  convenience  in  the  way  of  modern  improve- 
ments and  good  machinery  for  facilitating  his  work. 
and    is   doing  a   prosperous  business.     He   is  the 


second  son  and  third  child  of  the  eight  children  of 
John  and  Emelinc  (Deetcr)  Hoyle,  well-known 
residents  of  the  village  of  Eldena,  who  were  for- 
merly connected  with  the  farming  interests  of  this 
section,  but  are  now  living  in  retirement.  A 
sketch  of  then-lives  appears  on  another  page  of  this 
volume. 

Our  subject  was  born  December  4,  1851,  in  the 
county  of  Somerset,  in  the  township  of  the  same 
name,  in  the  State  of  Pennsylvania.  The  first 
twelve  years  of  his  life  were  passed  amid  the  scenes 
of  his  birth,  and  since  then  he  has  lived  in  Lee 
County,  growing  to  man's  estate  on  his  father's 
homestead,  which  is  now  under  his  management, 
lie  here  gained  his  first  actual  experience  in  farm- 
ing, and  was  well  inured  to  the  labors  of  his  chosen 
calling  when  he  entered  upon  his  independent 
career  as  a  farmer,  lie  has  had  charge  of  his 
father's  farm  since  1886,  and  keeps  it  up  to  the 
same  high  standard  it  had  attained  when  in  the 
hands  of  the  elder  Hoyle.  He  raises  a  good  class 
of  stock,  his  cattle,  horses  and  swine  being  of 
fine  breeds  that  always  command  a  ready  market 
when  for  sale. 

Mr.  Hoyle  was  married  to  Miss  Julia  Fritz  in 
this  township,  and  has  found  in  her  a  most  estima- 
ble wife,  who  is  a  veritable  helpmate,  and  has  been 
an  important  factor  in  his  success  in  life.  She  has 
borne  him  seven  children,  of  whom  all  are  living 
but  Wilson,  who  died  at  the  age  of  one  year.  The 
others,  who  still  form  a  part  of  their  pleasant  house- 
hold, are  Hattie,  Lester,  Clara,  Bird,  Fred  and  Jen- 
nie. Mrs.  Hoyle  is  a  native  of  this  county,  born 
in  South  Dixon  Township  July  12, 1852,  a  daugh- 
ter of  one  of  the  pioneer  families  of  this  section. 
Her  parents  were  born,  reared  and  married  in 
Somerset  County,  Pa.,  whence  they  came  to  Illinois 
in  1851.  Mr.  Fritz  obtained  a  tract  of  land  in 
South  Dixon  Township  and  improved  a  good  farm. 
His  first  wife  died  here  in  1864,  and  he  was  subse- 
quently married  to  Miss  Mary  Meyers,  a  native  of 
Pennsylvania,  who  came  to  Illinois  when  a  young 
woman.  In  1883  Mr.  Fritz  removed  with  his  fam- 
ily to  Kansas,  and  is  still  living  there  on  a  farm 
near  Topeka.  He  and  his  wife  are  active  members 
of  the  Lutheran  Church. 

Our  subject  and   his  amiable   wife  hold  a   high 


774 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


place  in  the  estimation  of  their  fellow-townsmen, 
as  they  possess  those  rare  qualities  of  head  and 
heart  that  beget  confidence  and  friendship,  and  are 
hospitable  and  entertaining  in  their  home,  besides 
being  always  willing  to  extend  a  helping  hand  to 
any  one  who  is  in  want  or  trouble.  Mr.  Hoyle 
keeps  himself  well  informed  in  regard  to  politics, 
as  well  as  in  other  matters  of  general  interest,  and 
is  steadfast  in  his  loyalty  to  the  Republican  party. 


JSAAC  BYRON  COUNTRYMAN.  The  fine 
block  erected  in  Dixon.  in  1890,  known  as 
Countryman's  Block,  is  occupied  by  a  depart- 
ment store,  50x100  feet,  in  which  may  be  found  a 
complete  stock  of  groceries,  queensware,  dry-goods 
and  notions.  Twelve  clerks  are  kept  in  constant 
employ  to  meet  the  demands  of  the  trade,  and  by 
a  courteous  treatment  of  customers  and  close  at- 
tention to  the  wants  of  the  people,  the  business  has 
been  made  both  remunerative  and  extensive.  The 
building  is  built  of  pressed  brick  and  terra  cotta, 
and  the  upper  floors  are  utilized  for  offices. 

When  Mr.  Countryman  came  to  Dixon  in  1866, 
he  was  employed  first  as  clerk  for  Alonzo  Wood 
who  some  years  afterward  sold  out  to  W.  C.  Ste- 
vens, with  whom  our  subject  formed  a  partnership 
in  1871,  under  the  firm  name  of  W.  G.  Stevens  <fe 
Co.  In  1877  he  became  sole  proprietor  and  has 
since  managed  the  business  alone,  having  built  up 
his  present  trade  through  his  unaided  exertions. 

A  native  of  Herkimer  County,  N.  Y.,  Mr.  Coun- 
tryman is  the  son  of  John  I.,  Jr.,  and  the  grand- 
son of  John  I.  Countryman,  Sr.,  a  native  of  York 
State,  who  came  of  German  ancestry  of  the  old 
Mohawk  Dutch  stock.  The  senior  John  I.  Coun- 
tryman lived  and  died  in  Herkimer  County,  his 
decease  occurring  when  he  was  more  than  sixty-five 
years  old,  and  thus  was  brought  to  an  end  his  hon- 
orable and  useful  existence  as  a  farmer  and  citizen. 

The  father  of  our  subject  grew  to  man's  estate 
in  his  native  county,  Herkimer,  where  he  married 
Miss  Nancy  Failing,  a  native  of  Montgomery 
County,  N.  Y.,  and  the  daughter  of  John  Failing. 
The  young  couple  located  in  Herkimer.  County, 


where  they  lived  on  a  farm  until  their  death.  He 
passed  away  in  1866  at  the  age  of  sixty-five  years, 
and  she  died  in  1878,  aged  seventy-one.  They 
were  religious  and  adhered  to  one  common  faith, 
free  from  denominational  distinction.  The  family 
numbered  eight  children,  all  sons,  seven  of  whom 
are  yet  living,  namely:  Levi  and  William,  farmers 
in  Herkimer  County,  N.  Y.;  Norman,  Harvey,  Al- 
vin  and  John  E.,  who  follow  farming  operations 
in  Ogle  County,  and  our  subject. 

The  last-named  was  reared  in  his  native  county, 
where  he  gained  a  common-school  education.  He 
was  not  a  college  graduate  nor  does  he  consider 
that  a  collegiate  education  is  necessary  to  a  success- 
ful business  career,  believing  that  a  thorough  train- 
ing in  the  good  schools  of  our  countrj%  in  connec- 
tion with  industry,  energy  and  enterprise,  will  win 
success.  He  is  one  of  the  leading  merchants  and 
citizens  of  Dixon,  is  connected  with  the  Repub- 
lican party  in  his  political  belief,  and  socially  is 
identified  with  the  Blue  Lodge  No.  7,  Nachusa 
Chapter  and  Dixon  Commandery  No.  21. 


ENRY  E.  MILLER  is  a  representativa 
farmer  and  stock-raiser,  whose  farm  is  dis- 
tributed on  sections  3,  4,  9,  and  10,  of  Pal- 
myra Township.  His  residence  and  all  out- 
buildings are  situated  on  section  9.  He  owns  one 
hundred  and  sixty-one  acres  of  fine  land  and 
operates  twice  that  amount,  one  hundred  and  six- 
ty-one acres  belonging  to  his  three  sisters — Anna, 
Louisa,  and  Sarah.  The  farm  all  lies  in  a  body 
and  is  one  of  the  finest  farms  in  the  township. 
This  has  been  his  home  for  thirty-eight  years,  and 
success  and  good  fortune  have  attended  him. 

This  gentleman  is  a  native-born  citizen  of  this 
township,  his  birth  occurring  near  Prairieville, 
December  22,  1844.  He  has  always  lived  here,  re- 
ceiving his  rearing  and  education  in  this  place, 
having  but  few  advantages.  He  is  the  son  of  Will- 
iam Miller,  a  native  of  one  of  the  Rhine  Provinces 
of  Germany,  who  came  of  German  parents.  The 
grandfather  was  named  John  Miller,  and  was  a 


PORTRAIT  AXD  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


775 


small  German  farmer  on  the  River  Rhine  and  there 
lived,  and  died  when  full  of  years,  as  did  his  good 
wife,  Cecelia,  who  was  also  of  good  German  par- 
entage. William  Miller  grew  up  in  his  native 
province  and  there  learned  the  trade  of  a  shoe- 
maker, and  while  yet  a  single  man,  and  just  after 
reaching  his  majority,  he  came  to  America,  about 
the  year  1822,  settling  in  Philadelphia,  where  he 
remained  and  worked  at  his  trade  for  some  time. 
He  was  there  married  to  Miss  Anna  Obrist,  a  na- 
tive of  Switzerland  who  was  deprived  of  a  mother's 
care  when  a  small  child.  She  came  to  the  country 
with  her  father  and  a  sister  and.  they  too  settled 
in  Philadelphia,  and  in  that  city  she  grew  to  wo- 
manhood. Her  father  was  here  a  second  time 
married  and  with  his  wife  settled  in  this  county  in 
Palmyra  Township,  and  here  died,  from  injuries 
received  by  a  runaway  team,  when  quite  an  old 
man.  He  was  a  cabinet-maker  by  trade. 

After  the  marriage  of  the  parents  of  our  subject, 
they  lived  in  Pennsylvania  until  1841,  when  they 
came  with  their  family  of  three  children  to  the 
Prairie  State  and  took  up  forty-five  acres  of 
land  in  this  township.  Here  he  farmed  in  the 
summers  and  worked  at  his  tiade  in  the  winters. 
He  was  accidentally  killed  on  his  farm,  now  the 
one  owned  by  our  subject,  having  fallen  off  the 
barn  he  was  building  and  broken  his  neck,  May  1, 
1871.  His  death  was  instantaneous,  and  he  was 
about  seventy  years  of  age.  He  was  a  good  citi- 
zen and  a  sagacious  and  successful  farmer  and  was 
mourned  by  his  many  friends  in  this  township  who 
had  always  looked  on  him  with  the  greatest  res- 
pect. His  good  wife  passed  away  in  1872.  She  was 
sixty-two  years  of  age  and  she  and  her  husband 
were  valued  members  of  the  Lutheran  Church. 
Mr.  Miller  was  an  adherent  of  the  Democracy  in 
his  political  views. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  married  in  South 
Dixon  Township  to  Miss  Margaret  LeVan.  She 
was  born  in  Pennsylvania,  near  Johnstown,  Febru- 
ary 22,  1849,  and  came  West  when  a  girl  of  but 
eight  years  with  her  parents,  settling  in  this  county. 
Her  father  and  mother  were  Mathias  and  Margaret 
(Miller)  Le  Van,  natives  of  Germany,  who  are 
now  retired  farmers  in  Dixon  Township  and  well- 
to-do  and  respected  people.  He  had  built  up  a 


property  of  nearly  one  thousand  acres  of  good  land 
and  had  started  here  comparatively  a  poor  man 
some  thirty  odd  years  ago.  They  are  members  of 
the  Lutheran  Church. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Miller  of  this  sketch  are  the  happy 
parents  of  eight  children,  of  whom  two  are  de- 
ceased, Mary  and  William  who  died  at  the  ages  of 
five  years  and  twenty-two  months,  respectively. 
The  living  are  Charles  M.,  Martha  F.,  Edward  H., 
John  F.,  Oscar,  Lee  and  Frederick  P.,  all  of  whom 
are  still  at  home.  This  couple  are  consistent  and 
active  members  of  the  Lutheran  Church  of  Prairie- 
ville,  and  Mr.  Miller  casts  his  vote  with  .the  Re- 
publican party. 


eHARLES  M.  HUGUET  is  numbered  among 
the  prosperous  business  men  of  Dixon, 
where  he  has  a  repository  for  the  sale  of  car- 
riages and  harness.  He  is  a  native  of  the  city  of 
Paris,  France,  and  first  saw  the  light  of  day  in  the 
French  capital  April  30,  1847.  He  came  of  one  of 
the  old  families  of  his  native  country,  and  is  a  son 
of  Nicholas  Huguet,  who  was  also  a  Parisian  by 
birth,  and  in  after  years  he  became  a  prominent 
pioneer  of  Central  Illinois.  He  grew  to  manhood 
and  was  finely  educated  in  his  native  city,  and  at 
twenty-one  years  of  age,  such  a  high  reputation 
had  he  already  won  for  scholarship,  that  he  was 
made  principal  of  a  college,  and  occupied. that 
honorable  position  for  a  period  of  twenty-four 
years.  Then  worn  by  the  cares  entailed  upon  him 
in  the  discharge  of  his  arduous  duties,  he  resigned 
the  principalship  and  sought  a  new  life  in  the 
wilds  of  America.  That  was  in  the  year  1849, 
and  after  he  had  landed  on  these  shores  he  made 
his  way  far  into  the  interior  of  the  country  until 
he  came  to  Illinois.  He  found  himself  in  Peoria 
County,  and,  pleased  with  its  natural  beauty  and 
other  advantages,  he  resolved  to  make  his  future 
within  its  bounds.  He  settled  first  in  Peoria,  buy- 
ing eighty  acres  of  land,  which  is  now  included  in 
the  heart  of  the  city,  the  court  house  standing  on 
a  part  of  it.  The  following  year  he  sold  that  and 
bought  a  tract  of  land  near  the  present  site  of  the 
village  of  'Washington,  the  land  being  mostly 


776 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


timbered  and  was  purchased  at  a  very  low  price. 
The  surrounding  country  was  hut  thinly  inhabited, 
and  deer  and  other  kinds  of  game  had  not  yet  fled 
before  the  advancing  steps  of  civilization  at  the 
time  of  his  settlement  in  that  region.  Mr.  Huguet 
at  once  set  about  improving  his  land,  and  by  years 
of  hard  labor  placed  it  in  a  fine  condition,  early 
.paying  off  his  indebtedness  on  it,  as  he  was  in 
limited  circumstances  when  he  located  on  it,  and 
had  to  buy  it  on  credit.  He  prospered  exceedingly, 
and  from  time  to  time  bought  other  land  until  he 
had  six  hundred  acres,  the  greater  part  of  which 
was  highly  improved,  and  he  became  one  of  the 
wealthy  men  of  his  county.  He  resided  on  his 
farm  until  1880,  when  he  removed  to  the  village 
of  Washington,  where  he  lived  retired  until  he 
closed  his  eyes  in  death  in  December,  1890,  at  a 
ripe  old  age.  The  mother  of  our  subject  was  born 
in  Paris,  and  now  resides  at  Washington,  where 
she  is  well  known  and  respected  as  a  woman  of  much 
worth.  She  is  the  mother  of  the  following: 
Josephine,  Julius,  Maurice,  Mary,  Charles  M., 
Nicholas,  Peter,  and  Julia. 

As  our  subject  was  only  two  years  old  when  his 
parents  brought  him  to  this  country,  he  can  have 
no  recollections  of  his  native  city,  but  all  his  early 
remembrances  are  connected  with  the  pioneer  home 
in  which  he  spent  his  youth.  As  soon  as  he  was 
large  enough  to  be  of  any  assistance  he  h'ad  to  help 
support  the  family.  At  the  age  of  nineteen  he 
commenced  to  learn  the  trade  of  a  carriage  trimmer 
at  Burlington,  Iowa.  He  worked  there  a  few 
months,  and  then  went  to  El  Paso,  Woodford 
County,  in  this  State,  and  worked  there  a  short 
time.  Rockford  was  his  next  place  of  employment, 
and  he  was  there  a  year  and  a  half.  After  that, 
Ottawa  was  his  place  of  abode  for  a  while,  and  he 
did  journey-work  in  that  city.  In  1872  he  came 
to  Dixon,  and  was  engaged  at  his  trade  here  for  a 
time  as  a  journeyman,  but  he  did  not  then  locate 
in  this  city  permanently,  being  employed  in  vari- 
ous places  until  1886,  and  since  that  he  has  made 
his  home  here.  He  opened  a  carriage  and  har- 
ness repository,  and  has  built  up  a  substantial 
business. 

Mr.  Huguet  was  married  in  1877  to  Miss  Mar- 
garet Trimmer,  who  was  born  of  German  parent- 


age, and  was  reared  in  Tazewell  County.  In  their 
pleasant  home  one  daughter  completes  the  house- 
hold, and  she  bears  the  name  of  Margaret  Sophia. 
In  the  tact,  courtesy  and  geniality  that  he  mani- 
fests in  his  intercourse  with  others,  our  subject 
shows  that  he  inherits  a  fair  share  of  those  pleasing 
characteristics  of  his  countrymen,  and  he  is  warmly 
regarded  by  all  who  know  him  well.  He  gives 
due  attention  to  politics,  and  in  National  elections 
votes  with  the  Democrats,  holding  himself  inde- 
pendent at  other  times.  Socially,  he  is  a  member 
of  the  Benevolent  Chapter,  No.  841,  M.W.  A.,  and 
of  Dixon  Lodge,  No.  137,  A.  O.  U.  W. 


^ILLIAM  BARGE,  an  honored  citizen  of 
Dixon,  is  a  lawyer  of  distinguished  ability, 
who  stands  at  the  head  of  the  bar  in  this 
section,  and  is  one  of  the  foremost  jurists  of  this, 
his  adopted  State.  He  is  a  native  of  Armstrong 
County,  Pa.,  born  February  26,  1832,  to  John  and 
Jane  (Elliott)  Barge,  who  were  respectively  of 
French  and  Scotch  descent.  His  paternal  grand- 
father was  a  patriotic  soldier  in  the  ranks  of  the 
Continental  Army  during  the  Revolution,  and  he 
fell  while  bravely  fighting  at  the  battle  of  the 
Brand}7  wine. 

The  father  of  our  subject  learned  the  trades  of 
carpenter  and  joiner,  and  subsequently  became  a 
prominent  contractor  and  builder,  operating  at 
Johnstown,  Pittsburg,  and  in  the  vicinity  of  those 
cities.  When  his  son  William  was  still  in  his  in- 
fancy, he  removed  with  his  family  to  Ohio,  and 
settled  in  that  part  of  Richland  County  now  in- 
cluded in  Ashland  County,  where  he  bought  a  tract 
of  heavily  timbered  land  about  fifty  miles  south  of 
Cleveland.  At  that  time  standing  timber  pos- 
sessed no  market  value,  and  in  clearing  his  land, 
he  rolled  together  and  burned  large  logs  that 
would  now  bring  a  good  price.  Four  years  later 
he  located  in  Wa}-ne  County,  and  became  one  of 
its  most  active  and  useful  citizens,  taking  up  his 
residence  in  the  town  of  Wooster.  He  carried  on 
business  in  that  count}-  for  several  years,  and  his 
death  in  1850  deprived  it  of  the  services  of  a 
valuable  citizen. 

Our  subject  laid  the  foundation  of  his  education 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


777 


in  the  public  schools  of  Wooster,  where  his  boy- 
hood was  passed.  In  the  summer  of  1851,  he  and 
his  widowed  mother  and  two  sisters  left  their  old 
home  in  Ohio  to  migrate  to  Illinois,  and  after 
traveling  for  a  month  with  a  team  across  the  in- 
tervening country  nearly  to  the  western  bounds 
of  this  State,  they  arrived  at  his  brother's  home, 
four  miles  north  of  Geneseo,  in  Henry  County. 
Mr.  Barge  began  life  in  Illinois  as  a  teacher,  and 
acquired  considerable  prominence  in  the  profession, 
which  was  to  him,  however,  but  a  stepping-stone 
to  that  of  the  law,  toward  which  his  mind  had  a 
decided  bent.  He  taught  in  the  city  of  Moliue, 
on  the  Mississippi,1  devoting  his  leisure  time  to 
reading  law  with  Judge  Ira  O.  Wilkinson,  who 
was  Judge  of  that  circuit  at  that  time,  and  since  a 
prominent  lawyer  of  Chicago.  He  also  received 
instruction  in  hi.s  studies  from  Judge  Waite,  who 
since  then  has  been  Judge  of  the  United  States 
Court  of  Utah.  In  1854  he  came  to  Dixon  to  ac- 
cept a  position  as  teacher,  and  to  him  is  due  the 
honor  of  organizing  the  first  graded  school  in  the 
county.  He  acted  as  its  principal  for  more  than 
three  years,  and  occasionally  taught  mathematics 
in  the  Dixon  College.  In  the  fall  of  1859,  he 
received  a  call  to  take  charge  of  the  High  School 
at  Belleville,  111.,  in  the  vicinity  of  St.  Louis,  and 
in  that  city  he  had  the  advantage  of  pursuing  his 
law  studies  under  the  supervision  of  the  Hon. 
William  H.  Underwood,  a  noted  lawyer  of  Belle- 
ville. While  with  him,  our  subject,  of  his  own 
accord,  and  without  assistance,  prepared  a  brief  in 
an  important  railway  laud  case,  in  which  Judge 
Underwood  and  Gov.  Koerner  were  concerned, 
which  they  accepted,  and  by  its  merits  won  the 
case. 

Having  thus,  even  in  his  student  days,  given 
evidence  of  talents  of  high  order  that  gave  prom- 
ise of  the  brilliant  career  before  him,  our  subject 
returned  to  Dixon  in  1860,  and  in  November  of 
that  year  successfully  passed  a  searching  examina- 
tion in  his  legal  studies, conducted  by  Judge  Cory- 
don  Beckwith,  the  Hon.  Norman  B.  Judd  and  the 
Hon.  Ebenezer  Peck,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar. 
In  1860  he  opened  an  office  in  Dixon,  and  entered 
into  a  law  partnership  with  II.  B.  Fouke  in  1861, 
under  the  firm  name  of  Barge  &  Fouke.  In  1865 


he  severed  his  connection  with  that  gentleman, 
and  until  1869  was  in  practice  with  DwightHeaton. 
In  that  year  Judge  Eustace,  of  Dixon,  invited  him 
to  become  his  partner,  our  subject's  brother-in- 
law,  Sherwood  Dixon,  also  becoming  a  member  of 
the  firm,  which  thereafter  conducted  business 
under  the  name  of  Eustace,  Barge  &  Dixon  until 
1874,  when  Messrs.  Barge  and  Dixon  went  to 
Chicago  at  the  request  of  the  Hon.  W.  W.  O'Brien, 
with  whom  they  formed  a  co-partnership  as 
O'Brien,  Barge  &  Dixon. 

Mr.  Barge  has  arisen  to  eminence  at  the  bar 
through  his  unswerving  devotion  to  his  beloved 
profession,  and  by  reason  of  a  rare  combination 
of  those  judicial  qualities  that  mark  a  lawyer  of 
the  first  rank.  Possessing  a  clear,  logical  mind, 
fine  argumentative  powers,  a  quick  wit,  readiness 
of  resource,  and  infinite  tact  in  handling  a  case  so 
as  to  present  it  in  the  best  possible  light,  he  has 
become  famous  both  as  a  civil  and  a  criminal 
lawyer,  being  particularly  noted  for  his  success  in 
the  latter  branch  of  law,  as  even  in  capital  charges 
he  has  never  failed  to  secure  the  acquittal  of  his 
client.  It  is  said  of  him  that  "during  his  whoie 
practice  in  all  the  courts  of  record  in  every 
county  north  of  the  Illinois  River,  in  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  State,  and  in  the  Federal  Courts  of 
Chicago,  no  lawyer  has  been  more  generally  suc- 
cessful or  has  won  more  cases  than  he."  In  1874 
Mr.  Barge  became  one  of  the  attorneys  of  the 
Chicago  &  Northwestern  Railway  Company,  and 
has  rendered  it  valuable  service,  trying  all  its 
cases  in  twelve  counties  since  he  entered  its  em- 
ploy. But  few  lawyers  in  the  country  have  had 
more  experience  in  that  class  of  litigation,  and 
none  is  more  profoundly  learned  in  the  laws  per- 
taining to  it,  or  has  met  with  greater  success  in 
that  line  of  practice  than  he. 

Our  subject  has  a  clean  record  as  a  gentleman 
of  honor  and  unimpeachable  character,  who,  during 
the  thirty-two  years  that  he  has  devoted  to  law 
business,  has  conformed  to  professional  etiquette 
in  his  dealings  with  his  clients,  and  with  the  legal 
fraternity,  and  has  shown  himself  to  be  single- 
minded  and  honest,  with  the  courage  and  intelli- 
gence to  uphold  its  principles.  His  intercourse 
with  all  is  marked  by  that  true  courtesy  and  kindly 


778 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


spirit  that  have  won  him  many  a  devoted  friend 
both  in  and  out  of  the  profession.  The  high  csti- 
iv.ation  in  which  he  is  held  by  his  brother  lawyers 
was  exhibited  when  his  name  was  urged  for  nomi- 
nation as  candidate  for  the  position  of  Judge  of 
the  Supreme  Court  for  the  Sixth  District  in  the 
spring  of  1888,  when  the  members  of  the  Lee 
County  Bar  were  to  a  man  unanimous  in  their 
choice  of  him  as  the  one  most  competent  for  the 
place,  as  will  be  seen  by  the  flattering  tribute  to 
his  worth  and  talent  in  the  following  letter. 

DIXON,  ILL.,  April  3,  1888. 

Sir  :  At  a  meeting  of  the  Lee  County  Bar  held 
to-day,  it  was  unanimously  determined  to  present 
the  name  of  Hon.  William  Barge  as  the  choice  of 
the  Bar  of  the  county  as  candidate  for  the  posi- 
sition  of  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  for  the  Sixth 
District,  and  the  officers  of  the  meeting  were  in- 
structed to  make  known  this  action  to  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Bar  of  the  District. 

It  is  not  regarded  necessary  to  enter  upon  any 
lengthy  statement  of  Mr.  Barge's  professional  ca- 
reer, as  it  is  believed  that  his  extended  acquaint- 
ance throughout  the  State  has  made  known  already 
his  eminent  ability  and  fitness  for  the  position 
named. 

Now,  in  the  prime  of  life,  with  a  mind  thor- 
oughly trained  to  study  by  experience,  of  un- 
swerving integrity  and  recognized  ability,  we  be- 
lieve his  qualifications  for  the  place  must  command 
your  favorable  consideration,  and  for  that  reason 
present  his  name. 

Respectfully, 

I.  D.  CRABTREE,  Chairman. 

Mr.  Barge  was  married  in  1856,  to  Elizabeth 
Dixon,  daughter  of  James  P.  Dixon  and  grand- 
daughter of  John  Dixon,  the  well-known  pioneer 
•  of  theXorthwest  in  whose  honor  the  city  of  Dixon 
is  named.  Our  subject  and  his  amiable  wife  stand 
high  in  the  social  life  of  this  city,  where  they  have 
a  delightful  home,  and  a  large  circle  of  friends. 


yiLLlAM  STOUT  made  his  first  purchase  of 
land  in  this  county  thirty-seven  years  ago, 
when  the  prairies  of  this  region  were  but 
little   settled.      Sihce   then    he   has   added   many 
acres    to    his   real  estate,  and  to-day  has  a  good- 
sized  farm,  pleasantly  located  in  Viola  Township, 


upon  which  he  has  placed  a  good  class  of  improve- 
ments, and  its  fertile  harvest  fields  are  under  good 
tillage. 

Our  subject  was  born  in  Lincolnshire,  England, 
July  1 3,  1820.  His  father,  John  Stout,  is  supposed 
to  have  been  a  native  of  the  same  fhire,  and  there 
he  died  and  was  gathered  to  his  fathers  in  the  full- 
ness of  time.  Mary  Bacon  was  the  maiden  name 
of  his  wife,  and  so  far  as  is  known  she  too  was  born 
in  Lincolnshire,  and  there  her  death  occurred  many 
years  after  that  of  her  husband.  She  was  a  daugh- 
ter of  John  Bacon,  who  was  a  life-long  resident  of 
England.  The  parents  of  our  subject  reared  two 
children:  AVilliam  and  Thomas.  The  mother  was 
again  married,  and  reared  one  son,  Martin.  The 
latter  served  in  the  British  army  in  the  Crimean 
War,  and  died  in  England  some  years  afterward. 
Thomas  came  to  America,  and  after  spending  some 
years  in  the  South  came  to  Lee  County,  and  died 
here  unmarried. 

Our  subject  was  nine  years  old  when  his  father 
died,  and  he  was  very  young  when  he 
commenced  to  earn  bis  own  living.  He  lived 
with  his  mother  until  1849,  and  then,  wisely 
thinking  that  his  chances  for  securing  an  inde- 
pendent competence  would  be  much  better  in  the 
United  States  than  in  his  native  land,  he  sailed 
for  these  shores  in  the  month  of  October  from 
Liverpool,  in  the  ship  "Patrick  Henry."  After  a 
voyage  of  six  weeks  and  two  days,  he  landed  in 
New  York  on  the  6th  of  December.  He  went  to 
Lancaster,  Erie  County,  in  the  same  State,  and 
there  was  employed  by  the  month,  day  or  job  until 
1854,  when  he  turned  his  face  Westward,  having 
resolved  to  seek  a  home  on  the  fertile  virgin  soil 
of  the  great  Prairie  State.  He  came  directly  to 
Lee  County,  and  bought  forty  acres  of  land  on 
section  31,  Viola  Township,  for  which  he  paid  $8 
an  acre,  and  which  is  now  incorporated  in  his 
present  farm.  A  few  acres  broken,  a  log  house  of 
12x14,  and  a  straw  stable  constituted  the  only 
improvements  that  had  been  attempted  on  the 
place  at  the  time  of  purchase.  Prior  to  that  time, 
the  pioneers  had  not  looked  with  favor  on  the 
prairies  as  worthy  of  cultivation,  and  but  little 
land  of  that  kind  had  been  taken  up.  Their 
value  as  rich  farming  lands  has  since  been  abun- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


779 


dantly  proven,  and  some  of  the  finest  farms  in  the 
county  were  once  wild  prairies,  left  to  the  domin- 
ion of  the  deer,  wolves  and  other  wild  animals, 
which  were  still  plentiful  when  our  subject  came 
here. 

Mr.  Stout  commenced  at  once  to  make  further 
improvements  on  his  land,  and  now  has  it  in  a  fine 
condition,  with  a  neat  set  of  frame  buildings,  the 
fields  well  fenced  and  under  good  cultivation, 
and  the  many  fruit  and  shade  trees  that  ho  has 
planted  adding  to  the  value  and  attractiveness  of 
his  place.  He  is  an  excellent  farmer,  understanding 
well  how  to  conduct  his  agricultural  operations 
with  profit,  and  as  a  man  of  solid  worth  and  a 
good  neighbor,  kind  husband  and  father,  he  is 
held  in  high  estimation  by  the  entire  community. 
Both  he  and  his  wife  are  faithful  members  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

Mr.  Stout  was  first  married  in  England  in  May, 
1849,  to  Harriet  Harrison,  a  native  of  the  same 
shire  as  himself.  She  encouraged  and  assisted  him 
in  his  early  struggles  in  this  country,  and  died  in 
the  home  that  she  had  helped  him  to  establish,  her 
death  occurring  in  1860.  Three  children  were  born 
of  that  marriage.  Jn  1863  our  subject  was  married 
to  his  present  amiable  wife,  formerly  Christiana 
Fuller,  and  their  wedded  life  has  been  blessed  to 
them  by  seven  children.  The  living  ones  are  as 
follows:  Charles,  George,  Mary,  Lucy,  and  Minnie. 
Those  dead  were  both  named  William. 

Mrs.  Stout  was  born  in  the  town  of  Hume, 
Allegany  County,  N.  Y.,  May  30,  1830.  Eleazer 
Fuller,  her  father,  was  a  native  either  of  Oneida 
or  Herkimer  County,  that  State,  and  was  a  son  of 
Hubbard  Fuller,  who  was  of  New  England  birth, 
and  was  descended  from  one  of  the  early  English 
Colonial  families  of  that  section.  He  was  one  of 
the  pioneers  of  the  Empire  State.  He  settled  first 
either  in  Oneida  or  Herkimer  County,  and  later 
was  one  of  the  pioneers  of  Allegany  Count3T.  He 
bought  a  farm  in  the  town  of  Hume,  and  spent 
his  last  days  there.  Mrs.  Stout's  father  learned 
the  trade  of  carpenter  and  joiner,  and  was  engaged 
in  that  calling  in  Hume,  where  he  resided  until 
1846.  In  that  year  he  migrated  to  Illinois  with 
his  wife  and  six  children,  coming  by  way  of  the 
lakes  to  Chicago,  and  thence  by  team  to  Big  Rock, 


Kane  County,  of  which  he  became  a  pioneer,  carry- 
ing on  his  trade  in  that  vicinity.  Northern 
Illinois  was  then  but  little  settled,  and  deer  and 
other  wild  game  were  abundant.  Mr.  Fuller  resided 
at  Big  Rock  five  or  six  years,  and  then  bought  a 
home  in  Malugin's  Grove,  where  he  was  engaged 
as  a  carpenter  and  mason  for  several  years.  His 
next  move  was  to  Adair  County,  Iowa,  in  1865, 
and  there  his  life  was  finished.  The  maiden  name 
of  Mrs.  Stout's  mother  was  Johanna  Gear.  It  is 
thought  that  she  was  born  in  Allegany  County,  N. 
Y.,  where  her  death  occurred  when  her  daughter, 
of  whom  we  write,  was  but  an  infant.  Thus  early 
deprived  of  her  mother,  Mrs.  Stout  was  reared  by 
her  step-mother,  who  gave  her  good  care.  Her 
maiden  name  was  Elrniua  Reed.  She  was  also  a 
native  of  Allegany  County,  N.  Y.,  and  she  died  in 
Adair  County,  Iowa. 


JOHN  H.  MOORE,  editor  of  the  Dixon 
Sun,  was  born  in  London,  England,  March 
17,  1835,  where  also,  his  father,  William 
Moore,  as  far  as  is  known,  was  born. 
The  grandfather  was  a  blacksmith  and  far- 
rier, which  trade  he  followed  in  his  native 
land,  and  there  spent  his  entire  life.  The 
father  of  our  subject  worked  with  his  father  at 
that  trade  for  a  time,  but  later  became  a  carpenter 
and  wagon-maker.  He  removed  to  London  soon 
after  his  marriage,  and  there  worked  at  the  car- 
penters' and  builders'  trade  for  about  twenty  years. 
In  1845,  accompanied  by  his  wife  and  five  chil- 
dren, John  Moore  set  sail  for  America  on  the  ves- 
sel "Wellington,"  and  landed  at  New  York 
thirty-one  days  later.  He  came  by  way  of  the 
lakes  directly  to  Illinois,  and,  locating  at  Aurora, 
there  formed  a  partnership  with  a  man  named 
Kent,  and  for  two  years  was  engaged  in  the  manu- 
facture of  wagons.  Two  years  later,  he  sold  his 
interest  in  the  business,  and  in  October,  1847,  came 
to  Dixon  and  opened  a  wagon  shop  in  connection 
with  his  son-in-law,  E.  B.  Blackman,  and  contin- 
ued to  be  so  employed  until  a  short  time  before 
his  decease,  in  September,  1854. 


780 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


The  mother  of  our  subject  was  Penelope  (Case) 
Moore,  and  was  born  in  Dorsetshire,  England,  her 
parents  being  Henry  and  Mary  Case.  She  de- 
parted this  life  in  Dixon,  in  1873,  and  was  the 
mother  of  five  children:  Mary,  Frances,  Sarah,  our 
subject  and  Jennie  A.  John  H.  Moore  came  to 
America  with  his  parents  when  ten  years  of  age, 
and  grew  to  manhood  in  Dixon.  When  quite 
young,  he  commenced  to  work  as  a  compositor  on 
the  first  issue  of  the  Telegraph — May  2, 1851.  He 
remained  in  that  office,  with  the  exception  of  one 
year,  until  1869,  when  he  engaged  with  W.  M.  Ken- 
nedy, then  the  proprietor  of  a  job  office,  and  later 
the  editor  of  the  Sun.  Our  subject  continued  in  his 
employ  until  1874,  when  he  accepted  a  position  on 
the  editorial  staff  of  the  Dubuque  Times,  but  soon 
returned  and  accepted  a  position  with  Mr.  Ken- 
nedy, who  at  that  time  was  running  a  weekly  and 
agricultural  monthly  paper  and  continued  with 
him  until  his  death,  since  which  time  our  subject 
has  been  editor  of  the  paper. 

In  1868  Miss  Ida  Whitman  became  the  wife  of 
our  subject.  She  was  born  in  Lockport,  N.  Y.,  and 
is  the  daughter  of  Seth  H.  and  Mabel  (Nash) 
Whitman.  Two  children  have  been  born  to 
this  union  who  bear  the  names  of  Mabel  P.  and 
Ernest  H. 


GORDON  E.  BISHOP  is  General  Superinten- 
dent of  the  Star  Printing  Company,  with 
which  he  has  been  connected  at  Dixon  since 
its  organization,  March  28,  1891.  He  is  a  practi- 
cal printer  and  pressman  and  three  years  pre- 
vious to  the  above-named  date  acted  as  a  job 
printer  at  the  Northern  Illinois  Normal  of  Dixon. 
He  has  been  engaged  in  the  publishing  and  news- 
paper work  for  eighteen  years,  having  learned  that 
art  at  Oshkosh,  Wis.,  which  was  his  home  for  some 
time.  He  has  been  associated  with  the  Twin  City 
News  in  Wisconsin,  and  for  two  years  was  em- 
ployed in  the  circulating  department  of  the  Even- 
ing Dispatch,  of  St.  Paul,  Minn. 

Our  subject  is  a  native  of  Oswego,  N.    Y.,   his 


birth  occurring  June  13,  1860.  He  was  reared  and 
educated  in  that  city  and  there  resided  until  going 
to  Oshkosh,  Wis.,  with  his  parents.  He  has  spent 
the  greater  part  of  his  life  in  the  Northwest,  and 
is  therefore  familiar  with  that  portion  of  the 
country.  Mr.  Bishop  is  a  thoroughly  skilled  work- 
man in  the  printers'  trade  and  is  a  member  of 
Cream  City  Lodge  of  the  Typographical  Union,  at 
Milwaukee.  He  is  also  connected  with  the  Modern 
Woodmen  of  America,  Lodge  No.  56,  of  Dixon. 
In  politics,  he  votes  the  Independent  ticket. 

The  original  of  this  sketch  was  married  at  Falls 
City,  Neb.,  to  Miss  Rose  Carrow.  To  them  has 
been  born  one  child,  a  son — Earl  R.  Mrs.  Bishop, 
in  religious  matters,  is  a  member  of  the  Congrega- 
tional Church.  Our  subject  has  traveled  over 
every  State  and  Territory  in  the  United  States  and 
has  visited  the  principal  points  of  interest  in 
Canada,  acting  in  the  capacity  of  a  musician  for 
five  years  with  the  well-known  circuses  of  W.  W. 
Coles,  Adam  Forepaugh  and  John  Robinson. 


;ICK  WILLIAMS.  Lee  County  numbers 
among  its  most  useful  and  respectable  citi- 
zens many  of  foreign  birth,  and  among 
them  is  the  subject  of  this  life  record,  who  is  a 
representative  Scandinavian,  and  is  one  of  the 
most  practical  and  thrifty  farmers  and  stock-raisers 
of  Willow  Creek  Township,  his  farm  ranking 
among  the  best  in  ttiis  locality.  He  was  born  July 
9,  1831,  in  Bergensteft,  Norway,  a  son  of  Wicking 
Jassendal,  who  was  born  on  the  same  farm  as  him- 
self, and  spent  his  whole  life  thereon.  He  was  the 
father  of  nine  children,  of  whom  three  came  to 
America — our  subject  and  his  sisters  Julia  and 
Bertha.  The  former  married  Lewis  Bervin,  of 
Clay  County,  Dak.,  and  the  latter  is  the  wife  of 
John  Law,  of  Webster  County,  Iowa. 

He  of  whom  these  lines  are  written  early  became 
acquainted  with  farm  work,  at  which  he  had  to 
employ  himself  as  soon  as  he  was  large  enough  to 
be  of  any  use,  and  the  habits  of  industry  thus  ac- 
quired when  he  was  young  helped  to  shape  his  after 
career  as  an  independent  farmer.  He  left  the 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


781 


lielter  of  the  parental  roof  when  he  was  fourteen 
ears  old,  as  lie  was  strong,  active  and  self-reliant 
nd  was  fully  capable  of  caring  for  himself.  The 
rst  year  after  leaving  home  he  was  employed  on 
farm,  and  was  given  three  dollars  and  his  board 
or  his  year's  work,  wages  being  low  in  his  native 
country.  The  next  year  he  was  engaged  by  a  pilot 
to  assist  on  board  his  vessel,  and  also  to  help  on  the 
farm.  At  the  age  of  twenty-one  he  commenced  to 
learn  the  trade  of  a  carpenter,  and  worked  at  it  a 
few  years  in  Norway  until  he  decided  to  emigrate 
to  America.  On  the  1st  of  May,  1857,  he  set  sail 
from  Bergen  in  the  brig  "George  Brunkost,"  and 
five  weeks  later  landed  at  Quebec.  He  did  not 
linger  on  Canadian  soil,  but  made  his  way  directly 
to  Chicago,  and  arrived  there  with  twenty  dollars 
as  his  capital.  A  pickpocket  soon  relieved  him  of 
the  most  of  that,  however,  considerately  leaving 
him  about  a  dollar  of  his  money  with  which  to 
begin  life  in  the  New  World. 

Nothing  daunted  by  being  thus  deprived  of  his 
cash,  our  subject  proceeded  to  Wisconsin,  and  se- 
cured a  situation  on  a  farm,  at  sixteen  dollars  a 
month.  He  worked  steadily  at  that  rate  for  three 
months,  and  at  the  end  of  that  time  received  his 
pay  in  bills  issued  by  a  State  Bank,  which  on  his 
arrival  at  Clinton  he  found  to  be  worthless,  as  the 
bank  had  failed.  He  bore  this  second  misfortune 
philosophically,  and  by  a  few  months'  hard  work  at 
his  trade  in  Chicago,  earned  as  much,  or  more,  than 
that  sum.  He  spent  the  succeeding  winter  on  a 
farm  in  Kendall  County,  and  in  the  spring  worked 
at  carpentering  there  a  few  months.  He  then 
came  to  Lee  County,  and  was  similarly  engaged  in 
Sublette  Township  for  awhile.  In  1859  he  went 
to  Memphis,  Tenn.,  and  carried  on  carpentering 
there  until  the  spring  of  1860.  Returning  to  Sub- 
lette from  that  city,  he  was  employed  at  his  trade 
there  again  for  a  short  time  only,  as  on  the  1 7th  of 
May  he  started  for  Pike's  Peak,  going  by  rail  to 
St.  Joseph,  where  he  bought  oxen  and  mules,  with 
which  he  completed  his  journey  across  the  plains. 
He  encountered  many  buffaloes,  deer  and  antelopes 
on  the  way,  and  saw  the  "Great  American  Desert" 
in  all  its  original  wildness.  After  arriving  at 
his  destination,  he  at  once  actively  engaged  in 
mining,  and  also  carried  on  a  brisk  business  at  his 


calling.  He  was  soon  token  sick,  however,  and 
nearly  died.  In  the  fall,  as  soon  as  he  was  suf- 
ficiently recovered  to  be  able  to  travel,  he  set  out 
on  his  return  home  over  the  same  desolate  way 
that  he  had  journeyed  in  the  spring,  with  such 
high  hope  of  winning  fortune's  favors.  The  very 
day  of  his  arrival  in  Lee  County,  the  24th  of  De- 
cember, 1860,  he  invested  some  of  his  hard-earned 
money  in  sixty  acres  of  land,  forming  part  of  sec- 
tion 16,  Willow  Creek  Township.  In  1861  he 
broke  the  land,  and  in  1862  settled  on  it,  making 
it  his  home  the  ensuing  two  years  and  a  half.  He 
then  sold  it,  and  purchased  eighty  acres  of  the 
southeast  part  of  section  3,  of  the  same  township, 
for  which,  though  it  was  wild  land,  he  paid  twelve 
dollars  and  fifty  cents  an  acre,  as  he  knew  that  it 
was  very  valuable  for  farming  purposes. 

Mr.  Williams  spent  some  years  in  the  improve- 
ment of  that  place,  erecting  suitable  buildings, 
breaking  and  fencing  his  land,  and  farmed  it  until 
1868,  when  he  took  advantage  of  a  good  oppor- 
tunity to  sell  it  for  a  much  larger  sum  of  money 
than  he  had  paid  for  it,  receiving  twenty-nine 
hundred  dollars  for  the  place.  His  next  move 
was  to  Alto  Township,  where  he  bought  a  quarter 
section  of  land  that  was  but  slightly  improved.  He 
rebuilt  the  house  that  was  standing  on  it,  planted 
fruit  and  shade  trees,  and  otherwise  increased  the 
value  of  the  farm,  which  he  sold  nine  years  later, 
and  bought  the  one  upon  which  he  now  resides, 
which  is  desirably  located  in  Willow  Creek  Town- 
ship. It  comprises  two  hundred  acres  of  land  of 
exceeding  fertility,  which  is  under  a  high  state  of 
cultivation,  and  Mr.  Williams  has  erected  neat 
and  well-built  frame  buildings  for  every  needed 
purpose,  the  whole  place  showing  every  evidence 
of  thrifty  and  careful  management  on  the  part  of 
the  owner.  He  also  owns  a  farm  of  two  hundred 
acres  in  Alto  Township. 

Mr.  Williams  has  had  the  assistance  of  a  frugal, 
capable  wife  in  his  work,  and  is  much  indebted  to 
her  cheerful  help  in  what  he  has  accomplished. 
They  were  wedded  March  25,  1862,  and  of  the 
children  that  have  blessed  their  marriage,  these 
four  are  living:  William  L.,  Sarah  M.,  Julia  C.  and 
Rasmus  W.  Mrs.  Williams,  whose  maiden  name 
was  Julia  Larson,  is  also  a  native  of  Norway,  and 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


of  the  same  town  as  her  husband.  She  came  to 
this  country  with  her  parents.  Our  subject  and 
his  wife  are  sincere  Christians  and  are  among  the 
leading  membersof  the  Lutheran  Church,  to  which, 
their  children  also  belong,  and  no  people  are  more 
generally  respected  than  they.  In  politics,  Mr. 
Williams  is  unswerving  in  his  loyalty  to  the  Re- 
publican party. 

Sarah  and  Julia  are  now  attending  the  Cornell 
College  at  Clinton,  la.  The  former  will  this  3rear 
graduate,  while  the  latter  is  preparing  herself  for 
a  teacher. 

WALTER  L.  ROGERS,  of  Dixon,  is  numbered 
among  the  honored  pioneers  of  this  county, 
where  for  more  than  half  of  a  century  lie 
has  made  his  home.  He  came  here  in  1839,  and 
followed  farming  in  Palmyra  Township  until  the 
autumn  of  1890,  when  he  removed  to  Dixon, 
where  he  is  now  living  a  retired  life. 

He  was  born  in  Prince  Edward  County  in  the 
Province  of  Ontario,  Canada,  September  26,  1815, 
and  is  a  son  of  Gilbert  and  Nancy  (Lockwood) 
Rogers,  both  of  whom  were  natives  of  the  Empire 
State  and  were  of  English  descent.  Upon  a  farm 
in  Dutchess  County,  they  resided  for  some  years 
and  there  five  children  were  born  unto  them.  In 
the  early  part  of  the  present  century  they  removed 
to  Canada,  and  began  life  in  that  country  on  a  new 
timbered  farm  in  Prince  Edward  County,  where 
the  father  made  a  comfortable  home  for  his  family. 
He  died  in  middle  life,  in  1817,  of  brain  fever. 
His  wife,  who  survived  him  manj-  years,  passed 
away  in  1851.  Under  the  auspices  of  the  Friends 
Church  she  had  been  reared  and  afterward  became 
a  member  of  the  society.  This  worthy  couple 
had  quite  a  large  family  but  only  two  are  now  liv- 
ing: Walter  L.  of  this  sketch,  and  Mrs.  Sarah  Gar- 
rison of  Michigan. 

Our  subject  remained  in  his  native  land  until 
he  had  attained  his  majority,  when,  in  1836,  at  the 
age  of  twenty-one,  he  went  to  the  Empire  State, 
where  he  spent  two  years.  On  the  expiration  of 
that  period,  he  determined  to  try  his  fortune  in 


the  West,  and,  carrying  out  that  resolution,  loca- 
ted in  Lee  County,  111.,  in  1839,  where  he  has  since 
made  his  home.  From  the  Government  he  pur- 
chased a  claim  of  160  acres  on  section  21,  Palmyra 
Township,  and  began  the  development  of  a  farm, 
carrying  on  his  labor  alone  until  1844,  when  he 
secured  as  a  helpmate  and  companion  on  life's 
journey  Miss  Hannah  Fellows,  their  union  being 
celebrated  in  Palmyra  Township. 

The  lady  was  born  in  New  Hampshire,  in  1824, 
and  when  a  maiden  of  ten  summers  came  to  Lee 
County  with  her  parents,  Stephen  and  Rachel  (Mc- 
Gathey)  Fellows.  They  made  the  journey  by  land 
and  water,  and  Mr.  Fellows  secured  a  new  farm 
near  Prairieville,  purchasing  the  same  from  the 
Government.  His  family  were  among  the  first  to 
locate  in  Palmyra  Township,  with  the  history  of 
which  they  have  since  been  connected.  Mr.  Fel- 
lows there  died  at  an  advanced  age,  after  which 
his  widow  went  to  Iowa,  and  in  the  home  of  her 
daughter  departed  this  life  some  years  later.  In 
religious  belief  they  were  both  Methodists  and 
were  highly  respected  people. 

Mrs.  Rogers  was  one  of  a  large  family.  She 
spent  the  days  of  her  girlhood  under  the  parental 
roof,  leaving  her  father's  home  on  her  marriage 
with  our  subject.  They  began  their  domestic  life 
on  the  farm  which  Mr.  Rogers  had  previously  pur- 
chased, living  in  true  pioneer  style,  but  as  the 
years  went  by  and  their  financial  resources  were 
increased,  comforts  and  luxuries  were  added  and 
their  home  became  one  of  the  most  pleasant  in  the 
community.  A  fine  brick  residence  was  built, 
large  barns  and  other  outbuildings  were  erected 
and  well-tilled  fields  yielded  a  golden  tribute.  Mr. 
Rogers  also  purchased  one  hundred  and  fifty-one 
acres  of  fine  timber  land  on  section  28,  Palmyra 
Township,  which,  in  addition  to  the  old  homestead, 
he  still  owns. 

The  union  of  this  worthy  couple  was  blessed 
with  seven  children  but  two  are  now  deceased:  Al- 
vin,  who  died  at  the  age  of  one  year;  Gilbert,  who 
died  in  the  prime  of  life,  leaving  a  wife  and  two 
children  to  mourn  his  loss.  Those  who  still  sur- 
vive are  Alice  A.,  wife  of  Howard  Johnson,  whose 
sketch  appears  elsewhere  in  this  work;  Mary,  wife 
of  Hon.  James  P.  Wilson,  of  Ogle  County;  Eliza, 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


783 


wife  of  Thomas  Johnson,  a  miner  and  farmer  of 
Colorado;  Mahala,  who  is  living  in  Elgin,  and 
Flora,  at  home. 

In  1890,  Mr.  Rogers  was  called  upon  to  mourn 
the  loss  of  his  wife,  who  died  on  the  26th  of  Feb- 
ruary. Throughout  this  community,  she  was 
widely  known  and  had  a  host  of  friends,  who  held 
her  in  high  esteem.  She  had  proved  a  faithful 
companion  to  her  .husband,  was  a  loving  mother 
and  a  kind  neighbor.  She  held  membership  with 
the  Methodist  Church,  to  which  Mr.  Rogers  also 
belongs.  He  is  a  stanch  Republican  in  politics, 
and  has  held  many  local  offices,  discharging  the 
duties  with  promptness  and  fidelity.  The  success 
which  has  crowned  his  efforts  brought  him  a  hand- 
some competence  which  now  enables  him  to  live  a 
retired  life  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  rest  which  he 
has  so  truly  earned  and  richly  merits. 


JOHN  CHRISTIAN  GROBE  conducts  a 
profitable  business  in  general  farming  on 
section  26,  Nelson  Township,  where  he  owns 
two  hundred  and  forty  acres  of  arable  land, 
that  is  well  drained,  is  under  excellent  tillage,  and 
which  he  is  constantly  improving.  He  is  a  native 
of  Saxony,  Germany,  bora  September  18,  1839,  to 
Henry  and  Madelina  (Hothouse)  Grobe,  who  were 
also  of  Saxon  birth  and  lineage.  His  paternal 
grandfather,  Michael  Grobe,  was  a  life-long  resi- 
dent of  Saxony,  where  he  earned  his  livelihood  as 
a  weaver  and  a  butcher,  and  at  the  age  of  seventy 
years  he  closed  his  eyes  in  death.  His  son  Henry 
followed  in  his  footsteps  as  regards  his  means  of 
obtaining  a  living,  but  hiscareer  was  suddenly  ter- 
minated, while  he 'was  in  full  vigor  and  prime  of 
life,  by  injuries  that  he  had  received.  His  widow 
survived  him  many  years,  and  coming  to  America 
with  her  children,  her  last  days  were  spent  in  the 
home  of  her  daughter,  Mrs.  Bollman,  in  Nelson 
Township,  and  she  was  an  old  lady  when  at  length 
she  passed  away.  She  was  a  Christian  and  a  faith- 
ful member  of  the  Lutheran  Church,  to  which  her 
husband  also  belonged. 

Our  subject    was  but   seven    years  old  when  he 


was  deprived  of  a  father's  care,  and  was  thirteen 
when  his  grandfather  died.  He  early  became  self- 
supporting,  as,  after  he  left  school,  where  he  had 
obtained  a  good  education,  he  learned  the  trade  of 
a  shoemaker.  He  was  a  stalwart  young  fellow  of 
twenty  years,  when,  in  1859,  he  left  behind  him  the 
quiet  scenes  of  his  birthplace  to  venture  forth  into 
the  untried  world  to  seek  for  himself  a  habitation 
in  a  new  country,  and  journeying  by  land  and  sea, 
he  finally  came  to  this  State  and  county.  Thirty 
and  more  years  have  passed  by  since  that  time,  and 
from  being  a  poor  man  he  has  become  one  of  the 
substantial  citizens  of  his  adopted  township,  Nel- 
son. For  a  year  or  two  after  coming  here  he  was 
employed  at  his  trade  of  making  shoes.  Always 
frugal  and  industrious,  careful  of  his  expenditures, 
and  never  neglectful  of  a  good  opportunity  to 
make  money,  he  at  last  had  enough  means  to  pur- 
chase the  farm,  which  has  been  in  his  possession 
since  1873.  He  has  made  nearly  all  the  improve- 
ments that  add  to  its  value,  and  it  is  a  fine  piece 
of  property,  making  a  pleasant  home,  and  from  its 
fertile  fields,  rich  harvests  are  gleaned  in  repay- 
ment for  the  time  and  labor  expended  in  their  cul- 
tivation. 

Mr.  Grobe  was  first  married  in  Nelson  Town- 
ship to  Miss  Catherine  Genck.  She  was  a  native 
of  Somerset  County,  Pa.,  and  came  to  Illinois 
when  young  with  her  parents.  She  died  at  her. 
husband's  home  in  Dixon,  when  twenty-two  years 
of  age,  leaving  two  children:  William  IT.,  who 
married  Sophia  Bolden,  and  Sophia  married  Jacob 
Profiler.  Mr.  Grobe's  second  marriage,  which  took 
place  in  this  township,  was  to  Miss  Barbara  Smith. 
Nine  children  have  been  born  unto  them,  of 
whom  these  three  are  deceased:  John  Christiai, 
August  B.  and  an  infant.  Those  living  are  Mary, 
Henry,  Charles,  Anna,  Ida  and  Gertie  Matilda,  all 
of  whom  are  at  home  with  their  parents  and  form 
part  of  a  merry  household. 

Mrs.  Grobe  is  a  native  of  Somerset  County,  Pa., 
and  was  brought  to  Illinois  when  young  by  her 
parents,  Frederick  and  Barbara  Smith.  They  were 
born,  reared  and  married  in  Germany,  and  after 
coming  to  the  United  States  lived  in  Pennsylvania, 
whence  they  subsequently  came  to  Illinois.  They 
located  on  a  farm  in  Nelson  Township,  where  they 


781 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


lived  respected  many  years,  and  there  death  found 
them  at  a  ripe  age,  he  being  seventy-two  years  old 
when  he  died,  and  she  sixty -eight.  They  were 
earnest  Christians,  and  members  of  the  Lutheran 
Church. 

It  is  not  only  as  a  farmer  that  Mr.  Grobe's  ser- 
vices have  been  valuable  in  his  chosen  home,  but 
in  the  part  he  has  taken  in  the  administration 
of  local  affairs  as  an  incumbent  of  all  the 
various  district  and  township  offices  which  he 
has  held  at  diffeient  limes.  lie  is  sensible  and 
clear-headed,  is  shrewd,  without  being  over-reach- 
ing, and  all  who  know  him  will  bear  testimony  to 
his  trustworthiness.  His  politics  are  of  the  Repub- 
lican order.  lie  and  his  wife  are  attendants  at 
the  Lutheran  Church,  and  give  readily  of  their 
means  to  support  religion. 


xp^EARHARDT  H.  MISSMAN,  one  of  the 
III  £— ,  most  worthy  German  citizens  of  Lee  County, 
\^^j  is  now  living  a  retired  life  in  Dixon,  his 
pleasant  home  being  situated  on  the  corner  of 
West  Third  and  Harrison  Streets.  His  life  record 
is  as  follows:  He  was  born  in  Oldenburg,  Germany, 
December  4,  1824,  and  is  one  of  seven  children 
whose  parents  were  Gearhardt  and  Catherine 
(Kuhlman)  Missman,  both  of  whom  were  born  in 
the  same  locality,  where  they  lived  the  life  of  farm- 
ing people.  The  father  died  in  his  native  land,  at 
the  age  of  fifty  years.  He  had  long  been  a  member 
of  the  Lutheran  Church  and  was  an  upright  and 
honorable  man  who  had  the  respect  of  all  with 
whom  he  came  in  contact.  After  the  death  of  her 
husband,  Mrs.  Missman  came  to  America  and  died 
at  the  home  of  her  daughter,  Mrs.  Catherine  Let- 
\ey,  of  Nelson  Township,  at  an  advanced  age.  She, 
too,  was  a  life-long  member  of  the  Lutheran  Church 
and  was  beloved  by  all  who  knew  her.  Four  of 
the  children  are  yet  living,  one  being  still  a 
resident  of  the  FatherJand. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  inured  to  hard 
labor  on  his  father's  farm,  where  he  remained  until 
eighteen  years  of  age,  when,  wishing  to  try  his 
fortune  in  the  New  World,  he  bade  good-b}'  to 
home  and  friends  and  accompanied  an  older  brother 


Frederick,  to  the  United  States.  They  took  passage 
on  a  sailing  vessel,  commanded  by  Capt.  Steiman, 
which  weighed  anchor  at  Bremen  and  after  a  voy- 
age of  five  weeks  and  two  days  reached  Baltimore, 
Md.,  in  1843.  From  that  city,  the  two  brothers 
made  their  way  to  Somerset  County,  Pa.,  where 
our  subject  began  to  learn  the  millers'  trade  with 
Mathias  Zoure,  in  whose  employ  he  continued  for 
three  years.  He  then  worked  .for  another  miller 
in  the  same  county  three  years. 

It  was  during  this  time  that  Mr.  Missman  was 
joined  in  wedlock  with  Miss  Mary  Leydig,  who 
was  born  in  Somerset  County,  December  14,  1827, 
and  is  a  daughter  of  Daniel  and  Polly  (Martz) 
i  Leydig,  also  natives  of  that  county,  where  they 
1  were  reared  and  married  and  spent  their  entire 
lives  upon  a  farm  in  Southampton  Township.  The 
death  of  the  father  occurred  at  the  age  of  eighty- 
five  years,  and  Mrs.  Leydig  passed  away  at  the  age 
of  eighty-eight.  Her  mother.had  reached  the  very 
advanced  age  of  one  hundred  and  two  years  at  the 
time  of  her  death.  They  were  a  long-lived  people, 
noted  for  robust  constitutions,  and  in  religious 
belief  they  were  all  Lutherans. 

At  the  time  of  their  marriage,  Mr.  Missman  and 
his  wife  were  in  very  limited  circumstances.  After 
residing  in  the  Keystone  State  for  a  time,  at  the 
place  where  he  learned  his  trade,  they  determined 
to  try  their  fortune  in  the  West,  and,  carrying  out 
this  resolution,  located  in  Lee  County,  111.  Our 
subject  made  his  first  purchase  of  land  in  Nelson 
Township  in  1853,  obtaining  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres  from  the  Government.  It  was  entirely 
unimproved,  not  even  a  furrow  having  been 
turned.  He  located  thereon  in  1855,  and  at  once 
began  its  cultivation  and  development,  laboring 
untiringly  until  his  farm  became  one  of  the  best 
in  the  community.  As  his  financial  resources  in- 
creased, he  extended  its  boundaries  until  it  now 
comprises  two  hundred  and  eighty  acres  of  valu- 
able land,  supplied  with  two  sets  of  good  farm 
buildings.  Until  1886  it  continued  to  be  his  home, 
in  which  year  he  and  his  wife  removed  to  Dixon, 
where  they  are  now  living  retired,  enjoying  the 
fruits  of  their  former  labors,  for  the  assistance  of 
the  estimable  wife  aided  not  a  little  in  the  success 
of  our  subject. 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


785 


Unto  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Missman  were  born  six  chil- 
dren, five  of  whom  are  yet  living:  Herman,  whose 
sketch  appears  elsewhere  in  this  work;  Daniel,  who 
married  Ida  Bridges,  and  is  now  living  on  the  old 
homestead;  Hannah,  wife  of  W.  W.  Heckman,  a 
farmer  of  South  Dixon;  Milton,  who  is  engaged 
in  the  creamery  business,  in  Milton,  Lee  County, 
and  Anna,  at  home.  One  daughter,  Susan,  an  ex- 
cellent young  lady,  died  at  the  age  of  twenty 
years.  The  parents  are  both  members  of  the 
Lutheran  Church,  in  which  Mr.  Missman  has  served 
as  Deacon  for  some  time.  They  are  numbered 
among  the  early  settlers  of  this  community  and  in 
the  years  which  have  passed  since  they  located  in 
Lee  County  they  have  gained  many  warm  friends, 
who  esteem  them  highly  for  their  sterling  worth. 
In  politics,  Mr.  Missman  is  a  Republican  and  has 
been  honored  with  a  number  of  local  offices. 


HARLES  J.  ROSBROOK  is  one  of  the  suc- 
sful  merchants  of  Dixon.  In  the  spring 
of  1886,  he  established  business  in  this  city 
as  a  dealer  in  hardware  and  agricultural  implements 
and  so  rapidly  has  his  business  grown  and  develop- 
ed that  he  has  now  one  of  the  largest  houses  of  the 
kind  west  of  Chicago.  His  establishment  is  situa- 
ted on  First  Street  and  the  building,  which  is  120x 
50  feet  and  two  stories  in  height,  is  well  filled  with 
the  best  grade  of  goods  turned  out  from  the  man- 
ufactories of  hardware  and  agricultural  implements: 
consisting  of  Deero  &  Co. 's  plows  and  cultivators, 
Deere  &  Mansur  Co. 's  planters  and  seeders,Nicholas 
&  Shepherd's  threshers,  Moline  wagons,and  Ilenney 
Co.'s  buggies.  His  sales  are  made  on  the  merits  of 
his  stock,  not  by  false  representations;  and  by  ear- 
nestly trying  to  please  his  customers  and  giving 
them  just  what  they  desire,  he  has  secured  a  most 
liberal  patronage. 

Mr.  Rosbrook  has  long  been  a  resident  of  Lee 
County.  He  was  born  in  Lockport,  N.  Y.,  in  1845, 
and  is  the  youngest  child  of  John  and  Lucretia 
(Green)  Rosbrook.  His  father  was  a  native  of 
New  Hampshire  and  came  of  an  old  New  England 
family.  When  a  lad,  he  accompanied  his  parents 


to  Niagara  County,  N.  Y.,  where  he  grew  to  man- 
hood and  became  familiar  with  the  life  of  a  farmer. 
He  was  there  married,  the  lady  being  a  native  of 
Niagara  County,  born  of  French  and  English  par- 
entage. With  their  family,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rosbrook 
emigrated  Westward  in  1855,  locating  in  Lee  Coun- 
ty, 111.  They  became  the  first  settlers  in  Harmon 
Township  and  broke  the  first  prairie  within  its 
borders.  It  was  no  easy  task  to  develop  a  farm 
from  the  wild  land,  but  the  work  was  accomplished 
by  the  father  and  his  children,  and  upon  the  old 
homestead  the  parents  resided  until  called  to  their 
final  rest.  The  fatherdied  in  1861,  at  an  advanced 
age.  On  coming  to  the  county  he  had  secured 
thirteen  hundred  acres  of  land  near  Rosbrook 
Lake,  which  he  sold  at  a  moderate  price  to  those 
who  wished  to  make  homes  in  this  locality.  He 
took  an  active  interest  in  all  that  pertained  to  the 
public  welfare  and  in  his  death  the  county  lost  one 
of  its  best  citizens. 

Our  subject  was  but  a  lad  of  nine  summers  when 
he  came  to  Illinois.  Amid  the  wild  scenes  of  the 
frontier,  he  was  reared  to  manhood  and  experienced 
many  of  the  hardships  and  trials  of  pioneer  life. 
Many  an  acre  of  raw  prairie  has  he  broken  with  the 
old  time  plow,  drawn  by  oxen,  and  with  the  ox-team 
he  hauled  the  grain  to  market  in  those  days.  In 
his  youth  he  was  inured  to  hard  labor  but  thereby 
developed  a  self-reliance  and  force  of  character 
which  have  proved  of  incalculable  benefit  to  him 
in  later  years.  After  attaining  his  majority,  he  en- 
gaged in  farming  for  himself  for  some  time  in 
Harmon  Township  and  subsequently  engaged  in 
the  hardware  and  lumber  business  in  the  village  of 
Harmon  fora  couple  of  years.  He  then  came  to 
Dixon  and  entered  upon  his  present  line  of  trade, 
carrying  on  operations  with  the  success  before 
mentioned. 

In  Lee  County,  Mr.  Rosbrook  married  Miss  Anna 
Siefken,  who  was  born  in  Germany,  in  1848,  and 
when  a  small  child  came  witli  her  parents  to  Illi- 
nois, the  family  settling  in  Harmon  Township  in 
1858,  where  the  father  improved  a  farm  and  where 
the  mother  died.  Mr.  Siefken  is  yet  living  on  the 
old  homestead  at  the  age  of  seventy-three  years. 
Unto  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rosbrook  have  been  born  five 
children  yet  living,  and  they  have  lost  two — John 


786 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


and  Edith.  Frank  ,1.  is  now  his  father's  book- 
keeper; Fred  D.  also  is  in  the  employ  of  his  father; 
Harrison  J.,  Lenora  and  Edna  are  yet  at  home. 
Mrs.  Rosbrook  is  a  member  of  the  Lutheran  Church. 
In  politics,  Mr.  Rosbrook  is  a  stanch  Republican 
who  warmly  advocates  the  principles  of  that  party 
and  does  all  in  his  power  to  advance  its  interests. 
He  is  now  serving  as  Alderman  of  the  First  Ward 
and  proves  himself  an  efficient  officer. 


JACOB   S.   PULVER  is  conducting  a   good 
business  as  a  farmer  and  stock-raiser  in  Wil- 
low Creek  Township,  where  he  has  a  good- 
sized,  well-tilled  farm,  with  rich   pastures 
stocked  with  fine  horses  and  cattle  of  good  breeds, 
and  amply  supplied  with   commodious  buildings 
for  every  purpose.     Mr.  Pulver  was  born   in   the 
town  of  Florida,  Montgomery  County,  N.  Y.,  May 
3,  1826,  a  son  of  Jacob  S.  Pulver,  who,  so  far  as 
known,  was  born  in  the  same  county.     He  in  turn 
was  a  son  of  Solomon  and  Mary  (Dennison)  Pul- 
ver, his  father  a  substantial  farmer  of  Florida. 

Jacob  S.  Pulver,  Sr.,  was  reared  and  married  in 
the  county  of  his  nativity,  his  wife  being  Keziah 
Voorhes,  who  was  likewise  born  in  Montgomery 
County,  and  was  a  daughter  of  the  Rev.  Garret 
and  Lavina  (Cisco)  Voorhes.  Fifteen  children 
were  born  of  their  mariage,  of  whom  eleven  grew 
to  maturity.  The  father  of  our  subject  was  a 
blacksmith  and  practiced  his  trade  during  the  War 
of  1812.  He  subsequently  bought  a  farm  in  Flor- 
ida Township,  and  engaged  in  farming  as  well  as 
in  blacksmithing.  He  resided  on  his  farm  until 
shortly  before  his  death,  and  then  went  to  pass  his 
remaining  days  with  his  daughter,  his  wife  having 
died  on  the  old  homestead. 

The  subject  of  this  brief  life  record  grew  to 
manhood  in  his  native  town,  and  was  educated  in 
the  local  public  schools.  In  his  youth  he  assisted 
his  father  on  the  farm  and  in  the  smithy,  and 
gained  a  good  practical  knowledge  both  of  agri- 
culture and  of  mechanics  as  applied  to  the  black- 
smith's trade.  He  remained  an  inmate  of  the  pa- 


rental household   until  he  was  twenty-three  years 
of  age,  and  then  rented  his  father's  farm  for  six 
years.     At  the  end  of  that  time,  he  bought  fifty 
acres  of  land,  and  engaged  in  general  farming  and 
dairying  in  his  native  state  until   1866,  when  he 
\   came  to  Lee  County  to  avail  himself  of  the  won- 
I    derful    fertility  of  its  soil  and  its  numerous  other 
advantages  for  carrying  on  agriculture  successfully. 
He  bought  the  farm  in  Willow  Creek  Township 
upon  which  he  has  ever  since  made  his  home.     It 
contains  two  hundred  acres  of  fine,  well-improved 
farming  land,  which  he  devotes  to  general  farming 
and  stock-raising,and  his  finely-bred  horses  and  cat- 
tle compare  well  with  the  finest  in  the  vicinity, 
and  always  command  good  prices  when   placed  on 
the  market.  Since  he  took  possession  of  his  .farm  Mr. 
Pulver  has  wrought  quite  a  change,  and  has  in- 
creased its  value  to  a  great  extent  by  the  various 
I   improvements  that  he  has  made.  He  has  erected  two 
!   roomy  barns,  has   added    to  his   house,  making  it 
I   much  more  commodious  and  convenient  in  every 
j   way,  and  has  done  other  things  to  add  to  the  at- 
tractiveness of  his  home. 

Mr.  Pulver  and  Miss '  Mary  A.  Burt  were  united 
in  marriage  April  16,  1850,  and  for  forty-one  years 
have  shared  life's  joys  and  comforted  each  other 
in  its  sorrows.     The  following  is  the  record  of  the 
seven  children  with  which  they  have  been  blessed: 
William  J.,  born  March  22,  1851,  was  married  April 
15,  1874,  to  Mary  Sherwood,  and  they  have  six 
children:  Martha  A.,  Gertie  May,  William  S.,  Ed- 
;   die  S.,  Judson  H.,  Mary  and  Edna;  Judson,  born 
,   April  30,    1852,  was   married  to  Josie   Slothower 
and  died  in  Nebraska,  April  21, 1886,  leaving  four 
children:  Fred,  May,  Frank  and  Eva;  Charles  L, 
j   born  August  11,  1854,  married  Cora  Nettleton, and 
I   resides  in  York,  Nebraska;  Emma,  born  May  19, 
!    1857,  was  married  to  Stewart  A.  Ferguson,  Novem- 
ber 4,  1876,  and  has  one  child,  Bertie  Maud;  Sa- 
rah, born  December  4,   1860,  married  John   Tuttle 
March  9,  1881,  and  they  have  three  children:  May, 
Wilber  and  Nellie;  Frank,  born   August  20,   1867, 
and  Nellie,  born  February   26,  1871,  are  living  at 
!    home  with  their  parents. 

Mrs.  Pulver  is  a  native  of  Somersetshire,  Eng., 
September  19,  1829,  being  the  date  of  her  birth. 
Her  father,  William  Burt,  was  also  born  in  that 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


787 


English  shire,  as  was  his  father.  Samuel  Burt,  be- 
fore him.  The  latter  married  Ann  Applebec,  who 
was  likewise  a  native  of  England,  and  he  spent  his 
entire  life  in  his  native  shire,  his  occupation  being 
that  of  a  farmer.  Mrs.  Pulver's  father  was  reared 
and  married  in  the  laud  of  his  birth.  He  was  a 
thatcher  by  trade.  He  finally  resolved  to  better 
his  condition  by  emigrating  to  this  country,  and 
setting  sail  from  Bristol  with  his  wife  and  five 
children,  in  the  month  of  March,  1841,  a  ten  weeks' 
voyage  brought  him  and  his  family  across  the  wa- 
ters to  this  country  where  they  sought  a  new 
home.  From  New  York  they  went  up  the  Hudson 
to  Albany,  and  from  there  by  way  of  Erie  Canal 
to  Ft.  Hunter,  Montgomery  County,  N.  Y.  The 
father  rented  land  there  some  years,  and  then 
bought  a  home  in  Saratoga  County,  which  he  sold 
some  years  later,  when  he  and  his  wife  came  to 
Lee  County  and  passed  their  declining  years  in 
the  home  of  their  daughter,  Mrs.  Pulver.  They 
reared  seven  children:  Mary  A.,  Eli,  Charles,  Emma, 
Elizabeth,  Henrietta  A.  and  Jay.  The  mother, 
who  was  a  native  of  Somersetshire,  England,  bore 
the  maiden  name  of  Eliza  Laky. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pulver  and  all  their  children  are 
members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and 
they  are  held  in  high  estimation  throughout  the 
entire  community  for  those  fine  traits  of  character 
that  make  them  kind  and  obliging  neighbors  and 
steadfast  friends.  In  early  life  Mr.  Pulver  was  a 
Whig,  but  since  the  formation  of  the  Republican 
party  he  has  followed  its  fortunes  whether  for  bet- 
ter or  worse,  and  is  a  stanch  advocate  of  its  policy. 


OSES  SWARTS.  The  good  old  Common- 
wealth of  Pennsylvania  has  sent  many 
of  her  stalwart  sons  to  the  broad  prairies 
of  Illinois  to  help  till  her  soil  or  to  aid  in 
the  development  of  other  industries.  Many  of 
them  have  become  prominent  in  various  walks  of 
life,  and  have  materially  added  to  the  riches  of 
their  adopted  State,  whose  resources  they  have  as- 
sisted in  unfolding,  while  at  the  same  time  they 
have  acquired  comfortable  fortunes  for  their  own 


se.  The  gentleman  whose  name  appears  at  the 
head  of  this  biographical  review  is  a  most  estimable 
representative  of  the  Pennsylvanians  who  now 
make  Lee  County  their  home.  He  is  a  well-to-do 
farmer  and  stock-raiser,  with  no  less  than  three 
farms  in  this  section  of  the  country,  all  finely  im- 
proved, and  he  resides  on  one  of  these  on  section 
24,  Palmyra  Township. 

Our  subject  was  born  in  Brooklyn  Township, 
Susquehanna  County,  Pa.,  in  1836.  His  father, 
whose  given  name  was  Jacob,  was  a  native  of  New 
Jersey,  a  son  of  Peter  Swarts,  who  was  also  a  native 
of  that  State,  while  his  parents  were  born  in  Hol- 
land, and  were  of  High  Dutch  stock.  Peter  Swarts 
was  a  blacksmith,  and  spent  the  most  of  his  life  at 
his  trade,  dying  in  New  Jersey  when  about  four- 
score years  of  age.  His  wife  was  also  of  Jersey- 
Dutch  lineage,  and  died  in  the  State  of  her  nativ- 
ity when  full  of  .years.  She  was  a  Presbyterian, 
but  her  husband  held  to  no  religious  faith. 

Jacob  Swarts  was  one  of  a  family  of  three  sons 
and  two  daughters.  He  was  reared  to  the  life  of 
a  farmer,  and  continued  to  live  in  New  Jersey,  un- 
til after  his  marriage  in  Sussex  County  to  Miss 
Catherine  De  Witt,  who  was  born  in  that  county 
March  23,  1806.  She  was  the  j'oungest  of  thirteen 
children,  seven  sons  and  six  daughters,  all  of  whom 
but  one  grew  to  maturity  and  married,  and  she 
alone  of  all  that  large  family  is  now  alive.  She  was 
reared  in  the  home  of  her  birth  by  her  parents, 
Moses  and  Margaret  (Wilson)  De  Witt,  who  were 
natives  of  New  Jersey,  the  father  being  of  Dutch 
descent,  and  the  mother  of  New  England  ancestry. 
They  were  well-to-do,  having  accumulated  a  large 
property  after  their  marriage.  They  died  in  Sussex 
County,  Mr.  De  Witt  being  past  eighty  years  old, 
and  his  wife  about  the  same  age  when  her  death 
occurred.  She  was  a  devout  Methodist  in  religion. 
He  served  as  a  soldier  throughout  the  Revolution, 
although  but  little  is  known  of  his  military  record 
by  his  daughter.  The  mother  of  our  subject  is  a 
welcome  inmate  of  his  home,  and,  notwithstanding 
her  advanced  age,  she  is  still  bright  and  energetic, 
and  retains  all  her  faculties  unimpaired  by  the 
ravages  of  the  eighty-six  years  that  have  passed 
|  over  her  head  since  her  birth.  After  her  marriage, 
she  and  her  husband  had  removed  to  Pennsylvania, 


788 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


and  were  living  there  on  a  farm  when  death  ter- 
minated his  prosperous  career  as  a  farmer  April  25, 
1841,  when  he  was  but  thirty-four  years  of  age. 
He  was  a  good  man,  much  beloved  by  the  people 
among  whom  he  had  settled,  and  in  his  death  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  which  he  had  joined 
some  years  before,  lost  one  of  its  best  members. 

Moses  Swarts  is  the  youngest  of  the  four  chil- 
dren born  to  his  parents,  two  sons  and  two  daugh- 
ters. One  of  the  latter  is  now  deceased,  Pamelia, 
former  wife  of  C.  W.  Kentner,  of  Dixon.  The 
Other  sister  and  brother  of  our  subject  are  Mar- 
garet, wife  of  A.  T.  Royce,  of  Rockford,  and  Peter, 
a  resident  of  Essex  County,  N.  J.  Our  subject 
passed  his  early  life  on  a  farm  in  his  native  State, 
and  was  a  lad  of  sixteen  years  when  he  came  from 
there  to  this  State.  He  was  young  when  he  en- 
tered upon  his  life  work  as  a  farmer,  but  he  per- 
severed in  his  aim  to  be  successful  in  his  vocation, 
and  has  risen  to  a  leading  place  among  his  fellow 
farmers  in  Palmyra  Township.  He  has  lived  on 
his  homestead  on  section  24,  since  1860,  and  in  the 
thirty-two  years  that  have  since  elapsed  he  has 
made  it  one  of  the  most  beautiful  farms  in  this  vi- 
cinity, placing  upon  it  fine  large  farm  buildings, 
and  otherwise  improving  it.  He  also  has  two  other 
farms  in  this  township,  each  comprising  eighty 
acres  of  well-tilled  land,  and  supplied  with  modern 
buildings.  Our  subject  manages  his  interests  with 
great  tact,  makes  every  deal  count,  and  is,  indeed) 
a  cool,  level-headed,  far-seeing  man  of  business. 
He  has  a  mind  of  his  own,  and  his  opinions  on  all 
subjects  with  which  he  is  familiar  are  concise  and 
original.  He  is  decided  in  his  political  sentiments 
and  is  a  strong  Democrat. 

Our  subject  was  married  after  coming  to  Palmyra 
Township  to  Miss  Isabel  A.  Eastwood,  and  in  her 
he  has  found  an  active  helper,  a  good  counsellor, 
and  a  wife  kind  and  true.  She  is  a  daughter  of  one 
of  I  he  earliest  pioneer  families  of  Palmyra  Town- 
ship, which  is  her  native  place,  her  birth  occurring 
here  May  13,  1841,  and  she  remained  an  inmate  of 
her  parental  home  until  she  married  and  had  one 
-of  her  own.  For  full  history  of  the  Eastwood 
family,  see  the  biography  of  Capt.  S.  D.  Eastwood. 
One  of  the  five  children  born  to  our  subject  and 
his  wife  is  dead — Myra,  at  the  age  of  thirteen 


months.  The  surviving  children  are:  Burton,  who 
resides  on  a  farm  belonging  to  his  father  in  this 
township,  and  who  married  Ellen  McCune;  Carrie 
B.  lives  with  her  parents;  Ettie,  wife  of  August 
Demarest,  a  farmer  in  this  township,  ami  Bertha 
who  is  still  at  home. 


.  HODGES.  Among  the  enterprising 
and  progressive  farmers  of  Lee  County 
may  be  mentioned  this  gentleman,  who  re- 
sides on  section  27,  Lee  Centre  Township,  where  he 
owns  a  fine  farm  of  two  hundred  and  seventy-six 
acres,  highly  cultivated,  and  on  which  he  lias 
placed  many  good  improvements. 

His  parents,  Jesse  and  Margaret  (Bartlette)  Hod- 
ges removed  from  Indiana  to  this  State,  in  1849, 
going  to  La  Salle  County,  and  settling  in  Lamoille, 
where  the  father  died  the  same  year.  The  mother 
departed  this  life  in  Lee  Centre  Township. 

Our  subject  was  born  in  Lawrence  County,  Ind., 
September  19,  1839,  where  he  spent  the  first  nine 
years  of  his  life.  He  accompanied  his  parents  to 
Illinois  in  1849,  and  after  the  death  of  his  father, 
lived  with  his  brother  Joseph  in  this  township, 
where  he  grew  to  manhood.  When  he  was  twenty- 
one  years  of  age,  the  Civil  War  broke  out  and  he 
at  once' entered  the  service  of  his  country,  enlist- 
ing August,  1861,  in  Company  C,  Seventh  Illinois 
Cavalry,  in  which  lie  served  for  three  years.  He 
was  remarkably  fortunate  in  passing  through  this 
season  of  -conflict  uninjured,  and  returned  home 
none  the  worse  for  his  soldier's  life.  He  worked 
on  the  farm  with  his  brother  for  one  season  and 
then  purchased  a  farm  on  section  27,  on  which  he 
settled  and  where  he  has  ever  since  been  a  resident. 

Our  subject  has  been  twice  married,  his  first 
wife  being  Miss  Harriet  G.  Cook,  to  whom  he 
was  united  in  Dixon,  111.,  December  8,  1868.  By 
this  union  four  children  were  born:  Jessie  M., 
Philena  M.  (Mrs.  Eugene  Tennent),  Joseph  G.  and 
Ilattie  G.,  wife  of  II.  B.  Lyon.  The  mother  of  this 
family  died  September  19,  1877.  Mr.  Hodges  was 
again  married  in  Belvidere,  November  19, 1879,  to 
Ellen  A.  Shaw,  a  daughter  of  John  L.  Shaw.  She 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


was  born  September  29,  1845,  in  Hancock  County, 
this  State. 

Mr.  Hodges  is  a  public-spirited  and  genial  gen- 
tleman, who  has  acquired  a  competency  by  indus- 
try and  perseverance.  He  lias  erected  good  build- 
ings on  his  fine  farm,  which  gives  evidence  of 
careful  oversight  and  cultivation.  In  politics,  he 
is  a  Republican  and  has  served  as  Collector  for  his 
township.  Socially,  he  is  a  member  of  the  Masonic 
fraternity. 


§ERNHARDT  MISSMAN  came  here  in  pio- 
neer times  and  proved  a  valuable  assistant 
lo  the  men  who  were  struggling  to  develop 
the  agricultural  resources  of  the  county.  He 
labored  hard,  and  placed  an  extensive  area  of  land 
under   cultivation,  thus   promoting  the  improve- 
ment of  this  section;  he  made  money  by  his  opera- 
tions as  a  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  so  that  in  time 
he  was  enabled  to  abandon  business  and  retire  to 
a  leisurely  life,  and  is  still   making  his  home  on 
section  13,  South  Dixon  Township. 

The  birth  of  our  subject  took  place  in  Olden- 
burg, Germany,  May  10,  1827.  His  father  was  G. 
H.  Missman,  who  was  also  a  native  of  that  prov- 
ince. He  was  a  farmer  and  died  in  Oldenburg  at 
the  age  of  forty-eight.  By  his  untimely  death  his 
community  was  deprived  of  one  of  its  most  wor- 
thy citizens.  He  was  an  active  member  of  the 
Lutheran  Church,  as  were  his  forefathers  before 
him  from  the  days  of  Martin  Luther,  the  great  re- 
former. He  was  married  in  his  native  province  to 
Catherine  Kulman,  who  also  belonged  there,  and 
was  descended  from  an  ancestry  that  had  been 
farmers  for  generations.  They  were  Lutherans 
in  their  religious  beliefs.  The  mother  of  our  sub- 
ject came  to  this  country  with  her  children  after 
the  death  of  the  father,  and  her  last  days  were 
spent  in  Nelson  Township,  where  she  died  when 
past  seventy  years  old.  She  was  a  life-long  mem- 
ber of  the  Lutheran  Church. 

Bernhardt  Missman  was  nineteen  years  old 
when  he  came  with  his  mother  and  other  members 


of  the  family  on  that  memorable  ocean  voyage  to 
the  United  States,  in  1846,  sailing  fromBremer- 
haven  in  the  spring  of  the  year,  and  landing  at 
Baltimore  eight  weeks  later.  They  proceeded 
thence  to  Pennsylvania,  where  they  lived  some 
seven  years  prior  to  coming  to  Illinois,  in  1853. 
He  attained  his  majority  in  the'  Keystone  State, 
and  was  u  miller  in  Somerset  County  some  five 
years  before  his  migration  hither.  lie  is  a  typical 
self-made  man,  as  success  has  come  to  him  through 
his  own  efforts,  and  his  whole  career  is  illustrative 
of  the  fact  that  push  and  energy,  together  with  a 
clear  head,  cool  judgment  and  a  good  insight  into 
business  methods,  are  better  capital  than  mere 
money  without  them,  for  a  young  man  when  he 
is  starting  out  in  life.  Besides  these,  Mr.  Missman 
possesses  characteristics  that  have  won  him  the 
perfect  confidence  of  all  who  know  him,  and  thus 
he  has  not  only  been  prominent  as  a  successful 
farmer,  but  likewise  has  taken  a  leading  part  in 
the  public  life  of  the  community,  being  called 
thereto  by  his  fellow-citizens  in  just  recognition  of 
his  fitness  for  civic  positions.  He  was  Road  Com- 
missioner for  twelve  years,  and  has  been  an  incum- 
bent of  various  other  township  offices.  In  his  po- 
litical sympathies  he  is  in  full  accord  with  the 
Republicans  and  stands  firmly  by  his  party.  Re- 
ligiously, he  and  his  wife  and  their  children  are 
members  of  the  Lutheran  Church. 

During  his  residence  in  Somerset  County,  Pa., 
Mr.  Missman  was  married  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Fritz, 
who  has  been  to  him  a  true  and  devoted  wife.  Of 
the  seven  children  born  to  them  two  died  in  in- 
fancy. The  others  are  John  D.,  a  farmer  in  South 
Dixon  Township,  who  married  Elizabeth  Cleaver; 
William  II.,  a  carpenter  at  Dixon,  who  married 
Anna  Bollman;  Simon,  a  farmer  in  South  Dixon 
Township,  who  married  Fidelia  Fellows;  Ellen, 
wife  of  Albert  Brierton,  a  farmer  in  Nelson  Town- 
ship; Addison,a  farmer  in  Nachusa  Township,  who 
married  Alice  Frederick. 

Mrs.  Missman  was  born  and  reared  where  her 
marriage  took  place,  and  is  a  daughter  of  the  late 
John  and  Eve  (Mowrer)  Fritz,  who  were  also  na- 
tives of  Somerset  County,  Pa.,  where  they  passed 
their  early  years.  In  1856  they  came  to  Illinois, 
and  Mr.  Fritz,  who  was  a  man  of  means,  purchased 


790 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


more  than  seveii  hundred  acres  of  land  in  South 
Dixon  Township,  the  most  of  which  he  improved 
and  owned  until  his  death,  which  occurred  in  1874, 
at  the  age  of  seventy  years.  His  wife  is  now  liv- 
ing with  her  daughter,  Mrs.  Herman  Lindeinaii. 
She  is  now  past  ninety-three  years  of  age,  yet  she 
retains  her  mental  and  physical  faculties  well.  She 
has  been  a  life-long  member  of  the  Lutheran 
Church,  as  was  her  husband  also,  they  having 
been  reared  in  that  faith. 

^|j/  NDREW  J.  CARNAHAN,  who  is  the  pro- 
^l  I  prietor  of  a  valuable  farm  in  Brooklyn 

Ij  Ifi  Township,  joining  the  village  of  Compton 
<^j  on  the  south,  on  which  he  makes  his  home, 
is  one  of  the  pioneers  of  Lee  County,  who  has  been 
identified  with  various  of  its  industries  since  the 
early  years  of  its  settlement,  and  has  been  no 
unimportant  factor  in  developing  its  resources. 
During  his  residence  here  of  forty-one  years,  lie  has 
accumulated  a  handsome  property,  whereby  he  is 
enabled  to  spend  his  declining  years  free  from  act- 
ive business. 

Mr.  Carnahan  was  born  in  Columbia  County, 
Pa.,  May  15,  1816,  his  birthplace  being  on  a  farm 
ten  miles  southwest  of  Danville.  His  father,  whose 
name  was  David  Carnahan,  was  also  a  Pennsylva- 
nian  by  birth,  while  his  grandfather,  William  Car- 
nahan, was  born  in  County  Antrim,  Ireland,  com- 
ing of  one  of  the  old  Scotch  families  that  colonized 
that  region.  He  came  from  his  native  isle  to  America 
when  a  young  man,  and  settling  in  Pennsylvania, 
was  there  married  to  Mary  Stuart,  who  had  come 
over  in  the  same  vessel  with  him.  He  spent  his  last 
years  in  Columbia  County.  He  and  his  wife  were 
members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  They  reared 
five  children:  William, David,  Polly,  Margaret  and 
Ellen. 

David  Carnahan  was  reared  and  married  in  Penn- 
sylvania, taking  as  his  wife  Margaret  Mann,  a  na- 
tive of  Lancaster  County,  that  State.  In  his  youth 
he  learned  the  trade  of  a  tailor  and  followed  it 
for  some  years  in  his  early  manhood,  but  he  later 
turned  his  attention  to  farming,  for  which  he  had 


a  natural  taste,  and  his  last  years  were  devoted  to 
that  occupation  in  Columbia  Count}-,  where  both 
he  and  his  wife  departed  this  life  at  ripe  ages. 
They  were  sincere  Christian  people,  who  were 
reared  in  the  Presbyterian  faith,  and  were  con- 
sistent members  of  that  church  to  the  last.  They 
were  the  parents  of  these  nine  children:  Polly, 
who  married  Samuel  Hilkert,  and  died  in  Penn- 
sylvania; Elizabeth,  who  married  Joseph  Madden, 
came  to  this  county  with  him  in  1846,  and  subse- 
quently died  here;  William,  who  spent  his  entire 
life  in  Pennsylvania;  Samuel,  who  came  to  this 
county  in  1848,  and  resided  here  the  rest  of  his 
life;  Allen,  who  came  to  Lee  County  in  1846,  and 
died  in  Brooklyn  Township;  Charles,  who  came 
to  Lee  County  in  1850,  and  spent  his  remaining 
days  in  Brooklyn  Township;  Jane,  who  married 
Jeremiah  Berringer,  came  with  him  to  Lee  County 
in  1853,  and  died  in  Brooklyn  Township;  our  sub- 
ject; and  Margaret,  who  died  in  Pennsylvania. 

He  of  whom  this  biography  is  written  was 
brought  up  in  his  native  county,  and  was  educated 
in  its  schools.  At  first  there  were  no  free  schools, 
as  they  were  conducted  on  the  subscription  plan 
in  the  early  years  of  his  boyhood,  and  his  parents 
had  to  pay  for  his  tuition  according  to  the  number 
of  scholars  sent.  As  soon  as  large  enough  to  be  of 
use,  he  was  set  to  work  on  the  farm,  and  by  the 
time  he  attained  his  majority  he  had  acquired  a 
good  insight  into  the  most  practical  methods  of 
farming,  and  when  he  was  twenty-one  he  left  the 
parental  home  to  begin  life  on  his  own  account 
on  rented  land  in  his  native  county.  Two  years 
later,  he  bought  a  farm  of  sixty-five  acres  there, 
upon  which  he  continued  to  live  until  1850.  In 
1849  he  visited  Lee  County  in  search  of  a  suitable 
location,  as  lie  had  determined  to  try  farming  on 
the  fertile  virgin  soil  of  Illinois,  and  he  selected 
four  hundred  and  eighty  acres  of  land  south  of  the 
present  site  of  Compton  and  joining  the  plat.  lie 
instructed  a  man  to  buy  it  for  him  if  he  could  do 
so,  and  returned  to  Pennsylvania  to  spend  the 
winter.  In  the  spring  he  set  out  for  his  new  home, 
with  his  wife  and  six  children,  starting  on  the  long 
and  momentous  journey  April  14,  with  two  pair  of 
horses  and  two  wagons,  and  arriving  at  his  desti- 
nation May  25,  when  he  located  on  the  land  that 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


791 


he  had  previously  selected  and  on  which  he  has 
ever  since  dwelt  in  comfort  and  contentment. 
He  has  been  an  interested  witness  of  almost  the 
entire  growth  of  this  whole  section  of  country,  as 
when  he  came  here  the  few  settlers  that  had  preceded 
him  had  made  but  little  headway  in  reducing  the 
land  to  subjection.  The  prairies  were  as  yet  un- 
inhabited, as  they  were  regarded  as  valueless  as 
places  of  settlement,  and  deer  and  other  wild  ani- 
mals were  to  be  seen  roaming  over  them  and 
through  the  timber.  There  were  no  railways  for 
some  years,  and  Ottawa  was  the  principal  market. 
Mr.  Carnahan  continued  actively  engaged  in 
farming  and  stock-raising,  bringing  his  land  into 
a  fine  condition,  until  1874,  when  he  branched  out 
in  other  directions,  erected  an  elevator  on  his  land, 
a  saw  and  grist  mill,  and  engaged  in  dealing  in 
grain,  in  the  manufacture  of  lumber,  and  in  the 
mercantile  business  generally.  His  business  facil- 
ities were  increased  by  the  railway  company  estab- 
lishing a  station  on  his  land,  known  as  Carnahan's 
Station.  Mr.  Carnahau  continued  in  active  busi- 
ness until  1885,  and  then  retired  to  .all  intents 
and  purposes,  though  he  still  exercises  a  supervis- 
ion over  his  interests.  His  career  is  one  of  which 
he  and  his  may  •  well  be  proud,  as  it  furnishes  an 
example  of  what  may  be  accomplished  by  honest 
purpose  and  persistent  work,  directed  by  sagacious 
forethought  and  a  clear  understanding  of  practical 
business  methods,  which  have  placed  him  in  the 
front  rank  of  the  substantial  men  of  his  township. 
He  is  a  Democrat  in  politics,  who  has  been  un- 
swerving in  his  allegiance  to  his  party,  in  adversity 
as  well  as  in  triumph.  He  has  honorably  served 
as  Justice  of  the  Peace  for  Brooklyn  Township  for 
twenty-one  years,  and  has  been  an  important  agent 
in  preserving  law  and  order  in  the  community. 
He  and  his  amiable  wife  are  faithful  members  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  contribute  liberally 
to  its  support. 

Fifty-six  years  ago,  May  14,  1835,  Mr.  Carnahan 
was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Iloldren, 
and  their  wedded  life  of  unusual  duration  has  been 
one  of  true  happiness.  Mrs.  Carnahan  was  born 
in  Columbia  County,  Pa.,  April  27,  1816,  and  is  a 
daughter  of  Aid  and  Abbie  (De  Mott)  Iloldren. 
Her  union  with  our  subject  has  been  blessed  with 


children,  of  whom  the  following  are  recorded: 
Sarah  married  William  Morgan,  and  they  have 
five  children;  La  Fayette  married  Sarah  Cobb,  and 
they  have  four  children;  Ellen  married  Frank  Cole, 
and  they  have  four  children;  Miranda  married 
Hugh  Ilendershot,  and  they  have  one  child;  Mary, 
who  married  John  Huff,  lost  her  life  in  a  railwa}' 
accident,  and  left  several  children  motherless;  Ab- 
bie, now  Mrs.  Smith  McBride,  has  four  children. 


\IL_  ORACE  LYON,  who  resides  on-  section  33, 
IjjjV)  Lee  Centre  Township,  was  born  in  Saratoga 
l!L0r  County,  N.  Y.,  February  29,  1832,  where  he 
(|y)  passed  his  early  years.  At  the  age  of  twenty 
he  came  to  Illinois,  settling  in  Kane  County,  where 
he  was  engaged  in  farming  with  his  father,  and 
where  he  remained  for  about  ten  years.  He  then 
removed  to  Ogle  County,  where  he  lived  but  one 
season,  coming  from  there  to  Lee  County,  and  set- 
ling  in  Lee  Centre  Township,  where  he  has  been  a 
resident  since  1863.  He  has  always  followed  agri- 
cultural pursuits,  and  is  now  the  owner  of  a  fine 
farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  which  is 
highly  cultivated,  and  on  which  he  has  placed 
many  excellent  improvements. 

Mr.  Lyon  was  married  in  Lee  Center.  May  1, 
1868,  to  Miss  Alwilda  Willey,  who  is  a  native  of 
Warren  County,  Ohio,  born  June  2,  1850.  They 
are  the  parents  of  two  children:  Augy  A.,  who  is  a 
school  teacher  in  this  county;  and  Burton  II.,  who 
married  Miss  Ilattie  Hodges. 
.  The  parents  of  our  subject,  David  and  'Abbie 
(Bouten)  Lyon,  were  natives  of  New  York,  whence 
they  came  to  Kane  County,  111.,  where  the  father 
died  in  1876,  the  mother's  death  taking  place  in 
Saratoga  County,  N.  Y.  The  father  of  Mrs.  Lyon, 
Aaron  B.  Willey,  was  a  native  of  Pennsylvania, 
and  her  mother,  whose  maiden  name  was  Angeline 
Levingston,  was  born  in  Ohio.  The  father  resides 
in  Ellsworth  County,  Kan.,  in  which  place  the 
mother  departed  this  life. 

Mr.  Lyon  is  a  Democrat,  but  has  never  been  an 
ollicc-seeker,  nor  taken  any  active  part  in  political 
affairs.  His  wife  and  daughters  are  members  of 


792 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


the  Baptist  Church  and  are  active  in  all  good 
works.  The  family  have  a  comfortable  home,  and 
Mr.  Lyon  spends  his  time  in  looking  after  the  in- 
terests of  his  farm  and  stock.  He  is  a  lover  of  fine 
horses,  and  takes  an  interest  in  improving  the 
breeding  of  these  animals. 


OTIS  HUNT,  deceased,  was  for  some  years  one 
of  the  prominent  citizens  of  this  county. 
He  was  a  native  of  the  Green  Mountain 
State,  born  in  Bennington  County,  in  1810,  and, 
came  of  an  old  New  England  family.  His  parents 
were  Ezekiel  and  Lamina  (Thaycr)  Hunt,  also  na- 
tives of  Vermont.  Upon  a  farm  in  Beninngton 
County,  they  resided  for  many  years,  and  subse- 
quently removed  to  Bath,  Steuben  County,  N.  Y., 
where  they  spent  their  remaining  days,  passing 
away  at  the  ages  of  seventy-seven  and  seventy-six 
years,  respectively.  Mrs.  Hunt  was  a  member  of 
the  Episcopal  Church,  but  Mr.  Hunt  held  to  no 
creed.  In  politics,  he  was  a  Democrat.  They  had 
a  large  family,  most  of  whom  lived  on  farms  in 
the  Empire  State,  but  none  now  survive. 

Our  subject  was  the  only  one  who  came  to  Lee 
County.  He  was  a  lad  when  his  parents  removed 
to  Bath,  N.  Y.,  where  he  grew  to  manhood  and  ac- 
quired his  education  in  the  public  schools.  After 
attaining  to  mature  years,  he  led  to  the  marriage 
altar  Louisa  Fluent,  a  native  of  Maine,  and  a 
daughter  of  Jeremiah  and  Mehitable  (Dudley) 
Fluent,  who  were  also  born  in  the  Pine  Tree  State, 
of  English  parentage.  From  Bangor,  Me.,  they  re- 
moved to  Bath,  N.  Y.,  where  they  died  when  well 
advanced  in  years.  By  occupation,  Mr.  Fluent 
was  a  farmer,  and  himself  and  wife  were  both  mem- 
bers of  the  Methodist  Church.  Under  the  parental 
roof,  Mrs.  Hunt  spent  the  days  of  her  maidenhood 
until  her  marriage.  She  proved  a  true  and  faith- 
ful helpmate  to  her  husband,  and  was  a  lady  of 
many  excellencies  of  character. 

After  their  marriage,  Mr.  Hunt  removed  with 
his  family  to  Avon,  Livingston  County,  N.  Y., 
where  he  engaged  in  keeping  a  hotel  for  many 


years.  He  came  to  Illinois  in  1861,  and  made  his 
first  purchase  of  land  near  Nachusa  village.  This 
was  a  sixty-six-acre  tract,  which  he  operated  until 
1879,  when  he  sold  out  and  purchased  sixty-seven 
acres  adjoining  the  city  limits  of  Dixon.  Since 
that  time  eleven  acres  have  been  laid  out  into  town 
lots.  To  the  cultivation  and  improvement  of  that 
farm,  Mr.  Hunt  devoted  his  energies  until  his 
death.  He  had  been  willed  upon  to  mourn  the  loss 
of  his  wife  in  1864,  she  having  died  at  their  home 
in  Nachusa  Township,  at  the  age  of  fifty-nine 
years.  Religiously,  she  was  a  Universalist.  Mr. 
Hunt  was  called  to  his  final  rest  on  the  2d  of  No- 
vember, 1882,  and  died  respected  by  all  who  knew 
him.  He  had  been  a  valued  citizen  of  the  commu- 
nity, a  public-spirited  and  progressive  man,  and 
had  ever  borne  his  part  in  the  upbuilding  of  the 
county,  and  the  promotion  of  those  interests  cal- 
culated to  advance  the  general  welfare.  In  poli- 
tics, he  was  a  Democrat. 

Unto  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hunt  were  born  five  children, 
one  of  whom  is  now  deceased — Barbara,  who  be- 
came the  wife  of  Timothy  Moore,  and  died  in 
Dixon  at  the  age  of  forty  years,  leaving  one  son, 
Otis,  a  promising  young  man,  now  living  with  his 
aunts.  The  surviving  members  of  the  family  are 
Cordelia,  Keren  and  Elizabeth,  who  live  on  the  old 
home  place,  and  Louise,  wife  of  George  W.  Kessler, 
a  resident  farmer  of  Daphne,  Ala.  The  sisters  are 
all  intelligent  and  cultured  ladies,  and  are  mem- 
bers of  the  Universalist  Church.  They  have  a 
pleasant  home  in  Dixon,  and  have  many  friends 
throughout  the  community. 


JOHN  LEONARD  LUTZ.     Thirty  two  years 
have  gone   by    with    their   many    changes 
since   John    Leonard    Lutz   came    to    Lee 
County  at   the  age  of   twenty   years.     He 
brought  here  no  capital,  with  the  exception    of  a 
few  dollars  carefully  saved  from  previous  earnings, 
but  he  had  within  himself  resources  that  stood  him 
in  good  stead,  and   fortune  has  crowned  his  dili- 
gence with  comparative  wealth.  To-day  he  occupies 
a  front  rank  among  the  farmers  and    stock-raisers 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


793 


of  Willow  Creek  Township,  where  he  has  a  farm 
equal  in  improvements  to  the  best;  and  he  is  also  a 
leading  horticulturist,  owning  and  successfully 
managing  a  very  fine  nursery. 

Our  subject  was  born  in  the  town  of  Wernetz 
Land,  Geric.ht-Rodenburg,  Kingdom  of  Bavaria,, 
May  1,1839.  His  father,  who  bore  the  name  of 
Leonard  Michael  Lutz,  was  also  a  Bavarian,  and 
was  bom  in  the  city  of  Hoff,  in  1794.  The  grand- 
father of  our  subject,  who  was  a  life-long  resident 
of  Bavaria,  was  a  weaver  by  trade,  and  he  died  in 
the  Valley  of  Wernetz. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  serving  his  time 
as  a  soldier,  according  to  the  customs  of  his  coun- 
try, during  the  great  European  war  in  the  early 
part  of  this  century  that  witnessed  the  down-fall 
of  the  great  Napoleon.  After  that  ho  followed  his 
trade  as  a  tailor  in  Bavaria  until  1845,  when  he 
came  to  America,  accompanied  by  four  of  his  chil- 
dren. They  set  sail  from  Rotterdam  in  October, 
in  the  ship  "Manchester,"  and  landed  at  Philadel- 
phia, January  9,  1846.  The  father  found  employ- 
ment at  his  trade  in  the  Quaker  City,  and  continued 
to  live  there  a  few  years.  He  then  decided  to  try 
farming,  and  was  thus  engaged  his  remaining  days, 
on  the  farm  that  he  bought  in  Montgomery 
County,  Pa.,  where  his  death  occurred  in  1877.  He 
was  twice  married,  and  two  children  were  born  of 
his  first  marriage — Margaret  and  John  Frederick; 
and  two  by  his  second  marriage — -our  subject  and 
his  sister,  Anna  Barbara.  The  mother  of  our  sub- 
ject, whose  maiden  name  was  Anna  Mary  Piffer, 
died  in  Bavaria,  her  native  land,  in  1843..  A  brother 
of  the  father  of  our  subject,  named  John  Frederick, 
came  to  this  country  and  spent  the  remainder  of 
his  life  in  Philadelphia. 

He  of  whom  these  lines  are  principally  written 
was  in  his  seven tii  year  when  he  came  to  the  United 
States  with  his  father,. and  still  retains  a  distinct 
recollection  of  his  native  land  and  of  the  long 
ocean  voyage  that  preceded  their  settlement  here. 
He  attended  the  city  schools  of  Philadelphia  quite 
steadily  until  he  was  twelve  years  old,  and  at  that 
youthful  age  commenced  working  in  a  cotton  fac- 
tory, receiving  $1  a  week  and  his  board  for  his  ser- 
vices. In  a  short  time  the  mill  suspended  opera- 
tions, and  he  then  found  employment  in  a  saw  and 


turning  mill  for  two  years.  After  that  he  tried  his 
hand  at  butchering.  In  1855  he  went  to  New 
Jersey,  and  for  a  year  worked  by  the  month  on  a 
farm  in  that  State.  At  the  expiration  of  that  time, 
he  returned  to  his  father's  home  in  Montgomery 
County,  Pa.,  and  assisted  him  in  his  farm  work  for 
awhile.  A  year  later  he  returned  to  New  Jersey, 
whence  he  came  to  Illinois  in  1859. 

As  his  entire  wealth  at  that  time  was  comprised 
in  thfe  sum  of  $30,  he  had  to  look  around  to  find 
employment  whereby  he  could  earn  his  living,  and 
he  obtained  a  situation  as  a  farm  hand  for  John 
Gilmore,  of  Malugin's  Grove.  He  worked  for  him 
eight  mouths,  and  then  commenced  life  for  himself 
as  a  farmer  on  rented  land.  Four  years  later,  he 
had  done  so  well  in  that  venture  he  was  enabled  to 
buy  eighty  acres  of  land  on  section  6,  Willow 
Creek  Township,  which  has  ever  since  remained  in 
his  possession.  At  the  time  of  purchase,  a  small 
frame  house,  12x16  feet  in  dimensions  and  a  story 
and  a  half  high,  stood  on  the  place,  and  a  part  of 
the  land  was  under  cultivation.  That  humble 
dwelling  has  been  replaced  by  a  fine  set  of  com- 
modious frame  buildings,  and  not  a  farm  in  its  vi- 
cinity has  a  better  class  of  improvements. 

Mr.  Lutz  has  added  to  his  landed  possessions 
from  time  to  time,  and  now  has  three  hundred  and 
seventy-five  acres  of  good  land.  He  is  carrying 
on  a  thriving  business  as  a  general  farmer  and 
stock-raiser,  and  also  devotes  some  of  his  laud  to 
horticultural  purposes.  He  started  his  nursery  in 
a  small  way  as  far  back  as  the  year  1868,  and  for 
twenty  years  and  more  has  paid  particular  atten- 
tion to  the  propagation  of  trees  and  to  fruit-grow- 
ing. He  has  made  a  careful  study  of  the  subjects, 
reading  all  the  best  books  concerning  them,  and  no 
man  in  the  county  is  better  informed  as  to  the  best 
methods  of  managing  a  nursery  than  he. 

Our  subject  was  married  in  October,  1862,  to 
Anna  Mary  Barbara  Haeilmaiar,  who  was  born  in 
Bavaria  near  the  same  locality  which  is  his  birth- 
place. They  have  eight  children,  namely:  Mary, 
Emelia  E.,  Anna,  John  L.,  Johanna,  George  M., 
Lawrence  H.,  and  Bertha.  Mary  married  Lewis 
Strack,  and  they  have  five  children:  Leonard,  Julia 
May  and  Fay  (twins),  Amelia  and  one  yet  un- 
named. Emelia  married  Henry  Loptiner,  and  they 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


have  three  children:  Walter  C.,  Bertha  and  Law- 
rence W.  Anna  married  Thomas  Kettlejr,  and  they 
have  one  child,  Ada. 

Mr.  Lutz  was  reared  in  the  Moravian  Church 
and  Mrs.  Lutz  in  the  Lutheran,  but  both  are  now 
members  of  the  Evangelical  Association,  and  in 
their  every  day  walk  show  themselves  to  be  true 
Christians.  Our  subject  is  a  keen  observer,  and  has 
acquired  many  a  useful  lesson  from  nature  as  well 
as  from  books,  is  well  posted  in  topics  of  general 
interest,  and  his  progressive  spirit  adds  to  his  value 
as  a  citizen  who  is  desirous  to  promote  the  interests 
of  his  community. 


§HOMAS  ELLIOTT.  A  distinguished  writer 
has  lamented  the  decay  of  that  strength  of 
individual  character  which  has  been  the 
glory  of  the  English  nation.  But  if  we  may  be 
allowed  to  judge  from  .the  class  of  people  who 
have  emigrated  from  that  country  to  the  United 
States,  there  never  was  an  age  which  so  little  justi- 
fied the  lament  as  the  present.  The  qualities  of 
determination  and  perseverance,  which  so  distin- 
guish the  English  in  whatever  portion  of  the 
earth  they  may  reside,  have  contributed  largely  to 
the  success  that  almost  invariably  attends  their  ef- 
forts in  this  country. 

Many  of  the  prominent  residents  of  this  county 
are  English  by  birth  or  parentage,  and  notable 
among  them  is  Mr.  Elliott,  who  is  operating  as  a 
farmer  on  section  36,  Amboy  Township.  He  was 
born  in  Devonshire,  England,  August  16,  1823, 
and  passed  the  early  years  of  his  life  in  the  land 
of  his  birth.  His  father,  Richard,  was  a  farmer 
and  the  youth  of  our  subject  was  an  uneventful 
one,  passed  in  a  similar  manner  to  that  of  most 
farmers'  boys.  At  the  age  of  twenty  years,  he 
emigrated  to  America,  coming  to  Phcenixvillo. 
Pa.,  and  engaging  in  making  railroad  iron  in  the 
iron  works.  For  fourteen  years  he  sojourned  in 
the  Keystone  State  and  meanwhile  made  three  visits 
to  the  Old  Country,  which  occupied  somewhat  more 
than  a  year. 
Upon  leaving  Phcenixville,  Mr.  Elliott  came  to 


this  county  and,  purchasing  a  farm  in  May  Town- 
ship operated  there  as  a  farmer  for  about  fourteen 
years.  He  improved  his  place  and  was  enabled  to 
sell  it  at  a  fair  advance  on  its  original  cost,  at  the 
time  of  his  removal  to  Amboy  Township.  The 
buildings  on  his  farm,  most  of  which  are  first-class, 
have  principally  been  erected  by  himself.  His 
industrious  life  has  brought  its  own  reward  in  the 
possession  of  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres, 
located  partly  in  May  Township  and  partly  in 
Amboy  Township.  Since  coming  to  this  county, 
he  has  engaged  exclusively  in  agricultural  opera- 
tions and  stock-raising,  and  is  a  thoroughly  prac- 
tical and  successful  farmer. 

Mr.  Elliott  was  married  in  Devonshire,  England, 
to  -Miss  Charlotte  Nicholls,  who  was  born  at  that 
place  in  April,  1830.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Elliott  have 
five  surviving  children,  namely:  Emily,  Richard 
J.,  Albert  H.,  Charles  W.  and  Alfred  M.  They 
have  suffered  a  deep  bereavement  in  the  death  of 
five  children,  four  of  whom  passed  away  in  in- 
fancy, while  Thomas  G.  died  when  seventeen  years 
old.  The  parents  of  Mrs.  Elliott  were  Geoffrey 
and  Isabella  (Almond)  Nicholls,  natives  of  Devon- 
shire, England,  who  passed  their  entire  lives  in 
their  native  shire.  The  parents  of  Mr.  Elliott  were 
Richard  and  Mary  (Foote)  Elliott,  who  likewise 
lived  and  died  in  Devonshire,  and  were  worthy 
people,  highly  esteemed  in  the  community  where 
they  resided.  In  his  political  belief,  Mr.  Elliott  is 
a  Democrat,  and  has  served  as  School  Dirctor  »s 
well  as  having  been  the  incumbent  of  other  minor 
offices  in  the  township. 


ACOB  EB1NGER,  whose  death  occurred 
January  28,  1 880,  had  been  for  some  years 
a  resident  of  Dixon,  and  bore  the  character 
of  an  upright  and  honest  man.  He  was 
born  in  Wurtemberg,  Germany,  near  Stuttgart,  in 
1825.  He  came  of  pure  German  ancestry  and  was 
reared  and  educated  in  the  excellent  schools  of  his 
native  city.  He  learned  the  printer's  trade  in  the 
Old  Country  and  carried  it  on  in  connection  with 
his  other  business  after  coming  to  the  United 


PORTE  AIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


795 


Slates.  He  resided  for  some  time  iu  the  East,  where 
lie  was  married,  subsequently  coming  to  Dixon, 
whore  lie  established  a  hardware  store  on  the  cor- 
ner of  First  Street  and  Galena  Avenue,  continuing 
in  business  at  that  place  for  a  number  of  years, 
during  which  time  he  erected  a  large  business 
block  on  the  same  location,  which  is  one  of  the 
principal  corners  in  the  city  and  which  establish- 
ment he  was  carrying  on  at  the  time  of  his  death. 

Mr.  Ebinger  was  a  second  time  married,  in 
Dixon,  to  Miss  Henrietta  Raasch,  who  was  a  native 
of  Germany  and  a  daughter  of  John  and  Louisa 
(Bishoff)  Raasch.  Her  parents  came  with  their 
family  to  the  United  States  and  settled  in  Wiscon- 
sin where  the  father  and  mother  died  at  a  good  old 
age.  They  were  members  of  the  Lutheran  Church. 
Mrs.  Ebinger  has  proved  a  worthy  helpmate  to  her 
husband,  assisting  him  to  the  utmost  of  her  ability 
in  accumulating  the  comfortable  fortune  which  she 
is  now  left  to  enjoy.  She  has  full  possession  of 
the  property  left  by  her  husband,  and  manages  it 
with  great  ability.  Likelier  parents, she  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Lutheran  Church.  She  has  a  foster 
child  to  whom  she  has  proved  a  kind  and  loving 
mother — Anna  Geiessenheimer,  who  is  acting  as 
clerk  for  Brubaker  &  Carpenter. 

Mr.  Ebinger  was  a  member  of  the  Masonic  order 
and  in  politics  was  a  Democrat.  He  was  an  ener- 
getic, hard-working  man  and  his  success  was  the 
results  of  his  own  efforts. 


PLETCHEK  SEAVEY,  who  is  engaged  in 
general  farming  on  section  23,  Palmyra 
Township,  is  a  native  of  the  old  Granite 
State,  his  birth  having  occurred  at  Sandwich,  on 
the  2d  of  September,  1839.  His  grandfather, 
Joshua  A.  Seavey,  was  born  in  Rye,  N.  H.,  of  New 
England  parentage,  the  family  being  of  English 
origin.  He  followed  a  sea-faring  life,  and  becom- 
ing master  of  a  vessel  was  known  as  Capt.  Scavey. 
His  last  years  were  spent  in  Illinois,  whither  he 
came  with  his  son  Jesse,  his  deatli  occurring  in 
Palmyra  Township,  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty- 


five  years.  He  had  married  a  New  Hampshire 
lady,  Betsy  Webster,  who  died  in  this  community 
at  the  age  of  eighty-three  years. 

The  family  of  this  worthy  couple  numbered 
eleven  children,  all  of  whom  were  married  and 
reached  the  age  of  fifty  years,  but  none  are  now 
living.  One  of  the  number,  Asa  A.  Seavey,  was 
the  father  of  our  subject.  He  also  was  born  in 
Stratford  County,  N.H.,  where  he  was  reared  to 
farm  life.  In  the  county  of  his  nativity ,he  married 
Ruth  Ricker,  a  native  of  Sandwich,  N.  H.,  belong- 
ing to  one  of  the  early  families  of  that  State.  After 
the  birth  of  six  children,  they  came  to  Illinois, 
where  the  family  circle  was  increased  by  the  birth 
of  another  child.  Of  this  number  four  are  yet 
living,  Fletcher  being  the  eldest.  The  mother  died 
in  Palmyra  Township  in  1875,  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
one  years;  and  Mr.  Seavey  was  called  to  his  final 
home  when  a  resident  of  Ogle  County,  in  1887, 
aged  seventy-two  3-ears.  As  consistent  members 
of  the  Methodist  Church,  they  lived  upright  lives 
and  won  the  high  regard  of  all. 

We  now  take  up  the  personal  history  of  Fletcher 
Seavey,  a  well-known  farmer  of  Palmyra  Township, 
who  has  resided  in  Lee  County  since  his  fifteenth 
year.  During  the  late  war,  he  responded  to  the 
country's  call  for  troops  in  1863,  enlisting  among 
the  boys  in  blue  of  Company  D,  One  Hundred  and 
Fortieth  Illinois  Infantry,  under  Capt.  Frank 
Smith  aud  Col.  Whitney.  The  company  and  regi- 
ment were  organized  in  Dixon  and  at  once  marched 
to  the  front,  joining  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee 
under  Gen.  Sherman.  These  troops  fought  J;he 
guerrillas  in  the  South,  and  guarded  the  railroads 
for  some  months,  after  which  they  participated  in 
the  battle  of  Nashville,  and  other  engagements  of 
less  importance.  Our  subject  escaped  unhurt  and 
was  able  to  report  for  duty  every  day  of  his  ser- 
vice. When  the  war  was  over,  he  returned  to  his 
home  and  once  more  resumed  operations  as  a 
farmer. 

A  marriage  ceremony,  performed  in  Palmyra 
Township  November,  9,  1862,  united  the  destinies 
of  Fletcher  Seavey  and  Eveline  Eastwood,  who 
was  born  on  her  father's  farm  in  this  township  in 
1843.  She  is  a  daughter  of  Reuben  and  Minerva 
(McKlheny)  Eastwood,  both  of  whom  died  in  Pal- 


796 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


myra  Township,  at  about  the  age  of  sixty  years. 
They  were  natives  of  the  Empire  State,  where  their 
childhood  was  passed  and  soon  after  their  marriage 
they  left  the  East  for  Illinois,  becoming  pioneers 
of  Lee  County.  In  politics,  Mr.  Eastwood  was  a 
stanch  Democrat,  who  labored  untiringly  for  the 
success  of  his  party. 

Mrs.  Seavey  has  three  brothers  and  two  sisters 
who  are  yet  living.  By  her  marriage  she  has  be- 
come the  mother  of  seven  children:  Eda  B.,  wife 
of  James  H.  Honey,  a  farmer  of  Nachusa  Town- 
ship; Harry  C.,  who  assists  his  father;  Fred  A.,  a 
botanist  and  school-teacher  of  Los  Angeles  County, 
Cal.;  Allen  E.  at  home;  Clyde  L.,  who  resides  with 
his  brother  Fred;  Ruth  M.  and  Esma  L.,  who  are 
still  with  their  parents. 

This  family  is  one  of  high  repute  in  the  com- 
munity where  they  reside.  Their  home  is  situated 
on  section  23,  Palmyra  Township,  where  Mr.  Sea- 
vey owns  a  valuable  farm  of  one  hundred  and 
forty  acres.  He  has  here  resided  since  1854,  when, 
obtaining  possession  of  a  tract  of  wild  land  upon 
which  not  a  furrow  had  been  turned  or  an  im- 
provement made,  he  began  its  development.  We 
to-day  see  the  result  of  his  labors  in  the  highly 
improved  farm  which  now  yields  to  him  a  golden 
tribute.  He  certainly  deserves  great  credit  for  his 
success,  which  is  due  entirely  to  his  own  efforts.  In 
politics  he  is  a  Republican  with  strong  Prohibition 
sentiments  and  has  held  the  office  of  Assessor  of 
his  township. 


JF_ENRY  EMMERT,  a  well-to-do  farmer  and 
lf)l)  resPec^e<^  citizen  of  Nachusa  Township,  re- 
ub?7  siding  on  section  5,  is  numbered  among 
(j|»|  the  early  settlers  of  the  county,  whither  he 
came  when  a  young  man  in  1846.  With  its  his- 
tory he  has  since  been  identified,  and  with  the 
work  of  development  has  been  closely  connected. 
Its  progress  he  has  watched  with  interest  and  has 
ever  borne  his  part  in  the  advancement  of  those 
enterprises  calculated  to  promote  the  general  wel- 
fare. 

Mr.  Emmert,  a  native  of  Beaver  Creek,  Washing- 


ton County,  Md-.,  was  born  January  22,  1819,  and 
is  one  of  nine  children,  whose  parents  were  Rev. 
Joseph  and  Catherine  (Avey)  Emmert,  the  former 
a  native  of  York,  Pa.,  and  the  latter  born  in  Mary- 
land, of  German  descent.  Rev.  Mr.  Emmert  was  a 
son  of  a  Pennsylvania  citizen,  whose  family  had 
settled  in  the  Keystone  State  after  emigrating  to 
America  from  Germany,  his  native  land.  The  father 
of  our  subject  grew  to  manhood  in  the  State  of 
his  nativity  and  turned  his  attention  to  agricul- 
tural pursuits.  After  his  marriage  he  became  a 
minister  of  the  German  Baptist  Church  and  settled 
on  a  farm  in  Washington  County,  Md.  He  there 
continued  to  make  his  home  for  some  years,  in  the 
meantime  traveling  through  that  State  and  Penn- 
sylvania, preaching  the  gospel.  He  came  to  Illi- 
nois in  1846,  and  was  the  foVinder  of  the  German 
Baptist  Churches  in  this  part  of  the  county.  His 
interest  in  the- work  never  abated,  although  in  his 
later  life  he  could  not  so  actively  engage  in  minis- 
teral  labors.  He  was  a  devout  Christian,  conse- 
crated to  the  work  and  was  held  in  the  highest  re- 
gard by  all  who  knew  him.  The  poor  and  need}' 
found  in  him  a  friend,  and  he  won  the  love  of  all. 
He  died  at  the  home  of  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Christian 
Lahman,  in  Nachusa  Township,  when  nearly  eighty 
years  of  age.  His  wife  survived  him  some  time 
and  also  spent  her  last  days  in  her  daughter's 
home.  Her  death  occurred  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
five  years.  She  was  also  a  consistent  member  of 
the  German  Baptist  Church,  and  like  her  husband, 
delighted  in  doing  good.  All  of  their  children 
grew  to  manhood  and  womanhood  and  were  married 
and  four  of  the  nine  are  yet  living. 

Under  the  parental  roof  Henry  Emmert  spent 
the  days  of  his  boyhood,  being  carefully  reared  by 
his  worthy  parents.  He  was  yet  a  single  man 
when  he  came  to  Illinois,  where  he  began  life  as  a 
farmer.  He  entered  eighty  acres  of  land  from  the 
Government,  but  afterward  disposed  of  this  and 
purchased  elsewhere,  His  arrangements  and  perp- 
arations  for  a  home  were  further  completed  by  his 
marriage  with  Miss  Mary  Kesseler.  The  lady  was 
born  in  Darke  County,  Ohio,  April  1,  1831,  and  is 
a  daughter  of  Benjamin  and  Sarah  (Burket) 
Kcsseler.  Her  parents  were  natives  of  North 
Carolina,  but  wedded  in  Ohio,  and  began  their 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


797 


domestic  life  in  Darke  County,  that  State,  in  1849. 
Joseph  Kesseler,  the  grandfather,  was  descended 
from  ancestors  from  Switzerland  and  died  in  North 
Carolina.  On  coming  to  Illinois  the  parents  of 
Mrs.  Emmert  located  on  a  new  farm  in  Nachusa 
Township,  where  the  mother  died  many  years  ago. 
The  father  afterward  returned  to  Maryland, 
where  he  was  joined  in  wedlock  with  Miss  Cather- 
ine Cronize.  They  now  reside  in  Frederick 
County,  that  State,  Mr.  Kesseler  being  eighty-five 
years  of  age.  Both  are  members  of  the  German 
Baptist  Church. 

Mrs.  Emmert  is  one  of  a  family  of  two  sons  and 
three  daughters.  Her  sisters  are  now  deceased, 
but  her  brothers  are  yet  living.  Her  union  has 
been  blessed  with  nine  children,  but  they  lost 
three:  Jennie,  Joseph  and  Lora.  Sarah,  is  now  the 
wife  of  Joseph  Johnson,  of  Nachusa;  Anna  E.,  is 
at  home;  George  R.,  is  now  clerking  in  Nachusa; 
II.  Hugh,  F.  Frederick  and  Jesse  T.,  are  still  under 
the  parental  roof.  The  parents  arc  both  members 
of  the  German  Baptist  Church,  and  in  his  political 
views,  Mr.  Emmert  is  a  Republican. 

Whatever  success  our  subject  has  attained  in 
life,  is  due  to  his  own  efforts.  He  has  worked  his 
way  upward  to  a  position  of  wealth  and  affluence, 
being  recognized  as  one  of  the  substantial  farmers 
and  stock-raisers  of  his  township.  His  farm  com- 
prising one  hundred  and  eighty-six  acres,  is  a 
valuable  one,  highly  cultivated  and  well  improved, 
and  thereon  he  has  resided  since  1852.  lie  also 
owns  a  timbered  tract  of  ten  acres  in  China  Town- 
ship. 


JSAIAH  STAINBROOK,  a  member  of  the  farm- 
ing community  of  Lee  County,  has  owned 
and  occupied  his  present  farm  in  Viola  Town- 
ship for  nearly  thirty  years.  He  is  a  native  of 
Crawford  County,  Pa.,  and  was  born  May  6,  1835. 
His  father,  George  Frederick  Stainbrook,  a  vener- 
able resident  of  Wyoming  Township,  was  also  a 
native  of  Crawford  County,  while  his  father,  John 
Stainbrook  was  of  German  birth.  lie  came  to 
this  country  witli  his  parents  in  early  life,  and  was 
married  in  Pennsylvania  to  Elizabeth  Kightlinger, 


a  native  of  that  State.  He  always  fol'owed  farm- 
ing, and  spent  his  last  years  in  Crawford  County. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  reared  and  married, 
and  resided  in  his  native  county  until  1857.  In 
that  year  he  migrated  to  Illinois,  and  buying  a 
farm  in  Wyoming  Township,  still  makes  it  his 
home.  He  is  yery  old,  having  attained  the 
advanced  age  of  ninety-five  years.  His  wife, 
Susan  Baird,  daughter  of  Joseph  Baird,  was  born, 
reared  and  died  in  Crawford  County,  Pa.,  her  death 
occurring  in  1837. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  passed  his  early  years 
in  the  State  of  his  birth,  and  was  educated  in  the 
public  schools.  In  1856  he  left  his  old  home  to 
found  a  new  one  in  the  great  Prairie  State.  lie 
worked  out  by  the  month  in  Lee  County  until 
1860,  when  he  went  to  Princeton,  Bureau  County, 
and  was  employed  on  a  farm  there  two  3'ears. 
Returning  to  this  county  at  the  expiration  of  that 
time,  he  invested  his  money  in  the  farm  on  which 
he  now  resides,  which  contains  a  quarter  section 
of  excellent  farming  land.  February  22,  1865,  he 
enlisted  in  Company  F,  One  Hundred  and  Fifty- 
third  Illinois  Volunteers  at  Mendota  111.,  and  was 
mustered  out  at  Springfield,  111.,  September  22, 
the  same  year. 

Mr.  Stainbrook  was  married  in  October,  1857,  to 
Miss  Isabelle  Davison,  a  native  of  Onondago 
County,  N.  Y.  Her  father,  William  Davison,  was 
born  in  County  Down,  Ireland,  and  his  fattier,  who 
bore  the  same  name  as  himself,  was  born  either  in 
that  country  or  in  Scotland,  he  being  of  Scottish 
antecedents.  He  came  to  America  in  1825,  and 
located  near  Kingston,  Canada.  Mrs.  Stainbrook  'a 
fatli£r  was  born  and  reared  on  his  native  isle,  and 
on  coming  to  this  country  located  in  Onondago 
County,  N.  Y.,  where  he  engaged  in  farming.  A 
few  years  later  he  removed  to  the  Province  of 
Ontario,  Canada,  and  there  remained  until  1851. 
In  that  year  he  came  to  Illinois,  and  settled  among 
the  pioneers  of  Viola  Township,  the  removal 
hither  being  made  by  the  lakes  to  Chicago,  and 
from  there  by  team  to  this  county.  At  that  time 
there  were  no  railways  here,  and  the  abundance  of 
deer  and  other  wild  animals  denoted  that  the 
country  was  still  in  a  sparsely  settled  condition. 
Mr.  Davison  bought  a  tract  of  wild  land,  and  im- 


79K 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


proved  a  good  farm,  on  which  he  lived  until  his 
demise.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  Mary 
Wallace.  She  was  born  in  Scotland,  and  was  a 
daughter  of  James  and  Mary  Wallace.  She  died 
on  the  home  farm  at  a  ripe  age.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Stainbrook  have  four  children,  namely:  George, 
William,  Mary  E.  and  Jane. 


*lj|LLEN  WEIGLE.  This  gentleman,  who 
OY  I  opiTates  a  well-kept  and  carefully  con- 

jnfi  ducted  meat  market,  located  on  Galena 
^jjjl  Avenue  ut  Dixon,  also  carries  on  an  exten- 
sive ice  business.  He  has  been  engaged  in  the 
former  occupation  since  1866,  and  during  that 
time  was  for  some  years  in  partnership  with  his 
brother  Henry. 

Mr.  Weigle  was  born  in  Allentown,  Pa.,  January 
3,  1844,  where  he  was  reared  and  educated.  His 
father,  David  Weigle,  was  a  native  of  Germany, 
where  he  learned  the  trade  of  a  butcher,  and  when 
a  young  man  came  to  the  United  States,  settling 
in  Eastern  Pennsylvania,  where  he  was  married. 
After  their  marriage  this  worthy  couple  spent 
most  of  their  lives  in  Allentown  Pa.,  and  there 
died  when  quite  old  people.  They  were  both  mem- 
bers of  the  Lutheran  Church.  Mr.  Weigle  was 
formerly  a  Democrat  but  in  his  later  years  became 
a  member  of  the  Republican  party. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  served  for  three  years 
in  the  War  of  the  Rebellion,  enlisting  in  1861  at 
Philadelphia  in  the  Second  Pennsylvania  Heavy 
Artillery,  it  being  the  one  hundred  and  twelfth 
regiment  organized  in  the  State  of  Pennsylvania. 
Col.  Gibson  of  the  regular  army  was  in  command 
of  his  regiment  which  was  attached  to  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac  and  James  River.  Mr.  Weigle  took  part 
in  the  battles  of  the  Wilderness,  Cold  Harbor, 
City  Point  and  Petersburg  and  had  many  narrow 
escapes  from  death.  At  Cold  Harbor  a  musket 
ball  passed  through  his  hat  just  grazing  the  top 
of  his  head.  He  was  captured  at  the  battle  of 
Petersburg,  but  in  half  an  hour  afterward,  he  and 
a  comrade  by  the  name  of  Weaver,  planned  and 


succeeded  in  making  good  their  escape  and  returned 
safely  to  their  regiment.  This  was  a  close  call,  as 
had  he  not  escaped  when  he  did  he  would  have 
served  a  term  of  imprisonment  in  the  terrible 
prisons  of  the  South. 

Mr.  Weigle  was  married  in  Dixon  in  February, 
1866,  to  Miss  Mary  Nelig,  who  was  born  in  Allen- 
town,  Pa.,  but  grew  to  womanhood  in  Illinois, 
having  come  to  this  county  with  E.  B.  Stiles  when 
quite  young.  She  is  well  educated  and  an  intell- 
igent woman.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Weigle  have  had 
born  to  them  seven  children,  of  whom  one,  Charles, 
died  when  four  3'ears  old.  Those  living  are  Estella, 
Sarah,  Addie,  Florence,  Olive,  and  Ray  A.,  all  at 
home.  This  worthy  couple  are  among  the  highly 
respected  citizens  of  Dixon.  Mrs.  Weigle  is  a 
member  of  the  Methodist  Church  and  active  in  its 
good  works.  In  politics  Mr.  Weigle  affiliates  with 
the  Republican  party. 


JAMES  McKENNEY  was  bom  in  the  Province 
of  Ontario,  Canada,  in    1804,  and  died  at 
his  home  in   Dixon,  April  7,  1864.     For  a 
record  of  the  family  history,  the  reader  is 
referred  to  the  biographical  sketch  of  Fred  McKen- 
ney.     Our  subject  was  a  young  man  when  he  came 
from  Canada   to  the  State  of  Illinois  and  began 
life  in  Dixon  as  a  merchant,  being  thus  engaged 
for  many  years  with  great  success.     Later  he  fol- 
lowed the   occupation    of   a   liveryman  and    was 
thus  employed  at  the  time  of  his  death. 

As  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  Dixou  and  one  of 
its  most  prominent  citizens,  Mr.  McKenney  occu- 
pied a  high  place  in  the  esteem  of  the  people  of 
the  city  and  county.  In  his  religious  views  he 
was  liberal,  holding  to  no  creed.  His  political  pref- 
erence brought  him  into  close  sympathy  with  the 
principles  of  the  Republican  party  and  he  uni- 
formly voted  that  ticket.  His  marriage,  which  took 
place  at  Franklin  Grove,  January  1,  1840,  united 
him  with  Miss  Harriet  Whitney,  who  is  a  woman 
of  noble  character  and  unusual  executive  ability, 
having  since  the  death  of  her  husband  carefully 
and  successfully  looked  after  his  large  landed  in- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


799 


terests.  She  possesses  a  vein  of  true  love  for  the 
spiritual  world  and  adheres  to  the  faith  of  scien 
.  tific  Spiritualism. 

The  marriage  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  McKenney  was 
blessed  by  the  birth  of  five  children,  one  of  whom — 
Charles  R. — died  at  the  age  of  three  and  one-half 
years.  Josephine,  wife  of  Hobart  Wicks,  resides 
in  St.  Louis;  Georgia  A.  married  Dr.  Winn,a  prom- 
inent physician  of  Dixon;  Corelia  is  the  widow  of 
Charles  A.  Baker,  and  makes  her  home  in  St.  Louis; 
Mr.  Baker  was  Overseer  for  the  Moline  Milburn 
Stoddard  Manufacturing  Company,  of  Minneapolis, 
Minn.,  where  his  death  occurred;  Stella  is  the  wife 
of  Thomas  J.  Stephen,  manager  of  Shepherd's 
House  Papering  Company,  of  Kansas  City,  Mo. 


JOHN  HOCTOR,  now  living  a  retired  life  in 
Amboy,  located  in  that  place  in  August, 
$56.  He  is  a  native  of  County  Tipperary, 
Ireland,  having  been  born  there  June  13, 
1826.  He  is  a  son  of  Patrick  and  Mary  (Howe) 
Hoctor,  both  of  whom  passed  their  last  days  in 
their  native  land.  They  were  the  parents  of  four 
children:  Mary,  who  still  resides  in  Ireland,  mar- 
ried James  Corrigan;  our  subject,  who  is  the  second 
in  order  of  birth;  Patrick,  who  went  as  a  British 
soldier  to  the  West  Indies  where  he  died,  and  Mar- 
garet, who  resides  in  Australia. 

Our  subject  was  the  only  member  of  the  family 
to  emigrate  to  the  United  States,  and  on  coming 
hither,  in  1853,  stopped  for  a  time  in  Philadelphia 
where  he  was  married  to  a  lady  who  was  also  a 
native  of  County  Tipperary  and  who  came  to  the 
New  World  in  1850.  When  in  Philadelphia,  Mr. 
Hoctor  was  engaged  as  a  day  laborer,  and  in  1856, 
as  before  stated,  he  came  to  Amboj',  being  in  the 
employ  of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad,  working 
in  the  blacksmith  shop. 

In  1861,  the  outbreak  of  the  late  war,  he  of 
whom  we  write  enlisted  in  Company  C,  Thirteenth 
Illinois  Infantr}',  and  first  saw  active  service  in 
Missouri.  Then  followed  the  battles  of  Chickasaw 
Bayou,  Miss.;  Arkansas  Post,  Jackson,  Miss.;  assault 
40 


and  siege  of  Vicksburg;  Tuscumbia,  Ala.;  Lookout 
Mountain,  Mission  Ridge,  Ringgold  Gap  and  Madi- 
son, Ala.  After  a  service  of  three  years,  his  term 
of  service  having  expired,  Mr.  Hoctor  was  on  his 
way  home  when  at  Madison,  Ala.,  he  was  taken 
prisoner,  robbed  of  his  money  and  clothing,  and 
held  in  bondage  until  April  16,  1865. 

On  returning  again  to  the  peaceful  pursuits  of 
life,  our  subject  entered  the  employ  of  the  Illinois 
Central  Railroad  with  whom  he  continued  until 
1885,  making  in  all  a  period  of  twenty -seven  years. 
He  is  the  proprietor  of  two  farms  of  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres,  to  which  he  gives  his  personal  at- 
tention. In  politics,  he  votes  the  Democratic 
ticket  and  served  his  fellow-townsmen  as  Road 
Commissioner  for  three  years.  In  religious  affairs 
he  is  a  Roman  Catholic.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hoctor 
have  been  born  six  children,  the  eldest  of  whom 
died  when  young.  Daniel  is  a  blacksmith  in  Chi- 
cago; John  was  killed  near  Elkhorn,  Neb.,  meeting 
his  death  on  the  cars,  at  the  age  of  twenty- three 
years.  The  remainder  of  the  family  are  Mary, 
William  and  James.  Mr.  Hoctor  is  what  may  be 
termed  a  self-made  man,  as  he  came  to  Amboy 
poor  in  this  world's  goods,  but  now  ranks  among 
the  representative  citizens  of  the  count}'. 


AMES  W.  RICHARDSON,  who  was  Presi- 
dent of  the  village  of  Ashton  for  a  number 
of  years,  is  engaged  in  business  as  a  grocer, 
and  by  his  genial  courtesy  of  manner,  as 
well  as  the  superiority  of  his  stock,  has  gained  the 
confidence  of  his  fellow-citizens.  He  is  one  of  the 
brave  soldiers,  who,  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury ago,  fought  with  distinguished  courage  for 
the  preservation  of  the  Union,  and  for  that  reason, 
no  less  than  for  the  strict  integrity  which  has  ever 
characterized  his  actions,  deserves  representation 
in  this  volume. 

A  native  of  this  State,  Mr.  Richardson  was  born 
in  Taylor  Township,  Ogle  County,  June  16,  1842. 
His  father  was  the  late  James  V.  Richardson,  who 
was  born  in  Ireland,  and  his  mother,  whose  maiden 
name  was  Mary  Mackey,  was  also  a  native  of  the 


800 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


Emerald  Isle.  The  parents  were  married  in  their 
native  country,  whence  they  em igrated  to  America 
about  1839,  and  coming  direct  to  Ogle  County, 
this  State,  sojourned  there  for  a  time,  and  after- 
ward removed  to  this  county.  The  mother  passed 
away  in  China  Township,  this  county,  in  1852, 
while  the  father  di^d  in  Henry  County,  111. 

The  fourth  in  a  family  of  eight  children,  our 
subject  was  quite  young  when  his  parents  removed 
from  Ogle  to  Lee  County,  and  he  grew  to  man- 
hood in  China  Township.  His  opportunities  for 
gaining  a  good  education  were  meagre,  but  by 
study  and  observation  he  has  become  well-informed. 
His  youth  was  passed  uneventfully  on  his  father's 
farm,  where  he  assisted  in  tilling  the  soil  and  bring- 
ing the  land  to  a  high  state  of  cultivation.  He 
has  been  an  interested  witness  of  the  gradual  de- 
velopment of  this  county  from  its  primeval  condi- 
tion and  has  taken  an  important  part  in  promoting 
its  progress. 

In  1861  Mr.  Richardson  enlisted  in  Company  F, 
Thirty-fourth  Illinois  Infantry,  and  after  serving 
for  three  years,  re-enlisted  in  the  same  company 
and  regiment,  where  he  remained  until  the  close  of 
the  war.  He  was  an  active  participant  in  many 
engagements,  the  most  important  being  Shiloh, 
Corinth,  Murfreesboro,  and  the  Atlanta  campaign. 
Later  he  engaged  in  detached  duty  at  Gen.  Thomas' 
headquarters,  and  his  record  is  that  of  a  brave 
soldier,  whom  no  danger  affrighted.  At  the  close 
of  the  war,  he  returned  to  Illinois,  but  soon  went 
South,  remaining  in  Chattanooga,  Tenn.,  for  one 
year.  However,  he  did  not  feel  contented  to  make 
his  permanent  home  in  the  "Sunny  South,"  and 
returning  to  this  State,  engaged  in  farming  in  Tay- 
lor Township,  Ogle  County. 

The  year  1874  marked  the  arrival  of  Mr.  Rich- 
ardson in  Ashton,  where  he  engaged  in  the  stock 
business  until  October,  1890.  At  that  time  he  em- 
barked in  the  grocery  business  as  the  senior  mem- 
ber of  the  firm  of  Richardson  &  Son,  and  is  now 
successfully  operating  as  a  merchant  in  Ashton. 
He  was  married  in  Taylor  Township,  Ogle  County, 
December  25,  1867,  to  Miss  Helen  Arnold,  whose 
birth  occurred  in  that  county.  Two  children 
blessed  the  union  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Richardson — 
Frederick  A.,  and  Fay  A.  M.  The  devoted  wife  and 


mother  passed  from  earth  at  her  home  iu  Ashton, 
March  18,  1886,  sincerely  mourned  by  her  family 
and  the  many  friends  whom  she  had  won  during 
her  residence  here. 

For  several  years  Mr.  Richardson  has  served  as 
President  of  the  village  of  Ashton,  and  in  that 
responsible  position  has  done  much  to  advance  the 
interests  of  the  place.  He  has  taken  an  active 
part  in  local  political  affairs  as  a  member  of  the 
Republican  party,  and  in  his  social  connections  is 
identified  with  the  Masonic  fraternity,  belonging 
to  Dixon  Commandery,  No.  21.  Mrs.  Richardson 
was  a  devoted  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  and  Mr.  Richardson  has  contributed  lib- 
erally to  the  support  of  the  gospel.  Besides  his 
property  in  the  village,  he  owns  two  hundred  and 
sixty  acres  and  has  erected  a  first-class  setof  build- 
ings on  his  place. 


£pf  BRAHAM  C.  HAGERM AN.  Notwithstand- 
||O  ing  the  fact  that  our  subject  has  passed 

//MS  the  milestone  that  marks  a  long  and  hon- 
<jgj  orable  life  of  eighty  and  one  years,  he  is 
still  keenly  interested  in  farming  and  stock-raising, 
and  retains  the  management  of  his  farm  on  section 
14,  Palmyra  Township,  his  son  assisting  him  in 
operating  it.  When  the  railway  was  built  through 
here,  the  company  purchased  a  part  of  his  land, 
but  he  still  has  eighty  acres  that  is  in  a  fine  condi- 
tion, and  on  this  pleasant  homestead  he  and  his 
wife  are  serenely  enjoying  the  comforts  that  they 
have  gathered  about  them  by  their  united  labors. 

Mr.  Hagerman  was  born  in  Warren  County, 
N.  J.,  October  15, 1810,  a  son  of  Joseph  Hagerman, 
who  was  also  a  native  of  that  county.  His  parents 
were  of  New  England  birth,  though  of  Dutch 
descent.  The  first  of  the  Hagermans  to  come 
to  this  country  were  three  brothers,  who  came 
from  the  Netherlands  before  the  Revolution, 
and  made  settlement  on  Staten  Island,  N.  Y. 
Later  one  branch  of  the  family,  from  whom  our 
subject  is  descended,  located  in  New  Jersey,  and 
there  the  grandparents  of  our  subject  lived  and 
died,  in  Knowlton  Township,  Warren  County, 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


801 


which  was  the  scene  of  the  birth  of  the  grandson 
of  whom  we  write,  aiid  the  old  Ilagerman  home- 
stead is  still  in  the  possession  of  some  of  the  fam- 
ily, the  grandfather  being  Francis  Hagennan. 
The  Hagermans  are  a  long-lived  race,  and  in 
former  days  the  elders  were  true-blue  Presbyterians. 

Joseph  Ilagerman  was  reared  to  the  life  of  a 
farmer  in  his  native  State  in  the  home  of  his  birth, 
and  in  due  season  he  took  unto  himself  a  wife, 
marrying  Susan  LaBarre,  who  was  also  a  native 
of  Northampton  County,  Pa.,  and  came  of  some 
of  the  old  Dutch  stock  that  early  peopled  that 
State.  Her  parents  were  Abraham  and  Mary 
(Long)  La  Barre,  who  were  natives  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  died  there  at  an  extreme  old  age.  They 
were  of  a  long-lived  family,  and  one  of  the  La 
Barres,  a  cousin  of  the  mother  of  our  subject,  at- 
tained the  remarkable  age  of  one  hundred  and 
sixteen  years.  After  marriage,  Joseph  Hagerman 
and  his  bride  began  life  on  a  farm  in  his  native 
county,  and  besides  attending  to  the  cultivation 
of  his  land,  Mr.  Hagerman  did  an  active  .business 
at  his  trade  as  a  blacksmith.  Thej'  subsequently 
removed  to  Northampton  County,  Pa.,  and  pur- 
chased and  improved  a  new  farm  in  Strand  Town- 
ship.' There  the  father's  useful  career  was  termi- 
nated by  typhoid  fever  when  he  was  in  the  prime 
and  vigor  of  life.  He  was  a  fine  man  in  every 
respect,  and  was  greatly  esteemed  by  his  commu- 
nity. He  was  active  in  religious  matters,  and  was 
a  sound  Presbyterian.  His  widow  survived  him  a 
great  many  years,  dying  at  last  in  the  same  Penn- 
sylvania county  where  his  demise  occurred,  be- 
ing ninety-six  years  old  at  the  time  of  her  death. 
She  was  of  a  pious  frame  of  mind,  and  a  stanch 
Presbyterian  in  her  religious  belief. 

Our  subject  is  the  third  of  six  sons  and  four 
daughters,  all  of  whom  lived  to  advanced  ages, 
and  seven  are  yet  living,  he  being  the  only  one 
residing  in  Illinois.  His  early  life  was  spent  in  his 
native  county  in  New  Jersey,  and  in  Northampton 
County,  Pa.,  whither  his  parents  removed  when 
he  was  young.  In  1861  he  made  an  important 
move,  leaving  his  old  home  and  coming  to  this 
State  to  try  farming  on  the  rich  prairies.  The  re- 
sult of  that  step  has  been  very  satisfactory,  and 
to-day  he  is  numbered  among  the  prosperous  far- 


mers of  Palmyra  Township,  where  he  settled  on 
the  farm  on  which  he  has  since  carried  on  his  oc- 
cupation in  November,  1861.  This  is  finely  culti- 
vated, well-drained  and  fenced,  and  its  improve- 
ments are  ample  and  substantial. 

While  living  in  Northampton  County,  Pa.,  Mr. 
Hagerman  was  married  to  Miss  Malinda 
Eyer,  in  whom  he  has  found  an  inestima- 
ble treasure.  Among  the  blessings  vouchsafed  to 
them  in  their  long  wedded  life  of  many  years' 
duration  may  be  counted  the  eight  children  born 
unto  them,  all  of  whom  are  living  but  Hebron  C., 
who  died  in  infancy.  The  others  are:  Frank,  who 
is  a  clerk  in  a  store  at  Woosung,  and  makes  his 
home  with  his  parents;  Alice,  wife  of  C.  D.  Coe,  a 
banker  of  Barron,  Wis.;  Josephine,  wife  of  Charles 
E.  Morgan,  a  farmer  in  this  township;  William  E., 
at  home,  assisting  in  the  management  of  the  farm; 
J.  Coursen,  a  telegraph  operator  of  Woosung; 
John  W.,  a  resident  of  Salt  Lake  City,  Utah,  where 
he  is  engaged  in  business  as  a  painter  and  paper 
hanger;  and  Grace,  an  accomplished  young  woman 
who  is  the  stay  and  comfort  of  her  parents  in  their 
home. 

Mrs.  Hagerman  was  born  in  Upper  Mount 
Bethel,  Northampton  County,  Pa.,  January  13, 
1827,  a  daughter  of  William  and  Catherine  (Bor- 
ger)  Eyer,  who  were  also  natives  of  Pennsylva- 
nia, and  both  were  of  German  parentage.  Their 
parents  had  settled  in  Northampton  County  in 
Colonial  days,  when  it  was  a  wilderness  with  but 
few  inhabitants.  William  Eyer  was  a  son  of  John 
Eyer,  who  was  a  Pennsylvania  farmer  and  a  Ger- 
man teacher,  and  lived  to  be  eighty-five  years  of 
age.  He  married  Margaret  Good,  who  also  lived 
to  be  very  old.  All  their  lives  they  were  mem- 
bers of  the  Lutheran  Church,  and  were  well-known 
old  settlers  of  their  township.  They  were  the 
parents  of  eight  sons,  who  all  grew  to  maturity, 
and  raised  large  families. 

After  their  marriage,  William  Eyer  and  his 
bride  made  their  home  near  where  they  had  been 
born  and  reared,  and  there  labored  as  tillers  of 
the  soil  until  death  stayed  their  hands  when  they 
were  old  people,  he  dying  at  the  age  of  eighty- 
three,  and  she  just  be  fore  her  eighty-sixth  birthday. 
They  were  prominent  members  of  the  Lutheran 


802 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD: 


Church,  and  he  was  .1  Democrat  in  politic*.  Mrs. 
Hagerman  is  the  seventh  daughter  in  n  family  of 
two  sons  and  seven  daughters  born  to  her  parents, 
all  of  whom  married  and  reared  large  families,  and 
four  of  them  are  yet  living. 

Our  subject  and  his  wife  retain  in  a  remarkable 
degree  the  strength  of  body  and  vigor  of  mind 
characteristic  of  their  younger  days.  Always 
kindly  disposed  and  charitable  toward  others, 
having  a  warm  place  in  their  hearts  for  all  who 
suffer  or  are  needy,  the  frosts  of  age  have  not 
chilled  their  sympathies.  Nurtured  in  Christian 
principles,  they  have  not  departed  from  their  early 
training,  but  have  long  been  devoted  members  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  Mr.  Hagerman 
seems  to  have  inherited  his  father's  political  views, 
and  is  as  sound  a  Democrat  as  he  was,  and  at  the 
age  of  twenty-two  he  cast  his  Drst  Presidential 
vote  for  Gen.  Jackson,  when  he  made  the  second 
race  in  1832. 


OHN  YETTER.  of  Willow  Creek  Township, 
well  and  favorably  known  throughout 
Lee  County,  among  whose  progressive,  well- 
informed  and  skillful  farmers  and  stock- 
raisers  he  occupies  a  high  position.  His  landed 
possessions  lie  in  Willow  Creek  and  Alto  Town- 
ships, and  his  farm  is  among  the  best  in  its  vicin- 
ity in  its  appointments  and  in  regard  to  product- 
iveness. 

Our  subject  was  born  in  Rheinpfalz,  Germany, 
December  18,  1835.  His  father,  John  G.  Tetter, 
was  a  native  of  the  same  place,  and  was  but  three 
years  old  when  his  father  died.  He  was  cared  for 
by  his  mother,  and  was  reared  to  the  life  of  a 
farmer.  He  followed  his  vocation  in  his  native 
land  until  1 854,  when  he  emigrated  to  America. 
He  was  a  resident  of  New  York  City  for  a  short 
time,  but  in  March,  1855,  came  to  Illinois  and 
located  near  Hennepin,  Putnam  County.  In  1862 
he  came  from  there  to  Lee  County,  and  spent  his 
last  days  with  his  son,  our  subject,  d3-ing  in  his 
home  in  March,  1890,  at  the  venerable  age  of 
eighty-two  years.  His  wife  died  during  their  res- 


idence near  Hennepin.  in  1857,  at  the  age  of  fifty- 
three  years.  She  was  born  in  the  same  German 
province  as  himself,  and  her  maiden  name  was 
Katherina  Meyer.  They  reared  eleven  children, 
all  of  whom  came  to  America,  and  the  following 
are  their  names:  Katherina,  Elizabeth,  John.  Mar- 
garet, Mary,  George,  Anna.  Lena,  Maria,  Philip 
and  Julia.  George,  who  was  a  member  of  the 
Twentieth  Illinois  Infantry,  gave  up  his  life  for 
his  adopted  country,  while  bravely  fighting  at  the 
battle  of  Raymond,  Miss. 

He  of  whom  these  lines  are  principally  written 
received  an  excellent  education  in  the  schools  of 
his  native  land,  which  he  attended  steadily  until 
he  was  thirteen  years  old.  From  that  time  until 
1854,  he  worked  on  the  home  farm  in  Rheinpfalz, 
and  then  on  the  1st  of  March  he  set  sail  from 
Havre  on  the  ship  "Helvetia,"  bound  for  the  United 
States  of  America,  and  thirty-seven  days  later 
landed  at  New  York  City.  He  was  employed  iu 
that  Metropolis  for  nine  months,  and  at  the  end  of 
that  time  started  Westward  and  came  to  Illinois  by 
rail  to  La  Salle,  and  from  there  by  team  to  Henne- 
pin. He  rented  a  farm  in  that  vicinity,  and  re- 
mained there  until  the  fall  of  1859,  when  he  came 
to  Willow  Creek  Township.  He  farmed  here  as  a 
renter  for  two  years,  and  in  1860  bought  a  quarter 
section  of  wild  prairie,  at  $12  an  acre,  the  land 
now  being  included  in  his  present  place.  He  lo- 
cated upon  it  in  1861,  and  has  been  constantly 
improving  it  ever  since.  He  has  bought  other  land, 
and  now  has  three  hundred  and  thirteen  acres  of 
fine  farming  land,  lying  in  Willow  Creek  and  Alto 
Townships,  which  he  has  placed  under  a  high  state 
of  cultivation,  has  erected  a  neat  set  of  buildings, 
and  has  everything  in  good  shape  for  carrying  on 
agriculture  profitabty. 

Mr.  Yetter  was  married  November  23,  1857,  to 
Miss  Lena  Schoenholz,  who  was  born  in  the  same 
province  as  himself,  July  16.  1835.  To  her  he  is 
indebted  for  the  many  conforts  that  he  enjoys  in 
his  cozy  home,  and  she  has  been  a  factor  in  bring- 
ing about  his  prosperity  by  her  helpfulness  in  var- 
ious directions.  They  have  nine  children,  who 
are  named  John  P.,  Carl  T.,  Lena,  Mary,  George, 
Jacob.  Fred.  Frank  and  May. 

Our  subject  is  in  the  truest  sense  of  the  term  a 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


803 


self-made  man,  who  has  taken  advantage  of  every 
opportunity  offered  to  improve  his  condition  and 
to  make  his  life  as  full  and  complete  as  possible. 
He  has  good  mental  endowments,  is  a  close  observer 
of  men  and  affairs,  and  finds  time  to  indulge  his 
liking  for  reading,  and  so  is  informed  on  a  variet3- 
of  subjects,  and  keeps  well  posted  in  what  is  going 
on  in  the  outside  world.  He  is  one  of  the  leading 
citizens  of  his  township,  and  represented  it  as  one 
of  the  members  of  the  County  Board  of  Supervisors 
for  eight  years,  his  fellow-citizens  having  a  just 
appreciation  of  the  value  of  the  services  of  a  man 
of  his  calibre  in  helping  to  carry  on  public  affairs. 
In  politics,  he  is  a  Republican.  He  possesses  sound 
religious  convictions,  and  he  and  his  wife  and  three 
of  their  children  are  members  of  the  Evangelical 
Church. 


*ea^  AMUEL  ALLEN.  All  honor  is  due  to  the 
^^4  noble  citizen-soldiers  of  the  country  who 
"^£j|  served  it  so  faithfully  during  the  .late  war, 
man y  of  them  sacrificing  the  early  years  of 
their  manhood  in  helping  to  perserve  the  Union  in 
its  integrity.  Many  of  them  have  since  been  very 
serviceable  in  advancing  the  interests  of  this 
county,  and  among  them  is  Samuel  Allen,  of  this 
biographical  review,  who  is  farming  and  raising 
stock  on  section  20,  South  Dixon  Township,  where 
he  has  a  farm  that  is  complete  in  its  appointments, 
and  is  as  productive  as  any  in  the  neighborhood. 
Mr.  Allen  was  born  May  6,  1837,  near  Stoys- 
town,  Somerset  County,  Pa.  His  parents  were 
Louis  and  Elizabeth  (Commcr)  Allen,  natives  re- 
spectively of  Virginia  and  Pennsylvania,  the  latter 
of  German  parentage,  her  father  and  mother  liv- 
ing and  dying  in  the  Keystone  State.  Louis 
Allen's  parents  removed  from  Virginia  to  New 
York  when  ho  was  a  small  child,  and  his  father 
died  in  that  State.  His  mother  returned  to  Vir- 
ginia, and  lived  out  her  remaining  days  in  the  Old 
Dominion.  When  Samuel  Allen  was  eleven  years 
old,  his  parents  removed  to  Bedford  County,  in  the 
same  State,  but  after  living  there  some  time,  they 
went  back  to  Somerset  County,  whence  they  came 
to  Illinois  in  1868.  They  settled  in  the  village  of 


Eldena,  in  this  township,  and  in  1870  the  father 
died  in  his  new  home  at  the  age  of  seventy -eight, 
and  a  year  later  his  wife  passed  out  of  life  at  the 
same  place,  she  being  then  past  sevent3T-five  years 
old.  They  were  devoted  Christians,  and  were 
members  of  the  Baptist  Church  for  many  years. 

Our  subject  was  in  the  flush  and  vigor  of  early 
manhood  when  he  first  came  to  this  county  in  1860 
to  make  it  his  future  home.  The  Rebellion  broke 
out  and  found  him  hard  at  work  lo  get  a  good 
start  in  life.  He  watched  the  course  of  the  war 
with  intense  interest,  and  in  August,  1862,  threw 
aside  all  personal  considerations  to  join  the  .brave 
boys  in  blue  at  the  front,  his  name  being  enrolled 
on  the  loth  of  that  month  as  a  member  of  Com- 
pany A,  Seventy-fifth  Illinois  Infantry.  His  regi- 
ment was  sent  to  the  field  to  fight  under  the 
gallant  Gen.  Thomas,  and  he  and  his  comrades  were 
with  him  until  the  terrible  war  was  brought  to  a 
close,  early  winning  the  confidence  of  their  be- 
loved leader  by  their  fidelity  to  duty,  courage  in 
the  face  of  danger,  and  staying  qualities  in  the 
heat  of  the  longest  and  hardest  battles.  They  were 
mustered  out  in  June,  1865,  and  honorably  dis- 
charged at  Camp  Harker,  Nashville,  Tenn.  They 
had  taken  an  active  part  in  the  engagements  at 
Nashville,  Franklin  and  Chattanooga.  They  went 
through  the  Atlanta  campaign,  and  completed 
their  service  by  driving  the  rebel,  Gen.  Hood,  from 
his  stronghold.  Our  subject  escaped  without  a 
wound,  but  while  he  was  sick  in  a  Kentucky  hos- 
pital he  was  captured  by  John  Morgan's  troops, 
during  the  celebrated  raid  of  that  daring  leader 
through  that  State.  Although  never  pierced  by  a 
rebel  bullet  or  bayonet,  he  had  many  a  hairbreadth 
escape  from  death  while  fighting  in  the  lines  in 
some  hotly-contested  battle. 

After  the  close  of  the  war,  Mr.  Allen  returned  to 
this  county,  and  soon  was  pursuing  his  vocation 
as  a  farmer  as  busily  and  with  as  much  interest  as 
if  he  had  never  left  the  plow  to  shoulder  his  gun 
to  help  fight  his  country's  battles.  He  has  owned 
his  present  farm  of  one  hundred  and  eleven  acres 
on  section  20,  South  Dixon  Township,  since  1868, 
having  one  hifndred  and  forty-one  acres  in  all. 
and  by  unremitting  and  well-directed  toil  has 
transformed  it  into  one  of  the  most  desirable 


KOI 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


pieces  of  property  in  that  township,  erecting  good 
farm  buildings,  placing  the  soil  under  a  high  state 
of  cultivation,  and  purchasing  modern  machinery 
so  that  he  might  conduct  its  operations  to  the  best 
advantage.  Besides  the  home  place  he  owns 
ninety-two  acres  in  another  part  of  this  township. 

Mr.  Allen  has  taken  unto  himself  a  wife  since 
becoming  a  resident  of  this  county,  and  to  her 
good  offices  attributes  a  part  of  his  success  in  life, 
as  well  he  may,  she  being  so  well  fitted  for  her 
position  at  the  head  of  the  houshold  whose  affairs 
she  directs  wisely  and  well.  She  bore  the  maiden 
name  of  Eva  Mossholder,  and  is  a  daughter  of  a 
well-known  pioneer  family,  whose  history  is  given 
in  the  biography  of  William  II.  Mossholder.  Mrs. 
Allen  was  young  when  she  came  to  Illinois  with 
her  parents  from  her  birthplace  in  Somerset 
County,  Pa.,  and  she  was  reared  to  womanhood  in 
South  Dixon  Township.  She  is  a  member  of  the 
Evangelical  Church,  and,  with  her  husband,  is  of 
high  social  standing  in  this  township  where  they 
have  many  friends.  Mr.  Allen  is  a  man  of  sterling 
common  sense,  with  sensible  opinions  upon  all 
topics  with  which  he  is  familiar,  and  in  politics  he 
holds  himself  independent  of  party  ties. 

Our  subject  and  his  wife  have  been  blessed  in 
their  marriage  by  these  three  children:  Corra  E., 
wife  of  William  Baker,  of  La  Salle  Township,  La 
Salle  County;  Louis  G.,  married  Miss  Jennie 
Parker,  and  lives  on  his  father's  farm;  and  Nellie 
M.  is  at  homo  with  her  parents. 


JOHN  WESLEY  HOYLE  is  a  representative 
of  the  farmers  of  the  present  generation  .vho 
have  within  a  few  years  stepped  to  the  front 
to  aid  in  carrying  on  the  great  Agricultural 
interests  of  this  county.     His  farm,  comprising  a 
quarter  of  section  35,  South  Dixon  Township,  is 
the  old  family  homestead,  on  which  he  has  passed 
the  most  of  his  life,  and  he  keeps  it  up  to  the  same 
high  standard  that  it  had  attained  in    the  elder 
Hoyle's  hands. 

Our  subject  was  born  May  6,  1863,  in  Somerset 
County,  Pa.,  and  is  the  third  son  of  John  and  Em- 


eline  (Deeter)  Hoyle,  who  are  well-known  people 
of  this  county,  and  are  living  in  retirement  at 
Eldena.  A  biographical  record  of  their  lives  ap- 
pears on  another  page  of  this  volume.  Their  son 
of  whom  we  write  was  but  a  few  months  old  when 
they  came  to  this  county,  and  he  was  about  two 
years  of  age  when  he  removed  to  the  farm  he  now 
owns  and  occupies.  He  was  educated  in  the  pub- 
lic schools,  was  carefully  reared  under  excellent 
home  influences,  and  during  his  boyhood  and 
youth  had  an  experience  in  farm  work  that  has 
been  valuable  since,  as  he  was  taught  to  do  things 
•  well,  and  never  to  neglect  any  opportunity  to  im- 
prove his  finances  by  taking  advantage  of  the  mar- 
kets. Since  he  attained  his  majority,  he  has  been 
actively  engaged  on  his  own  account,  having  a 
good  equipment  of  brain  and  brawn  to  start  out 
with,  and  in  1889  he  purchased  the  old  homestead 
of  his  father.  It  is  amply  supplied  with  every  con- 
venience for  carrying  on  agriculture,  and,  besides 
raising  grain  and  other  farm  products,  he  has  a 
good  grade  of  stock  on  the  place. 

Mr.  Hoyle  and  Miss  Belle  Fritz  were  married  in 
this  township,  where  she  was  born  August  17, 1866. 
She  was  reared  and  educated  here,  and  resided  with 
her  parents  until  her  marriage.  Her  union  with 
our  subject  has  brought  them  three  children  whom 
they  have  named  Ray  V.,  Hazel  A.  and  Florence. 
Her  father,  Henry  Fritz,  died  at  the  home  of  his 
daughter,  Mrs.  Hoyle,  in  the  spring  of  1891,  at  a 
ripe  old  age.  He  was  of  German  descent,  and  was 
born  and  reared  in  Pennsylvania.  When  a  young 
man  he  came  Westward  as  far  as  this  State,  and 
was  here  married  to  Mrs.  Nancy  Howard  nee  Allen, 
a  sister  of  Samuel  Allen,  who  is  represented  else- 
where in  this  work.  The  mother,  who  is  an  old 
ladjr,  now  makes  her  home  at  Eldena.  Mrs.  Hoyle 
is  one  of  three  children,  all  living,  she  being  the 
eldest.  Her  sister  Addie  is  the  wife  of  Jerry  Hoyle, 
who  is  employed  in  the  shoe  factory  at  Dixon,  and 
her  brother,  George  W.,  lives  with  his  brother-in- 
law,  Mr.  Hoyle. 

Our  subject  has  done  well  in  the  past  as  a  wide- 
j  awake  farmer,  and  has  a  promising  future  before 
him  in  his  chosen  career,  as  he  has  a  clear  under- 
standing of  his  calling,  is  keen  and  prompt,  decided 
in  purpose  and  act,  and  carries  his  whole  soul  into 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


his  work.  He  is  correct  in  his  habits,  and  in  him 
and  his  amiable  wife  the  Evangelical  Association 
of  this  township  finds  two  of  its  most  earnest 
working  members.  His  politics  are  of  the  Republi- 
can order. 

ig  i  m 


PRENTICE  has  been  identified 

vQ/_li  with  the  agricultural  interests  of  this 
j  Ifi  county  for  thirt}'  years  and  more,  as  one 
Hjff  of  its  practical,  intelligent  farmers,  and 
the  farm  that  he  has  developed  from  a  tract  of 
wild  prairie  in  Wyoming  Township  compares  fav- 
orably in  point  of  improvement  and  cultivation 
with  the  best  in  this  locality.  Mr.  Prentice  was 
born  in  the  beautiful  town  of  Chester,  Hampden 
County,  Mass.,  June  6,  1833.  His  father,  Ephraim 
Prentice,  was  also  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  and 
was  brought  up  on  a  New  England  farm.  After 
marriage  he  bought  a  farm  in  Chester,  seven  miles 
from  the  station,  on  the  Boston  <fe  Albany  Rail- 
way. He  resided  there  until  1858,  and  then  sold 
his  place  in  order  to  come  to  Illinois  to  pass  his  re- 
maining years  with  his  children,  and  died  in  Wy- 
oming Township,  at  a  ripe  age.  The  maiden  name 
of  his  wife  was  Susan  Bisbee,  and  she  was  born 
either  in  Chester  or  Worthington,  Mass.  She  died 
at  the  home  of  a  son  in  La  Salle  County,  this  State. 
She  was  the  mother  of  these  children:  Asahel,  Ed- 
ward, Martha,  John,  Mary  and  Henry. 

The  subject  of  this  brief  life  record  was  reared 
on  a  farm  among  his  native  hills,  and,  under  the 
influences  of  a  good  home  and  pleasant  surround- 
ings, grew  to  a  stalwart  manhood.  He  had  the 
advantages  of  a  good  education,  conducted  partly 
in  the  district  school  and  partly  in  the  High 
School  at  East  Hampton.  Thus  well  equipped 
men  tally  ,he  began  life  by  teaching  school  two  terms. 
He  preferred,  however,  the  more  active  life  of  a 
farmer,  and  wisely  thinking  that  the  outlook  was 
broader  in  the  great  Prairie  State,  he  came  hither 
in  1856,  and  the  following  summer  bought  the 
land  included  in  his  farm  in  Wyoming  Township. 
It  was  then  merely  a  tract  of  wild  prairie,  and 
only  by  the  most  painstaking  toil,  directed  by 


skill  and  a  good  knowledge  of  agriculture,  has  he 
redeemed  it  from  a  state  of  nature.  He  has  the 
land  all  under  an  excellent  state  of  cultivation, 
has  erected  neat  frame  buildings  and  has  adorned 
the  place  and  added  to  its  value  by  planting  choice 
fruit  and  shade  trees. 

In  becoming  a  citizen  of  Illinois,  our  subject 
has  been  benefited  in  more  ways  than  one,  as  he 
has  not  only  been  prospered  financially,  but  the 
comfort  and  happiness  of  his  life  has  been  increased 
by  his  good  fortune  in  securing  a  true  wife  by 
his  marriage  in  Wyoming  Township,  in  185.7,  to 
Miss  Amanda  Melvina  Sproul,  a  native  of  Penn- 
sylvania. They  have  five  children  living:  Sarah 
James,  Mortimer,  Joseph  and  William.  Sorrow 
has  visited  them  heavily  in  the  death  of  two  of 
their  children — Susie,  their  fourth  child,  who  died 
in  her  fourth  year,  and  Lena  May  in  her  fifteenth 
year.  The  latter  lost  her  life  in  the  great  cyclone 
of  June  20,  1890,  that  created  such  havoc  and  deso- 
lation in  this  portion  of  Lee  County,  she  being  one 
of  the  seven  scholars,  who  with  their  teacher,  Mag- 
gie McBride,  perished  on  that  fatal  day,  when  the 
wind  utterly  demolished  the  little  school  house  in 
which  they  were  staying. 


(JL^ARRISON  HAUSEN,  who  is  at  present 
llfjj)  residing  on  section  3,  China  Township, 
^J^e?'  was  born  in  Bremen,  Lincoln  County,  Me., 
(||)  April  13, 1818.  Ho  is  a  son  of  Charles  Hau- 
sen,  who  was  born  in  Friendship,  in  the  same  county 
and  State,  where  also  his  mother,  whose  maiden 
name  was  Mary  Jane  Hilton,  was  born.  The  parents 
came  to  Lee  County  in  the  fall  of  1840,  and  set- 
tled a  short  distance  from  Franklin  (irove,  where 
AVilliam  II.  Hausen  now  lives.  The  father  de- 
parted this  life  in  the  spring  of  1869,  and  the 
mother  in  December,  1878. 

Our  subject  was  the  second  in  order  of  birth  of 
the  parental  family  of  eleven  children,  and  was 
reared  to  manhood  in  Lincoln  and  Penobscot 
Counties,  Me.  In  company  with  his  brother  Will- 
iam II.,  he  set  out  for  this  county,  September  4, 
1838,  and  arrived  within  its  limits  in  October  of 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


that  year,  making  the  distance  from  the  east  side 
of  Michigan  to  the  Rock  River  on  foot.  Our  sub- 
ject has  consequently  been  a  resident  of  China 
Township  since  the  fall  of  1838. 

Harrison  Hausen  was  married  in  this  county  to 
Lydia  Clinetop,  who  was  born  in  Luzerne  County, 
Pa.  They  have  become  the  parents  of  one  daugh- 
ter, Ann  L.,  who  is  the  wife  of  Thomas  J.  Wert- 
man,  of  Montgomery  County,  Iowa.  Mrs.  Lydia 
Hausen  departed  this  life  in  China  Township,  and 
our  subject  was  again  married  in  Dixon,  this  State, 
to  Miss  Nancy  Wilder,  who  hailed  from  Penobscot 
County,  Me.  By  that  union  have  been  born  two 
children:  Hal,  who  married  Miss  Anna  Warn,  and 
Fred  H.  In  politics,  our  subject  is  a  Democrat. 
He  has  always  been  engaged  in  farming  and  stock- 
raising,  and  has  a  finely  improved  estate  of  six 
hundred  acres  in  this  county,  besides  lands  in  Iowa. 


UDWIG  BAKER.  This  gentleman,  at  pres- 
ent foreman  of  the  Emerson  Lumber  Com- 
pany at  Dixon,  has  been  connected  with 
that  company  for  ten  years,  with  the  exception  of 
three  years  spent  in  Sully  County,  S.  Dak.  He 
is  an  extensive  land-owner  in  the  latter  State, 
possessing  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  land, 
which  is  well  improved,  and  two  tracts  of  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres  each,  which  are  unbroken. 
He  also  owns  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  in 
Nelson  Township,  this  county,  divided  into  two 
farms  of  eighty  acres  each,  with  good  improve- 
ments and  buildings.  He  came  to  this  State  and 
county  a  poor  man,  struggling  to  get  a  start  in  life, 
beginning  his  work  on  the  land  last  mentioned,  in 
1857  and  by  hard  work  has  succeeded  in  acquir- 
ing his  present  possessions  and  comfortable  po- 
sition in  life. 

Mr.  Baker  was  born  July  20,  1826,  in  Somerset 
County,  Pa.  His  father,  Henry  Baker,  was  a  na- 
tive of  the  same  county,  of  German  parentage, 
whose  father  died  when  he  was  two  years  old. 
He  was  reared  by  an  older  sister,  and  when  old 
enough,  learned  the  trades  of  a  carpenter,  mill- 
wright and  cooper,  becoming  a  very  skillful 


mechanic.  He  also  became  a  successful  farmer  and 
at  the  time  of  his  death,  which  took  place  in  1863, 
when  at  the  age  of  seventy-six  years,  he  was  the 
owner  of  considerable  land  in  Somerset  County. 
He  was  a  Whig  in  politics,  and  in  religion  a  de- 
voted member  of  the  Lutheran  Church.  His  wife, 
whose  maiden  name  was  Eve  Young,  like  her  hus- 
band was  a  native  of  Somerset  County,  Pa.,  and 
also  of  German  ancestry.  She  died  in  1871  at  the 
age  of  eighty-one  years.  Her  father,  Ludwig 
Young,  was  a  farmer  in  Somerset  County,  and 
was  a  native  of  Germany,  from  which  country  he 
came  with  his  parents  when  only  seven  years  of 
age.  He  died,  when  eighty-five  years  old,  at  the 
home  which  he  had  occupied  for  so  many  3~ears. 
His  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was  Miss  Barren, 
was  a  native  of  Pennsylvania  and  lived  until  very 
advanced  in  years.  They  were  both  members  of 
the  Lutheran  Church. 

Our  subject  is  one  of  fourteen  children,  eight 
of  whom  lived  to  maturity  and  became  the  heads 
of  families.  Our  subject  and  his  brother  Henry, 
who  is  a  farmer  in  Westmoreland  County,  Pa., 
are  the  only  members  of  the  family  now  surviving. 
Ludwig  Baker  remained  at  home  until  reaching 
years  of  manhood,  and  inherited  from  his  father 
a  natural  facility  in  the  use  of  tools,  although  he 
never  became  a  practical  mechanic.  He  was 
married  in  Somerset,  in  his  native  county,  to  Miss 
Carolina  Ben  ford,  who  was  born  in  that  city,  the 
county  seat  of  Somerset  County,  August  13,  1822. 
She  was  the  daughter  of  Thomas  and  Catherine 
Chopenig  Ben  ford,  natives  of  Pennsylvania,  of 
Scotch  and  Dutch  ancestry,  respectively.  After 
their  marriage  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Benford  settled  on  a 
farm,  Mr.  Benford  carrying  on,  in  addition  to 
his  farming  operations,  a  tannery.  In  later  3rears 
he  became  the  proprietor  of  a  public  house  on  the 
Somerset  and  Mt.  Pleasant  Turnpike,  which  was  at 
that  time  a  well-known  and  much  traveled  high- 
way. In  this  business  he  and  his  wife  continued  for 
years,  becoming  well  known  throughout  the 
country  as  good  entertainers  and  worth}'  people. 
Here  the  decease  of  both  occurred,  Mr.  Benford, 
who  was  born  in  1793,  departing  this  life,  January 
7,  1866,  his  wife's  death  taking  place  April  8,  1855, 
at  the  age  of  fifty-five  years  and  eight  months 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


807 


They  had  made  hosts  of  friends  during  their  life- 
time, especially  among  the  traveling  public,  and 
their  loss  was  greatly  felt. 

Mrs.  Baker  is  one  of  ten  children  born  to  her 
parents,  six  sons  and  four  daughters,  of  whom  the 
sons  and  three  daughters  are  now  living.  Our  sub- 
ject and  his  wife  have  been  the  parents  of  five 
children  of  whom  three  are  deceased:  Henry,  Eda 
C.,  and  Thomas  H.,  all  of  whom  died  in  childhood. 
Those  living  are  Anna  M.,  wife  of  Hall  Schofield, 
who  resides  in  Rock  Falls,  this  State,  where  Mr. 
Schofield  carries  on  a  livery  stable.  Mrs.  Scho- 
field was  a  teacher  for  twelve  years  before  her 
marriage;  Bessie  remained  at  home  and  for  some 
years  ha3  been  engaged  in  teaching. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Baker  are  well  known  and  highly 
esteemed  by  people  in  the  community  where  they 
reside,  and  Mrs.  Baker  and  her  daughter  Bessie  are 
worthy  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church.  In  politics,  Mr.  Baker  is  a  stanch  Repub- 
lican and  takes  a  deep  interest  in  everything 
affecting  the  welfare  of  his  town  and  county.  Mr. 
Baker  was  Justice  of  the  Peace  while  'in  Somerset 
County,  Pa.,  and  Constable  in  Lee  County. 


SISRA.EL  ZUG,  a  resident  of  Franklin  Grove, 
I  where  he  is  engaged  in  horticulture,  is  prom- 
/L  inent  in  the  public  life  of  Lee  County  as  a 
member  of  the  County  Board  of  Supervisors,  rep- 
resenting China  Township.  He  is  a  descendant 
of  an  ancient  family  in  Switzerland,  being  one  of 
the  sixth  generation  in  the  United  States,  three 
brothers  having  come  over  from  the  Swiss  Father- 
land to  this  country  in  Colonial  times,  who  were 
early  settlers  in  different  counties  in  Pennsylvania. 
One  of  them  changed  the  spelling  of  the  original 
name  to  Zook,  another  changed  the  spelling  to 
Zuck,  while  Uli  Zug,  the  ancestor  of  our  subject, 
retained  the  correct  orthography,  as  he  settled  in 
Lancaster  County,  Pa.,  among  Germans  who  were 
familiar  with  the  name  Zug,  which  means  train, 
and  is  applied  to  many  places  in  Switzerland. 
I'll  Zug  had  a  son  John,  who  attained  the  age  of 
ninety-six  years,  and  the  next  in  line  was  Abra- 


ham, whose  son  John  was  the  father  of  our  sub- 
ject. In  religion,  the  ancestors  of  Mr.  Zug  who 
first  came  to  this  country  were  Mennonites,  but 
the  father,  grandfather  and  great  grandfather  of 
our  subject  were  ministers  in  the  German  Baptist 
Church. 

He  of  whom  these  lines  are  written  was  the 
fourth  of  the  eight  children  of  his  parents,  and  he 
was  born  in  Lebanon  County,  Pa.,  March  14, 1827. 
In  early  life  he  learned  the  trade  of  a  tanner, 
which  he  followed  in  his  native  State  until  1850. 
Ambitious  to  try  his  fortunes  in  what  was  then  a 
part  of  the  "Great  West,"  he  came  to  Illinois  in 
that  year,  journeying  by  the  Ohio,  Mississippi  and 
Illinois  Rivers,  and  landing  at  Peru.  He  pur- 
chased eighty  acres  of  land  in  La  Salle  County, 
which  he  tilled  profitably  for  four  years.  At  the 
expiration  of  that  time,  he  removed  to  Franklin 
Grove,  and  continued  farming  for  two  years  there- 
after. From  1858  to  1881,  he  owned  and  con- 
ducted the  principal  meat  market  at  Franklin 
Grove,  and  since  that  time  has  given  his  attention 
to  horticulture.  He  has  a  natural  taste  for  this 
pursuit,  brings  an  intelligent  and  enquiring 
mind  to  the  work  of  carrying  it  on,  and  is  well  in- 
formed as  to  the  best  methods  to  be  followed  in  or- 
der to  make  it  successful.  In  the  decade  that  lie 
has  devoted  to  this  line,  he  has  given  close  atten- 
tion to  every  detail,  and  has  built  up  a  business 
from  which  he  derives  a  good  income. 

Mr.  Zug  was  married  in  1849  to  Rachael  L., 
daughter  of  James  and  Martha  Johnson,  and  a  na- 
tive of  Chester  County,  Pa.,  who  was  born  in  1829. 
They  have  had  as  much  joy  in  their  domestic  life  as 
usually  falls  to  the  lot  of  mortals,  and  among 
their  blessings  are  the  eight  children  born  to  them. 
One  child  died  in  infancy;  and  their  son  Nathan 
is  dead.  He  went  to  Oregon  in  early  manhood, 
where  he  married  and  died,  leaving  two  children. 
The  following  are  the  children  spared  to  our  sub- 
ject and  his  wife:  John,  a  bricklayer,  who  resides 
in  Iowa;  Alfred,  a  butcher  in  Hutchinson,  Kan.;' 
Frank,  a  butcher  in  Iowa;  Llewellyn,  who  lives  at 
home  with  his  parents;  Mary,  wife  of  Palmer  E. 
Mathews,  a  lawyer  of  Sedan,  Kan.;  and  Hattie,wife 
of  Charles  Secrist,  a  clerk  in  the  Union  Transfer 
Depot,  at  Council  Bluffs,  Iowa. 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


Our  subject  is  a  man  whose  fine  character  and 
high  principles,  and  his  capacity  for  affairs,  have 
made  him  conspicuous  in  the  civic  life  of  his  town- 
ship and  county.  He  has  been  Justice  of  the  Peace, 
has  been  Collector,  and  is  now  serving  his  second 
term  as  a  representative  of  China  Township  on  the 
County  Board  of  Supervisors.  He  is  a  saga- 
cious and  safe  counsellor,  and  always  gives  good 
advice  when  his  neighbors  seek  his  guidance  in  any 
matter.  He  is  faithful  to  the  duties  imposed 
upon  him  as  a  public  official,  and  never  neglects  an 
opportunity  to  push  forward  the  interests  en- 
trusted to  his  care.  He  is  frank  and  warm  hearted, 
is  conscientious  and  straightforward  in  all  his  acts, 
and  his  religion  is  of  both  the  mind  and  the  heart. 
He  and  his  wife  are  believers  in  the  doctrines  of 
the  Advent  Church.  In  politics,  he  is  a  stanch 
Republican. 


EDWARD  S.  FARGO,  of  Dixou,  is  widely 
known  throughout  the  Northwest,  among 
the  mercantile  class  and  traveling  men  as 
one  of  the  oldest  and  most  successful  commercial 
travelers  in  the  United  States.  He  is  descended 
from  good  old  New  England  ancestry,  and  was 
born  amidst  the  beautiful  hills  of  Berkshire  County, 
Mass.,  in  the  town  of  Tyringham,  November  15, 
1822.  His  father,  Samuel  Fargo,  was  also  a  native 
of  the  old  Bay  State,  born  in  Sandisfield,  September 
1,  1799,  while  his  father,  whose  name  was  the  same 
as  his  own,  was  a  native  of  New  London,  Conn., 
whence  he  removed  to  Sandisfield,  where  he  carried 
on  farming  for  many  years,  although  his  last  days 
were  spent  in  Tyringham.  The  maiden  name  of 
his  wife  was  Eunice  Stebbins.  She  was  born  near 
New  London,  Conn.,  and  coming  to  Dixon  in  her 
old  age,  about- 1857,  died  here  a  few  years  later. 

In  his  early  manhood  the  father  of  our  subject 
was  engaged  in  the  mercantile  business  in  what  is 
now  Monterey  until  1821,  and  from  there  to  Ty- 
ringham, where  he  remained  until  1855.  In  1855 
he  came  to  Lee  County  and  bought  land  three  and 
one-half  miles  south  of  Dixon,  and  while  he  re- 


sided in  this  city  he  superintended  the  improve- 
ment of  his  farm,  and  was  classed  among  the 
substantial  farmers  of  the  county.  He  died  Janu- 
ary 15,  1891,  full  of  years,  and  leaving  behind 
him  the  record  of  a  well-spent  life.  His  wife  had 
preceded  him  in  death,  dying  in  1883,  after  an 
unusually  long  wedded  life  of  more  than  sixty 
years' duration.  She  was  born  in  Hudson, Colum- 
bia County,  N.  Y.,  February  22,  1802,  her  maiden 
name  Eliza  Buel,  and  she  was  a  daughter  of  Joseph 
and  Lucy  (Pickett)  Buel.  She  was  the  mother  of 
five  children:  One  who  died  in  infancy;  George  A., 
Edward  S.;  Charles,  a  resident  of  Chicago;  Joseph 
B.,  of  Dixon;  and  Samuel  M.,  of  Chicago. 

The  subject  of  this  biographical  record  received 
his  early  education  in  the  schools  of  his  native 
town,  and  subsequently  enjoyed  the  advantages  of 
a  course  of  study  at  Lenox  Academy,  of  which 
John  Hotchkin  was  then  principal.  At  the  youth- 
ful age  of  seventeen  years,  he  entered  upon  the 
business,  which  he  has  almost  continuously  pursued 
ever  since,  as  a  commercial  traveler,  and  but  very 
few,  if  any  men,  have  had  the  large  experience  that 
he  has  had  in  that  line,  or  have  been  so  successful  in 
making  sales  and  advancing  the  interests  of  their 
employers  as  he.  He  has  always  exercised  due 
caution,  discrimination  and  excellent  judgment  in 
dealing  with  buyers,  and  at  the  same  time  has  dis- 
played marked  enterprise  and  a  real  talent  for 
securing  custom,  that  have  rendered  his  services 
invaluable  to  his  firm.  He  traveled  for  several 
years  in  New  York,  Massachusetts  and  Connecti- 
cut, but  in  1854  he  came  to  Dixon,  and  has  made 
his  home  here  ever  since.  He  bought  attract  of 
land  near  the  city  in  company  with  his  father,  yet 
did  not  attempt  farming,  but  still  gave  his  atten- 
tion to  mercantile  pursuits,  obtaining  a  position 
as  clerk  in  Dixon.  A  year  later,  he  threw  up  that 
employment  to  resume  his  old  business  as  a  com- 
mercial traveler  in  the  interests  of  Bill,  Fargo 
Kelog  &  Co.,  wholesale  dealers  in  boots  and  shoes, 
which  was  subsequently  changed  to  Charles  H.  Fargo 
&  Co.,  and  he  has  traveled  for  that  firm  continu- 
ously since,  being  an  important  factor  in  its  pros- 
perity. Through  him  it  has  become  extensively 
known  throughout  Illinois,  Indiana,  Wisconsin, 
Iowa,  Minnesota  and  South  Dakota,  and  he  has 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


built  up  for  his  employers  a  good  business  in  those 
Slates.  More  than  half  a  century  has  elapsed  since 
he  first  entered  upon  his  vocation  in  New  England, 
and  then  much  of  the  country  through  which  he 
now  travels  was  an  unknown  wilderness — the  great 
States  of  Illinois,  Indiana  and  Wisconsin  were  in 
their  infancy;  Iowa  and  Minnesota,  but  little  set- 
tled, (the  latter  not  even  an  organized  Territory) 
were  on  the  furthest  frontier;  and  the  Dakotas 
were  unheard  of. 

Mr.  Fargo  was  married  in  1843  to  Miss  Margaret, 
daughter  of  Daniel  and  Sophia  (Strong)  Garfielcl, 
and  a  native  of  the  same  Berkshire  town  in  which 
he  had  his  birth.  She  is  a  member  of  the  Baptist 
Church,  and  is  an  exemplary  Christian  woman. 
Her  happy  wedded  life  with  our  subject  has 
brought  them  two  daughters:  Eliza  Sophia,  wife 
of  Samuel  B.  Bovey,  of  Chicago,  and  Eva  M.,  at 
home  with  her  parents. 

Our  subject  is  esteemed  wherever  he  is  known 
for  his  sterling  worth  and  for  his  pleasant  dispo- 
sition, which  have  gained  him  many  friendships 
among  the  people  with  whom  he  has  come  in 
contact  in  the  course  of  his  business.  In  his 
social  relations  he  is  connected  with  the  following 
organizations:  Friendship  Lodge,  No.  7,  A.  F.  & 
A.  M.;  Nachusa  Chapter,  No.  57,  R.  A.  M.;  and 
Dixon  Commandery,  No.  21,  K.  T. 

\lj'  ENRY  W.  DUNNING,  an  early  settler  of 
[Ml*  Illinois  who  is  now  living  retired  at  No.  34 
'J^Z^  Walnut  Street,  Chicago,  was  born  in  New- 
(§y)  burg,  Orange  County,  N.  Y.,  February  23, 
1828.  His  father,  Gabriel  Dunning,  was  also  a 
native  of  that  city  and  being  left  an  orphan  at  the 
age  of  seven  years,  from  that  time  on  made  his 
own  way  in  the  world.  He  learned  the  trade  of  a 
cooper,  which  business  he  followed  in  Newburg, 
until  1830,  when  he  removed  to  Tompkins  County, 
and  purchased  a  farm  in  Newfield  Township,  where 
lie  engaged  in  farming  and  resided  until  1843,  at 
which  time  he  traded  his  land  for  property  near 
Rockford,  Winnebago  County. 

May  15,  of  the  above  named  year,   our  subject, 


accompanied  by  his  wife  and  family  of  nine  chil- 
dren, started  for  their  future  home,  making  the 
entire  journey  overland  and  arriving  in  Rock- 
ford  on  the  15th  of  June.  At  that  time  Chicago 
was  a  city  of  about  seventy  five  hundred  inhab- 
itants, and  most  of  the  land  in  the  northern  part 
of  this  State  was  owned  by  the  Government.  Mr. 
Dunning  resided  on  that  farm  until  1861,  when  he 
sold  out,  and  removing  to  Rockford,  made  his 
home  in  that  city  for  the  succeeding  six  years, 
then  purchased  a  farm  fourteen  miles  northwest 
of  that  place  and  there  continued  to  reside  until 
his  death.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was 
Keziah  Case.  She  was  also  born  in  Orange 
County,  N.  Y.,  and  died  in  Tompkins  County.  He 
was  married  a  second  time,  his  wife  surviving  him 
many  years.  Henry  W.  Dunning  of  this  sketch 
received  his  education  in  the  public  schools  of 
Tompkius  County,  accompanying  his  parents 
on  their  removal  to  Illinois  in  1843,  and  can  relate 
many  an  interesting  event  of  pioneer  life.  He 
has  often  teamed  wheat  to  Chicago  with  two  yoke 
of  oxen,  and  when  the  weather  was  pleasant  camped 
and  cooked  by  the  wayside  and  in  bad  weather 
stopped  at  the  taverns  which  were  located  at 
uneven  distances,  the  charges  for  which  were  very 
moderate.  Our  subject  resided  with  his  parents 
until  reaching  his  majority,  then  began  life  for 
himself  by  working  out  on  farms  by  the  month. 
After  being  thus  employed  for  two  years,  he  pur- 
chased eighty  acres  of  unimproved  land,  five  miles 
east  of  Rockford,  for  which  he  paid  $4  per  acre.  He 
erected  thereon  a  log  cabin  and  resided  there,  cul- 
tivating his  land  until  1861,  when  he  traded  his 
property  for  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land 
on  section  10,  Ash  ton  Township.  Later,  however, 
he  purchased  another  forty  acres  and  continued  to 
make  that  place  his  home  until  1880,  when,  renting 
his  farm,  he  removed  into  the  village  of 
Preston.  In  1887  he  went  to  Chicago,  where  he 
has  since  lived  retired  from  active  business.  lie 
still  owns  his  farm  of  two  hundred  acres  in  Asliton 
Township,  his  home  in  the  village  of  Preston,  and  a 
seven ty-acre  farm  near  that  village. 

In  1856,  Mr.  Dunning  was  married  to  Emma 
Morse,  who  was  born  in  Waukesha,  Wis.,  and  was 
the  daughter  of  William  and  Sarah  (Chapman) 


810 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


Morse.  To  them  have  been  born  two  children, 
Irvin  and  Hattie.  The  former  married  Ida  Rice 
and  is  the  father  of  three  children:  Blanche,  Elmer 
and  an  infant  unnamed.  The  daughter  married 
Benjamin  Rice  and  has  become  the  mother  of  two 
children,  Walter  and  Carl.  Mrs.  Emma  Dunning 
departed  this  life  in  1870,  and  in  February,  1880, 
our  subject  was  married  to  Louisa  Bennett,  who 
was  born  in  Sodus,  Wayne  County,  N.  Y.  She  is 
a  devoted  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church.  Mr.  Dunning  is  connected  with  Preston 
Lodge,  No.  515,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.;  is  a  member  of  the 
Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  of  the  United 
Order  of  Deputies,  and  of  the  American  Mechan- 
ics. 


^ILLIAM  M.  STRADER.  The  agricultural 
element  that  has  been  so  largely  instru- 
mental in  the  upbuilding  of  Lee  County 
is  well  represented  by  this  gentleman,  a  prominent 
farmer  of  Wyoming  Township.  His  well-appointed 
farm  is  finely  located  on  section  8  of  said  town- 
ship, on  the  Chicago  and  Dixon  Road,  at  this 
junction  with  the  Rochelle  Road,  and  one  and 
three-fourth  miles  west  of  Paw  Paw,  his  residence 
occupy  ing  a  rise  of  ground  commanding  a  pleasant 
view  of  the  surrounding  country. 

Mr.  Strader  was  born  on  a  farm  in  Lafayette 
Township,  Sussex  County,  N.  J.,  August  18,  1824. 
His  father,  whose  given  name  was  Henry,  was  also 
a  native  of  that  New  Jersey  township,  but  his  father 
is  thought  to  have  been  of  German  birth.  The 
latter  was  the  owner  of  a  farm  in  Lafayette  Town- 
ship, which  is  now  in  possession  of  his  great-grand- 
son, having  been  in  the  family  one  hundred  and 
twenty  years,  and  a  railway  station  is  on  the 
place,  called  Strader 's  Station.  The  mortal  remains 
of  the  founder  of  the  family  in  the  United  States 
are  buried  in  the  Plains  burying  ground,  near  his 
old  home. 

Henry  Strader  was  reared  and  married  in  his  na- 
tive county,  Rachel  More  becoming  his  wife.  She 
was  a  native  of  Sussex  County,  N.  J.,  and  was  a 
daughter  of  Noah  and  Hannah  More.  She  died  at 
the  home  of  her  son,  our  subject,  in  1860.  The 


father  of  our  subject  left  his  early  home  in  1829 
and  founded  another  in  that  part  of  Luzerne 
County,  Pa.,  now  included  in  Wyoming  Count}'. 
He  bought  a  farm  there  two  miles  from  Newton, 
in  Newton  Township,  upon  which  he  resided 
twenty  years.  At  the  expiration  of  that  time,  he 
returned  to  New  Jersey  to  spend  his  closing  years 
amid  the  scenes  of  his  childhood,  and  lived  on  the 
old  Strader  homestead  until  death  closed  his  mor- 
tal career  in  1880.  He  now  lies  sleeping  the  last 
sleep  in  the  old  Plains  burying  ground. 

Our  subject  was  one  of  nine  children  born  to  his 
parents  who  grew  to  maturity.  He  was  five  years 
old  when  the  family  removed  to  Pennsylvania, 
and  there  he  grew  to  manhood  and  was  given  the 
opportunity  of  obtaining  such  an  education  as  the 
local  schools  offered.  In  the  month  of  May,  1848, 
he  and  his  mother,  brothers  and  sisters  started  for 
what  was  then  considered  the  "Far  West,"  and 
after  five  weeks'  travel  overland  arrived  in  this 
county.  He  entered  the  northwest  quarter  of  sec- 
tion 6,  in  what  is  now  Wyoming  Township,  which 
was  wild  land.  He  was  then  in  the  flush  of  early 
manhood,  endowed  with  strength,  tenacity  of  pur- 
pose and  a  good  capacity  for  down-right  hard 
labor,  and  as  soon  as  he  had  erected  a  log  house 
for  shelter,  he  proceeded  earnestly  to  work  to  im- 
prove his  land.  At  that  time  the  county  was  but 
sparsely  inhabited,  the  greater  part  of  the  land  was 
owned  by  the  Government,  and  game  of  all  kinds 
found  a  home  on  the  prairies  or  in  the  timber. 
There  were  no  railways  for  some  time,  and  LaSalle 
was  the  nearest  market. 

Mr.  Strader  broke  and  fenced  his  land,  bought 
one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  more  on  section  31, 
Willow  Creek  Township,  and  continued  his  farm- 
ing operations  until  March,  1852,  when  he  once 
more  started  Westward,  this  time  bound  for  the 
Golden  State.  This  was  also  his  wedding  journey, 
as  he  was  accompanied  by  his  bride,  he  having 
been  married  a  few  days  previously,  February  22. 
1852,  to  Miss  Sarah  A.  Post,  a  native  of  Batavia, 
Genesee  County,  N.  Y.  She  was  born  October  9, 
1831,  and  is  a  daughter  of  James  D.  Post,  who  was 
born  at  Sheffield,  Mass.,  in  1804,  and  was  a  son  of 
James  Post,  who  is  supposed  to  have  been  a  native 
of  the  old  Bay  State.  He  was  a  soldier  in  the  War 


PORTEAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


811 


of  1812,  and  after  the  close  of  hostilities  he  went 
to  Indiana  to  spend  the  remainder  of  his  days. 
Mrs.  Strader's  father  was  reared  in  Massachusetts, 
and  when  a  young  man  went  from  there  to  New 
York  and  was  a  pioneer  of  Batavia,  where  he  fol- 
lowed the  trade  of  a  carpenter  until  1838.  In 
that  year  he  went  to  Indiana,  making  the  removal 
by  lake  and  canal.  He  carried  on  his  calling  at  Ft. 
Wayne  until  the  fall  of  1847,  when  he  came  to 
this  county  with  a  team.  He  settled  at  Lee  Centre, 
where  he  bought  a  tract  of  land  and  gave  his  atten- 
tion to  its  cultivation  until  death  closed  his  career- 
The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  Eliza  Hopkins. 
She  was  born  at  Plainfield,  Conn.,  July  2,1805, 
and  died  on  the  home  farm  at  Lee  Centre,  Novem- 
ber 28,  1880.  She  was  a  daughter  of  George  and 
Sarah  (White)  Hopkins.  She  was  the  mother  of 
eleven  children,  of  whom  she  reared  seven.  She 
and  her  husband  passed  together  a  happy  wedded 
life  of  fifty-two  years.  They  were  devoted  mem- 
bers of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

In  their  journey  across  the  plains  to  California, 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Strader  were  members  of  a  company 
of  seven   women  and  twenty-one   men,  of  whom   j 
William  Hopkins,   of  Temperance   Hill,  was    the   [ 
captain.     They  had  seven  wagons  drawn  by  oxen,   j 
and  a  few  saddle  horses.     They  had  to  wait  three   j 
weeks  at  Iowa  City  for  the  grass  to  grow,  that   j 
their  oxen  and  horses  might  have  feed  on  the  long 
journey,  which   was  to   consume  six  months,  and   ! 
lay  a  weary  way  across  a  country  almost  uninhab- 
ited  and  over  sterile   plains  and  high  mountains.    ' 
From  Iowa  City  to  Council  Bluffs,  a  distance  of   j 
seventy-five  miles,  there  was  not  a  house  or  any   j 
trace  of  civilization.     Wearied  and  travel-stained, 
the  little  party  arrived  at  Shasta,  Cal.,  the  terminus 
of  the  stage  route,  September  26.     Mr.  Strader  be- 
came   possessed   of  a  ranch   on  Trinity  River,  in 
Trinity  County,  on  which  he  erected  a  commodious 
house  and  barn,  and  there  established  a  ferry  which 
was  known  by  his  name.     He  occupied  quite  an 
important  location,  and  his  house  was  the  polling 
place  for  that  section  of  the  county,  which   was 
called  Strader's  Precinct. 

In  the  fall  of  the  following  year,  Mr.  Strader 
sold  his  ranch  at  a  good  price,  having  tired  of  life 
on  the  frontier,  and  in  the  latter  part  of  January, 


1854,  he  set  his  face  towards  his  old  home,  taking 
with  him  his  little  family  and  proceeding  by  stage 
to  Marysvillc,  where  he  embarked,  January  27,  on 
the  steamer  "Pearl,"  bound  for  Sacramento.  There 
was  a  great  rivalry  among  the  various  steamers 
plying  up  and  down  the  rivers,  and  the  fare  had 
been  reduced  from  $5  to  fifty  cents.  Our  subject 
and  his  wife  came  near  being  the  victim  of  a 
steamboat  accident,  as  there  was  a  race  between 
the  boat  which  they  were  on  and  another,  and 
when  not  twenty  rods  from  the  landing  at  Sacra- 
mento, the  boilers  of  the  "Pearl"  exploded,  injur- 
ing all  on  board,  one  hundred  and  twenty-two  in 
number,  except  eight,  among  whom  were  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Strader  and  their  child,  who  happened  to  be 
in  the  toilet  room  at  the  time,  and  thus  escaped 
scalding,  and  were  rescued  before  that  end  of  the 
boat  went  down.  From  San  Francisco  to  Panama, 
the  voyage  consumed  fifteen  days,  and  there  our 
friends  had  another  rather  exciting  adventure. 
There  was  a  fine  harbor,  but  no  wharf,  and  when 
steamers  approached  Panama  a  gun  was  fired  as  a 
signal  for  boats  to  come  out  a  distance  of  three 
miles  to  land  the  passengers,  who  had  to  pay  two 
dollars  apiece  to  be  put  ashore.  The  tide  being 
out  when  the  steamer  containing  the  Straders  ar- 
rived, the  boats  could  not  reach  the  shore  with 
their  prows,  and  the  passengers  had  to  pay  another 
dollar  to  be  carried  ashore  on  men's  backs.  The 
boatman  who  tried  to  perform  that  office  for  Mr. 
Strader  found  him  a  too  heavy  burden,  and  fell 
with  him  in  the  water  and  left  him  to  get  to  terra 
firma  as  best  he  could.  Six  hours  were  taken  up 
ui  crossing  the  forty-eight  miles  of  intervening 
isthmus  between  the  Pacific  Ocean  and  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico,  on  a  dilapidated  railway,  and  our  sub- 
ject and  his  family  were  detained  in  the  cars  at 
Aspinwall,  awaiting  the  arrival  of  the  specie  boat, 
which  was  outside  in  the  harbor  but  could  not  ap- 
proach until  the  tide  turned.  From  New  York 
they  went  to  Chicago  by  the  way  of  Philadelphia 
and  at  last  arrived  at  Paw  Paw  Grove,  March  25, 
safe  and  sound.  Since  her  return  home,  Mrs.  Stra- 
der has  had  another  narrow  escape  from  death, 
when  the  Dixon  bridge  fell,  May  4,  1873,  as  she 
had  just  crossed  before  the  fatal  accident,  when  so 
many  were  killed  or  injured. 


812 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


Mr.  Strader  bought  his  present  farm  from  Rus- 
sell Town  in  1856,  and  has  devoted  himself  assid- 
uously to  its  cultivation  and  improvement,  and  in 
both  respects  it  ranks  with  the  best  in  the  town- 
ship. He  is  a  man  of  marked  intelligence,  his 
travels,  in  which  he  has  driven  across  the  United 
States  from  ocean  to  ocean,  having  broadened  his 
intellect,  as  he  has  made  good  use  of  his  powers  of 
observation,  and  has  stored  his  mind  with  useful 
information  derived  from  nature,  as  well  as  from 
books,  for  which  he  has  a  special  fondness.  He  is 
credited  with  bringing  the  first  carriage  and  light 
harness  to  the  township,  in  1856.  He  is  well  known 
as  a  man  of  progressive  ideas  and  of  much  enter- 
prise, and  his  fellow-citizens  are  always  sure  of  his 
hearty  co-operation  in  any  movement  that  will 
benefit  the  township  or  county,  whether  to  heighten 
their  material  welfare  or  to  elevate  their  social 
and  moral  status. 

Mr.  Strader  and  his  amiable  wife  occupy  a  warm 
place  in  the  hearts  of  the  people  about  them,  as 
they  are  known  far  and  near  for  their  never-fail- 
ing kindness  and  consideration  for  others,  for  their 
free  and  open-handed  hospitality,  and  for  that 
beneficent  charity  that  means  not  only  a  liberal 
giving  of  their  means,  but  impels  them  to  think 
kindly  of,  and  sympathize  with,  the  unfortunate, 
and  to  care  for  the  suffering.  They  have  been 
members  of  the  Baptist  Church  for  twenty-four 
years,  and  have  taken  an  active  part  in  its  up- 
building. Mr.  Strader  was  a  Whig  in  his  early 
manhood,  but  he  has  been  a  Republican  since  the 
formation  of  the  party.  He  has  served  as  Road 
Commissioner,  has  been  School  Director  and  is  at 
present  School  Trustee.  In  1848,  the  year  of 
his  settlement  here,  the  school  districts  were  organ- 
ized, and  began  to  draw  public  money.  In  1850 
the  township  was  organized  under  the  name  of  Paw 
Paw,  which  was  soon  after  changed  to  Wyoming. 
Our  subject  has  been  a  member  of  all  the  juries 
impanelled  here  since  his  residence  here,  and  in 
1886  he  was  a  member  of  the  Grand  Jury  at 
Chicago. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Strader  have  been  blessed  in  their 
wedded  life  by  the  birth  of  six  children,  of  whom 
these  four  have  passed  to  the  life  eternal:  George 
C.,who  was  born  in  California  and  died  at  the  age 


of  nineteen;  John,  who  died  in  his  ninth  year; 
Mary  A.,  who  died  in  her  eighteenth  year,  a  lovely 
girl,  who  was  just  blooming  into  a  tender  and 
beautiful  womanhood,  and  Edward  J.,  who  was 
born  August  16,  1862,  and  died  July  7,  1886, 
aged  twenty-four  years.  Two  children  remain  to 
our  subject  and  his  wife,  Willis  and  Harry  G.  The 
latter  married  Miss  Emma  Morris,  and  has  one 
child,  Grace. 


A.  BALLOU,  a  successful  merchant  of 
Dixon,  has  been  engaged  in  business  for 
himself  for  more  than  eight  years,  but  is  a 
salesman  of  long  experience,  having  been  con- 
nected with  the  dry-goods  establishment  of  George 
L.  Sculer  from  1863  until  1882.  Upon  coming  to 
Illinois  in  the  spring  of  1860,  he  first  located  in 
Ottawa,  where  for  a  time  he  resided,  but  later  re- 
moved to  Dixon.  He  was  born  in  New  Haven, 
Addison  County,  Vt.,  and  received  his  education 
in  his  native  place,  where  he  grew  to  manhood. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  Dr.  E.  C.  Ballou, 
who  was  for  years  a  physician  in  Addison  County, 
Vt.,  and  there  died  at  the  age  of  seventy-six 
years.  He  was  a  descendant  of  the  famous  min- 
ister, Rev.Hosea  Ballou,  and  married  a  New  Haven 
lady,  Miss  Anna  Bird  by  name.  She  passed  from 
earth  a  few  years  before  the  demise  of  her  hus- 
band, at  the  age  of  seventy-one  years.  She  was  a 
member  of  the  Methodist  Church  and  a  faithful 
and  sincere  Christian  woman.  The  Doctor  was  a 
Republican  in  his  political  belief,  and  was  a  strong 
advocate  of  temperance,  never  using  liquor  in  his 
prescriptions  for  medicine. 

Miss  Mary  McWilliams,  as  Mrs.  Ballou  was 
known  in  maidenhood,  is  a  native  of  Orange 
County,  N.  Y.,  and  was  there  educated  and  reared 
to  womanhood.  She  has  been  a  faithful  com- 
panion of  her  husband  and  his  cheerful  helpmate  in 
all  worthy  enterprises  to  which  they  have  lent 
their  aid.  They  are  active  members  of  the  Meth- 
odist Church,  with  which  they  united  in  youth, 
and  Mr.  Ballou  is  agent  for  the  Dixon  branch  of 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


813 


the  Lee  County  Bible  Society.  Socially,  he  is  clerk 
for  the  Modern  Woodmen  of  America,  at  Dixon, 
and  is  a  member  of  the  order  of  Masons,  at  Dixon, 
belonging  to  the  Blue  Lodge.  Politically,  he  ad- 
heres to  the  principles  of  the  Republican  party. 
Two  children  survive,  and  two,  Philip  and  Will- 
iam, are  deceased.  Frank  A.  is  salesman  for  his 
father,  and  James  is  a  student  in  the  Dixon 
schools. 


r^SKV.    CHRISTIAN     H.    TIU'MMEL,    1).    I).. 

iWr  was  born  in  Germany,  in  1802,  and  died  at 
SM|  his  home  in  Prairieville,  May  24,  1881.  His 
ancestors  were  worthy  and  prominent  people 
in  the  Fatherland,  and  his  grandfather,  who  was 
a  ship  surgeon,  served  for  many  years  on  the  com- 
mercial vessels  of  Holland.  His  father,  Gerhard 
Thummel,  was  born  in  Jager,  Germany,  in  1755, 
and  after  receiving  his  education  in  his  native 
place,  engaged  in  mercantile  pursuits  there  until 
his  death,  in  1826.  He  was  a  prominent  business 
man  and  an  energetic  and  upright  citizen. 

The  mother  of  our  subject,  Margaret  (Meyern) 
Thummel,  was  born  in  Germany,  and  died  in 
Jager,  in  1841,  at  an  advanced  age.  The  parents 
were  faithful  and  active  members  of  the  Lutheran 
Church.  Our  subject  was  educated  for  the  ministry 
at  the  University  of  Halle,  in  Prussia,  and  later 
graduated  from  the  University  of  Tubingen,  in 
Wurtemberg.  In  his  native  province,  he  was 
licensed  to  preach,  in  1824,  and  two  years  later 
was  ordained  to  the  ministry,  soon  after  whicli  he 
came  to  the  United  States,  in  August,  1856,  em- 
barking at  Amsterdam  in  a  sailing-vessel  and 
landing  at  Philadelphia  seventy  days  later. 

Afterward  Mr.  Thummel  studied  at  Hartwick 
Seminary,  in  Otsego  County,  N.  Y.,  where  he  was 
professor  of  languages,  and  also  held  a  professor- 
ship in  the  Lutheran  Seminary,  of  Lexington,  S.  C. 
In  1845,  he  removed  to  Illinois  and  settled  at  Prai- 
rieville, where  he  soon  afterward  organized  the 
Lutheran  Church  and  was  its  pastor  for  many 
years.  Some  years  after  he  came  to  Prairieville, 
the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  was  conferred 


upon  him  by  a  college  in  Ohio.  He  was  a  kind 
and  patient  man,  a  profound  scholar  and  worthy 
citizen,  and  left  many  warm  friends  to  mourn  his 
death.  For  many  years  he  was  Secretary  of  the 
Farmers'  Mutual  Insurance  Company,  of  Palmyra 
Township,  which  he  founded.  Politically,  he  was 
a  Republican. 

In  New  York  State,  Dr.  Thummel  was  married  to 
Miss  Catharine  Lattin,  who  was  born  in  Hart'wick, 
N.  Y.,  and  educated  in  the  academy  at  that  place. 
Her  parents,  William  and  Abiel  (Hurd)  Lattin, 
were  natives  of  Connecticut,  but  spent  many  years 
in  Ilartwick,  N.  Y.,  where  they  resided  on  a  farm. 
Later  they  went  to  Ohio,  where  the  father  died. 
The  mother  thon  returned  to  New  York  State,  and 
there  passed  from  earth  at  an  advanced  age.  Mrs. 
Thummel  is  a  lady  of  much  refinement  and  broad 
culture,  and  makes  her  home  in  Prairieville. 

Dr.  Thummel  and  his  estimable  wife  became  the 
parents  of  five  children,  viz.:  Anson  E.,  of  whom 
see  biography;  Charles  D.,  who  is  married  and  oc- 
cupies a  stock  farm  of  more  than  seven  hundred 
acres  in  Marshall  County,  Kan.;  George  H.,  who  is 
married  and  is  an  attorney  at  Grand  Island,  Neb.; 
Warren,  who  lives  in  Des  Moines,  Iowa,  where  he 
is  an  attorney,  and  Kate  L.,  wife  of  Herman  I. 
Fischer,  a  farmer  of  Palmyra  Township. 


§ENJAMIN    FRANKLIN    DYSART,    Post- 
master at  Franklin  Grove,  is  the  youngest 
son  of  James  and  Elizabeth  Dysart.     He 
was  born  in  Huntingdon  County,  Pa.,  Jan- 
uary 29,  1841,  and  resided  in  his  native  place  un- 
til he  was  fifteen,  when  he  accompanied  the  parental 
family  to  Illinois  and  settled  on  a  farm  near  Frank- 
lin Grove.  His  education  was  gained  in  the  schools 
of  Lee  Centre  and  Dixon,  and  has  been  broadened 
by  subsequent  travel  and  self-culture. 

At  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War,  Mr.  Dysart 
enlisted  in  the  service  of  the  Union  and  was  mus- 
tered in  September  7,  1861,  as  a  member  of  Com- 
pany C,  Thirty-fourth  Illinois  Infantry.  He 
entered  service  as  a  Corporal  and  was  mustered 
out  November  10,  1864,  as  Lieutenant,  having  also 


814' 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


acted  as  Quartermaster  for  a  time.  He  participated 
in  all  the  marches  and  engagements  in  which  his 
regiment  had  a  part,  and  received  his  official  pro- 
motion as  the  result  of  meritorious  service. 

Upon  the  close  of  the  war,  Mr.  Dysart  located 
in  Canton,  Ohio,  where  he  was  Revenue  Assessor 
for  a  time.  In  1866  he  embarked  in  the  whole- 
sale and  retail  grocery  business,  and  the  following 
year  came  to  Illinois,  where  he  engaged  in  farming 
in  China  Township,  Lee  County.  His  farm  in  this 
township  had  been  given  to  him  by  his  father 
prior  to  the  war,  and  he  engaged  as  a  tiller  of  the 
soil  until  1875.  He  then  became  a  member  of  the 
firm  of  Dysart  <fe  Hussey,lumber  merchants  at  Frank- 
lin Grove,  and  continued  in  that  connection  for 
six  years.  In  1881  he  sold  the  lumber  business 
and  engaged  in  the  implement  trade,  which  he 
closed  out  in  order  to  accept  the  office  of  Post- 
master, in  May,  1889. 

February  25,  1864,  Mr.  Dysart  was  married  to 
Alice  C.  A.,  daughter  of  William  O.  Harrison,  of 
Canton,  Ohio,  and  they  have  one  son,  Edgar  H. 
In  his  political  affiliations,  Mr.  Dysart  is  a  Repub- 
lican, devotedly  attached  to  his  party,  and  socially 
is  a  member  of  the  Illinois  Commandery  of  Loyal 
Legion  and  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  hav- 
ing been  Commander  of  G.  W.  Hewitt  Post,  No. 
398. 


CALLAGE  SEYBERT.  a  retired  farmer,  re- 
moved to  Dixon  in  August,  1889,  from 
his  farm  in  South  Dixon  Township,  and  is 
passing  his  declining  years  quietly  amid  the  com- 
forts which  he  accumulated  in  earlier  life.  He 
settled  permanently  in  Lee  County  in  the  spring 
of  1862,  since  which  time  he  has  been  successful 
and  has  improved  nearly  one  thousand  acres  of 
good  land,  divided  into  five  farms.  These  estates 
he  has  supplied  with  good  farm  buildings  and  all 
the  improvements  of  first-class  farms,  and  they  are 
now  occupied  by  his  sons,  whom  he  has  aided  in 
starting  out  for  themselves. 

Mr.  Seybert  was  born  in    Salem  Township,  Lu- 
zerne  County,  Pa..  February  16,  1817,  and    is   the 


!   son    of    Honteter    Seybert,    a   native   of  Lehigh 

County,   Pa.     The   grandfather   of   our     subject, 

Sebastian  Seybert,  was  a  native  of  Germany,  and 

when  a  young  man  emigrated  with  his  brother  to 

this  country  and  served  their  time  to  pay  for  their 

passage  on  a   sailing   vessel   across   the   Atlantic. 

After  paying  their  passage,  they  located  in  Lehigh 

County,   Pa.,   where   Sebastian    was   married  to  a 

Mis*  Baughman,  who  was   of   German   parentage. 

;   The  young   couple  settled  in  what  is   now  Salem 

I   Township,  Luzerne  County.  Pa.,  where  they  were 

among  the   first   settlers,   and    there   improved   a 

!   homestead  from  the  timber  land.   He  was  a  success- 

j   ful  farmer  until  his  death,  which  occurred  when  he 

was  more  than  seventy  years  old.     His    wife   also 

died  in  Luzerne  County  at  an  advanced  age.  They 

I   were  members  of  the  Lutheran  Church  and  helped 

organize  a  church  of  that  denomination    in  Salem 

Township. 

The  grandparents  of  our  subject  had  a  family  of 
six  sons  and  two  daughters,  namely:  Henry, 
Michael,  Sebastian,  Jr.,  Honteter,  Barney,  Nicho- 
las, Elizabeth  and  Margaret.  All  lived  to  mature 
years,  married,  reared  families  and  died  between 
the  ages  of  fifty  and  eighty  years.  They  were 
farmers  by  occupation  in  Pennsylvania,  and  were 
members  of  the  Lutheran  Church.  Honteter, 
father  of  our  subject,  was  the  fourth  son  and  fifth 
child  in  the  family,  and  was  reared  mostly 
in  Luzerne  County.  His  wife,  whose  maiden 
name  was  Margaret  Zimmerman,  was  born  and 
reared  in  Northampton  County,  Pa.,  and  was  de- 
scended from  German  ancestors,  who  were  early 
settlers  of  Schuylkill  County. 

After  his  marriage,  Honteter  Seybert  lived  on  a 
farm  in  Salem  Township,  Luzerne  County,  where 
he  died  at  the  age  of  eighty.  His  wife  departed 
this  life  when  three-score  years  of  age.  Through 
industry  they  built  up  a  good  home  and  gained  a 
comfortable  competency.  Religiously,  he  was  a 
Lutheran,  while  she  belonged  to  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  which  was  the  faith  of  her  ancestors. 
They  were  the  parents  of  six  sons  and  three 
daughters,  namely:  George,  Honteter,  Jr.,  Reuben. 
James,  Wallace,  Baughman,  Nancy,  Polly  and 
Savilla.  George  was  drowned  in  his  father's  mill 
race,  and  Baughman  died  when  eighteen  years  old, 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


815 


but  the  other  children  lived  to  mature  years.  Our 
subject  is  the  only  member  of  the  family  now  liv- 
ing, and  he  passed  his  boyhood  upon  his  father's 
farm. 

In  Salem  Township,  Mr.  Seybert  was  married  to 
Desia  Hill,  who  was  born  there,  May  1,  1820,  the 
daughter  of  Daniel  and  Catherine  (Kissner)  Hill 
and  the  youngest  of  their  eight  children.  She  is 
the  mother  of  eight  children,  two  of  whom  are  de- 
ceased. Mahala  is  the  wife  of  Tom  Hill,  of  whom 
see  biography;  Daniel  II.  married  Emma  Wagnor. 
and  resides  in  Nachusa;  Charles  W.,  James  W.  and 
George  M.  are  represented  elsewhere  in  this 
volume;  Louella  is  the  wife  of  William  Campbell, 
a  blacksmith  of  Dixon.  In  their  religious  connec- 
tions, Mr.  and  Mrs.  Seybert  are  members  of  the 
Lutheran  Church,  and  politically,  he  is  a  Democrat. 
He  has  held  various  local  offices  and_  served  as 
Supervisor  for  three  terms  in  South  Dixon  Town- 
ship. 


Ip^OBERT  C.  FILSON,  dealer  ingrain  and  live- 
llWp  stock,  has  his  place  of  business  conveniently 
4§T\  located  near  the  Illinois  Central  tracks  at 
Dixon,  where  he  established  a  trade  in  1882. 
His  elevator  has  a  capacity  of  five  thousand  bushels, 
Mr.  Filson  handling  as  much  as  two  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  bushels  of  grain  annually,  and  one 
hundred  car  loads  of  stock. 

He  of  whom  we  write  made  his  advent  into  Lee 
County  in  1869,  being  formerly  a  farmer  in  Na- 
chusa Township,  and  began  as  clerk  for  John  Dy- 
sart,  an  extensive  dealer  in  grain,  with  whom  he 
remained  until  he  established  a  business  on  his 
.own  account.  Our  subject  was  born  in  Franklin 
County,  Pa.,  February  12,  1847,  and  is  a  son  of 
Samuel  Filson,  who  was  also  a  native  of  that  State 
and  county.  The  paternal  grandfather  of  our  sub- 
ject, Robert  Filson,  came  of  Scotch-Irish  ancestry. 
being  himself,  however,  a  native  of  the  Keystone 
State,  where  he  lived  and  died  in  Franklin  County, 
when  seventy  years  of  age.  His  wife  was  also  a 
native  of  that  State,  and  with  her  husband  was  a 
member  of  the  German  Reformed  Church. 

The  father  of  our  subject  married  Mary  E.  Miller, 
41 


a  native  of  Franklin  County,  Pa.,  soon  after  which 
event  they  began  farming,  but  later,  however, 
operated  a  hotel  at  Marion,  where  Mr.  Filson  's 
death  occurred  when  forty-five  years  of  age.  The 
mother  of  our  subject  is  now  residing  in  Dixon, 
111.,  with  her  oldest  son,  B.  F.  Filson.  She  is  sfcrty- 
eight  years  of  age,  and  like  her  husband  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  German  Reformed  Church.  The  paren- 
tal family  included  four  children:  Our  subject, 
B.  F.,  John  M.  (who  is  a  grocery  dealer  in  Kings- 
ley,  Iowa),  and  Adessa,  who  resides  with  her 
mother. 

Our  subject  grew  to  mature  years  in  Marion, 
Pa.,  and  after  coming  to  this  county  was  married 
in  Dixon  to  Miss  Nancy  J.  Sharrar,  a  native  of 
Blair  County,  Pa.  She  was  born  in  1848,  and  was 
the  daughter  of  James  and  Mary  A.  (Morrow) 
Sharrar,  who  came  to  Illinois  in  the  '50s  and 
began  life  in  Lee  County  as  farmers.  In  1873 
they  moved  to  Saunders  County,  Neb.,  and  located 
on  a  farm  near  Wahoo,  Saunders  County,  where 
the  father  died  in  1884.  Mrs.  Sharrar  is  }-et  living 
and  resides  in  Nebraska,  having  attained  the  age 
of  three-scoie  years  and  ten.  Like  her  husband. 
she  is  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

In  social  matters,  Mr.  Filson  is  a  member  of 
Blue  Lodge,  Chapter  and  Commandery  at  Dixon, 
being  Senior  Warden  in  the  former,  High  Priest  in 
the  Chapter  and  Warden  in  the  Commandery, 
In  politics,  he  votes  the  Democratic  ticket,  and  in 
religious  matters  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  here;  Mrs.  Filson  also  attends, 
although  she  was  reared  a  Presbyterian.  They  are 
the  parents  of  six  children:  William  S.,  Mary  E., 
Minnie  B.,  Horace  E.,  Maud  S.  and  Emma. 


ELI  AS  B.  STILES,  formerly  of  Dixon,   was 
born  in  Huntingdon,  Luzerne  County,  Pa., 
March    9,  1820,   and   was  the  son  of  Lewis 
and  Sarah  (Dodson)  Stiles.     He  was   reared  in  his 
native  county,   and  when  twenty   years  old  came 
to  Dixon,  where  he   followed   the  occupation  of  a 
clerk  for  two  year.*.     Later,  he   formed  a  partner- 
ship with  another   gentleman  and  operated  under 


816 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


the  firm  name  of  Eddy  &  Stiles  until  1846,  when 
he  removed  to  St.  Louis  and  there  resided  for  two 
years.  After  his  return  to  Dixon,  he  engaged 
largely  in  the  land  agency  and  the  real-estate  busi- 
ness, and  was  successful  in  his  various  enterprises. 

In  1853,  Mr.  Stiles  opened  a  private  bank  and 
transacted  a  prosperous  business  until  1864,  when, 
owing  to  unfortunate  speculations,he  was  obliged  to 
suspend.  Afterward  he  engaged  in  agricultural 
pursuits  and  also  as  one  of  the  largest  and  most 
daring  speculators  on  the  Chicago  Board  of  Trade. 
In  his  business  career,  he  experienced  many  disas- 
trous and  sudden  vicissitudes  as  well  as  many  fav- 
orable turns  in  the  tide  of  fortune,  but  bore  disaster 
and  success  with  equal  nerve  and  fortitude. 

Mr.  Stiles  had  long  been  a  prominent  member  of 
the  Democratic  party  in  his  district  and  for  ten 
years  served  as  County  Treasurer.  In  1862,  he 
was  Democratic  candidate  for  Congress  in  his  dis- 
trict against  the  late  Hon.  E.  B.  Washburne  and 
made  a  sharp  and  close  contest  for  the  position. 
August  8,  1847,  he  was  married  at  Dixon  to  Miss 
Sybil  Van  Arnam  and  they  became  parents  of  three 
sons:  Charles,  Alexander  and  Eugene  B. 

On  the  morning  of  August  26,  1881,  the  sad  and 
sudden  announcement  of  the  death  of  Mr.  Stiles,  in 
Chicago,  from  paralysis  of  the  heart,  came  to  the 
citizens  of  Dixon,  taking  them  by  surprise,  as  but 
few  knew  of  his  illness.  His  remains  were  brought 
to  Dixon,  and  the  funeral  services  held  at  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  were  attended  by  a 
large  concourse  of  people  who  wished  to  show  their 
esteem  for  this  honored  and  worthy  citizen.  He 
was  a  man  of  jovial,  .companionable  disposition, 
and  very  popular  wherever  he  was  known. 


&ILLIAM  J.  ARMOUR,  engineer  on  the 
Illinois  Central  Railroad,  came  to  Amboy 
March  31,  1859,  and  has  since  that  time 
been  closely  identified  with  the  best  interests  of 
this  thriving  place.  He  is  the  son  of  John  and 
Eva  (Hartzcll)  Armour,  natives  respectively  of 
New  York  and  Pennsylvania,  and  was  born  in 
Somerset  County,  Pa.,  March  1, 1838.  The  grand- 


father of  our  subject,  William  Armour,  was  a  na- 
tive of  Scotland  and  emigrated  to  the  United 
States,  where  he  settled  in  Pennsylvania  and 
there  married  Margaret  Buchanan,  a  cousin  of  the 
President  of  that  name.  He  was  engaged  in  the 
hotel  business  for  some  time  and  died  when  about 
sixty  years  old  at  Laughlintown,  Pa. 

John  Armour,  father  of  our  subject,  was  born 
in  York  State,  January  1,  1807,  and  was  married  in 
Pennsylvania,  May  18,  1835,  to  Miss  Eva  Hartzell, 
who  was  born  July  19,  1815.  His  trade  was  that 
of  a  tan  ner  and  he  was  for  many  years  agent  of  a 
coal  company,  in  which  capacity  he  resided  for  a 
time  in  West  Virginia  and  Maryland,  acting  as 
purchasing  agent  of  horses  and  feed.  He  died  in 
Somerset  County,  Pa.  His  children  numbered  six, 
namely:  Margaret,  Mary  Emily,  Martha,  George, 
John  and  William  J.  In  his  early  life  our  subject 
learned  the  trade  of  a  blacksmith,  at  which  he 
served  an  apprenticeship  of  four  years.  At  the 
age  of  nineteen,  he  commenced  railroading  on  the 
Baltimore  &  Ohio  Railroad  in  Virginia,  filling  the 
position  of  brakeman  and  fireman. 

After  coming  to  Amboy  in  1859,  Mr.  Armour 
served  for  three  years  as  fireman  of  the  Illinois 
Central  Railroad,  and  in  1883  was  promoted  to  be 
engineer  of  the  passenger  train.  He  was  married 
September  1,  1870,  to  Louisa  Tuttle,  who  was 
born  in  Sheffield,  Mass.,  August  21,  1847.  Her 
father,  Horatio  N.  Tuttle,  was  born  in  New  York 
State  (whither  his  parents  removed  from  Con- 
necticut) April,  26,  1810,  and  was  three  years  old 
when  the  parental  family  removed  to  Massachu- 
setts and  settled  in  Sheffield.  He  was  there  mar- 
ried, October  2,  1834,  to  Miss  Emily  Loomis.  In 
1864  he  came  to  Illinois  and  for  two  years  re- 
sided in  Amboy,  whence  he  removed  to  Lincoln, 
Neb.,  but  subsequently  returned  to  Amboy.  He 
died  here,  November  14,  1888,  and  his  wife  passed 
away  thirteen  days  prior  to  his  demise. 

Six  children  of  the  family  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Tuttle  grew  to  mature  years,  namely:  Edwin, 
who  was  a  lumberman  and  died  in  Lincoln,  Neb., 
January  3,  1879;  Antoinette,  who  married  John 
Doolittle  and  resides  in  Lincoln,  Neb.;  Mary,  wife 
of  Caleb  Benedict,  of  Amboy;  Martha,  who  died 
in  Massachusetts,  at  the  age  of  seventeen  years; 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


817 


Louise,  the  wife  of  our  subject;  and  Ellen,  who 
resides  iu  Chicago.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Armour  are 
the  parents  of  three  children:  Bertha,  bom 
November  1,  1871;  Emily,  December  21,  1875; 
and  Eva,  May  12,  1887.  The  family  residence  is 
a  large  and  beautiful  abode  and  the  center  of  a 
gracious  hospitality  enjoyed  by  many  friends. 
Their  religious  home  is  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  and  politically  Mr.  Armour  is  identified 
with  the  Republican  party. 


JAMES  GEER,  the  owner  of  a  fine  farm   of 
two  hundred  acres,  located   on   section  26, 
Nelson  Township,  began   life   here  in  1860, 
on  a  raw  tract  of  prairie  land.     His  place  is 
now  well-stocked  and  improved  with  all  the  neces- 
sary   buildings  and    iarm    machinery.     Mr.  Geer 
came  to  Lee  County  in  1858,  making  his    first   lo- 
cation in  Dixon.     He  was  at   that   time   a   young 
man  and  for  two  years  was  employed  at    the    Na- 
chusa  House.     His  advent  into  the  State,  however, 
was  in  1853,  the  intervening  time  being  spent    in 
Chicago  and  Elgin. 

The  original  of  this  sketch  was  born  in  Indiana 
County,  Pa.,  March  3,  1832,  and  was  the  son  of 
Erastus  Geer,  also  a  native  of  the  Keystone  State. 
The  grandfather  of  our  subject,  James  T.  R.  Geer, 
was  born  at  Lake  George,  Conn.  His  father  was  a 
Revolutionary  soldier,  and  died  at  Blairsville,  1'a., 
when  past  ninety-three  years  of  age.  James  T.  R. 
Geer  followed  the  various  occupations  of  farmer, 
carpenter  and  millwright,  and  on  choosing  a  life 
companion  married  a  Connecticut  lady,  who  de- 
parted this  life  in  Pennsylvania  when  about  sev- 
enty-five years  of  age.  They  were  members  of 
the  Baptist  Church  and  well  respected  in  their  lo- 
cality. 

Erastus  Geer,  the  father  of  our  subject,  was  one 
of  a  family  of  seven  children.  He  is  yet  living 
and  resides  at  Crystal  Lake,  McIIenry  County, 
having  attained  his  eighty-seventh  year.  He  has 
been  a  resident  of  the  Prairie  State  since  18,V!.  ,'r.id 
is  the  owner  of  a  fine  estate  in  the  above-named 


county.  His  wife.,  formerly  Miss  Abbie  Morton,  is 
yet  living  and  is  eighty-seven  years  of  age.  She 
was  born  and  reared  in  Pennsylvania,  and  after 
her  marriage  accompanied  her  husband  to  his  new 
home,  where  she  has  been  no  unimportant  factor 
in  aiding  him  to  attain  his  present  high  standing 
in  the  community.  They  we  both  members  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  and  are  trying  to  live  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  tenets  of  that  denomination. 

Our  subject  was  the  eldest  of  the  four  sons  and 
four  daughters  bom  to  his  parents,  all  of  whom 
are  living  and  have  homes  of  their  own  with  one 
exception.  Our  subject  was  uiarried  in  Dixon  to 
Miss  Catherine  Boyer,  who  was  born  in  Somerset 
County,  Pa.,  and  there  resided  until  coining  "West 
with  her  brothers  and  sister.  Her  father,  Abraham 
Boyer,  was  a  farmer  and  departed  this  life  at 
Dixon,  at  an  advanced  age.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Geer 
have  six  children:  Georgia  A.  is  the  wife  of  E. 
E.  Harden,  and  resides  at  Liberty,  Neb.,  where  Mr. 
Harden  is  a  banker;  Mattie  is  the  wife  of  G.  H. 
Harden,  who  is  also  a  banker  in  Stratton,  Hitch- 
cock County,  Neb.;  Edward  A.,  Jessie  L.,  John  A. 
and  Frederick  are  at  home.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Geer 
attend  the  Lutheran  Church  where  they  are  active 
and  influential  members. 


AN1EL  MALONEY.  Ireland  numbers 
many  representatives  among  the  best  class 
of  citizens  in  Illinois.  There  is  a  stirring 
quality  about  the  nationality  that  par- 
ticularly fits  them  to  be  good  citizens,  and  we  as 
Americans  are  greatly  indebted  to  settlers  of  Irish 
birth  for  the  rapid  advancement  made  in  the  de- 
velopment of  this  State.  He  whose  name  is  at  the 
head  of  this  sketch  is  one  of  the  prominent  mason 
contractors  of  Amboy,  which  business  he  has  fol- 
lowed for  the  past  forty-five  years.  He  is  one  of 
the  old  residents  of  the  place,  having  made  Am- 
boy his  home  for  thirty-eight  years,  and  the 
progress  that  the  county  has  made,  especially  that 
portion  in  which  he  lives  is  as  familiar  to  him  as 
events  in  his  daily  life. 

The  parents  of   our   subject,   P.   J.   and    Mary 


818 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


(Touliey)  Maloney,  were  natives  of  Thomaslown, 
County  Tipperary,  Ireland.  Their  decease  oc- 
curred about  five  years  ago,  after  having  become 
the  parents  of  a  family  of  five  children.  The 
original  of  this  sketch  was  born  in  the  above- 
named  town  and  county,  where  he  was  given  a 
good  education  in  the  common  schools. 

Mr.  Maloney,  of  this  sketch,  was  united  in  mar- 
riage, in  1850,  in  Ilolyoke,  Mass.,  with  Mary  Fitz- 
gerald. Mrs.  Maloney  was  born  in  Middleton, 
County  Cork,  Ireland,  and  was  the  daughter  of 
James  and  Mary  Fitzgerald.  To  them  have  been 
granted  a  family  of  seven  children:  William 
Henry,  Daniel  Webster,  Philip  James,  John  Fran- 
cis, Mary  J.,  Charles  Vincent  and  Katie.  In  his 
religious  belief  Mr.  Malont'3'  is  a  Roman  Catholic, 
and  in  politics  he  votes  the  straight  Democratic 
ticket.  He  has  never  filled  any  local  office,  pre- 
ferring to  give  his  time  and  attention  to  his  busi- 
ness in  which  he  has  been  more  than  ordinarily 
successful. 


JEROME  B.  ANDERSON  has   a  good  farm, 
comprising  a  quarter  of  section  13,  Nelson 
Township,  that     is   admirably   adapted  to 
general  farming  and  dairy  purposes,  and  to 
those  branches  of  agriculture  it  is  devoted.     The 
homestead    is    well   supplied    with    the  necessary 
equipments  to  conduct  business    properly,  and  its 
improvements  are  of  a  good  class. 

Our  subject  was  born  in  Morrison  Cove,  Bed- 
ford County,  Pa.,  May  16,  1844.  He  is  of  good 
old  Revolutionary  stock,  and  the  blood  of  sterling 
Scotch  ancestry  runs  in  his  veins.  His  father, 
Hezekiah  Anderson,  and  his  grandfather,  Julius 
Anderson,  were  also  natives  of  Pennsylvania,  the 
latter,  who  was  born  of  American  parents,  spend- 
ing his  life  in  that  State.  lie  in  turn  was  a  son  of 
Patrick  Anderson,  a  soldier  of  the  Revolution,  who 
was  a  Pennsylvania  farmer,  and  lived  and  died  in 
the  Keystone  State  when  an  old  man.  He  was  a 
Democrat  in  politics  and  a  Presbyterian  in  religion, 
his  .-on  Julius  being  of  like  faith  in  both  partic- 
ulars, lie  was  likewise  a  farmer  and  was  also  a 


merchant.  He  served  in  the  War  of  1812.  lie 
lived  to  an  advanced  age,  always  making  his  home 
in  his  native  State. 

Hezekiah  1).  Anderson  learned  the  trade  of  a 
millwright  in  his  3'Outh,  and  later  in  life  turned 
his  attention  to  farming  in  Bedford  County, 
where  he  settled  after  marriage.  He  lived  there 
until  1855,  when  he  brought  his  family  to  Illinois 
to  establish  a  home  in  Lee  County,  which  was  rich 
in  resources,  and  possessed  many  superior  advan- 
tages for  a  farmer.  He  first  settled  in  Marion 
Township,  and  later  located  in  South  Dixon 
Township,  where  he  and  his  household  lived  until 
1865,  when  he  bought  the  farm,  which  was  then 
but  slightly  improved,  and  is  now  the  property  of 
our  subject.  The  land  increased  in  value  under 
his  management,  and  here  he  built  up  a  comfort- 
able home,  in  which,  at  the  age  of  fifty-six,  he  laid 
down  the  burden  of  life  for  the  unbroken  rest  of 
death,  in  1870.  His  wife  died  some  years  later,  in 
1886,  at  the  age  of  sixty-seven,  her  death  occur- 
ring in  the  city  of  Dixon.  They  were  people  of 
blameless  lives  and  Christian  spirit,  in  whom  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  has  found  two  of  its 
most  consistent  members.  During  the  latter  part 
of  his  life  Mr.  Anderson  was  a  Republican. 

Jerome  B.  Anderson  is  the  eldest  but  one  of  ten 
children,  six  sons  and  four  daughters,  all  of  whom 
are  yet  living,  and  four  of  them  have  homes  within 
the  borders  of  this  county.  Our  subject  was  nine 
years  old  when  the  family  came  to  this  county. 
His  experience  of  farming  was  acquired  early,  and 
in  1880  he  came  into  possession  of  his  present 
farm,  which  has  been  his  father's  and  which  had 
been  his  dwelling  place  since  1865.  He  makes  the 
most  of  its  fertile  soil,  and  besides  raising  bounti- 
ful harvests,  has  forty  milch  cows  on  the  place, 
together  with  other  stock,  and  his  income  from 
his  dairy  business  amounts  to  quite  a  sum  of 
money  during  the  year.  He  is  a  fine  farmer,  con- 
ducting his  operations  with  skill  and  sound  judg- 
ment, employing  the  best  modern  methods  in  carry- 
ing out  his  plans,  and  keeping  his  place  up  to  a 
high  standard  in  all  that  goes  to  make  a  good 
farm. 

The  maiden  name  of  the  mother  of  our  subject 
was  Drusannah  Biddle,  and  she  was  born,  reared 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


819 


and  married  in  Blair  County,  Pa.  Her  father, 
John  Biddle,  Was  born  and  reared  in  Maryland, 
and  later  settled  in  the  county  whore  his  daugh- 
ter was  born.  He  was  a  farmer  by  occupation, 
and  lived  to  an  advanced  age. 

The  wife  of  our  subject,  to  whom  he  was  married 
in  Nelson  Township,  bore  the  maiden  name  of 
Rebecca  E.  Long.  She  was  born  in  Somerset 
County,  Pa.,  in  1849,  and  was  young  when  her 
father,  Jacob  H.  Long,  removed  to  Indiana  with 
his  family.  His  wife  died  in  that  State,  and  he 
subsequently  came  to  Illinois,  and  his  remaining 
days  were  spent  in  Nelson  Township,  where  he 
died  when  about  sixty  years  of  age.  He  was 
married  a  second  time  after  coming  to  this  county, 
Mrs.  Anna  Fritz  becoming  his  wife.  She  is  now 
living  in  Cedar  Rapids,  Iowa,  and  is  active  and 
energetic  for  her  years.  Our  subject  and  his 
amiable  wife  are  enjoying  a  felicitous  wedded  life, 
and  their  pleasant  home  circle  is  completed  by 
their  three  children,  whose  names  are  Cora  L., 
Florence  E.,  and  Georgia  G.  Both  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Anderson  are  popular  in  the  society  of  their  com- 
munity. His  political  affiliations  are  with  the 
Republicans  of  this  section. 


\IL~  IRAM  WILL,  a  retired  farmer  living  on 
[fjl  sections  28  and  33,  South  Dixon  Township, 
ubdP  owned  until  recently  two  hundred  and 
(^)  forty  acres  of  land.  His  estate  now,  how- 
ever, includes  only  eighty  acres.  He  has  been  a 
resident  of  this  township  since  1865  and  has  lived 
on  that  farm  since  1866.  He  was  born  in  Milford 
Township,  Somerset  County,  Pa.,  March  28,  1819, 
and  is  a  son  of  John  Will,  a  native  of  Schuylkill 
County,  that  State.  His  paternal  grandfather, 
Daniel  Will,  hailed  from  that  county  and,  as  far  as 
is  known,  was  of  Holland-Dutch  ancestry.  The 
latter-named  gentleman  was  reared  in  Schuylkill 
County  and  was  there  married  to  a  lady  who  came 
from  Germany  with  her  parents  when  four  years 
of  age.  After  the  birth  of  all  their  children,  and 
when  John  Will,  the  father  of  our  subject,  was  four- 


teen years  of  age,  the  family  removed  to  Somerset 
County,  where  they  were  among  the  early  pioneers 
of  Milford  Township,  and  where  the  father  im- 
proved a  good  farm  from  the  wilderness.  There 
the  grandparents  died,  Daniel  Will  passing  away 
early  in  the  '20s,  having  attained  to  three-score 
and  ten  years.  His  wife  was  eighty  years  of  age 
when  she  departed  this  life  and,  like  her  husband, 
was  a  devoted  member  of  the  Lutheran. Church. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  one  of  the  younger 
members  in  a  familjr  of  twelve  children  born  to  his 
parents,  all  of  whom  were  married,  had  families  of 
their  own  and  are  now  deceased.  The  maiden 
name  of  the  mother  of  our  subject  was  Mary 
Deets,  who  was  orphaned  when  very  young. 
After  their  marriage,  the  young  couple  pur- 
chased a  farm  in  Milford  Township,  where  the 
mother  died  in  the  year  1825,  a  devoted 
member  of  the  Lutheran  Church.  She  bore  her 
husband  seven  children.  John  was  a  second  time 
married,  to  Mrs.  Nancy  Culver,  nee  Scott,  who  was 
born  and  reared  in  Somerset  County,  and  had  be- 
come the  mother  of  one  child  by  her  first  marriage. 
Her  union  with  Mr.  Will  resulted  in  the  birth  of 
three  sons  and  five  daughters,  all  of  whom  are  liv- 
ing, with  one  exception.  The  father  of  our  subject 
died  at  Centerville,  Pa.,  at  the  advanced  age  of 
ninety-two  years.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Lutheran 
Church  and  in  politics  voted  the  Whig  ticket.  The 
grandfather  of  our  subject  served  in  the  Revolu- 
tionary War,  having  been  commissioned  Captain, 
and  later  Lieutenant,  of  his  company. 

Peter  Will,  the  paternal  uncle  of  our  subject, 
was  a  member  of  the  State  Militia  of  Pennsylvania, 
and  his  eldest  brother,  Conrad  Will,  after  coming 
to  Jackson  Count}',  111.,  in  a  very  early  day,  was 
elected  a  member  of  the  State  Legislature  and 
while  in  the  House  was  instrumental  in  "setting 
off"  Will  County,  which  was  named  in  his  honor. 

Hiram  Will  was  married  in  Somerset  County, 
Pa.,  to  Miss  Keziah  Meese,  who  was  a  native  of  that 
county,  her  birth  occurring  March  14,  1822.  She 
was  a  daughter  of  George  and  Lydia  (Pen rod) 
Meese.  natives  of  Pennsylvania,  where  they  passed 
the  remainder  of  their  lives.  Mrs.  Will  was  one 
of  a  family  of  twelve  children,  five  of  whom  are 
living.  She  has  become  the  mother  of  six  children, 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


one  of  whom,  Calvin,  died  when  two  j'ears  old. 
Those  living  are:  George  A.,  residing  in  Saunders 
County,  Neb.;  Norman  B.,  Charles  I.,  Silas  L., 
and  Mary  .1.  Our  subject  and  his  wife  have  been 
members  of  the  Evangelical  Association  for  forty 
years,  in  which  Mr.  Will  holds  the  position  of 
Class  Leader.  He  has  been  Highway  Commissioner 
of  his  township  for  many  years  and  votes  the  Re- 
publican ticket. 

=-*• 


AJ.  OBADIAH  J.  DOWNING,  an  officer 
of  the  Union  army  during  the  late  war, 
in  which  he  won  high  honors,  is  a  dis- 
tinguished citizen  of  Dixon,  where  he  is 
living  in  a  beautiful  home  in  practical  retirement 
from  business,  though  he  still  supervises  his  ex- 
tensive agricultural  interests  in  this  and  Kane 
Counties,  comprised  in  two  well-equipped  farms, 
located  one  at  South  Dixon,  and  the  other  in 
Kane  County. 

'  Maj.  Downing  was  born  in  the  quaint  old  town 
of  North  Hempstead,  Queens  County,  N.  Y.,  in 
1835.  He  comes  of  stanch  Revolutionary  stock, 
and  his  ancestors  were  among  the  early  settlers  of 
his  native  island,  the  old  Colonial  farmhouse  in 
which  he  was  born  having  also  been  the  birthplace 
of  his  grandfather,  George  Downing,  and  of  his 
father,  likewise  named  George.  The  former  was  a 
farmer,  and  spent  his  entire  life  in  North  Hemp- 
stead.  He  was  a  valiant  soldier  in  the  Continental 
army  during  the  struggle  of  the  American  Colo- 
nies for  freedom,  and  served  under  Gen.  Wood- 
hull.  The  father  of  our  subject  was  born  in  1780, 
and  passed  the  early  part  of  his  life  in  the  home  of 
his  birth.  He  learned  the  trade  of  a  saddle  and 
harness-m.'iker,  which  he  followed  a  few  years,  and 
then  turned  his  attention  to  the  calling  to  which 
he  had  been  reared,  and  for  many  years  carried  on 
agricultural  pursuits  in  his  native  town.  During 
the  latter  part  of  his  life,  he  lived  retired  in  the 
village  of  Minneola,  on  Long  Island,  and  passed 
away  during  his  residence  there.  The  maiden 
name  of  his  wife  was  Mary  Coles  Jackson.  She 
was  born  in  South  Hempstead,  L.  I.,  a  daughter 


of  Permenus  Jackson.  She  died  at  Flushing,  L.  L, 
in  1880,  aged  seventy-six  years.  The  parents  of 
our  subject  reared  these  seven  children:  Charrie, 
the  wife  of  I.  V.  A.  Painter,  George,  Benjamin, 
Obadiah  J.,  Isaac,  Silas,  and  Mary  E.,  wife  of 
Arthur  Vandowater. 

Our  subject  early  displayed  the  independent, 
self-reliant  spirit  that  has  characterized  all  his 
acts  throughout  his  entire  career,  both  in  public 
and  in  private  life,  and  at  the  youthful  age  of  fif- 
teen years  he  began  his  struggle  with  the  world, 
leaving  the  kindly  shelter  of  the  parental  roof  to 
go  to  Chicago  to  accept  a  position  as  clerk  in  his 
Uncle  Obadiah  Jackson's  store.  That  was  the 
year  that  the  first  railway  extending  from  Chi- 
cago westward  was  built,  and  that  city  was  then 
but  an  overgrown  village  compared  with  its  pres- 
ent magnitude  and  importance.  Mr.  Jackson  was 
then  one  of  the  principal  merchants  of  the  place, 
keeping  a  wholesale  store,  carrying  a  line  of  dry- 
goods,  clothing,  groceries,  hardware,  boots  and 
shoes,  hats,  caps,  and,  in  fact,  almost  everything 
in  general  use  in  the  country,  and  among  his  cus- 
tomers were  many  people  who  came  one  hundred 
and  fifty  miles,  or  more,  with  teams  to  buy  goods. 
Our  subject  was  connected  with  his  uncle's  estab- 
lishment in  Chicago  until  1853,  when  his  uncle 
erected  the  first  store  building  and  opened  the 
first  store  in  Kankakee,  and  he  sent  his  nephew  to 
take  charge  of  it.  He  managed  it  until  1855, 
when  the  first  railway  was  completed  as  far  west 
as  Warren,  in  Jo  Daviess  County,  and  his  uncle 
sent  him  to  open  a  store  in  that  place.  A  year 
later,  ill-health  compelled  him  to  resign  his  posi- 
tion, and  he  returned  to  his  native  State. 

In  the  few  years  that  followed  before  the  out- 
break of  the  Rebellion,  the  Major  was  quietly  on- 
gaged  in  farming  and  in  studying  law.  He  was 
not,  however,  unmindful  of  the  impending  con- 
test between  the  North  and  the  South,  but,  on  the 
contrary,  watched  every  movement  that  led  up  to 
it,  keeping  himself  well  informed  in  regard  to  the 
situation,  and  the  same  patriotic  ardor  that  in- 
duced his  grandsire  to  shoulder  a  musket  and  aid 
his  fellow-colonists  to  fight  the  battles  of  the 
Revolution  impelled  him  to  throw  aside  all  per- 
sonal ambitions,  to  help  to  defend  the  Union,  he 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


821 


being  among  the  first  to  offer  his  services  to  the 
Government  as  a  soldier.  He  enlisted  in  the  first 
cavalry  regiment  that  was  organized  for  the  war, 
but,  as  there  was  some  delay  in  effecting  the  or- 
ganization, his  regiment  was  finally  mustered  in 
as  the  Second  New  York  Cavalry,  and  was  at- 
tached to  the  Army  of  the  Potomac. 

Our  subject  and  his  brave  comrades  soon  showed 
the  value  of  their  soldiership  by  their  heroic  con- 
duct in  some  of  the  most  important  battles  of  the 
war.  They  were  in  all  of  the  principal  engagements 
of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  with  the  exception  of 
the  battle  of  Bull  Run,  and  their  coolness  and 
daring  helped  to  win  many  a  victory.  On  the 
12th  of  May,  1864,  and  while  lighting  before 
Richmond,  the  Major  was  captured  by  the  enemy, 
and  was  not  exchanged  until  the  22d  of  February, 
1865.  He  at  once  joined  his  regiment,  and  was 
appointed  to  a  position  on  Gen.  Ouster's  staff, 
and  served  with  him  in  his  various  campaigns 
and  battles  until  the  termination  of  the  war. 
About  the  10th  of  April  he  was  detailed  to  go  to 
Washington  to  deposit  some  battle  flags,  and  while 
there  attended  Ford's  Theatre  on  the  memorable 
night  of  the  14th  of  April,  when  President  Lin- 
coln was  assassinated,  and  assisted  in  carrying  the 
dying  President  to  the  house  across  the  street. 

The  Major  took  part  in  the  Grand  Review  of 
the  Union  forces  at  the  National  Capital,  and 
early  in  June,  1865,  his  military  career  was 
brought  to  a  close  by  his  honorable  discharge.  He 
returned  to  his  native  State,  with  his  honors 
fresh  upon  him,  and  in  the  fall  of  that  year  his 
proud  fellow-citizens  elected  him  to  the  New 
York  Legislature;  in  1866  again  sent  him  to  rep- 
resent them  in  the  councils  of  the  State,  and  he 
served  two  terms  with  infinite  credit  to  himself 
and  his  constituents. 

Our  subject  had  always  retained  pleasant  recol- 
lections of  his  few  years' stay  in  Illinois,  and  with 
keen  vision  had  foreseen  its  future  greatness;  so 
in  1867,  resolving  to  avail  himself  of  its  many 
superior  advantages,  he  came  to  the  Prairie  State 
to  take  up  his  permanent  residence  within  its 
borders.  For  a  year  and  a  half,  he  engaged  in  the 
manufacture  of  flax  bagging.  He  then  sold  his 
factory,  in  order  to  indulge  in  his  natural  taste 


for  agricultural  pursuits,  and  purchased  a  farm  in 
Lee  County  and  another  in  Kane  County.  He 
removed  to  the  latter,  and  actively  engaged  in  its 
management  until  1876,when  he  returned  to  Dixon, 
and  located  in  the  home  which  he  had  previously 
purchased,  and  which  he  has  since  occupied.  It 
is  pleasantly  situated  in  North  Dixon,  and  is  a 
commodious  residence,  occupying  a  half-block, 
and  surrounded  by  beautiful,  well-kept  lawns,  or- 
namented by  plants,  shrubs,  etc. 

In  1872,  Maj.  Downing  was  married  .  to  Miss 
Mary  Yates,  a  native  of  Attica,  N.  Y.,  and  a 
daughter  of  Bartholomew  C.  and  Nancy  Yates, 
who  presides  over  their  charming  home  with  that 
pleasing  tact  and  kindly  consideration  for  all  that 
come  under  her  influence  that  marks  the  true 
hostess.  These  four  sons  and  daughters  complete 
the  family  circle:  Mary  Olive.  George,  Benjamin 
F.  and  Eudora. 

The  Major  is  identified  with  the  finances  of  the 
city  as  a  Director  in  the  City  National  Bank,  and 
all  enterprises  that  will  forward  its  prosperity 
find  in  him  a  prompt  and  liberal  advocate.  He 
is  prominently  known  in  the  social  life  of  Dixon 
as  a  member  of  the  following  organizations:  Dixon 
Post,  No.  299,  G.  A.  R.;  the  Masonic  fraternity, 
to  which  he  has  belonged  since  1856;  and  the 
Modern  Woodmen  of  America.  Politically  he  is 
a  Republican  of  the  stanchest  type,  and  he  has 
held  by  the  party  through  all  its  triumphs  and 
defeats  since  he  east  his  first  Presidential  vote 
for  Gen.  Fremont,  its  first  candidate  for  the  Presi- 
dency. 


OHN  HOWARD  BURKET  is  carrying  on 
general  farming  on  section  11,  South  Dixon 
Township,  having  become  the  proprietor  of 
this  tract  in  1884.  His  estate,  which  com- 
prises one  hundred  and  eighty  acres,  is  well  stocked 
and  bears  all  the  improvements  in  the  way  of  build- 
ings and  machinery  which  stamp  its  owner  as 
both  progressive  and  industrious.  He  has  twenty- 
five  milch  cows  for  dairy  purposes,  which  branch 
of  farming  he  finds  to  be  very  profitable. 


822 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


Mr.  Burket  is  a  native  of  this  county,  having 
been  born  on  the  old  homestead  in  Dixon  Town- 
ship, March  28, 1855.  He  was  reared  and  educated 
in  the  above-named  township  and  has  always  fol- 
lowed the  occupation  of  a  farmer.  His  father, 
John  N.  Burket,  was  a  native  of  Pennsylvania  and 
the  son  of  Peter  Burket,  also  a  native  of  that 
State,  who  passed  his  last  days  in  Blair  County. 
The  father  of  our  subject  grew  to  mature  years  on 
the  home  farm  in  the  above-named  county,  and 
was  there  married  to  Mary  Fleck.  After  the  birth 
of  four  children,  he  came  to  Illinois  in  the  '40s, 
and  located  on  new  land  in  Dixon  Township. 
There  they  resided  until  their  decease,  Mr.  Burket 
dying  in  1864,  when  in  his  forty-sixth  year.  His 
wife  survived  him  about  two  years,  departing  this 
life  at  about  the  same  age  as  did  her  husband. 
They  were  well-known  and  respected  in  their  com- 
munity and  were  members  of  the  Lutheran  Church 
in  the  county,  which  was  organized  in  Mr.  Burket's 
barn  on  the  old  homestead.  The  father  was  a  strong 
Union  man  and,  on  the  organization  of  the  Repub- 
lican party,  voted  that  ticket. 

The  parental  family  of  our  subject  included 
eleven  children,  eight  sous  and  three  daughters, 
two  of  the  former  being  deceased.  Our  subject,  his 
brother  Luther,  and  sister,  Mrs.  Catherine  Cart- 
right,  are  the  only  members  of  the  family  residing 
in  this  county.  He  was  married  to  Miss  Anna  P. 
Cartright,  who  was  born  July  15,  1857,  in  Dixon 
Township,  and  was  the  daughter  of  Erastus  and 
Mary  (Seitz)  Cartright,  natives  respectively  of 
Pennsylvania  and  Ohio.  They  came  to  Illinois  in 
an  early  day,  and  uniting  their  fortunes  in  Lee 
County,  began  life  on  a  farm  in  Dixon  Township, 
where  they  resided  until  1876,  at  which  time  he 
removed  to  Dixon,  where  they  now  make  their 
home.  Mr.  Cartright  is  a  breeder  of  good  horses. 
He  is  now  upwards  of  three-score  years  of  age, 
and  is  a  sound  Republican  in  politics;  although 
prominent  in  the  community,  he  has  never  been  an 
ottice-seeker.  His  wife  is  a  member  in  good  stand- 
ing of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

Mrs.  Burket's  only  brother,  Andrew  Cartright, 
was  accidentally  killed,  when  twenty-one  years  old, 
while  acting  as  brakeman  on  the  Illinois  Central 
Railroad  in  the  winter  of  1878.  Our  subject  and 


his  wife  have  three  children:  Mary  O.,  Anna  N., 
and  Andrew  L.  They  are  members  in  good  stand- 
ing of  the  Lutheran  Church,  and  in  politics,  Mr. 
Burket  votes  with  the  Republican  party. 


JAMES  H.  THOMPSON,  Clerk  of  Lee  County, 
was  born  in  Luzerne  County,  Pa.,  April  8, 
1843.  His  father,  William  A.,  was  born  in 
Pittston,  the  same  county,  and  his  grand- 
father, John,  was  a  farmer,  who,  so  far  as  is  known, 
spent  his  entire  life  in  the  Keystone  State,  with 
the  exception  of  the  period  during  which  he  served 
in  the  Mexican  War.  The  father  of  our  subject 
learned  the  trade  of  a  tailor,  but  was  mainly  en- 
gaged in  the  mercantile  business  until  his  death, 
which  occurred  in  Abingdon,  that  county,  in  1847. 

The  maiden  name  of  the  mother  of  our  subject 
was  Nancy  Harding,  and  she  was  born  in  Exeter, 
Luzeme  County,  Pa.  After  the  death  of  Mr. 
Thompson,  Sr.,  she  married  John  Colville,  with 
whom  she  came  to  Illinois  in  1852  and  settled  at 
Paw  Paw,  where  she  died  in  1881.  Our  subject 
was  a  small  child  when  he  accompanied  his  mother 
and  step-father  from  Wilkes  Barre  by  stage  to 
Binghamton,  N.  Y.,  whore  he  first  saw  a  railroad. 
They  came  by  rail  and  steamer  to  Detroit,  from 
there  by  rail  to  New  Buffalo,  thence  by  lake  to 
Chicago,  and  from  that  city  to  Ottawa  by  canal. 
A  team  conveyed  the  little  party  from  Ottawa  to 
Paw  Paw,  where  settlement  was  made. 

The  education  of  our  subject  was  obtained  in 
the  schools  of  Paw  Paw,  East  Paw  Paw  and  Wilkes 
Barre.  Before  he  attained  to  his  majority  he  en- 
listed in  September,  1862,  as  a  member  of  Company 
K,  Seventy-fifth  Illinois  Infantry,  and  served  until 
the  close  of  the  war,  being  honorably  discharged 
June  12,  1865.  Among  the  important  battles  in 
which  he  participated  were  Prairieville,  Stone 
River,  Chickamauga,  Lookout  Mountain,  Mission 
Ridge  and  Dalton,  Ga.,  where  he  was  wounded, 
February  25,  18C3. 

After  returning  home,  Mr.  Thompson  engaged  as 
a  farmer  for  a  time  and  also  operated  as  a  merchant 
at  Paw  Paw  in  partnership  with  his  step-father, 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


823 


John  Colville,  being  prosperously  conducting  the 
mercantile  business  when  he  was  elected  County 
Clerk  in  1886.  lie  is  popular  among  his  fellow- 
citizens  and  his  faithful  discharge  of  the  duties  of 
his  office  as  well  as  his  uniform  geniality,  has 
won  for  him  a  high  place  in  the  confidence  of  all. 
In  1867  Mr.  Thompson  was  married  to  Miss 
Catherine  ,1.  Swarthout,  who  was  born  in  Exeter, 
Luzerne  County,  Pa.,  the  daughter  of  Elijah  and 
Sarah  E.  Swarthout.  They  are  the  parents  of  five 
children,  who,  with  themselves,  are  universally 
esteemed.  In  his  political  belief,  Mr.  Thompson  is 
a  Republican,  and  socially  is  connected  with  the 
William  II.  Thompson  Post,  No.  299,  G.  A.  R. 


PREDERICK    BOLLMAN,  a  retired  farmer 
of  South    Dixon   Township,  owns  and  oc- 
cupies a  fine  farm,  comprising  eighty  acres 
on  section    32.     He   has   resided   in    this   county 
since  1856,  when  he  came  hither  from  Pennsylva- 
nia, having  been  employed  in  that  State  as  a  team- 
ster.    By  careful  economy  and  untiring  energy,  he 
was  enabled  to  purchase  the  place  which  is  still  his 
home  and  where  he  is  passing  his  declining  years 
in  the  enjoyment  of  the  comforts  of  life. 

Mr.  Bollman  was  born  in  Baden,  Germany,  Au- 
gust 9,  1813,  and  comes  of  worthy  German  fore- 
fathers, his  parents  spending  their  entire  lives  in 
the  Fatherland.  Frederick  was  the  first  of  the 
family  to  emigrate  to  the  United  States,  and  hav- 
ing resolved  to  seek  a  home  in  this  country,  he 
embarked  at  Bremerhaven  on  a  sailing  vessel,  and 
after  a  month's  voyage  on  the  Atlantic,  landed  in 
New  York  City.  His  first  settlement  was  made  in 
Pennsylvania  near  Mason  and  Dixon's  line,  and 
his  Crst  employment  was  in  conveying  merchan- 
dise into  Maryland  and  Virginia,  his  wages  for 
some  years  being  only  from  $5  to  $10  per  month. 
In  Pennsylvania  Mr.  Bollman  was  married  to 
Mrs.  Lucinda  (Moore)  Beal,  who  was  born  in  Penn- 
sylvania, September  10,  1827,  and  was  reared  in 
the  Keystone  State,  her  parents  being  of  German 
descent.  By  her  first  marriage,  she  became  the 
mother  of  two  children:  John,  who  resides  in  Stock- 


ton County,  Cal.,  and  Mary,  the  wife  of  Simon 
Rhodes,  a  farmer  of  South  Dixon  Township.  Af- 
ter the  marriage  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bollman,  they 
worked  together  to  establish  a  home  and  gain  a 
competency.  Their  wedded  life  was  one  of  mutual 
happiness  until  the  death  of  the  wife  at  her  home 
in  South  Dixon  Township,  February  28, 1875.  She 
was  a  faithful  member  of  the  Lutheran  Church,  a 
devoted  wife  and  kind  neighbor. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bollman  became  the  parents  of  a 
large  family  of  children,  two  of  whom,  George 
and  Harvey,  died  when  young.  Henry  married 
Miss  E.  K.  Hatch,  and  they  reside  in  North  Dixon 
Township;  Anna  married  William  Missman,  and 
lives  in  Dixon;  James  operates  the  old  homestead 
on  section  32,  South  Dixon  Township,  and  also 
owns  eighty  acres  on  section  31,  the  same  town- 
ship, a  highly  improved  tract  of  land.  He  is 
a  thrifty,  progressive  young  man,  and  very  popu- 
lar. Edwin  A.,  a  minister  in  the  Lutheran  Church, 
located  atForreston,!!!.,  married  Miss  Mary  Mann- 
ing, of  Lee  County.  Albert  remains  at  home  and 
aids  his  brother.  Laura  married  Frank  Shaffer,  and 
resides  in  South  Dixon  Township.  In  their  relig- 
ious convictions,  Mr.  Bollman  and  his  children  are 
members  of  the  Lutheran  Church,  and  James  has 
been  Superintendent  of  the  Nelson  Zion  Sunday- 
school  for  some  years.  Father  and  sons  are  Dem- 
ocrats, with  the  exception  of  Edwin,  who  is  a  Pro- 
hibitionist. 


JOHN  A.  DEETER,  who  is  at  present  resid- 
ing at   Dixon,   had   his  birth  in  Somerset 
County,   Pa.,   April    7,  1860.      His    father) 
Henry    Deeter,  was  also  a  native  of  that 
place,  as  was  his  father,  Samuel  Deeter.     The  lat-' 
ter-named  gentleman  was  of  German  ancestry,  and 
a  farmer  by  occupation.     The  father  of  our  subject 
was  reared  on  the  home  farm  and  in  1863  removed 
to  Ohio,   where  he  purchased  a   farm    in    Ashland 
County  and  there  continued  to  reside  until  1880, 
when  he  sold  out  and  came  to  Lee  County,  and  is 
at  the  present  time  residing  in  Dixon. 

Miss  Sarah  Ringler  wn.-s  the  maiden  name  of  our 


824 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


subject's  mother.  She  was  born  in  Southern  Illi- 
nois, and  was  the  daughter  of  Andrew  Ringler,  a 
pioneer  of  this  State.  Our  subject  was  one  in  a 
family  of  ten  children,  namely:  Susan,  Samuel, 
Henry,  William,  Howard,  Irene,  Curtis,  Melvin  and 
Daniel,  who  died  in  infancy;  Irene  passed  away  in 
her  fourteenth  year. 

The  original  of  this  sketch  attended  the  com- 
mon schools  of  his  district,  and  when  nineteen 
years  of  age  learned  the  trade  of  sash,  door  and 
blind  making,  and,  after  completing  his  apprentice- 
ship, leased  a  building,  and  bought  the  fixtures  of 
a  gristmill,  in  addition  to  which  branch  of  business 
he  kept  a  flour  and  feed  store.  January  13,  1887, 
he  was  burned  out,  and  in  February  of  that  year 
he  formed  a  partnership  with  G.  D.  Fletcher  and 
engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  sash,  doors  and 
blinds,  continuing  together  until  January  the  fol- 
lowing year,  when  Mr.  Fletcher  sold  his  interest  to 
Josiah  Brink,  the  present  firm  being  Brink  <fe  Dee- 
ter.  They  have  a  commodious  building,  located 
on  Water  Street,  which  is  provided  with  all  the 
necessary  machinery  for  doing  a  fine  class  of  work. 
The  mill  is  operated  by  steam  and  water  power, 
the  firm  employing,  at  the  present  time,  twenty 
men. 

In  1883  our  subject  was  married  to  Lizzie  E. 
Taylor,  who  was  bom  in  Dixon,  and  is  the  daugh- 
ter of  George  and  Susan  Taylor.  Two  children, 
Louis  J.  and  Laurence  E.,  have  been  bom  to  them. 
Mr.  Deeter  is  a  member  of  Forest  Home  Lodge, 
No.  137,  A.  O.U.  W. 


ORIAH  GRUVER  is  an  honored  resident  of 
Dixon,  where  he  is   pleasantly  passing  his 
declining  years   in  retirement  from  active 
business  as   a   farmer,  though    he    is    still    iden- 
tified with  the  agricultural  interests  of  Lee  County 
as  the  proprietor  of  one  of   its  fine    farms.     He   is 
a  native  of  Columbia  County,  Pa.,  born    in  the 
month  of  October,  1818,  in  the  township  of  Hem- 
lock.    His  father,  George  Gruver,  was  born  in  the 
same  State,  his   birthplace  being   in    Northampton 


County.  He  was  a  son  of  Jacob  Gruver,  who  is 
supposed  to  have  been  born  in  Pennsylvania,  and 
to  have  come  from  some  of  the  early  German 
families  of  the  Colonial  period.  It  is  known  that 
at  one  time  he  owned'a  tract  of  land  near  Chest- 
nut Hill,  Philadelphia,  which  he  sold,  taking  his 
pay  in  Continental  scrip.  The  latter  part  of  his 
life  was  passed  in  Columbia  County. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  reared  to  the  life 
of  a  farmer  on  the  old  Pennsylvania  farm,  and 
when  a  young  man  went  to  Columbia  County,  and 
became  one  of  the  pioneers  of  that  section,  buying 
a  tract  of  forest-covered  land  in  Hemlock  Town- 
ship. He  built  a  log  house  and  stable,  and  pro- 
ceeded to  clear  his  land.  The  soil  was  very  poor 
and  unproductive,  and  he  found  it  hard  to  make  a 
living  from  it.  Therefore,  in  1827,  he  left  that 
place,  and  went  to  Berks  County,  where  he  rented 
a  tract  of  land  three  miles  from  Reading,  and  there 
the  last  decade  of  his  life  was  spent,  his  death 
occurring  in  September,  1837,  ere  yet  old  age  had 
come  upon  him.  His  wife  bore  the  maiden 'name 
of  Barbara  Waltman,  and  was  born  in  North- 
ampton County,  Pa.  She  departed  this  life  in 
1827.  The  parents  of  our  subject  were  consistent 
Christian  people,  the  father  a  faithful  member  of 
the  German  Reformed  Church,  and  the  mother  of 
the  Lutheran  Church.  Of  their  fourteen  children , 
twelve  grew  to  maturity. 

The  subject  of  this  biography  was  in  his  eighth 
year  when  the  family  removed  to  Berks  Count\'. 
He  remained  with  his  father  until  the  latter's 
death,  when  the  home  was  broken  up  and  the 
brothers  and  sisters  were  separated.  Uriah  entered 
the  employ  of  Riah  Gilson,  who  sent  him  to  Am- 
herst  County,  Va.,  to  act  as  a  steward,  Mr.  Gilson 
being  a  contractor  and  having  a  large  force  of 
men  employed  there.  He  remained  there  one  year, 
and  then  returned  to  Reading.  It  was  on  his  trip 
to  Virginia  that  he  saw,  at  Norristown,  a  railway  f <  >r 
the  first  time.  That  was  in  the  day  of  State  banks 
and  individual  scrip,  when  the  money  issued  by 
the  banks  of  one  State  was  not  good  for  the  face 
value  any  distance  from  home. 

After  his  return  to  Pennsylvania,  Mr.  Gruver 
went  to  Columbia  County  to  serve  a  two  years' 
apprenticeship  to  learn  the  trade  of  a  carpenter, 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


receiving  his  board  and  $3  a  month  for  his 
services  the  first  year,  and  the  second  year  his 
wages  were  increased  to  $4  a  month.  At  the 
end  of  the  two  years  lie  worked  at  his  calling 
for  others  for  a  year,  and  then  after  his  marriage 
commenced  business  on  his  own  account, working 
both  as  a  carpenter  and  a  millwright.  In  1852  he 
paid  his  first  visit  to  the  Prairie  State,  traveling 
by  rail  and  stage  to  Pittsburg  and  Cleveland;  thence 
by  boat  to  Toledo,  from  there  by  rail  through 
Chicago  to  Rockford,  and  thence  by  stage  to 
Dixon.  He  remained  here  two  weeks,  and  then 
went  back  to  Pennsylvania.  While  away,  he 
bought  two  bales  of  buffalo  hides,  which  he  sold 
on  his  return  home  at  a  fair  profit,  and  thus  paid 
the  expenses  of  his  journey. 

In  1854  our  subject  left  his  native  State  with  his 
family  to  take  up  his  residence  in  this,  as  he  well 
knew  that  practical,  wide-awake  men  were  in 
demand  to  help  develop  the  resources  of  the 
country  and  to  aid  in  its  upbuilding,  and  he  has 
done  both  since  his  settlement  here,  thirty-seven 
years  ago.  He  first  located  in  what  is  now 
Nachusa  Township,  and  was  actively  engaged  at  his 
trade  there  one  year.  The  next  year  he  rented  a 
farm  in  Dixon  Township,  which  he  purchased  a 
year  later,  and  retained  it  in  his  possession  until 
1864,  when  he  sold  it.  In  1864  he  bought  a  farm 
in  Nelson  Township,  and  was  busily  engaged  in  its 
improvement  and  in  tilling  the  soil  for  several 
years.  It  contains  two  hundred  and  forty  acres  of 
rich  farming  land,  that  is  under  a  high  state  of 
cultivation,  and  is  amply  provided  with  a  good 
class  of  buildings.  He  still  owns  it,  but  in  1884 
he  rented  it,  and  has  since  lived  retired  from  active 
labor,  making  his  home  in  the  city  of  Dixon. 

Mr  Gruvcr  was  first  married  in  Columbia 
County,  Pa.,  to  Catherine  Writz,  a  native  of  that 
county,  and  of  mingled  English  and  German  blood. 
She  died  in  1862,  leaving  behind  her  the  memory 
of  a  most  worthy  woman,  who  was  true  in  all  the 
relations  of  life.  By  that  marriage  these  eight 
children  were  born  to  our  subject:  Joseph,  Mary 
(Mrs.  McCleary),  Lydia  A.  (Mrs.  Mench),  Melinda 
(Mrs.  McCleary),  Margaret  (Mrs.  Ilardin),  John  L., 
Lincoln  and  Ellsworth.  In  1867  our  subject  was 
married  to  his  present  estimable  wife,  who  was 


formerly  Miss  Elizabeth  Kelley,  a  native  of  Colum- 
bia County,  Pa.  Their  marriage  has  brought  to 
them  one  son,  William  H. 

Mr.Gruver  is  endowed  with  a  thoughtful,  intel- 
ligent mind,  is  fond  of  reading,  and  keeps  himself 
well  posted  in  regard  to  all  subjects  of  general  in- 
terest. As  a  good  citizen  ought,  he  keeps  himself 
informed  as  to  the  political  questions  of  the  day, 
and  is.a  firm  advocate  of  the  Republican  party. 
He  and  his  wife  are  people  of  earnest  religious 
feeling,  and  they  are  members  in  high  standing  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 


fF^;EV.  THOMAS  LEAKE.  The  name  of  Leake 
IWf  has  been  well  known  in  Lee  County  since 
<*b  yk  the  early  years  of  its  settlement,  as  belong- 
ing to  a  prominent  pioneer  family  of  this 
section  of  Illinois.  Among  its  present  representa- 
tives is  the  Rev.  Thomas  Leake,  of  this  biographical 
review,  whose  ill  health  obliged  him  to  abandon  the 
ministry  to  a  great  extent,  and  he  has  since  made 
his  mark  as  a  practical  fanner  in  Nachusa  Town- 
ship. 

Our  subject  was  born  in  Leicestershire,  England. 
He  is  a  son  of  John  Leake,  a  former  prominent  and 
well-to-do  citizen  and  early  settler  of  this  county. 
The  father  was  a  native  of  Leicestershire,  England, 
and  a  son  of  John  Leake,  Sr.,  who  was  a  life-long 
resident  of  that  shire.  John  Leake,  Jr.,  was  the 
eldest  of  a  family  of  two  sons  and  three  daughters, 
and  was  the  only  one  of  his  father's  children  to 
come  to  this  country,  and  he  was  the  first  of  his 
connection  to  settle  in  the  United  States.  He  was 
a  butcher  in  his  native  shire,  and  was  there  married 
to  Mary  A.  Jarvis,  who  was  of  pure  English  blood, 
and  was  one  of  three  daughters  that  came  to  Amer- 
ica. After  the  birth  of  four  children,  one  of  whom 
died  in  England,  the  father  of  our  subject  preceded 
his  family  to  this  country,  sailing  hither  in  1840, 
and  coming  to  Lee  County,  he  bought  land  of  the 
Government  in  China  Township,  built  a  log  cabin 
upon  it,  and  entered  zealously  upon  his  life  as  a 
pioneer.  In  1841  his  wife  with  her  children,and  her 
two  sisters  and  their  husbands,  followed  him  across 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


the  seas  and  joined  him  in  the  wilderness  where  he 
had  elected  to  found  a  new  home.  They  made 
settlement  on  new  lands, and  the  families  so  closely 
connected  by  the  ties  of  kinship  formed  an  impor- 
tant addition  to  the  pioneers  of  this  section,  all 
improving  good  farms  in  time.  John  Leake  be- 
came a  prominent  farmer  in  China  Township,  and 
at  the  time  of  his  death,  in  September,  1869, 
owned  seven  hundred  acres  of  land,  which  was 
nearly  all  well  improved.  He  was  a  leading  Re- 
publican of  this  county  in  the  early  history  of  the 
party.  His  widow  survived  him  until  1878,  when 
she  died  in  the  home  of  our  subject,  at  the  age  of 
seventy  years.  She  was  a  member  of  the  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  Church,  and  was  a  woman  to  be 
revered. 

The  Rev.  Thomas  Leake  is  one  of  a  family  of 
three  sons  and  twodaughters:  His  brother,  William 
J.,  is  a  grain  merchant  at  Rippey,  Iowa;  his  brother 
John  C.,  who  married  Mary  E.  Hale,  is  a  teacher  in 
this  township,  residing  on  the  old  homestead;  his 
sister,  Sarah  F.,  is  the  wife  of  E.  H.  Burrus,  a  farmer 
of  Concordia,  Kans.;  another  sister,  Mary  A.,  died 
at  the  age  of  nineteen.  Our  subject  received  the 
preliminaries  of  his  education  in  the  local  public 
schools  of  this  county,  and  was  afterward  a  student 
at  Mt.  Morris  Seminary.  He  was  for  some  time  a 
teacher,  but  kept  the  ministry  steadily  in  view,  and 
was  regularly  licensed  to  preach  at  his  flrst  ordina- 
tion, when  he  was  twenty-seven  years  old.  He 
loved  his  sacred  calling  and  was  successful  in  it, 
holding  pastorates  in  Kane,  De  Kalb  and  Kendall 
Counties.  His  health  became  impaired  by  his  ardu- 
ous labors,  and  he  had  to  leave  the  pulpit,  confin- 
ing his  church  work  to  occasional  preachings,  and 
to  his  duties  as  Class-leader  and  as  Superintendent 
of  the  Sunday-school,  which  position  he  has  held 
for  twenty  years.  He  is  thoroughly  identified  with 
the  interests  of  the  township  in  material  things  as 
well,  and  is  Justice  of  the  Peace,  which  office  has 
been  under  his  control  for  some  years.  In  politics, 
he  is  a  true  Republican. 

Our  subject  inherited  his  farm  on  section  29, 
Nachusa  Township,  from  his  father  in  1869.  It 
comprises  one  hundred  and  two  acres  of  well- 
drained,  neatly-fenced  and  finely-cultivated  land, 
which  is  well  stocked  with  cattle,  horses  and  swine, 


and  here  he  is  conducting  a  profitable  business  as 
a  general  farmer.  He  and  his  wife,  to  whom  he 
was  married  near  Rockford,  have  established  a 
charming  home,  that  is  a  center  of  culture  and 
refinement.  Their  only  child,  Honor  Luella,  died 
at  the  age  of  six  months.  They  have  taken  to 
their  home  and  hearts  Albert  T.  Scovill,  upon 
whom  they  lavish  the  tender  care  and  affection 
that  would  be  bestowed  upon  a  child  of  their  own. 
The  wife  of  our  subject,  formerly  Martha  S.  Sco- 
vill, is  a  native  of  Camden,  N.  Y.  She  is 
a  daughter  of  Stephen  T.  and  Mabel  (Curtis)  Sco- 
vill, the  latter  of  whom  died  when  her  daughter 
was  a  small  child.  Mrs.  Leake  was  thirteen  years 
old  when  the  family  came  to  Illinois  in  the  early 
'50s  and  located  at  Painc's  Point  in  Ogle  County. 
Her  father  subsequently  purchased  land  near  Rock- 
ford,  and  there  he  died  when  past  seventy-five 
years  old.  He  had  been  twice  married,  and  his  last 
wife  survives  him  and  makes  her  home  in  Rock- 
ford.  Mrs.  Leake  received  a  good  home-training 
and  the  benefit  of  a  fine  education.  She  was 
graduated  with  honor  from  the  Ladies'  Seminary 
at  Rockford,  and  pursued  an  excellent  course  of 
study  at  Mt.  Morris  Seminary.  She  was  a  teacher 
for  some  years  before  her  marriage, and  won  a  high 
reputation  in  her  profession.  She,  like  her  hus- 
band, has  been  an  ardent  working  member  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 


XDREW  J.  NICKEY,  proprietor  of  the 
Ashton  Creamery,  was  born  in  East  Berlin, 
Adams  County,  Pa.,  April  25,  1851.  His 
father,  Henry  Nickey,  was  also  a  native  of 
that  State  and  county,  where  his  mother,  who  bore 
the  name  of  Elizabeth  Dierdorff,  departed  this  life. 
The  original  of  this  sketch  passed  his  early  years 
in  his  native  town  and  on  attaining  his  eighteenth 
year  came  to  Franklin  Grove,  this  county,  and  fol- 
lowed his  trade  of  a  blacksmith.  lie  was  thus  en- 
gaged for  a  twelvemonth,  when  he  returned  to  his 
native  State,  and  in  the  town  of  York  was  simil- 
arly engaged  for  a  year  and  a  half.  Then  removing 
to  Columbia  County,  same  State,  he  was  employed 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


827 


as  passenger  brakeman  on  the  railroad  for  seven 
years,  and  in  1880,  again  coming  to  Lee  County,  he 
established  the  creamery  business  in  Franklin 
Grove,  remaining  in  that  place  for  about  six 
months;  he  then  removed  to  Ashton,  where  for  a 
year  and  a  half  he  did  a  thriving  grain  trade.  At 
the  expiration  of  that  time,  he  engaged  in  his  pres- 
ent business  in  which  he  has  been  more  than  ordi- 
narily successful. 

Andrew  ,T.  Nickey  was  married  in  York,  Pa.,  to 
Mary  Wisman,  who  was  also  a  native  of  that  place, 
and  departed  this  life  December  18,  1889,  at  Ash- 
ton,  this  county.  To  them  were  born  two  children : 
Hattie  V.,  and  Clinton  D.  lie  of  whom  we 
write  has  held  many  important  local  offices,  being 
a  member  of  the  village  committee  for  a  number 
of  terms.  He  is  actively  connected  with  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  of  which  body  he  is  Elder, 
and  to  which  denomination  his  wife  and  children 
were  also  born. 

The  product  of  the  Ashton  Creamery  is  disposed 
of  in  the  Philadelphia  and  New  York  markets  and 
by  this  industry  Mr.  Nickey  is  reaping  a  hand- 
some competence.  He  is  very  public-spirited  and 
stands  high  in  the  esteem  of  his  fellow-townsmen 
by  whom  he  is  regarded  as  one  of  the  representa- 
tive citizens  of  the  county. 


|^  AMUEL  ARGRAVES,  a  resident  of  the 
^^s£  village  of  Compton,  is  one  of  the  pioneers 
I|/j|  of  Lee  County,  who  has  been  an  important 
factor  in  developing  its  agricultural  re- 
sources, and  while  thus  materially  contributing  to 
its  wealth,  has  acquired  .a  handsome  property,  as 
but  few  of  the  farmers  of  his  locality  have  met 
with  more  success  than  has  attended  his  efforts. 
He  is  of  English  birth,  born  in  the  village  of  Ba- 
cup,  Lancashire,  May  4,  1825.  His  father,  John 
Argraves,  was  also  a  native  of  that  village,  and 
there  he  grew  to  maturity.  He  learned  the  trade 
of  a  weaver,  and  carried  it  on  in  his  old  home 
until  1829,  when  he  determined  to  emigrate  to 
America  with  his  wife  and  six  children,  hoping 


thereby  to  improve  his  fortunes.  He  and  his  fam- 
ily set  sail  from  Liverpool,  and  after  a  voyage  of 
thirteen  weeks  landed  at  New  York  City.  He 
went  directly  to  Essex  County,  and  located  at 
Kcyesville,  where  he  secured  the  position  of  fore- 
man in  a  woolen  factory,  and  was  thus  employed 
six  years.  He  next  went  to  the  province  of  On- 
tario, Canada,  and  took  up  his  residence  in  Ilewton 
Township,  three  miles  from  Port  Burwell.  He  then 
devoted  his  remaining  years  to  farming,  renting 
land  for  that  purpose,  and  carrying  on  agricul- 
ture until  his  untimely  death,  in  the  year  1838. 
His  widow,  whose  maiden  name  was  Hannah 
Hayes,  and  who  was  a  native  of  Scotland, 
married  a  second  time,  and  spent  her  last  years  at 
Hewton,  dying  there  in  1841.  She  reared  sixteen 
children  to  good  and  useful  lives. 

Our  subject  was  but  four  years  old  when  he 
crossed  the  ocean  with  his  parents  to  their  new 
home  in  America,  and  consequently  he  has  but 
little  recollection  of  his  birthplace  in  that  far-off 
Lancashire  village.  He  early  acquired  what  Car- 
lyle  terms  "The  glorious  faculty  of  self-help,"  and 
though  but  a  boy  when  his  father  died,  he  had  to 
assist  in  the  support  of  the  family.  He  resided  in 
Canada  until  the  winter  of  1845-46,  and  then 
came  to  Illinois,  making  the  journey  with  a  horse 
and  cutter  to  Joliet,  in  company  with  Dennis 
Miller.  At  that  place  they  traded  for  a  buggy, 
and  drove  to  Malugin's  Grove,  in  this  county. 
When  he  arrived  at  his  destination,  our  subject's 
sole  wealth,  as  far  as  money  was  concerned,  was 
$1.50.  But  he  had  that,  which,  perhaps,  stood  him 
in  better  stead— good  health  and  strong  muscles, 
plenty  of  ambition  and  spirit,  and  a  resolute  de- 
termination to  succeed.  He  at  once  found  work  as  a 
farm  hand,  at  $15  a  month,  and  continued  thus 
employed  until  1850.  During  that  time  he  made 
a  claim  to  a  tract  of  Government  land  on  sections 
25  and  26,  of  what  is  now  Viola  Township.  He 
did  not  have  the  money  to  pay  for  the  land  at 
that  time,  so  he  went  to  Dixon  and  got  a  man  to 
enter  the  land  for  him,  promising  to  pay  him  one 
hundred  per  cent,  interest. 

In  1850,  Mr.  Argraves  took  up  the  march  to 
California,  whither  so  many  had  preceded  him, 
after  the  discovery  of  gold  in  that  State.  He  ar- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


ranged  with  James  Thompson  to  take  him,  agree- 
ing to  give  him  one-half  of  his  first  year's  earnings 
in  the  gold  diggings.  They  started  on  their  long  | 
journey  with  a  pair  of  ponies,  drove  to  Council  i 
Hluffs,  where  Mr.  Thompson  exchanged  his  ponies  j 
for  oxen,  and  there  joined  a  train  about  to  cross 
the  plains.  At  that  time  there  were  but  very  few, 
or  no,  white  settlers  between  the  Missouri  River 
and  California,  with  the  exception  of  the  Mor- 
mons at  Salt  Lake.  When  our  subject  and  his 
companion  arrived  on  the  shores  of  that  inland 
sea  the  oxen  were  too  exhausted  <ogo  further,  and 
the  provisions  were  nearly  gone.  In  that  emer- 
gency Mr.  Thompson  had  no  alternative  but  to  ex- 
change his  oxen  for  a  pony,  and  Mr.  Argraves  had 
to  look  out  for  himself  in  the  matter  of  transpor- 
tation the  remainder  of  the  long  journey.  Cyre- 
nus  Sawyer,  of  Lee  Center,  was  one  of  the  party, 
and  appealing  to  him  for  aid,  he  lent  him  $25.  He 
then  gave  his  note  for  $50  to  two  young  men  from 
Missouri  to  carry  Ijjs  provisions  to  California.  On 
Sunday  he  attended  church  and  heard  Brigham 
Young  preach,  and  was  afterward  a  victim  of  one 
of  the  Prophet's  shrewd  deals,  as  knowing  well 
that  the  Illinoisans  would  wish  to  replenish  their 
supply  of  flour,  he  said  that  if  any  one  had  flour  to 
sell  for  less  than  twenty-five  cents  a  pound  to 
bring  it  to  him,  and  consequently  .every  one  had 
to  pay  that  price  for  it.  Provisions  again  gave 
out  on  their  arrival  at  Carson  Valley,  but,  fortu- 
nately, a  Mr.  Masterson  met  them  at  that  point 
with  a  load  of  supplies,  which  he  traded  with  the 
hungry  travelers  for  whatsoever  thej'  had  to  ex- 
change. As  our  subject  had  nothing,  he  let  him- 
self to  Mr.  Masterson  at  $80  a  month,  until  they 
reached  San  Francisco.  He  then  gave  him  $100 
per  month  until  spring,  when  he  went  to  the 
mountains  and  tried  mining.  He  soon  returned 
to  Mr.  Masterson,  however,  and  was  in  his  employ 
until  January,  1852,  and  then,  tired  of  frontier 
life,  he  set  his  face  toward  home,  returning  by  the 
way  of  the  Isthmus  of  Panama  to  Lee  County. 
The  first  thing  that  he  did  to  celebrate  his  arrival 
was  to  pay  for  his  land  with  the  money  that  he 
had  brought  back  with  him  from  his  stay  on  the 
Pacific  slope.  He  then  entered  upon  a  most  pros- 
perous career  as  a  farmer,  invested  his  capital  in 


other  land  from  time  to  time,  and  was  at  one  time 
the  proprietor  of  fifteen  hundred  acres  of  as  fine 
land  as  is  to  be  found  in  this  part  of  the  State. 

In  the  midst  of  his  prosperity,  our  subject  did 
not  forget  what  was  due  from  him  to  his  adopted 
country,  as  a  loyal  citizen,  and  in  February,  1865, 
he  threw  aside  his  work  to  help  defend  the  stars 
and  stripes  in  the  great  civil  strife  that  was  then 
being  waged  between  the  North  and  South.  He 
enlisted  in  Company  I,  Fifteenth  Illinois  Infantry, 
and  joined  his  regiment  at  Goldsborough,  N.  C. 
While  there,  unaccustomed  to  the  privations  of 
army  life,  he  fell  sick  and  was  forced  to  spend 
eleven  days  in  the  hospital.  He  then  re-entered 
the  service,  and  was  at  Raleigh  when  Johnston 
surrendered.  His  army  then  started  on  the  march 
to  Washington,  but  he  and  others,  who  were  dis- 
abled, went  by  water,  and  after  their  arrival  at 
Washington  took  part  with  their  regiment  in  the 
Grand  Review  of  all  the  troops.  They  then  went 
into  camp  three  miles  from  the  capital  for  two  or 
three  weeks,  and  at  the  end  of  that  time  were  dis- 
patched to  Parkersburg,  Va.,  and  from  there  by 
the  way  of  the  Ohio,  Mississippi  and  Missouri 
Rivers,  to  Ft.  Leavenworth,  whence  they  marched 
across  the  country  to  Ft.  Kearney,  Neb.  They 
staid  there  a  short  time,  then  returned  to  Ft. 
Leavenworth,  whence  they  proceeded  to  Spring- 
field, 111.,  where  they  were  honorably  discharged, 
and  took  to  their  homes  excellent  records  as  brave 
and  patriotic  soldiers.  Glad  to  be  reunited  with 
his  family,  and  to  be  able  to  enjoy  again  the  com- 
forts of  his  home,  Mr.  Argraves  resumed  his  farm- 
ing operations  with  renewed  vigor,  and,  as  we 
have  seen,  was  favored  by  fortune  in  all  his  un- 
dertakings, putting  his  whole  energy  into  his 
work,  which  he  carried  on  systematically,  making 
every  stroke  tell,  and  using  due  caution  and  close 
calculation  in  all  his  dealings,  while  at  the  same 
time  he  displayed  enterprise,  and  never  was  un- 
fair, or  otherwise  than  just  in  money  matters. 

Our  subject  was  married  October  14,  1847,  to 
Miss  Martha  Miller,  and  their  marriage  has  been 
blessed  to  them  by  the  birth  of  these  four  children: 
Winfield,  Angelina,  Martha,  commonly  known  as 
May,  and  Samuel  O.  Mrs.  Argraves  was  born  in 
New  York,  March  20,  1832.  Her  father,  John 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


Miller,  was  born  in  Ontario,  Canada,  and  was  a 
son  of  Jacob  Miller,  who  was  a  native  of  Ger- 
many. On  coming  to  America,  he  settled  near 
Ancaster,  and  was  a  pioneer  of  that  part  of  Can- 
ada. He  secured  both  timber  and  plains  land, 
and  improved  a  good  farm,  which  was  his  dwell- 
ing place  until  his  death.  The  maiden  name  of 
his  wife  was  Klizabeth  Martin.  She  survived  her 
husband,  and  came  to  Illinois  to  spend  her  last 
years  with  her  children  in  Lee  County.  Mrs.  Ar- 
graves'  father  was  reared  and  married  in  his  na- 
tive place,  taking  as  his  wife  Mary  A.  Hedges,  a 
native  of  the  State  of  New  York.  She  died  on 
the  farm  near  Ancaster,  in  1837,  and,  in  1842, 
Mr.  Miller  came  to  Illinois,  and  for  a  time  was  a 
resident  of  St.  Charles.  He  then  went  back  to 
Canada,  and,  in  1847,  again  came  to  Illinois,  and 
bought  a  farm  in  this  county,  near  Malugin's 
Grove.  Some  years  after,  he  went  to  Kansas,  and 
died  there.  The  wife  of  our  subject  was  a  child 
when  her  mother  died,  and  she  lived  with  an 
aunt  until  she  was  fifteen  years  old,  when  she 
came  to  Illinois  with  her  father.  She  is  a  woman 
of  great  worth,  and  a  consistent  Christian  member 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 


JONAS  B.  EICHOLTZ  was  just  entering  upon 
manhood  when  he  came  with  his  parents  to 
this  county.     Tli«   thirty  years  that  have 
since  passed  by  have  been  fruitful  to  him 
of  much  good,  as  by  persistent  industry  he  has  im- 
proved a  valuable  farm,  and  has  been  enabled  to 
retire  from  active  business  while  yet  scarcely  past 
the  prime  of  life,  with  an  income  amply  sufficient 
to  fortify  him  against  poverty,  and  to  keep  up  the 
pleasant  home  to  which  he  has  retreated  near  the 
village  of  Nachusa. 

Our  subject  was  born  in  Adams  County,  P;i.. 
March  26,  1840,  the  second  son  of  John  F.  and 
Anna  (Boyer)  Eicholtz,  who  were  both  natives  of 
Pennsylvania,  and  were  descendants  of  the  old 
families  of  that  State,  both  being  of  German  ex- 
traction. The  paternal  great-grandfather  of  our 
subject  was  a  native  of  Germany,  who  came  to  this 


country  and  settled  in  Pennsylvania  prior  to  the 
Revolution.  The  family  for  generations  have 
been  farmers  by  occupation,  and  stanch  members 
of  the  Lutheran  Church.  Frederick  Eicholtz,  the 
grandfather  of  our  subject,  lived  and  died  in 
Adams  County,  Pa.,  which  was  also  his  birthplace. 
He  attained  a  ripe  old  age.  He  married  a  Miss 
Rex,  who  was  also  a  native  of  Adams  County,  and 
was  born  of  similar  parentage  as  her  husband.  She 
was  like  him  a  Lutheran  in  religion.  Her  marriage 
with  him  was  fruitful  of  two  children,  of  whom 
John  F.  was  one.  Her  husband  had  one  child  by 
a  second  marriage. 

John  F.  Eicholtz  grew  to  manhood  in  the  county 
of  his  nativity,  and  in  due  time  took  unto  himself 
a  wife,  who  was  born  and  reared  on  a  farm  in 
Adams  County,  which  had  been  in  the  family  for 
years,  and  is  yet.  Her  parents,  Martin  and  Esther 
(Hoover)  Boyer,  were  life-long  residents  of  that 
county,  and  were  of  German  parentage.  They 
were  prosperous  tillprs  of  the  soil.  In  them  the 
Mennonite  Church  had  two  faithful  and  helpful 
members.  John  Eicholtz  and  his  wife  continued 
to  live  in  Adams  County,  Pa.,  after  their  marriage 
until  their  three  sons  and  two  daughters  were 
born,  when  they  removed  to  Carroll  County,  Md., 
and  thence  to  Lee  County,  this  State,  in  1861, 
making  their  home  for  the  future  in  Nachusa 
Township,  where  they  both  died  in  the  fulness  of 
time,  the  mother  dying  in  1881  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
eight  years,  and  the  father  in  1887,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-three  years.  They  joined  the  German 
Baptist  Church  after  coming  to  Illinois,  and  re- 
mained true  to  that  faith  until  death.  Mr.  Eicholtz 
was  a  faithful  follower  of  the  Democratic  party  in 
his  politics. 

Our  subject  is  one  of  five  children,  all  of  whom 
are  married  and  well  settled  in  life  as  successful 
farmers.  His  two  brothers,  Daniel  B.  and  George, 
live  in  Kansas  .and  Kansas  City,  Mo.,  respectively. 
Of  the  two  sisters,  Susan  is  the  wife  of  D.  W.  Bark- 
man,  a  farmer  of  Nachusa  Township,  and  Lydia  B. 
is  the  wife  of  M.  D.  Wingert,  of  China  Township. 
Jonas  Eicholtz  spent  his  early  years  on  the  paternal 
acres  in  Adams  County,  and  was  a  healthy,  active 
lad  of  twelve  years  when  the  family  removed  to 
Maryland,  where  the  remainder  of  his  youth  was 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


passed,  and  three  weeks  after  the  emigration  of  the 
family  to  this  State  he  attained  his  majority.  He 
had  lived  in  this  county  since  that  time,  with 
the  exception  of  two  years,  and  has  been  greatly 
prospered  in  his  undertakings.  He  has  acquired 
a  goodly  amount  of  property,  including  some 
fine,  well-improved  lands  in  Nachusa  Township, 
two  hundred  and  fifteen  acres  in  all,  and  that 
part  of  his  farm  lying  on  section  18,  has  been 
developed  wholly  by  himself  from  a  state  of 
nature.  He  has  been  living  in  his  present  home 
near  the  village  for  nine  years,  and  for  the  past 
five  years  has  done  110  active  business.  He  has 
held  the  office  of  Assessor  of  the  township,  and  has 
always  been  earnestly  interested  in  its  welfare,  all 
plans  for  public  improvement  meeting  with  his 
hearty  support.  He  is  a  man  whose  stability  of 
character  and  general  trustworthiness  make  him  a 
very  desirable  citizen,  a  good  neighbor  and  stanch 
friend,  and  true  and  kind  in  his  domestic  relations. 
His  politics  are  of  the  Democratic  order,  and  he 
stands  firmly  by  his  party  whatever  betides.  He 
and  his  wife  are  consistent  members  of  the  Luth- 
eran Church. 

Mr.  Eicholtz  was  married  in  Adams  County,  Pa. 
to  Miss  Elanora  Peters,  and  they  dwelt  there  for  a 
time  before  taking  up  their  residence  permanently 
in  this  county.  Mrs!  Eicholtz  was  born  in  Adams 
County,  Pa.,  August  23,  1840,  a  daughter  of  Jacob 
and  Sarah  (Dutraugh)  Peters,who  were  born,  reared, 
married  and  died  in  Pennsj'lvania,  passing  their 
wedded  life  on  their  farm  in  Adams  County,  their 
native  county,  dying  at  the  age  of  seventy-eight 
years.  They  were  of  German  parentage,  their  par- 
ents being  among  the  early  settlers  of  Adams 
County,  beginning  life  there  in  the  timber.  Mrs. 
Eicholtz  comes  of  a  long-lived  race,  and  one  of  her 
grandmothers,  whose  maiden  name  was  Hoffman, 
and  who  was  well-known  in  her  county,  lived  to 
be  very  old,  her  life  being  prolonged  until  she  was 
past  ninety  years  of  age.  Mrs.  Eicholtz  is  the 
youngest  of  three  children.  Her  brother  Richard 
is  married  and  is  a  merchant  in  Harrisburg,  Pa., 
and  her  sister,  Mrs.  Sarah  Rex,  lives  on  the  old 
family  homestead  in  Adams  County. 

Our  subject  and  his  wife  have  one  son,  Oscar  R., 
who  was  bora  March  26,  1866,  in  Adams  County, 


Pa.  He  is  a  practical,  wide-awake  young  farmer, 
and  is  successfully  operating  his  father's  homestead 
farm  on  section  18,  Nachusa  Township.  He  mar- 
ried Miss  Cora  Parker,  who  was  born  in  Indiana, 
but  was  reared  and  educated  in  this  county.  They 
have  two  children,  Guy  W.  and  Erma  E. 


bEANDER  CYRENUS  SAWYER,  a  repre- 
sentative farmer,  residing  on  section  1, 
Amboy  Township,  was  born  in  Clarke 
County,  Ohio,  January  11,  1818,  and  was  eighteen 
years  old  when  his  parents  removed  to  Lee  County. 
He  continued  to  reside  under  the  parental  roof 
until  he  was  nineteen  years  of  age,  at  which  time  he 
started  out  for  himself,  working  on  a  farm  until 
his  marriage,  which  took  place  in  Bradford  County, 
Pa.,  July  28,  1842.  The  lady  of  his  choice  bore 
the  name  of  Nancy  Shurnway.  She  was  born  in 
Bradford  County,  June  10,  1823,  and  was  there 
reared  to  womanhood. 

On  coming  back  to  Illinois  after  his  marriage, 
our  subject  settled  on  section  1,  Amboy  Town- 
ship, where  he  has  ever  since  continued  to  re- 
side, and  he  is  the  only  settler  between  Lee 
Centre  and  Dixon  who  is  at  present  living  on 
land  which  was  originally  taken  from  the  Govern- 
ment. This  gentleman  has  always  been  engaged 
in  farm  work,  at  which  ha  has  been  very  successful, 
owning  now  two  hundred  and  twenty-five  acres  of 
fertile  and  productive  land,  and  having  upon  this 
excellent  estate  a  first-class  set  of  farm  buildings. 
Besides  the  raising  of  cereals,  Mr.  Saw3rer  deals 
quite  extensively  in  the  raising  of  fine  stock  of  all 
kinds,  buying  and  selling. 

Mr.  Sawyer  and  his  worthy  wife  have  become  the 
happy  parents  of  four  children,  namely:  Cyrus 
W.,who  is  a  banker  in  Woodbury  County,  Iowa;  Lu- 
cinda  F.  married  William  II.  Milieu,  of  Ida  County, 
Iowa;  Annette  B.,  who  is  the  wife  of  F.  A.  Sals- 
berry,  of  Ida  County.  Iowa;  and  a  daughter  who 
died  in  infancy. 

The  subject  of  this  notice  is  always  in  favor  of 
anything  that  will  enhance  the  prosperity  of  his 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


831 


township  or  county,  and  especially  anything  per- 
taining to  educational  matters,  and  hence  he  has 
been  active  as  a  School  Director,  and  has  also  held 
some  of  the  minor  offices  of  his  township.  In 
his  political  views,  he  is  always  a  stalwart  Re- 
publican, and  a  strong  temperance  man.  Mrs. 
Sawyer  is  a  consistent  Christian  and  a  valued 
member  of  the  Congregational  Church. 

The  parents  of  Mrs.  Sawyer  were  Cyrus  and 
Bridget  (Clink)  Shumway,  both  natives  of  New 
York  State,  being  residents  of  Bradford  County, 
Pa.  The  father  of  our  subject  was  Joseph  Sawyer, 
a  native  of  New  York  State,  while  his  mother,  Sarah 
Karnham,  was  born  in  Vermont.  The  father  was 
an  old  school  teacher  in  Vermont  and  Ohio,  and 
taught  for  awhile  after  coming  to  the  Prairie  State, 
and  was  the  first  Postmaster  of  the  old  Inlet  Grove 
Postoftice;  he  was  also  captain  of  a  militia  company 
in  Ohio.  For  a  more  complete  history  of  the  par- 
ents, see  the  sketch  of  Darius  Sawyer,  which  will 
be  found  elsewhere  in  the  RKCOKD.  Mrs.  Sawyer 
had  two  brothers  who  fought  in  the  late  war — 
Henry  and  Harrison  Shumway — the  latter  of  whom 
was  killed  in  Missouri. 


JOHN  DIXON,  the  founder  of   Dixon,   was 
born  in    the   village   of   Rye,   Westchester 
County,  N.  Y.,  October    9,    1784.     At   an 
early  age  he  removed  to   New   York  City, 
where  for  about  fifteen  years  he  was  the    proprie- 
tor of  a  clothing  store.    In  addition  to  the  success- 
ful prosecution  of  business  he  was  untiring  in    his 
efforts  for  the  promotion  of  temperance  and  relig- 
ious interests,  and  in  this  connection  became  one  of 
the  active  members  and  directors  of  the  first  Bible 
Society  organized  in  the  United  States.     This  was 
organized  February  16,  1809,  under  the   name    of 
"The  Young  Men's  Bible  Society,  of   the   City  of 
New    York."      While    thus   engaged,  premonitory 
symptoms  of  a  pulmonary  disease  manifested  them- 
selves, making  a  change  of  climate  necessary,  and 
in  1820  he  set  out  for  Illinois,     lie    settled    near 
Springfield,  111.     In    1825    Judge    Sawyer,   whose 
circuit  nominally  embraced  Northwestern   Illinois, 
42 


requested  Mr.  Dixon  to  take  the  appointment  of 
Circuit  Clerk,  and  remove  to  the  then  village  of 
Peoria.  The  Government  decided  upon  giving 
Galena  mail  facilities  once  in  two  weeks,  and  Mr. 
Dixon  got  the  contract.  In  order  to  secure  a 
passage  for  the  mails  over  Rock  River,  he  induced 
a  man  by  the  name  of  Ogee — a  French  and  Indian 
half-breed — to  establish  a  ferry  at  the  point,  now 
known  as  Dixon.  This  done,  the  travel  to  and 
from  the  lead  mines  so  rapidly  increased  that 
Ogee 'scoffers  became  full — too  full  indeed  for  his 
moral  powers  to  bear;  the  result  was  constant 
inebriation.  To  avoid  the  delays  in  the  trans- 
mission of  the  mails  which  these  irregularities 
entailed,  Mr.  Dixon  bought  the  ferry  from  Ogee, 
and  in  April,  1835,  removed  his  family  to  that 
point.  From  that  date  the  place  as  a  point 
for  crossing  the  river  became  known  as  Dixon's 
Ferry.  At  that  time  a  large  portion  of  the 
Winnebago  tribe  of  Indians  occupied  this  part 
of  the  Rock  River  country.  Mr.  Dixon  so  man- 
aged his  business  relations  with  them  as  to  secure 
their  entire  confidence  and  friendship,  which  on 
the  return  of  the  Sauks  and  Foxes,  under  their 
war  chief  Black  Hawk  in  1832,  proved  to  be  of 
inestimable  benefit  to  himself  and  family.  lie  was 
recognized  by  them  as  the  "red  man's  friend." 
He  entered  the  land  upon  which  the  most  valuable 
part  of  the  (now)  city  of  Dixon  stands,  and  in 
1835  laid  it  off  into  town  lots.  In  this  connection 
it  may  not  be  improper  to  say  that  all  the  land 
thus  subdivided  were  disposed  of  from  time  to 
time,  and  the  avails,  instead  of  being  hoarded  for 
individual  use,  have  gone  to  build  up  the  general 
interests  of  the  city.  In  1840,  Mr.  Dixon  visited 
Washington  with  an  application  for  the  removal 
of  the  land  office  from  Galena  to  Dixon,  and  Gen. 
Scott,  and  perhaps  other  army  officers,  personal 
friends  of  Mr.  Dixon,  who  had  become  familiar 
with  the  topography  of  the  country  during  the 
Black  Hawk  war,  promptly  interested  themselves 
in  his  behalf,  and  introduced  him  to  President 
Van  Buren,  who  at  once  signed  the  order  for  its 
removal.  Mr.  Dixon's  wife,  formerly  Rebecca 
Sherwood,  of  New  York,  a  lady  of  superior  mental 
capacity  and  energy,  shared  with  her  husband  the 
toils  and  privations  incident  to  frontier  life.  He 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


has  witnessed  the  growth  of  the  "Ferry"  from  a 
condition  of  wild  grass  and  shrubbery  to  that  of  a 
busy  city  of  five  thousand  inhabitants,  bearing  his 
honored  name.  He  is  honored  and  respected 
more  than  any  other  man  who  ever  lived  in  this 
county. 


W  OWARD  JOHNSON,  a  practical  and  enter- 
1/jV  prising  farmer  residing  on  section  21,  Pal- 
'J^f£  myra  Township,  has  spent  his  entire  life  in 
(^)  Lee  County.  He  was  born  on  his  father's 
farm  in  this  township,  August  20,  1850,  and  is 
the  youngest  but  one  of  seven  children,  who  are 
mentioned  in  the  sketch  of  R.  S.  Johnson,  on  an- 
other page  of  this  work.  In  the  usual  manner  of 
farmer  lads,  the  days  of  his  boyhood  and  youth 
were  passed,  he  aiding  his  father  in  farm  work 
during  the  summer  months,  and  attending  the  dis- 
trict school  in  the  winter  season.  Under  the 
parental  roof  he  remained  until  he  had  attained 
his  majority,  when  he  began  life  for  himself,  and 
the  occupation  to  which  he  was  reared  he  has  since 
followed.  In  all  his  undertakings  he  has  met  with 
success,  possessing  enterprise,  perseverance  and  in- 
dustry, qualities  essential  to  a  prosperous  career. 
He  now  owns  two  hundred  and  eighty  acres  of  land 
on  sections  15  and  16,  Palmyra  Township,  but  is 
operating  a  one  hundred  and  sixty  acre  farm  on 
section  21,  the  property  of  his  father-in-law.  He  has 
placed  it  under  a  high  state  of  cultivation  and  the 
well-tilled  fields  yield  to  him  a  golden  tribute. 
The  farm  is  well  stocked,  having  thereon  about 
seventy-five  milch  cows,  used  for  dairy  purposes. 
This,  however,  is  managed  by  other  parties,  while 
Mr.  Johnson  devotes  his  entire  attention  to  gen- 
eral farming. 

In  Palmyra  Township  Mr.  Johnson  was  united 
in  marriage  to  Miss  Alice  A.  Rogers,  who  first 
opened  her  eyes  to  the  light  of  day  February  28, 
1853,  on  the  farm  which  is  still  her  home.  She  is 
a  daughter  of  Walter  and  Hannah  (Fellows)  Rog- 
ers. Her  father  was  born  September  26,  1815,  in 
the  Province  of  Ontario,  Canada,  and,  about  1839, 
came  to  this  county,  where  he  met  and  married 


Miss  Fellows,  a  native  of  New  Hampshire,  born  in 
1824.  She  was  a  maiden  of  ten  summers,  when, 
with  her  parents,  Stephen  and  Rachel  (McGaffy) 
Fellows,  she  emigrated  Westward.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Rogers  began  their  domestic  life  in  Lee  County, 
upon  a  farm,  where  he  improved  a  good  home,  it 
being  his  place  of  residence  until  the  death  of  his 
wife,  which  occurred  February  23,  1890.  She  was 
a  member  of  the  Methodist  Church,  and  a  lady  be- 
loved by  her  many  friends.  In  November,  1890, 
Mr.  Rogers  removed  to  Dixon,  where  he  is  now 
living  a  retired  life  at  the  age  of  seventy-six  years. 
He  has  been  a  prominent  man  of  this  community, 

1   has  served  as  Supervisor  for  Palmyra  Township  for 
many  years,  and  in  politics  is  a  stanch  advocate  of 

i   Republican  principles. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Johnson  began  their  domestic  life 
upon  the  farm  where  they  still  reside  and  their 
home  has  been  blessed  by  the  presence  of  two  chil- 
dren— Elwyn  and  Lida  M.  The  parents  are  both 
well  and  favorably  known  throughout  this  com- 
munity, and  in  the  social  world,  where  true  worth 
and  intelligence  are  received  as  the  passports  into 
good  society,  rank  high.  In  his  political  views, 
Mr.  Johnson  is  a  stanch  Republican  and  for  two 
years  has  served  as  Supervisor  of  Palmyra  Town- 
ship, proving  himself  an  efficient  and  capable  of- 
ficer. 


f  AMES  BROWN,  honored  as  one  of  our  most 
worthy  citizens,  came  to  Lee  County  many 
years  ago,  cast  in  his  fortunes  with  its  pio- 
neers, and  was  of  much  assistance  in  de- 
veloping the  agricultural  resources  of  this  region. 
He  was  greatly  prospered  in  his  work,  and  was  en- 
abled to  retire  from  active  business  ere  old  age 
came  upon  him,  to  a  pleasant  home  in  the  pretty 
village  of  Ashton,  where  lie  is  enjoying  life  at  his 
leisure,  freed  from  the  necessity  of  labor  by  the 
possession  of  an  ample  competence. 

Mr.  Brown  was  born  in  Ireland,  October  15, 
1819.  He  was  almost  eight  years  old  when  his 
father,  Thomas  Brown,  emigrated  with  his  family 
to  the  New  World,  and  thereafter  made  his  home 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


in  Canada,  both  he  and  his  wife  dying  there.  They 
were  the  parents  of  eight  children,  seven  sons  and 
one  daughter,  whom  they  reared  to  habits  of  use- 
fulness. 

Our  subject  grew  to  a  vigorous  manhood  in 
Canada,  and  was  a  resident  of  that  country  until 
1852,  when  he  came  to  Illinois,  and  made  a  per- 
manent settlement  in  this  county.  lie  bought 
land  in  Ashton  Township,  in  time  transformed  it 
into  a  valuable  farm,  with  a  good  class  of  improve- 
ments, and  its  two  hundred  and  sixty  acres  were 
placed  under  excellent  cultivation.  He  made 
money  by  his  farming  operations,  as  he  attended 
strictly  to  his  business,  was  shrewd,  keen  and  dis- 
criminating in  his  dealings,  and  at  the  same  time 
had  a  well-earned  reputation  for  truthfulness  and 
honesty,  his  word  always  passing  current.  In  the 
spring  of  1876,  he  abandoned  farming,  disposing 
of  his  farm  at  a  good  price,  and  since  then  has 
lived  retired  in  the  village  of  Ashton. 

Mr.  Brown  did  not  have  to  struggle  alone  with 
the  adversities  of  pioneer  life  when  he  came  to 
Illinois  to  found  a  home  in  a  newly  settled  country, 
but  by  his  side  was  the  young  wife  whom  he  had 
married  in  Canada,  who  was  willing  to  brave  any 
hardship  and  privation  that  might  fall  to  their  lot 
for  his  sake,  and  to  her  cheerful  co-operation  he 
owes  much.  Mrs.  Brown,  whose  maiden  name  was 
Jane  Walker,  is  also,  like  her  husband,  of  Irish 
birth,  and  was  born  July  12,  1831.  Much  joy  has 
fallen  to  our  subject  and  his  estimable  wife  in  their 
wedded  life,  and  among  their  blessings  are  the 
children  spared  to  comfort  them  as  the  shadows  of 
life  lengthen  towards  sunset.  Their  eldest-daugh- 
ter. Elizabeth,  is  the  wife  of  James  W.  Parsons; 
their  daughter  Victoria  is  the  wife  of  Dr.  Thomas 
Taylor,  of  Ashton,  who  is  represented  elsewhere  in 
this  volume,  and  their  only  living  son  married  Miss 
Susie  Ghana.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Brown  have  felt  the 
chastening  hand  of  sorrow  in  the  death  of  four  of 
their  beloved  children :  James  A.,  who  died  at  the 
age  of  thirty-two  years;  Mary  E.,  who  married 
Frederick  Gooch,  and  died  when  twenty-four  years 
old;  George,  who  died  in  childhood,  and  Sarah, 
who  died  in  infancy. 

Our  subject's  every-day  life  bears  testimony  to 
the  inherent  uprightness  of  his  character,  and  his 


neighbors  know  full  well  that  they  can  look  to 
him  for  kindness,  charity  and  helpfulness  when- 
ever they  are  in  trouble  or  need  assistance.  He 
and  his  wife  and  all  their  children  are  members  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  have  contri- 
buted their  quota  to  the  advancement  of  religion 
in  their  community.  Mr.  Brown  is  unwavering  in 
his  loyalty  to  the  Republican  party,  and  firmly 
believes  that  its  policy  in  regard  to  all  the  great 
public  questions  of  the  day  is  for  the  best  interests 
of  the  country. 


if/       ARMON  VAN  PATTEN,  one  of  the  most 
f/jj]  intelligent   and  respected  members  of  the 

'J?X/y  farming  community  of  Alto  Township,  has 
Hi  been  identified  with  the  agricultural  inter- 
ests of  Lee  County  for  a  period  of  thirty  years. 
He  was  born  in  Glenville,  Schenectady  County, 
N.  Y.,  July  14,  1836.  He  is  a  lineal  descendant 
of  an  ancient  Holland  family  that  was  among  the 
early  Colonial  settlers  of  the  Empire  State,  and 
through  his  paternal  grandmother  comes  of  old 
New  England  stock. 

Simon  Bartlett  Van  Patten,  the  father  of  our 
subject,  was  born  September  5,  1801,  in  the  same 
town  as  his  son,  while  his  father,  Frederick  Van 
Patten,  was  born  in  the  Mohawk  Valley,  near 
Schenectady,  N.  Y.  His  last  years,  however,  were 
spent  in  his  home  at  Glenville,  where  he  had 
taken  up  his  residence  when  a  young  man.  The 
maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  Sarah  Bartlett,  and 
she  was  born  in  Massachusetts,  her  ancestry  being 
of  English  origin.  She* survived  her  husband 
many  years,  and  died  at  her  old  home  in  Glen- 
ville. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  reared  to  agri- 
cultural pursuits.  He  purchased  a  farm  of  forty 
acres  in  the  town  of  Glenville,  one  mile  from  the 
Mohawk  River,  and  resided  there  until  1871, 
when  he  came  to  Illinois  to  pass  his  declining 
years  with  his  children,  and  died  in  1875,  at  the 
home  of  his  son  Abram,  in  Malta,  I)e  Kalb  County. 
His  wife  preceded  him  in  death,  dying  in  Sche- 


83 1 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD, 


nectady  County,  N.  Y.,  in  1869.     She  was  born  in    ! 
Gilderland,  Albany  County,  N.    Y..   in    1804,  her 
maiden  name  being    Susan  Van    Patten,  although 
she   was  not  in  an}'  way    related  to    her  husband. 
She  was  a  daughter  of  John  and  Margaret  (Prince)    ' 
Van  Patten.     These  are   the  six  children  that  she    j 
and  her  husband    reared:  Sarah,   John,    Margaret,, 
Harmon,  Abram  and  Jemima. 

Harmon  Van  Patten  received  his  early  educa- 
tion in  the  district  schools,  and  resided  with  his  j 
parents  until  lie  was  sixteen  years  old,  when  he  ! 
went  to  live  witli  a  widow  in  the  neighborhood. 
He  had  but  little  work  to  do  other  than  chores, 
and  he  gladly  embraced  the  opportunity  to  ad- 
vance his  education,  as  he  was  very  eager  to  learn 
all  that  he  could,  and  attended  both  the  district 
and  a  select  school.  He  was  thus  well  fitted  for 
the  profession  of  teaching,  and  in  his  twentieth 
year  entered  upon  that  vocation.  He  continued 
to  live  in  his  native  State  until  1859,  when  he 
came  to  Illinois,  and  located  in  Willow  Creek 
Township,  where  he  found  employment  in  a  nurs- 
ery for  a  year.  Desirous  to  still  further  increase 
his  education,  he  then  became  a  student  at  Rock 
River  Seminary,  at  Mt.  Morris,  where  he  pursued 
a  fine  course  of  study.  At  the  time  of  his  mar- 
riage, he  located  on  the  farm  that  he  now  owns 
and  occupies  in  Alto  Township,  and  has  since  de- 
voted '  himself  to  its  improvement.  He  brings  a 
cultured,  well-trained  mind  to  bear  upon  the 
problems  that  beset  the  skilled  agriculturist  who 
seeks  to  till  the  soil  after  the  best  methods,  so  as 
to  make  it  produce  abundantly  without  exhaust- 
ing its  natural  fertility.  His  standing  in  financial 
circles  is  good,  and  none  know  him  but  to  esteem 
him  for  those  fine  qualities  of  head  and  heart  that 
arc  his  distinguishing  characteristics. 

Mr.  Va.n  Patten  was  married  March  17,  1861,  to 
the  lady  who.  presided  over  his  home,  and  had 
for  many  years^been  -to, him  all  that  a  true  wife 
can  be  to  a  man.  Mrs.  Van  Patten,  formerly  Miss 
Hannah  Nettleton,  was  ( born,  in  the  Province  of 
Ontario,  Canada.  Her  union  with  our  subject  has 
been  blessed  to  them  by  the  birth  of  live  children, 
namely:  Winnie  Estelle,  Minnie  Delle,  Ernest 
Martin,  John  Frederick  and  Hannah  Mabel. 
Winnie  married  Lester  L.  Atwood,  of  Boone 


County,  111.,  and  they  have  three  children:  Edna 
May.  Grace  and  Lois  Mabel.  Minnie  married 
Henry  P.  Moon,  of  Rock  Rapids,  Lyon  County, 
Iowa,  and  they  have  two  children:  Clarence  and 
Ernest  Frederick.  Mrs.  Van  Patten  died  January 
6,  1875.  Mr.  Van  Patten  was  again  married,  Sep- 
tember 4,  1878,  to  Miss  Nettie  Fuller,  of  Webster 
County,  Iowa.  This  union  has  resulted  in  the 
birth  of  one  child,  Marian  Delight. 


-RANK  WEISE.  This  gentleman  is  numbered 
among  the  old  locomotive  engineers  in  the 
employ  of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad 
Company,  and  is  among  the  pioneers  of  this  State. 
He  was  bom  in  Saxony,  Germany,  November  30, 
1835.  His  parents,  Charles  and  Maria  Weise,  came 
to  the  United  States  in  1848,  and  settled  on  a 
farm  near  Aurora,  111.,  where  they  both  died. 
The  father  of  our  subject  was  twice  married,  by 
his  first  union  becoming  the  parent  of  one  daugh- 
ter, Dorothea,  who  married  Henry  Figenger,  of 
Aurora. 

The  parents  of  our  subject  had  thirteen  children, 
all  born  in  Germany,  of  whom  six  grew  to  matur- 
ity, as  follows:  John,  who  died  in  Aurora;  Frank; 
Louis,  who  resides  in  Aurora;  Mary,  wife  of 
Charles  Huff,  of  Chicago;  Caroline,  the  widow  of 
Fred  Nichols,  of  Chicago;  Charles,  a  resident  of 
Denver,  Col.;  and  Clara,  who  married  August 
Nichols,  and  died  in  Qhicago. 

Our  subject  came  to  the  United  States  with  iiis 
father's  family,  and  was  reared  on  a  farm  at 
Aurora,  also  becoming  a  musician.  He  went  to 
Mendota  and  worked  at  various  employments,  but 
gave  most  of  his  time  to  furnishing  music  for 
entertainments.  From  Mendota  he  cajne  to  Amboy, 
and  after  working  for  a  few  months  in  the  machine 
shops  of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad,  he  became 
fireman  on  a  locomotive,  and  in  less  than  four 
years  was  given  an  engine,  and  is  now  the  oldest 
freight  engineer  on  the  Amboy  Division  of  that 
railroad. 

Mr.  Weise  has  been  twice  married,  the  first  time 
in  Araboy,  to  Mary  Kufelt.  She  was  born  in 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


835 


Germany,  and  died  at  Amboy  in  1878,  leaving 
five  children:  Frank,  Herman,  Mena,  Theresa  and 
Clara.  By  a  former  marriage  Mrs.  Weise  was  the 
mother  of  one  child,  Josephine,  now  Mrs.  Nolte. 
Mr.  Weise  was  a  second  time  married, April  2,1879, 
to  Miss  Delia  Martha.  They  have  four  children: 
Albert,  William,  Bertha  and  Ina.  Mr.  Weise  is  a 
stanch  Democrat,  and  he  and  his  wife  are  members 
of  the  Lutheran  Church.  The  present  Mrs.  Weise 
is,  by  a  prior  marriage  to  Henry  Brady,  the  mother 
of  five  children:  May,  Charles,  Clara,  Johnnie,  and 
Louise  (deceased). 


ATHIAS  LIEVAN  has  played  an  impor- 
tant part  in  the  development  of  Lee 
County  as  one  of  its  most  enterprising, 
far-seeing  and  clear-headed  farmers,  and 
although  not  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  of  this  sec- 
tion of  Illinois,  he  is  fairly  entitled  to  be  classed 
among  its  pioneers.  He  has  acquired  a  handsome 
fortune  and  is  now  quietly  passing  his  declining 
years  in  retirement  in  his  old  home  on  section  17, 
South  Dixon  Township,  where  he  settled  April  1, 
18-57. 

Our  subject  was  born  on  the  beautiful  Rhine  in 
Prussia,  Germany,  October  13,  1813,  coming  of 
pure  German  ancestry.  His  father,  who  was  John 
M.  Lievan,  was  also  a  Prussian  by  birth,  and  was 
a  grape-grower,  having  his  vineyard  on  the  batiks 
of  the  River  Rhine.  He  was  there  married  to  Mar- 
garet Lievan,  who  was  also  a  native  of  that  pro- 
vince, and  her  father's  people  were  also  grape- 
growers  and  wine-makers. 

Mathias  Lievan  passed  his  early  life  amid  the 
romantic  scenes  of  his  birth,  and  some  years  after 
marriage  decided  on  emigrating  to  the  United 
States  of  America,  as  he  was  ambitious  to  acquire 
wealth,  and  thought  that  his  chances  of  doing  so 
would  be  better  in  the  New  World  than  in  the 
Fatherland.  Accompanied  by  his  wife  and  aged 
father  (his  mother  having  previously  died),  he  set 
sail  from  Havre  de  Grace,  and  after  three  months 
on  the  ocean  landed  in  this  country,  in  1846. 
The  ensuing  eleven  years  he  lived  in  Somerset 


County,  Pa.,  when  he  came  here,  and  there  his 
father  died.  Our  subject  was  employed  in  vari- 
ous places  in  and  around  the  ill-fated  Johnstown, 
and  at  one  time  worked  on  the  dam  which  break- 
age caused  the  awful  flood  that  well-nigh  de- 
stroyed that  city.  He  also  labored  in  the  iron 
mines  for  some  years.  Hearing  much  of  the  rich 
virgin  soil  of  the  great  Prairie  State,  he  came 
hither  in  1857,  resolved  to  try  his  hand  at  farming. 
He  obtained  the  first  eighty  acres  of  his  present 
homestead  at  that  time,  while  it  was  yet  in  a  wild 
condition,  and  activel}'  entered  upon  the  labor  of 
retrieving  it  from  a  state  of  nature.  He  had 
much  to  contend  with  in  those  early  years,  and  he 
and  his  faithful  wife  endured  many  hardships  and 
privations,  and  made  many  sacrifices  before  pros- 
perity began  to  smile  upon  their  persistent  and  un- 
remitting toil.  He  had  but  little  means  when  he 
began  his  struggles  here,  and  he  was  so  handi- 
capped by  having  to  pay  a  big  interest  that  he  had 
to  give  up  forty  acres  of  his  original  purchase. 
Better  times  came,  however,  and  he  grew  rich,  in- 
vesting his  money  in  other  land  until  he  became 
the  owner  of  nine  farms  in  this  State  and  in  Iowa, 
aggregating  more  than  a  thousand  acres  of  fine 
farming  land,  nearly  the  whole  of  it  being  under 
cultivation.  lie  has  provided  generously  for  his 
children,  giving  them  a  good  start  in  life,  distribut- 
ing property  among  them  to  the  value  of  $40,000. 
Our  subject  was  first  married  in  his  native  province 
to  Miss  Anna  M.  Mechel,  who  was  born  and  reared 
there,  and  died  at  'their  old  home  after  the  birth 
of  two  children,  while  she  was  yet  a  young  woman. 
Mr.  Lievan  was  married  a  second  time  in  the 
land  of  his  birth,  Miss  Magdalena  Miller  becoming 
his  wife.  She  was  born  and  reared  in  the  Same 
neighborhood  as  himself,  and  was  of  similar  par- 
entage, her  father  being  a  grape-grower.  A  long 
and  felicitous  wedded  life  has  been  vouchsafed  to 
our  subject  and  his  estimable  wife,  and  of  the 
twelve  children  that  have  come  to  them,  all  are  liv- 
ing but  Charles,  who  died  young.  The  others  are 
Mathias,  a  farmer  in  Missouri,  who  married  Mary 
Piter;  John  W.,  a  farmer  residing  near  Dixon,  who 
married  Sophia  Bremmer;  Elizabeth,  who  is  a  resi- 
dent, of  St.  Louis;  Margaret,  wife  of  Henry  E.  Mil- 
ler, of  whom  a  biography  appears  in  this  volume; 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


Kate,  wife  of  William  Mossholder,  a  farmer  in  this 
township;  Jacob,  also  a  farmer  in  this  township,  mar- 
ried Miss  Sarah  Genck ;  Rachel,at  home  with  her  par- 
ents; William,  a  farmer  in  Harmon  Township,  who 
married  Miss  Ella  Fritz;  Idell,  married  Burton 
Ross  and  lives  in  O'Brien  County,  Iowa;  Sarah, 
wife  of  Deitrick  Seifkin,  a  farmer  in  O'Brien 
County,  Iowa;  Frank,  a  farmer  in  Marion  Town- 
ship, who  married  Lotta  Vroman ;  Emma,  wife  of 
Henry  Floto,  a  farmer  at  State  Centre,  Iowa; 
Henry  G.,  a  farmer  in  Harmon  Township,  who 
married  Gertrude  Wadsworth.  The  two  children 
of  Mr.  Lievan  's  first  marriage  are  Anna  and  Mar_y, 
and  both  own  and  occupy  good  farms"  near  Man- 
ning, Iowa;  Mary  married  John  Parker.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Lievan  and  the  most  of  their  children  at- 
tend the  Evangelical  Church,  and  are  liberal  in 
their  support  of  whatsoever  tends  to  the  moral  and 
religious  elevation  of  the  community.  Mr.  Lievan 
is  loyal  in  his  citizenship  to  the  country  of  his 
adoption,  is  a  firm  believer  in  the  superiority  of  its 
institutions  and  government,  and  is  a  true  Repub- 
lican in  his  political  sentiments.  In  closing  this  rec- 
ord of  his  life,  we  will  add  that  a  patient,  resolute 
nature,  a  keen  love  of  business,  accuracy  of  judg- 
ment, and  a  never-failing  self-reliance,  together 
with  honesty  of  purpose  and  act,  have  been  his 
distinguishing  traits,  and  mark  him  as  a  true  type 
of  our  self-made  men,  whose  career  is  eminently 
worthy  of  emulation  and  deserving  of  praise. 


SAMUEL  S.  KAYLAR,  a  wealthy  resident 
of  Dixon,  has  valuable  farming  interests 
in  Lee  County,  represented  by  two   fine 
farms,  not  far  from  the  city,  the  manage- 
ment of  both  being  under  his  personal  supervision. 
Mr.  Kaylar  was  .born  half  a  mile    from  Martins- 
burg,  Bedford  County,  Pa.,  April  11,  1832.     His 
father,  John  Kaylar,  was  born  in  the  same  State, 
for  aught  that  is  known  to  the  contrary.     lie  was 
a  harness-maker,  and    followed    that  trade  in  the 
winter  seasons,  and  the  remainder  of  the  year  gave 
his  attention  to  farming.     In  1846  he  left  Bedford 
County  and  removed   to  Indiana  with  his  family, 


going  thither  with  a  three-horse  team.  He  settled 
among  the  pioneers  of  Elkhart  County,  buying  a 
tract  of  timber  land  in  the  wilderness  three  miles 
from  Goshen.  The  family  moved  into  the  log 
cabin  that  stood  on  the  place  and  occupied  it  for 
a  few  years.  The  surrounding  country  was  but 
little  settled  at  that  period,  as  was  evidenced  by 
the  number  of  deer  and  other  wild  game  that 
abounded,  and  there  were  no  railways  in  that  sec- 
tion for  some  years.  Goshen  was  the  market  where 
the  farmers  went  to  dispose  of  their  produce  and 
obtain  necessary  supplies.  The  father  of  our  sub- 
ject became  one  of  the  principal  farmers  of  that 
county,  and  in  time  had  one  of  the  finest  farms 
anywhere  about.  He  erected  a  handsome  and  com- 
modious brick  house,  a  large  barn,  and  made  other 
valuable  improvements.  He  made  it  his  home 
until  his  death  in  his  seventy-sixth  year.  The 
maiden  name  of  the  mother  of  our  subject  was 
Nancy  Martin,  and  she  was  born  in  Blair  County, 
Pa.,  a  daughter  of  David  Martin.  She  has  attained 
the  venerable  age  of  eighty  years,  and  now  resides 
in  Marshall  County,  Ind.  She  has  been  a  faithful 
mother  and  has  reared  nine  children  to  lives  of 
usefulness. 

Our  subject  was  fourteen  years  old  when  he  ac- 
companied his  parents  to  their  pioneer  home  in 
Indiana.  He  attended  the  primitive  schools  of 
those  days  that  were  taught  in  log  houses,  which 
were  furnished  with  seats  made  by  splitting  small 
trees,  and  hewing  one  side  smooth,  with  wooden 
pins  placed  underneath  for  support.  Mr.  Kaylar 
continued  to  live  with  his  father  until  he  was 
twenty-one  years  old,  and  then  worked  on  a  farm 
by  the  month  for  three  months.  At.  the  end  of 
that  time,  he  established  a  brick  yard  on  his  father's 
farm,  and  was  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  bricks 
the  ensuing  seven  years.  He  thus  obtained  a  good 
start  in  life,  and  in  1858  he  made  a  tour  of  the 
West  with  a  view  of  investing  some  of  his  capital. 
While  in  Missouri  he  entered  forty  acres  of  Gov- 
ernment land  in  Harrison  County,  and  bought  two 
hundred  acres  that  had  previously  been  entered. 
Returning  to  Indiana  from  that  trip,  he  purchased 
eighty  acres  of  land  in  Kosciusko  County,  and 
after  living  upon  it  two  years,  sold  it  at  an  ad- 
vance. His  next  move  was  to  Grundy  County, 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


this  Slate,  and  he  invested  in  an  eighty-acre  tract 
of  land  in  Braceville  Township,  to  which  he  added 
eighty  acres  more  by  a  subsequent  purchase.  In 
1877  he  went  from  there  to  Gardner,  and  was  a 
resident  of  that  place  until  1882.  Then  selling 
his  property  there,  he  came  to  Lee  County,  bought 
a  home  in  Dixon,  a  farm  in  Dixon  Township,  and 
another  ten  miles  south  of  the  city.  Two  years 
later  he  disposed  of  the  latter  farm,  and  bought 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  four  and  one-half 
miles  south  of  the  city.  He  still  owns  both  farms, 
and  superintends  the  working  of  them,  although 
residing  in  the  city. 

Mr.  Kaylar  was  married  in  1860  to  Miss  Isabel 
Anderson,  a  native  of  Ohio,  in  whom  he  has  found 
a  wife  who  has  materially  contributed  to  his  success 
in  life.  They  have  had  three  children:  Albert, 
Emma  and  May.  The  latter,  the  youngest  child, 
died,  at  the  age  of  six  years.  Emma  married  Eu- 
gene Bartholomew,  of  Dixon,  and  they  have  one 
child,  whom  they  have  named  Maud. 

Our  subject's  social  and  financial  standing  in  the 
community  is  of  the  best.  He  is  a  loy.il  citizen, 
and  as  such  interests  himself  in  politics,  being  a 
firm  supporter  of  the  Republican  party. 


j>ALTER  LITTLE,  an  honored  veteran  of 
the  late  war,  now  proprietor  of  the  Wash- 
ington House,  of  Dixon,  has  witnessed  the 
growth  of  Lee  County  since  an  early  day,  his 
parents  being  numbered  among  the  honored 
pioneers  of  the  community.  His  grandfather, 
Walter  Little,  was  a  farmer  of  the  Highlands  of 
Scotland,  and  there  married  Ellen  Johnson.  In 
their  old  home  they  resided  until  after  the  birth  of 
all  of  their  children,  when  they  determined  to 
come  to  the  New  World,  and.  sniling  from  Edin- 
burg,  crossed  the  Atlantic  to  New  York.  They 
made  their  first  settlement  near  Buffalo,  in  the 
Kmpire  State,  and  the  year  1837  witnessed  their 
arrival  in  Illinois.  They  located  on  an  unbroken 
farm  in  Brooklyn  Township,  Lee  County,  where 
the  father  developed  a  farm,  the  family  living  in 


a  log  cabin  in  true  pioneer  style.  The  death  of 
Walter  Little,  Sr.,  occurred  on  the  old  homestead, 
and  his  wife  died  at  the  home  of  their  son,  An- 
drew, in  Viola  Township,  when  about  sixty-five 
years  of  age.  They  were  adherents  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church  and  brought  up  their  children  in 
that  faith.  Only  one  son  is  now  living,  James,  a 
resident  of  Paw  Paw,  111. 

Andrew  Little,  father  of  our  subject,  was  born 
in  the  Scottish  Highlands,  and  when  a  young 
lad  accompanied  his  parents  to  America.  In  Lee 
County  he  attained  his  majority,  and  at  Ross 
Grove,  in  De  Kalb  County,  married  Miss  Charity 
Ross,  a  native  of  Ohio,  and  a  daughter  of  Joseph 
and  Mary  (Holly)  Ross,  who  were  born  in  the 
Empire  State.  After  their  marriage  they  removed 
to  Ohio,  and  thence  came  to  Illinois  in  a  very 
early  day,  locating  in  what  is  now  Ross  Grove, 
which  was  named  in  their  honor  as  they  were 
among  the  very  first  settlers  of  De  Kalb  County. 
Upon  a  farm  which  Mr.  Ross  there  developed  from 
the  wild  prairie,  he  and  his  wife  resided  for  some 
years.  Subsequently  he  went  to  Texas,  and  died 
at  the  home  of  his  son  in  that  State,  when  well  ad- 
vanced in  life.  His  wife  passed  away  in  this 
county.  They  were  well-known  pioneers  of 
Northern  Illinois  and  were  highly  respected 
people. 

After  the  marriage  of  Andrew  Little  and  his 
wife,  he  made  a  claim  of  Government  land  near 
Compton,  Lee  County,  where  he  improved  a  farm 
and  subsequently  engaged  in  farming  in  Viola 
Township,  where  he  died  on  the  7th  of  March,  1857, 
at  the  age  of  forty-six  years.  His  wife  was  called 
to  her  final  rest  November  16,  I860,  when  only 
twenty-four  years  of  age.  They  left  three  chil- 
dren: Walter,  of  this  sketch;  Mary,  wife  of  Ed 
C.  Lamb,  a  farmer  living  on  the  old  homestead; 
and  Andrew,  who  also  resides  on  a  part  of  the  old 
home  farm.  He  married  Catherine  Christeancc. 
Another  child  of  the  family,  who  also  bore  the 
name  of  Andrew,  died  in  early  youth. 

Our  subject  first  opened  his  eyes  to  the  light  of 
day  on  his  father's  farm  in  Brooklyn  Township,  in 
1841,  and  his  home  has  been  in  no  other  county 
than  this.  His  labors  were  devoted  to  farm  work 
until  nineteen  years  of  age,  when  he  responded  to 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


the  country's  call  for  troops  to  aid  in  crushing  out 
the  Rebellion,  and  enlisted  October  7,  1861,  as  a 
member  of  Battery  F,  First  Illinois  Volunteer 
Artillery.  He  participated  in  the  battles  of  Pitts- 
burg  and  those  of  the  Mississippi  campaign,  and 
was  with  Gen.  Sherman  throughout  the  Atlanta 
campaign  and  helped  to  drive  Gen.  Hood's  Army 
from  the  North.  When  the  war  was  brought  to  a 
successful  termination, he  was  honorably  discharged 
at  Nashville,  Tenn.,  on  the  4th  of  February,  1865, 
after  about  three  and  a  half  years  of  active  service. 
He  had  enlisted  as  a  private,  but  during  the  last 
year  served  as  Color-bearer  of  his  regiment,  the 
stand  of  colors  being  presented  to  the  company  by 
the  Jadies  of  Dixon.  He  was  a  young  soldier  but 
the  country  saw  no  braver,  and  at  his  post  of  duty 
he  was  always  found.  He  was  never  wounded  or 
taken  prisoner,  though  on  several  occasions  he 
narrowly  escaped  capture. 

On  his  return  from  the  war,  Mr.  Little  resumed 
farming,  which  he  followed  until  1884,  when  he 
was  elected  Sheriff  of  Lee  County.  For  two  years 
he  filled  that  office  and  in  December,  1886,  at  the 
expiration  of  his  term,  became  proprietor  of  the 
Washington  House,  a  leading  hotel  of  Dixon.  He 
is  a  genial  host  who  carefully  looks  after  the 
comfort  of  his  guests,  and  the  hotel  has  therefore 
become  a  favorite  with  the  traveling  public.  Mr. 
Little  is  still  the  owner  of  a  hundred  and  sixty- 
acre  farm  near  Sheffield,  Cerro  Gordo  County, 
Iowa,  which  is  well  watered  and  highly  improved 
and  cultivated. 

In  Brooklyn  Township,  this  county,  our  subject 
was  joined  in  wedlock  with  Miss  Cornelia  Nichols, 
a  native  of  Michigan,  and  a  daughter  of  Charles 
and  Margaret  Nichols,  who  had  removed  from 
that  State  to  Illinois,  in  1857,  locating  in  Brooklyn 
Township.  Some  years  later  they  removed  to 
Ames,  Story  County,  Iowa,  where  both  died,  hav- 
ing passed  the  allotted  age  of  three-score  years 
and  ten.  Unto  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Little  have  been 
born  five  children,  but  Fannie  M.  and  George  W. 
are  now  deceased.  James  W.,  Lillian  G.,  and 
Ethel  G.  are  still  under  the  parental  roof.  The 
parents  attend  the  Methodist  Church  and  are 
highly  respected  people  of  the  community,  having 
many  friends  in  and  around  Dixon.  Mr.  Little 


is  a  member  of  the  Blue  Lodge  and  Chapter,  and 
Dixon  Connnandery  of  Knights  Templar  of  the 
Masonic  order,  and,  with  the  exception  of  that  of 
Master,  has  filled  all  the  offices.  He  also  holds 
membership  with  Dixon  Post,  No.  229,  G.  A.  R. 


SAMUEL  F.  MILLS,  of  the  firm  of   Mills  & 
Petrie,  bankers   at   A&hton,    was    born    in 
Herkirner   County,  N.  Y.,  June  21,  1831. 
His    parents,  Loran    A.   and  Eve  (Petrie) 
Mills,  were  natives  of  the  same  place   where   they 
spent  their  entire  lives  and  in  which  county  they 
died.     The  father  was  a  farmer  by  occupation. 

Our  subject  is  the  fifth  child  of  a  family  of 
three  sons  and  three  daughters.  He  remained 
upon  the  home  farm  until  twenty-one  years  of  age, 
when  he  went  to  Canada,  where  he  spent  one  year 
engaged  in  speculating,  and  in  which  he  met  with 
fine  success.  From  there  he  went  to  De  Kalb,  111., 
and  engaged  in  the  livery  business  for  about  six 
months,  when  he  sold  out  and  removed  to  Ashton, 
becoming  interested  in  the  pine  and  lumber  busi- 
ness in  1858,  which  he  carried  on  alone  until  he 
formed  a  partnership  with  N.  A.  Petrie.  The 
partnership  continued  until  1865,  when  they  closed 
out  and  entered  into  the  mercantile  business, 
carrying  it  on  for  four  years,  when  they  sold  out 
and  became  interested  in  banking.  In  1888  Mr. 
Mills  built  a  handsome  residence  in  Parish,  N.  Y., 
where  he  spends  about  half  of  his  time  and  the 
remainder  in  Ashton.  He  was  married  in  the 
latter  place  to  Louisa  Getman,  who  was  also  a 
native  of  Herkimer  County,  N.  Y. 

Mr.  Mills  was  one  of  the  chief  founders  of  the 
village  of  Ashton,  and  has  contributed  in  no  small 
measure  to  the  growth  and  prosperity  of  the  town. 
In  1889  the  business  part  of  the  town  was  destro_yed 
by  fire,  or  nearly  so,  and  Mr.  Mills,  in  company 
with  his  partner,  N.  A.  Petrie,  has  practically 
rebuilt  the  place,  and  they  are  now  the  owners  of 
nine  stores,  a  hotel  and  a  number  of  office  buildings. 
Mr.  Mills  is  a  progressive  man,  enterprising  and 
active,  and  of  undoubted  business  ability.  His 
public  spirit  has  been  manifested  in  many  ways, 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


and  he  is  held  in  the  highest  esteem  for  his  liber- 
ality, which  was  so  prominently  manifested  during 
the  misfortunes  which  befell  the  town.  Mr.  Mills 
is  strong  and  active  in  the  ranks  of  the  Repub- 
icans. 


§HOMAS  WELLS,  though  not  one  of  the 
early  pioneers  of  this  county,  may  be  classed 
among  them,  as,  during  a  residence  of  many 
years  within  its  precincts,  he  has  developed  a  farm, 
finely  located  in  Willow  Creek  Township,  on  sec- 
tions 27  and  28,  whose  improvements  rank  with 
the  best  in  this  vicinity.  Mr.  Wells  is  a  native  of 
Prince  Edward  Island,  born  December  10,  1831, 
a  son  of  one  of  the  old  families  of  that  insular  lo- 
cality. His  father,  Hugh  Wells,  was  born  in  the 
same  place  at  himself.  The  grandfather  of  our 
subject  was  a  native  of  the  North  of  Ireland,  of 
Scotch  ancestry,  and  was  an  early  settler  of  Prince 
Edward  Island,  where  he  passed  his  remaining 
years  in  fanning. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  reared  and  mar- 
ried in  his 'birthplace,  and  resided  there  until  1844. 
In  that  year,  accompanied  by  his  wife  and  six 
children,  he  started  for  Illinois,  traveling  by  water 
to  Boston,  thence  by  rail  to  Albany,  by  canal  to 
Buffalo,  by  the  Great  Lakes  to  Chicago,  and  from 
there  to  his  destination  in  Kane  Count}',  with  an 
ox-team.  His  means  were  limited  and  he  first 
rented  land,  which  he  cultivated  for  a  while,  and 
then,  after  spending  a  year  and  a  half  at  Somon- 
auk,  he  came  to  this  county  in  1856  and  bought  a 
tract  of  improved  land  in  Allen's  Grove,  upon 
which  he  lived  until  death  closed  his  mortal  career. 
The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  Ann  Irving. 
She  was  born  in  Dumfreeshire,  Scotland,  and  was 
a  daughter  of  Thomas  Irving.  She  died  on  the 
home  farm.  She  reared  seven  children  to  useful 
lives. 

Thomas  Wells  was  thirteen  years  old  when  the 
family  came  to  Illinois,  and  so  remembers  well  the 
incidents  of  that  long  and  memorable  journey,  and 
of  the  pioneer  life  of  the  first  years  that  lie 
lived  in  this  State.  For  some  time  there  was  no 


railway,  and  the  greater  part  of  the  land  in  the 
northern  part  of  Illinois  was  still  owned  by  the 
Government,  and  has  since  been  sold  at  $1.25 
an  acre.  He  remained  an  inmate  of  the  parental 
family  until  his  marriage,  and  then  located  on  a 
farm  on  section  25.  He  did  not  have  the  money 
to  pay  for  it,  and  soon  gave  it  up  and  farmed  as  a 
renter  for  a  time.  He  then  bought  the  farm  in 
Willow  Creek  Township  where  he  now  resides. 
Since  it  came  into  his  possession  he  has  greatly  in- 
creased its  worth  by  many  valuable  improvements 
that  he  has  placed  upon  it,  including  a  neat  and 
substantially  built  frame  house,  two  good  barns, 
granaries,  sheds,  etc.  The  land  is  under  admira- 
ble tillage,  and  yields  abundant  harvests  in  repay- 
ment for  the  care  bestowed  upon  it  and  the  outlay 
of  money  necessary  for  its  cultivation. 

Mr.  Wells  had  the  good  fortune  to  secure  a  de- 
voted wife  when  he  married  Miss  Helen  J.  Hallen- 
beck  March  26,1858.  They  have  had  two  children, 
Addie  and  Arthur.  The  sorrow  of  their  wedded 
life  has  been  in  the  death  of  their  daughter,  July 
7,  1887.  She  was  born  November  26,  1861,  and 
was  married  to  George  Roberts,  December  22, 1886: 
Arthur  Wells  was  born  September  29,  1864.  He 
was  married  October  17,  1888,  to  Miss  Nellie, 
daughter  of  Dennis  and  Ann  Miller,  who  was  born 
March  12,1866.  They  have  one  child,  Addie  N. 
Mrs.  Arthur  Wells  died  September  6,  1891. 

Mrs.  Wells  was  born  in  Onondaga  County,  N..Y., 
October  2,  1840.  Her  father,  Mathew  Hallenbeck, 
is  thought  to  have  been  a  native  of  Schoharie 
County,  N.  Y.,  and  was  of  German  descent.  He 
served  an  apprenticeship  of  seven  years  to  learn 
the  trade  of  a  carpenter,  and  was  engaged  at  that 
occupation  in  DeWitt,  Onondaga  County,  after 
his  marriage,  until  1857,  when  he  came  to  Illinois 
and  located  at  Cordova,  Rock  Island  County, 
where  he  carried  on  his  calling  until  his  death. 
The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  Catherine  M. 
Shoudy,and  she  was  a  daughter  of  John  and  Cath- 
erine Shoudy.  -She  was  born  in  Schoharie  County, 
N.  Y.,  and  died  at  Cordova,  111.  Mrs.  Wells  is  a 
consistent  member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and 
a  true  Christian  in  every  respect.  Mr.  Wells  is  a 
man  whose  character  and  habits  are  above  reproach, 
and  during  his  many  years'  residence  in  Willow 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


Creek  Township,  his  course  has  been  such  as  to 
win  him  the  respect  and  trust  of  all  who  know 
him.  In  his  political  views,  he  is  a  Republican  and 
stands  firmly  by  his  party. 


GEORGE  SEYBERT,  who  is  an  enterprising 
young  farmer,  and  a  native  of  the  county, 
is  connected  with  the  dairy  interests  of  this 
section,  and  is  conducting  a  good  business  in  that 
line  on  section  18,  South  Dixon  Township,  where 
he  has  a  valuable  farm,  that  is  complete  in  its  ap- 
pointments. He  is,  the  youngest  son  of  Wallace 
Seybert,  a  wealthy  retired  farmer  of  Dixon,  of 
whom  an  account  appears  in  the  sketch  of  his  son, 
Charles  Seybert,  on  another  page  of  this  volume. 

Our  subject  was  born  in  South  Dixon  Township, 
September  11,  1862,  and  here  he  grew  to  manhood. 
He  obtained  an  excellent  education  in  the  local 
schools,  and  a  fine  training  in  all  that  pertains  to 
farming  on  his  father's  farm.  He  remained  an  in- 
mate of  the  parental  home  until  he  attaine'd  his 
majority,  and  in  due  time  began  to  pursue  agricult- 
ure on  his  own  account,  showing  in  his  work  and 
methods  an  intelligent  appreciation  of  the  prin- 
ciples of  his  calling,  and  he  has  already  met  with 
assured  success,  so  that  we  may  safely  prophesy  that 
he  will  at  no  distant  day  stand  among  the  foremost 
fanners  of  the  county.  He  obtained  possession  of 
the  farm  upon  which  he  lives  in  1890.  It  com- 
prises a  quarter  of  a  section  of  rich  farming  land, 
and  its  pastures  give  support  to  a  goodly  number 
of  cattle,  including  twenty-five  milch  cows  of  the 
best  breeds  for  dairy  purposes,  our  subject  making 
a  specialty  of  that  business,  and  he  has,  besides, 
horses  and  swine.  Fine  buildings  adorn  the  place, 
including  a  substantial,  conveniently  arranged 
residence,  and  a  barn  recently  erected,  which  is 
one  of  the  best  in  the  county,  being  provided  with 
all  the  modern  improvements,  and  it  is  commo- 
dious in  size,  84x48  feet  in  dimensions,  and  its 
well-finished  basement  is  sufficiently  large  to 
shelter  fifty  head  of  stock. 

The    marriage    which    united    Mr.    Seybort  and 


Miss  Carrie  Eddy  was  celebrated  in  Dixon.  One 
child,  Earl  V.,  completes  their  happy  household. 
Mrs.  Seybert  was  born  in  Dixon,  January  7,  1870, 
was  educated  in  the  city  schools,  is  thoughtful  and 
well  informed,  and  is  a  true  homemaker.  She  is  a 
|  daughter  of  Jacob  and  Zerendia  (Wood)  Eddy, 
who  are  well-known  residents  of  Cedar  Rapids. 
Iowa,  where  Mr.  Eddy  is  still  engaged  at  his  trade 
as  a  carpenter,  although  he  is  an  elderly  man.  He 
and  his  wife  were  born,  reared  and  married  in 
Pennsylvania,  whence  they  subsequently  carne  to 
Illinois,  and  for  several  years  prior  to  their  re- 
moval to  Cedar  Rapids,  made  their  home  in 
Dixon.  They  are  members  in  high  standing  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  In  politics,  he  is 
a  Republican. 

Our  subject  is  a  bright  young  man,  of  much 
capability  and  decision  of  character,  and  is  temper- 
ate and  steady  in  his  habits.  He  and  his  wife  are 
Lutherans  in  religion,  and  as  to  his  politics,  he  is 
a  true  Democrat. 


eYRUS  BRIDGMAN,  one  of  the  prominent 
grocery  dealers  at  Amboy,  has  been  a  resi- 
dent of  Lee  County  since  1838.  He  was 
born  in  Bainbridge,  Chenango  County,  N.  Y.,  May 
30,  1821,  and  is  a  son  of  Curtis  T.  and  Fannie 
(Carter)  Bridgman,  natives  of  Massachusetts.  The 
father  of  our  subject  was  a  prominent  lumberman 
in  the  Empire  State,  residing  fora  number  of  years 
in  Steuben  County,  and  during  a  portion  of  that 
time  being  pilot  on  boats  and  rafts  on  the  Canisteo. 
Chemung  and  Susquehanna  Rivers. 

Curtis  T.  Bridgman  in  1838  came  to  Illinois, 
being  accompanied  hither  by  two  sons,  making  the 
trip  by  water.  He  located  in  what  is  now  Amboy 
Township,  and  in  the  fall  of  that  year  returned  to 
New  York  and  brought  his  family  in  wagons  to 
Illinois,  locating  on  the  land  in  the  above-named 
township.  Here  he  resided  during  the  remainder 
of  his  life;  the  mother  died  in  1850.  They  were 
members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and 
in  politics  Mr.  Bridgman  was  a  Whig. 

The    parental    family    included    the    following 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


841 


children:  Permclia,  now  Mrs.  Church, of  Colorado; 
Uriah,  a  resident  of  California;  our  subject,  who  is 
the  third  in  order  of  birth;  Curtis.  T.,  of  Oswego, 
Kan.;  Fannie,  who  married  Judson  Eells,  is  now  de- 
ceased; Adna  died  when  sixteen  years  of  age,  and 
LeRoy  died  in  Amboy.  The  early  days  of  our 
subject  were  passed  on  the  home  farm,  where  he  at- 
tended the  district  school  and  later  came  with  his 
father  and  brother  to  Illinois,  since  which  time  he 
has  resided  in  Lee  County,  with  the  exception  of 
about  six  months,  when  he  removed  his  family  to 
Lanark,  Carroll  County.  He  followed  farming  for 
a  number  of  years,  and  on  removing  to  Amboy 
sold  his  land  and  has  since  been  in  business  either 
for  himself  or  in  the  employ  of  other  firms. 

Mary  J.  Holmes  became  the  wife  of  our  subject 
in  1849.  She  was  the  daughter  of  Seth  W.  Holmes 
and  was  born  in  Steuben  County,  N.  Y.,  coming 
with  her  parents  to  Illinois.  To  them  have  been 
born  one  child,  Fannie,  who  is  the  wife  of  Fred  R. 
Doty,  of  Amhoy.  In  his  political  relations,  Mr. 
Hridgman  is  a  Republican  and  has  served  in  the 
important  positions  of  Assessor  and  Alderman.  He 
is  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
and  socially  is  a  Mason. 


EWIS  BUNEL  WARD,  whose  farm  is  on 
section  30,  Harmon  Township,  settled  in 
Lee  County  in  the  spring  of  1869,  and  in 
the  twenty  and  more  years  that  have  since  elapsed 
has  been  a  valuable  member  of  its  farming  com- 
munity. He  is  a  native  of  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  born 
May  l',  1834,  a  son  of  Elias  and  Rhoda  (Miller) 
Ward,  who  were  natives  of  New  Jersey.  The  pa- 
ternal grandfather  of  our  subject,  Israel  Ward,was 
also  a  native  of  that  State. 

Elias  Ward  and  his  wife  grew  to  maturity  and 
were  married  in  the  State  of  their  birth,  and  in 
1811  took  their  way  to  the  wilds  of  Ohio  and  wore 
among  the  first  to  settle  at  Madisonville,  Ohio, 
seven  miles  from  Cincinnati.  In  1832  they  re- 
moved from  there  to  Cincinnati,whence  they  went 
to  Franklin  County,  Ind.,  in  1841,  and  in  1864  came 
to  Illinois.  They  settled  in  Magnolia,  Putnam 


County,  but  the  mother  subsequently  died  in  Mar- 
shall County  in  October,  1868,and  the  father  died  in 
Wliiteside  County  in  1870.  In  early  life  he  learned 
the  trade  of  a  harness-maker,  and  when  he  went  to 
Ohio  he  worked  as  a  carriage-trimmer,  but  on  going 
to  Indiana  became  a  farmer.  His  last  days  were 
spent  with  his  children,  of  whom  he  had  twelve, 
eleven  of  them  growing  to  manhood  and  woman- 
hood, as  follows:  Hetty,  the  second  child,  now  in 
her  eighty-first  year,  married  Edward  Simpson  and 
lives  with  her  children;  George,  the  eldest,  who 
was  a  farmer,  died  in  Putnam  County  in  1846; 
Robert,  who  in  early  life  was  a  plane-maker,  and 
later  a  farmer,  died  in  Marshall  County;  Ellis,  a 
blacksmith,  died  in  Putnam  County;  Luke,  a  car- 
riage painter  died  in  Cincinnati,  in  December,  1886; 
Israel,  a  carriage-trimmer,  died  in  Putnam  County; 
James,  a  blacksmith,  died  in  Washington,  Iowa; 
John,  a  carriage-trimmer,  died  in  Aurora,  111.; 
Rhoda,  now  Mrs.  Tyler  McWhorter.  of  Ster- 
ling, and  Mary,  who  married  George  Washington 
Walker  and  died  in  Marshall  County.  Religiously, 
the  parents  of  our  subject  were  worthy  members 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  gave  their 
children  Christian  training. 

He  of  whom  these  lines  are  written  is  the  young- 
est of  the  family  and  the  only  son  now  living.  He 
accompanied  his  parents  in  their  removal  to  Indi- 
ana when  he  was  a  child,  and  there  he  grew  to  a 
stalwart  manhood  amid  pioneer  surroundings  and 
was  bred  to  the  life  of  a  farmer  on  his  father's 
farm.  In  due  time  lie  took  unto  himself  a  wife  in 
the  Hoosier  State,  marrying  Miss  Emelme  Hoffman, 
who  was  born  in  Camden,  Preble  County,  Ohio, 
October  14,  1837.  She  has  faithfully  done  her 
part  in  the  upbuilding  of  their  home,  and  looks 
carefully  after  the  comfort  of  her  household. 
Their  marriage  has  been  blessed  with  children,  of 
whom  these  five  are  living:  Emma  J.,  wife  of 
Henry  S.  McNett,  of  Washington ;  Ellis  T.,  a  resi- 
dent of  Clinton,  Iowa;  Carrie  II.,  wife  of  George 
W.  Mikesell,  of  Mendota;  Daniel  II.,  a  resident  of 
St.  Paul,  Minn.,  and  Clarence  A.,  who  is  at  home 
with  his  parents.  Death  has  crossed  the  threshold 
of  the  home  of  our  subject  and  his  wife  and  taken 
from  them  their  son,  Charles  Clifford,  who  died  in 
1886,  at  the  age  of  eight  years. 


812 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


In  1866  our  subject  left  his  old  home  in  Indiana 
and  became  a  resident  of  Marshall  County,  this 
State,  where  he  rented  land  until  1869.  In  the 
spring  of  that  year  he  came  to  Lee  County  and 
bought  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  his  pres- 
ent farm  in  Harmon  Township,  which,when  it  came 
into  his  possession,  was  a  tract  of  wild  prairie,  and 
never  a  furrow  had  been  turned.  He  now  has  it 
under  excellent  tillage,  judging  by  the  abundant 
harvests  produced  on  its  fertile  acres,  and  he  has 
added  to  its  dimensions  by  further  purchase  and 
now  owns  a  quarter-section,  all  of  which  is  well 
improved.  Everything  about  the  place  is  well 
arranged  and  the  neat  set  of  farm  buildings  are  the 
work  of  Mr.  Ward's  own  hands,  for  although  he 
is  not  a  carpenter  by  trade,  he  has  good  mechan- 
ical ability.  He 'has  pretty  groves  of  trees  on  the 
farm,  which  add  to  its  value  as  well  as  i(s  attract- 
iveness. Mr.  Ward  is  a  loyal  Republican  in  his 
political  views  and  is  a  man  of  sensible  opinions 
on  all  subjects  with  which  he  is  conversant.  His 
dealings  are  always  on  the  square,  and  his  credit 
in  money  matters,  and  in  all  things,  whatsoever, 
is  sound. 


eONRAD  MEI8TER,  who  resides  on  section 
16,  Bradford  Township,  came  to  this  county 
at  an  early  day,  and  belongs  to  that  class  of 
intelligent,  enterprising  German  citizens  of  whom 
frequent  mention  has  been  made  in  these  pages. 
He  was  born  in  Germany,  near  Hesse-Cassel,  Dec- 
ember 30, 1835,  and  in  1846  came  with  his  parents 
to  the  United  States.  They  landed  in  New  York, 
and  from  that  city  pursued  their  Westward  way 
until  reaching  Illinois,  where  they  made  their  first 
stop  at  Chicago,  remaining  there  but  a  few  weeks 
and  then  coming  on  to  Lee  County,  where  they 
settled  in  China  Township. 

Our  subject  remained  with  his  parents,  assisting 
them  in  the  varied  duties  of  a  pioneer  life,  until  he 
was  twenty-one  years  of  age,  when  he  was  married 
in  China  Township,  July  26,  1857,  to  Miss  Rosina 
Ililler,  who,  like  himself,  was  a  native  of  Germany, 
being  born  in  Wurtembeig,  July  20,  1836.  For 


a  year  and  a  half  after  his  marriage,  Mr.  Meistcr 
assisted  his  father  on  the  home  place,  after  which 
he  came  to  Bradford  Township  and  settled  on  sec- 
tion 16,  where  he  lias  since  resided.  He  has  been 
successful  in  his  operations  as  a  farmer,  and  is  now 
the  owner  of  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres. 

In  politics,  Mr.  Meister  is  a  Democrat,  and,  with 
his  wife,  is  a  member  of  the  Lutheran  Church,  lie 
is  an  intelligent  man,  who  keeps  well  posted  on  the 
topics  of  the  day  and  w.ho  lias  always  given  his 
influence  on  the  side  of  right  and  justice,  and  in 
behalf  of  whatever  would  tend  to  the  welfare  of 
his  township  and  county.  The  family  of  our  sub- 
ject consists  of  eight  children:  Kate,  Mary, George, 
John,  Emma,  Levi,  Anna  and  Fred. 


<^p  LEXANDER  HARPER,  ESQ.,  a  pioneer  of 
(@/LJ[i  Northern  Illinois,  and  a  son  of  one  of  the 

jj  &  early  pioneer  families  of  the  State,  is  a 
^jj  prominent  citizen  and  farmer  of  Viola 
Township.  A  native  of  this  Commonwealth,  he 
was  born  one  and  one  half  miles  south  of  White- 
hall, in  Greene  County,  June  1,  1827.  His  father, 
Ephraim  Harper,  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  of  Ill- 
inois, was  born  in  Juniata  Count3-,  Pa.  Of  his 
father  but  little  is  known,  save  that  he  was  of 
Scotch  ancestry,  and  was  born  either  in  Scotland 
or  America. 

Ephraim  Harper  was  a  young  man  when  he  left 
his  native  State  for  Ohio,  where  he  was  married  in 
the  town  of  Marietta  to  Christina  Kistler,  who  was 
also  of  Pennsylvania  birth.  He  learned  the  trade 
of  a  tanner  and  currier  and  concluded  to  establish 
himself  in  business  in  some  more  recently  settled 
State  in  the  "Far  West."  He  embarked  on  a  keel 
boat  and  proceeded  to  St.  Louis  on  the  waters  of 
the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Rivers.  He  was  somewhat 
disappointed  in  that  place,  as  he  had  expected  to 
find  a  flourishing  village,  instead  of  the  collection 
of  huts  and  small  houses  that  composed  the  city. 
He  consequently  recrossed  the  river  to  Milton,  111. 
This  was  the  year  in  which  this  State  was  admitted 
to  the  Union.  He  stopped  in  that  town  a  short 
time,  and  then  took  up  his  abode  in  Greene  Coun- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD 


843 


ty,  he  being  among  the  first  to  settle  there.  He 
bought  a  tract  of  timber  land  near  the  present  site 
of  Whitehall,  built  thereon,  and  established  a  tan- 
nery, which  he  operated,  and  at  the  same  time  j 
superintended  the  improvement  of  his  land.  He 
did  important  work  as  a  pioneer,  and  at  his  death 
August  17,  1844,  his  community  lost  one  of  its 
best  citizens.  His  wife  did  not  long  survive  him, 
but  died  in  the  home  that  she  had  helped  him  ! 
to  make  in  May,  1845.  They  reared  four  children, 
named  John  G.,  Alexander,  Eliza  J.  and  Margaret. 

The  early  life  of  our  subject  was  passed  amid  the 
pioneer  scenes  of  his  native  county.  At  that  time,  i 
Northern  Illinois  was  still  occupied  by  the  Indians, 
and  deer  and  other  wild  game  were  abundant 
throughout  the  State.  There  were  no  railways  in 
any  portion  of  Illinois  for  many  years.  The  first  | 
one  that  Mr.  Harper  ever  saw  extended  from  Na- 
ples, a  town  on  the  Illinois  River,  to  Jacksonville, 
the  cars  being  drawn  by  horses.  The  pioneer 
schools  that  he  attended  were  taught  in  log  houses, 
and  the  furniture  was  of  the  most  primitive  kind, 
the  seats  being  made  of  undressed  planks,  without 
backs,  and  the  schools  were  conducted  on  the  sub- 
scription plan. 

In  1848  our  subject  and  two  others  started  to 
explore  Northern  Illinois  in  search  of  Government 
land.  He  had  previously  purchased  a  soldier's 
warrant  calling  for  a  quarter-section,  paying  the 
sum  of  $100  for  the  same.  The  little  company 
of  explorers  found  the  vast  prairies  of  the  northern 
part  of  the  State  unoccupied,  and  one  of  them  en- 
tered a  tract  in  Tazewell  County.  In  common 
with  many  others,  Mr.  Harper  had  but  little  faith 
that  the  prairies  would  ever  be  of  much  use  as  farm- 
ing land,  and  he  concluded  that  he  would  rather 
have  his  money  than  such  unprofitable  real  estate, 
so  on  his  return  he  sold  his  land  warrant.  He  soon 
after  began  to  learn  the  trade  of  a  Jblacksmith  at  Ot- 
tawa, in  La  Salle  County,  serving  an  apprenticeship 
of  three  .years,  and  he  then  did  journey-work  for  a 
short  time.  After  that  he  opened  a  smithy  in  Earl- 
ville,  in  the  same  county,  and  carried  on  business 
there  very  prosperously  for  many  years.  In  1868 
he  bought  a  farm  in  Shabbona  Township,  De  Kalb 
County,  and  lived  upon  it  two  years.  In  1870  he 
purchased  the  farm  that  he  owns  and  occupies  in 


Viola  Township,  and  is  successfully  carrying  on 
agriculture  on  its  well-tilled  acres. 

Mr.  Harper  was  married  March  12,  1853,  to  Miss 
Elizabeth  Cox,  a  native  of  North  Carolina.  Her  par- 
ents, David  and  Phebe  (Jones)  Cox,  were  also  na- 
tives of  that  State,  whence  they  came  to  Illinois  in 
1835.  They  spent  one  year  in  Kendall  County,  and 
then  went  to  Champaign  County  and  were  among 
its  early  settlers.  Mr.  Cox  bought  land  two  miles 
north  of  Urbana,  upon  which  he  and  his  family 
lived  for  a  time,  and  then  took  up  their  residence 
in  the  village.  They  afterward  removed  to  Earl- 
ville,  where  they  died,  the  father  at  the  venerable 
age  of  eighty-two  years,  on  August  29,  1891;  the 
mother  passing  away  February  16,  1892  at  the  age 
of  eighty-three  years. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Harper  have  three  children:  Lil- 
lian G.,  Annie  and  Jennie.  Lillian  is  the  wife  of 
Rufus  Johnson,  and  they  have  one  son,  Guy.  An- 
nie is  the  wife  of  Clark  Butler,  and  they  have  two 
children :  Gertrude  and  Elmer.  Jennie  married 
Amzi  Van  Cam  pen,  and  they  have  three  children: 
Edith,  Arthur  and  Elizabeth. 

Mr.  Harper  was  a  Whig  until  the  dissolution  'of 
that  part3r,  and  since  then  he  has  affiliated  with  the 
Democrats.  He  has  filled  various  offices  of  trust, 
and  has  always  given  satisfaction  as  a  conscientious, 
capable  official.  He  served  two  terms  as  Highway 
Commissioner,  two  terms  as  Assessor,  and  is  at  the 
present  time  Justice  of  the  Peace  and  School  Di- 
rector, he  having  been  an  incumbent  of  the  former 
office  sixteen  years.  He  is  justly  regarded  with 
feelings  of  respect  and  esteem,  as  he  is  fair  minded, 
candid  and  open  handed,  and  has  the  interests  of 
his  neighbors  and  the  community  at  large  at  heart, 
never  neglecting  an  opportunity  to  forward  them 
where  he  can. 


E1K  MILLER  is  an  enterprising  farmer  and 
dairyman,  who  devotes  his  whole  energies 
to  his  business,  and  is  making  the  most  of 
his  farm  that  is  beautifully  located  on  the  banks 
of  the  picturesque  Rock  River  in  Nelson  Township. 
Mr.  Miller  was  born  in  Hanover,  Germany,  in 


841 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


1843.  He  passed  his  boyhood  in  attendance  at 
the  excellent  schools  of  that  country,  and  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  stringent  laws  of  the  land, 
entered  the  army  when  lie  became  of  suitable  age, 
becoming  a  member  of  the  Sixth  Hanover  Regi- 
ment, which  had  a  high  reputation  for  military 
prowess,  the  men  composing  it  being  known  as 
hard  fighters,  and  daring  and  fearless  in  battle. 
Our  subject  served  with  it  five  years,  from  1863 
to  1868,  took  part  in  many  a  heated  campaign, 
and  had  many  narrow  escapes  from  death  while 
bravely  fighting  the  enemy  in  various  noted 
battles.  He  was  in  the  midst  of  the  conflict  on 
the  field  on  that  memorable  8th  of  May,  at  Dapa 
Ford,  in  Denmark,  when  the  Hanoverians  whipped 
the  Prussians,  and  he  took  part  in  the  battle  of 
Longzalza,  in  Saxony. 

After  he  left  the  army  in  1868,  our  subject 
sought  Fortune's  favors  in  America,  and  after  land- 
ing on  these  shores  came  to  Illinois  to  try  life  on 
its  broad,  breezy  prairies.  He  at  first  located  in 
Stephenson  County,  and  he  also  spent  a  year  in 
Ogle  County  before  coming  to  this  county  in  1871. 
He  was  pleased  with  the  outlook  here,  and  deter- 
mined to  make  this  his  future  home.  In  1881  he 
purchased  one  hundred  and  thirty-seven  acres  of 
land  on  the  Rock  River,  and  in  this  location  so 
favored  by  nature,  he  is  very  pleasantly  situated. 
His  land  is  admirably  tilled,  and  besides  yielding 
abundant  harvests,  supports  a  number  of  cattle, 
horses  and  hogs.  Mr.  Miller  is  constantly  making 
improvements,  and  is  always  busy  about  his  farming 
affairs,  his  dairy  business  demanding  much  of  his 
time,  as  he  has  a  good  herd  of  well-graded  milch 
cows  to  attend  to. 

Our  subject  was  a  single  man  when  he  came  to 
this  country,  but  during  his  residence  in  Stephen- 
son  County  he  had  the  good  fortune  to  secure  a 
very  estimable  wife  in  the  person  of  Miss  Augusta 
Staumbauch,  to  whom  he  was  wedded  in  Ridott 
Township.  She  is  also  a  Hanoverian  by  birth,  and 
came  to  the  United  States  in  1869  with  her  par- 
ents, Claus  and  Foelke  Staumbauch.  They  located 
on  a  farm  in  Ogle  County,  where  the  father  died 
at  the  age  of  sixty-five  years.  His  wife,  who  has 
attained  the  venerable  age  of  eighty-one  years,  is  a 
welcome  inmate  of  the  home  of  our  subject.  She 


is  of  the  German  Reformed  faith  in  religion,  her 
husband  also  belonging  to  that  church. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Miller  are  the  parents  of  eight 
children,  of  whom  these  two  are  deceased,  Henry 
and  Rebecca.  Those  living  are:  Flora.  Rebecca, 
Hannah,  August,  Harry  and-  Louisa.  Our  subject 
has  followed  intelligently  the  course  of  political 
events  since  he  became  a  citizen  of  this  country, 
and  exercises  his  right  of  suffrage  by  voting  with 
the  Republican  party.  He  and  his  wife  are  mem- 
bers of  the  German  Reformed  Church,  and  they 
are  recognized  as  among  the  best  people  of  the 
community. 


eOL.  HENRY  THEOPHILUS  NOBLE  was  a 
citizen  of  whom  Dixon  was  justly  proud, 
as  he  was  prominent  in  her  business  circles, 
was  one  of  the  most  distinguished  officers  that 
represented  the  military  of  Lee  County  during  the 
war,  was  a  pure  and  patriotic  leader  in  politics, 
and  was  noted  for  his  generous  public  spirit  and 
devotion  to  the  best  interests  of  city  and  county, 
his  name  being  associated  with  many  enterprises 
that  have  been  potent  in  their  advancement,  and 
his  money  was  freely  given  to  help  forward  what- 
ever was  for  the  good  of  the  community. 

Col.  Noble  came  of  sterling  New  England  stock, 
and  was  a  lineal  descendant  of  Thomas  Noble,  a 
native  of  England,  who  settled  in  Boston  previous 
to  1653,  and  removed  from  there  to  Springfield, 
Mass.,  and  thence  to  Westfield,  in  the  same  Slate, 
where  he  spent  his  last  years.  The  Colonel  was 
born  May  3,  1829,  in  the  town  of  Otis,  Berkshire, 
Mass.,  and  was  reared  among  the  beautiful  Berk- 
shire hills  to  a  vigorous  manhood.  He  had  the 
advantages  of  a  sound  education,  of  which  he 
laid  the  foundation  in  the  district  school,  and 
when  the  State  Normal  School  was  organized 
at  Westfield,  Mass.,  he  entered  the  first  class 
and  pursued  the  prescribed  course  of  study. 
Ambitious  for  a  broader  field  of  action  than  was 
afforded  by  his  native  place,  in  1850  he  came  to 
Dixon,  and  the  following  two  years  his  time  was 
fully  employed  in  teaching  and  as  a  clerk  in  the 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


land  office.  In  1852  lie  embarked  in  an  enter- 
prise, which  was  characterized  by  the  sagacity  and 
forethought  that  were  conspicuous  features  of  his 
career  as  a  business  man  throughout  his  entire  life. 
He  went  South  in  that  year  for  the  purpose  of 
buying  land  warrants,  held  by  soldiers  who  had 
fought  in  tlie  Mexican  War,  and  he  visited  the 
States  of  Missouri,  Texas,  Alabama  and  Kentucky, 
in  carry  ing  out  his  scheme,which  he  made  very  prof- 
itable. On  his  return  to  Illinois  he  engaged  with 
his  uncle,  Silas  Noble,  in  banking  and  real-estate 
business,  continuing  with  him  until  1857. 

Our  subject  was  in  the  very  prime  of  his  life 
when  the  Rebellion  broke  out  that  threatened  to 
destroy  the  Union.  From  his  very  boyhood  he 
had  1  een  interested  in  national  affairs,  had  always 
taken  pains  to  keep  himself  well-informed  con- 
cerning the  government  of  his  country,  and  as 
soon  as  old  enough  began  to  take  part  in  local 
politics,  throwing  the  weight  of  his  influence  on 
the  side  of  the  party  that  he  considered  in  the 
right.  He  watched  with  intense  interest  and  anx- 
iety the  course  of  events  that  led  up  to  one  of  the 
greatest  civil  wars  ever  waged  in  the  history  of 
mankind,  and  at  last  when  the  South  began  hostil- 
ities by  firing  on  the  old  flag,  he  unhesitatingly 
sprang  to  its  defense,  and  to  him  belonged  the- 
honor  of  being  the  first  man  in  Lee  County  to  en- 
list, enrolling  his  name  as  a  member  of  an  Illinois 
regiment  on  April  17,  five  days  after  the  first  gun 
had  been  levelled  at  Ft.  Sumter.  On  the  20th  of 
that  month  he  was  chosen  Lieutenant  of  Com- 
pany A,  Thirteenth  Illinois  Infantry,  and  was 
further  honored  on  the  24th  of  the  following  May 
by  being  mustered  in  as  Captain  of  his  com- 
pany. 

The  Colonel  was  in  active  service  throughout 
the  war  and  until  the  fall  of  1866.  During  that 
time  he  took  part  in  man}'  important  engagements, 
and  his  value  as  a  leader  was  duly  recognized  by 
his  promotion  from  the  rank  of  captain  to  be  suc- 
cessively Major,  Lieutenant-Colonel,  and  Colonel  of 
his  regiment,  his  promotions  being  the  result  of  his 
intrepid  daring  and  coolness  in  the  face  of  the  en- 
emy, and  his  skill  in  handling  his  troops  in  the 
heat  of  battle.  The  Thirteenth  Illinois  was  the 
first  regiment  to  cross  the  Mississippi  River  into 


the  hostile  regions  of  the  State  of  Missouri,  and 
the  greater  part  of  the  time  for  the  following  two 
years  it  was  on  duty  in  Missouri  and  Arkansas, 
and  did  great  execution  among  the  rebels.  Later 
it  did  gallant  service  in  the  Vicksburg  campaign, 
taking  part  in  all  the  important  battles  fought 
around  that  city,  and  in  its  siege  and  capture.  Our 
subject  was  appointed  a  member  of  Gen.  J.  J.  Rey- 
nold's staff,  and  subsequently  served  on  the  staff 
of  Gen.  E.  O.  C.  Ord.  In  the  spring  of  1865,  he 
was  appointed  to  the  important  post  of  Chief 
<  Cartel-master  of.  the  Department  of  Arkansas, 
and  held  that  position  until  his  honorable  dis- 
charge from  the  army,  October  5,  1866.  Many  fa- 
vorable comments  were  made  by  his  superior  offi- 
cers upon  his  fitness  for  so  responsible  a  position, 
and  upon  the  faithful  manner  in  which  he  dis- 
charged the  arduous  duties  of  his  office.  Gen. 
Miegs  said  of  him  in  his  official  communication  to 
the  authorities  at  Washington:  "Col.  Noble  has 
performed  the  duties  of  Quartermaster  to  the  en- 
tire satisfaction  of  all  concerned,  and  has  won  the 
confidence  and  esteem  of  all  who  know  him." 
Gen.  J.  N.  Crittenden,  in  a  communication  to  the 
War  Department,  dated  December  19,  1864,  says: 
"For  the  excellent  order  in  which  all  books,  papers, 
cash  accounts,  etc.,  have  been  kept,  thanks  are 
due  to  Col.  Noble's  able  management  of  the  du- 
ties devolving  upon  him,  and  to  his  untiring  de- 
votion to  his  work.  His  standing  as  a  man-  of 
pure  and  incorruptible  character  is  high  with  all 
who  know  him,  and  I  deem  him  capable  of  carry- 
ing out  any  and  all  plans  in  the  Quartermaster's 
department." 

After  his  long  and  honorable  service  in  the 
army,  our  subject  returned  to  this  county,  and  the 
soldier  was  soon  merged  in  the  businessman.  That 
fall  (of  1866)  he  bought  an  interest  in  the  Grand 
Detour  Plow  works  atDixon,and  was  permanently 
Connected  with  the  management  of  business  until  his 
untimely  death.  Thus  was  brought  to  a  close  a  life 
that  was  not  only  successful  from  n  financial  point  of 
view,  as  the  Colonel  accumulated  a  handsome 
fortune,  but  from  the  light  of  his  great  personal 
worth  and  the  high  estimation  placed  upon  his 
value  as  a  man  and  a  citizen.  The  whole  city 
mourned  his  loss,  as  his  unvarying  geniality  and 


846 


courtesy,  his  warm  sympathy  and  never-failing 
geaerosity, had  drawn  to  him  many  firm  friends, 
and  of  a  very  extensive  acquaintance  all  accorded 
him  the  esteem  due  to  a  man  of  his  character.  The 
Colonel  was  alwa\'s  warmly  interested  in  the  young 
people  of  the  community,  and  held  a  strong  place 
in  their  affections,  as  the  following  sincere  tribute 
to  his  memory  attests,  and  which  we  select  from 
many  resolutions  adopted  by  various  societies  at 
the  time  of  his  death : 

IN    MEMORY    OF    THE    LATE    Col..    IlEXKY    T.       NollI.E. 

In  view  of  the  death  of  the  late  Col.  II. 
T.  Noble,  the  Irving  Literary  Society  of  the 
Dixon  High  School  feel  called  upon  to  express 
their  appreciation  of  his  worth  and  their  sorrow 
at  his  loss. 

We  remember  him  as  an  energetic  and  faithful 
worker  in  every  enterprise  relating  to  the  prosper- 
ity of  our  city: 

We  think  of  him  as  a  man  of  broad  views,  genial 
disposition  and  courteous  bearing. 

We  have  in  mind  his  kind,  sympathetic  nature, 
tenderly  regardful  of  the  wants  and  comforts  of 
even  the  dumb  brute — and  the  prominent  part  he 
took  in  organizing  and  encouraging  the  "Band  of 
Mercy." 

We  reflect  with  pleasure  on  the  generous  inter- 
est he  took  in  the  children  of  our  city,  and  especi- 
ally in  the  school  children,  always  holding  in  his 
heart  the  welfare  of  our  public  schools. 

We  recall  with  pride  the  fact  that  this  kind  gen- 
tleman, public  benefactor,  enterprising  citizen  and 
true,  warm  friend  was  also  a  patriotic  and  brave 
soldier  throughout  the  dark  days,  when  valor  and 
love  of  country  alone  were  the  salvation  of  our 
beloved  land. 

Therefore  to-day  we  record  our  admiration  of  his 
virtues  in  public  and  private  life,  our  reverence 
for  his  devotion  to  the  liberties  of  our  country, 
and  the  deep  consciousness  we  have  of  the  heavy 
loss  we  suffer  in  his  removal. 

Col.  Noble  was  prominently  identified  with  va- 
rious social  organizations.  He  was  a  member  of 
Dixon  Post,  G.  A.  R.,  of  the  Loyal  Legion  of  Illi- 
nois, and  March  31,  1873,  joined  the  Army  of  the 
Tennessee,  which  was  organized  at  Raleigh,  April 
25,  1865.  He  was  also  a  member  of  the  Independ- 
ent Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  belonging  to  Dixon 
Lodge,  No.  39.  The  Colonel  was  a  Republican  in 
politics,  and  was  high  in  the  councils  of  the  party. 
He  was  twice  Presidential  Elector  on  that  ticket, 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


and  in  1876  was  a  delegate  to  the  Republican  Na- 
tional Convention,  where  he  did  himself  and  his 
constituents  honor  as  one  of  the  immortal  "306," 
that  voted  for  his  old  leader,'  Gen.  Grant,  on 
every  ballot.  He  was  a  member  of  the  commission 
appointed  to  locate  a  soldiers'  home,  and  used 
his  influence  in  favor  of  Dixon.  Quincy  was, 
however,  selected  as  the  site. 

Our  subject  was  twice  married.  His  first  mar- 
riage was  in  1853,  witli  Miss  Jane  A.  Herrick,  a 
native  of  Chautauqua  Count}',  N.  Y.,  and  a 
daughter  of  Samuel  and  Sally  (Nash)  Herrick. 
She- was  killed  in  the  bridge  disaster  at  Dixon, 
May  4,  1873.  The  maiden  name  of  the  Colonel's 
second  wife  was  Mary  Augusta  Hampton.  She 
was  born  in  the  town  of  Boston,  Erie  County,  N. 
Y.,  a  daughter  of  Slate  and  Minerva  (Ellis)  Hamp- 
ton, natives'  respectively  of  New  Jersey  and  Bos- 
ton, N.  Y.  Mrs.  Noble  was  a  devoted  wife,  and 
cherishes  reverently  the  memory  of  her  beloved 
husband  in  the  beautiful  home  that  she  shared 
with  him,  and  still  occupies,  that  is  pleasantly 
located  on  the  corner  of  Galena  and  Third  Streets. 


TIS  TIMOTHY,  who  resides  on  section  1, 
China  Township,  near  the  village  of  Frank- 
lin Grove,  Lee  County,  is  an  early  pioneer  of 
this  county,  having  come  here  on  the  2d  of  Mnrch, 
1837.  He  was  born  in  Williamstown,  Hampshire 
County,  Mass.,  August  30,  1812,  and  is  a  son  of 
Elkanah  and  Clarissa  (Power)  Timothy.  His  fam- 
ily have  been  residents  of  the  New  England  States 
for  several  generations-  Mr.  Timothy  received  a 
common-school  education,  which,  in  the  days  when 
he  was  young,  was  not  a  very  liberal  one.  He  was 
reared  upon  the  farm,  and  in  1830  went  to  Niagara 
County,  N.  Y.,  to  which  place  his  parents  had  re- 
moved the  year  previous,  and  where  they  made 
their  home  during  the  remainder  of  their  lives. 
The  father  died  when  sixty-five  years  old,  and  the 
mother  at  the  age  of  sixty-seven,  after  having 
reared  a  family  of  seven  children,  four  sons  and 
three  daughters. 

Our  subject  is  the  second-born,  and  the  only  one 


Beveridge,  John  L  

..171 

Chaffee,  F.  H  

550 

Dunton.G.  S  

..686 

Bishop,  C  

..3!« 

Chaon,  August  

43K 

Durin,  Lewis  G  

...399 

A 

Bishop,  G.  E  

..780 

Charters,  James  B  

563 

Durkes.C  

.  .Ill 

Bissell,  William  H  

..1SI 

Chase,  E.  E  

633 

Dysart,B.F  

..813 

Blackman.O.  B..M.D.... 

...402 

Cheney,  Person  

ft!l 

Dysart,  Collins  

..509 

Bliss,  James  

364 

Christiance,  A.  V  

r.o-2 

Dysart,  Col.  A.  P  

.  .2.'!7 

Abbott.J.H  

..289 

Bly,H  

...261 

Clapp.E.L  

445 

Dysart,  Hon  .  Samuel  

..191 

Abell,  John  M  

..744 

Bollman,  Frederick  

.  .82?. 

Clark,  E.  B  

544 

Dysart,  William  

...4fi9 

Acker,  W.  H  

...1!)5 

Bollman,  Henry  

..288 

Classen,  C.  B  

318 

Adams,  John  

..  23 

Bond,  Shadrach  

...111 

Clatworthy,  Rev.  W.  H 

534 

Adams,  John  Q  

..  39 

Book.D.  G  

..718 

Clayton,  Thomas  

297 

gler  B   J 

760 

..284 

Cleveland,  S.  Grover..  . 

103 

p 

Ibrecht,  B  

..394 

Bothe,  Henry  

.  .r>9i 

Cobb,  H.  B  !  

672 

lien,  Samuel  

..803 

Bourne,  L  

.  .B15 

Coe,  Frank  M  '.  

585 

mbler,  William  

,.7«3 

Bovey,  Elias  

..451 

Cole.J.F  

614 

nderson,  E  
nderson.J.  B  
nderson,  William  H  
Andrus,  John  A  
Argraves,  Samuel  

...369 
..818 
.  .445 
...3C1 
..827 

Braffet,Jaim's  11..  M.  1).. 
Brauer,  M.  W  
Brechon,  Jules  
Brecunia,  P.  L  
Bridgman.C  

...433 
..849 
...248 
..594 
..840 

Coles,  Edward  

Courtright,  O.  P  
Crabtree,  Hon.  John  D. 
Crawford,  Hon.  Joseph 

115 
774 

681 
309 
682 

Earl,  Isaac  
Eastwood,  Capt.  8.  D  
Ebinger,  Jacob  
Edwards,  Isaac  
Kihvarils,  Ninian. 

.  ...333 
..599 
..7!M 
..317 

..816 

731 

Crombie,  John  

730 

Armstrong,  A  
Arthur,  Chester  A  
Aschenbrenner,  J  

..480 
..  99 
...201 

Brierton.W.  S  
Brink,  Isaiah  
Brookner.H.  C  

..251 
..673 
...228 

Cullom,  Shelby  M  
Cumins,  T  
Curran,  Daniel  

175 
571 
....732 

Egan,  Hon.  Michael  
Eicholtz,  Jonas  B  
Eisenberg,  Peter  
Eells,  S.  C  

..KQ 

.  .829 
.  ..549 
.  .422 

Aschenbrenner,  Mrs.  C.  E 
Atherton,  Jsseph,  M.  D..  . 

..224 
..740 

Brown,  Abram  
Brown,  G.  W.I..M.  D  

..694 
,.45t 

Elliott,  Thomas  
Ellsworth,  B.  F  

..781 

.  ,:,li 

Ayres,  D.  B  

..420 

Brown,  James  

..832 

...280 

Ayres,  J.  C  

.370 

Brown,  Thomas  W  

.281 

J) 

Ayres,  Joseph  H  

..470 

Brubaker,  A.  J  
Brubaker,  J.  P  
Bruner,  George  W  

..747 
..676 
.  ..331 

75 

Emmert,  H  
Epla,  Jacob  
Erbes,  George  
Ewing,  William  LD  

..79C 
..412 
...713 
.127 

JJ 

Buckaloo,  T.  J       

Dana,  J.  P  

....570 

Baker,  Ludwig  

.806 

Burd,  William  
Burger,  J.  J  
Burger,  Jonas  
Burger,  Lloyd  
Burket,  J.  H  

...212 
...439 
...*42 

...230 
..821 

Davenport,  C.  T  
Deeter,  John  A  
Depuy,  J  
Detamore,  Susan  P  
Detrick,  Martin  

...  823 
321 
636 
444 

F 

Ballou.C.A  

..812 

DeVVolf.Mrs.  M.  P  

589 

Barge.  William  
Bartlett,  Capt.  Prescott..  . 

..776 
..722 

Businga,  M.  L  
Butler,  T.  A  

..556 

Dimick,  A.  S  
Dixon,  Hon.  Sherwood. 

566 
268 

Fargo,  E.  S  
Farrand,  R.  S  

.  808 
..320 

Bates,  H.  B  

Dixon  John 

831 

Fasoldt,  W.  H  

..4Wi 

Beach,  Melville  

..619 

Dodge,  S.  S  

471 

Felker,  J.  B.,  M.  D  

..311 

Beach,  Sidney  

..444 

Dolan,  Thomas  

291 

Fifer.Joseph  W  

..183 

Becker,  C.  A  

..241 

C 

Downing,  Maj.O.J  

820 

Fillmore.Millanl  

..  67 

Bedient,  O  

...380 

Doyle,  Dennis  B  

....aw 

Fitzpatrick,  11  

,.;il!i 

Beeiner,  Mrs.  Hannah  J  .  . 

..489 

Drew,  WillD  

58i 

Floto,  Louis  

,.4:ifl 

Bender,  S.  A  

...219 

Duffy,  Hugh  

506 

Filson,  R.  C  

..8!5 

Bennett,  James  

..383 

Card,  C.  H  

..490 

Duffy,  Bernhard  

552 

Fiscel,  W.  H  

.Ma 

Bernardin  ,  Joseph  O  

..436 

Carlin,  Thomas  

..135 

Duis,  Jelle  

531 

Fischer.E.E  

..521 

Berry,  I.  B  

..7!)0 

i:u 

Fischer,  H.  S  

.412 

Betz,  Jacob,  Jr  

..336 

Carpenter,  A.  M  

...520 

Dunning,  H.  W  

809 

Fisher,  Adolphus  

..•ifl 

INDEX. 


Ford,  Thomas  
French,  Augustus  C  
Frenzel,  A  
Frost,  Capt.  William  S.  . 
Fry,  Josiah  
Fuller,  Champion  
Furley,  Charles  F  

...139 
....143 
.  ...595 
...342 
...W 
...411 
...505 

Hausen.S.C  
Hausen,  W.  H  
Hayes,  Rutherford  B... 
Heckman,  William  \V.  . 
Hegert,F.  W  
Hepperlin,  Jacob  
Herbst,E.  F  
Hetler,  Hiram  
Hetler,  Jeremiah  
Hetler,  John 

....409 
....590 
....  91 
2G4 
....340 
....201 
675 
703 
....333 

K 

Kaylar,  S.  S  
Keeler.C.  H  
Keister,  August  
Keister,  Frederick  
Kennedy,  W.  M  

...836 
...530 
.  .  .  .482 
....746 
....6S9 

McCleary.G.S  
McCune,  Thomas  P  
McGinnis,  James  L  
McKenney,  James  
McKinstry,John  
McMahan,  William  
McMartin,  F  
McWi-thv,J.  H  
Means,  Isaac  
Mechem,  W.  E  

...-.'11 
...->(» 
...45-2 
...79-* 
...615 
...649 
.  .  .510 

...its 

.  .  .373 
...199 

.       G 

Hewitt,  G.  W.,M.  D.... 
Hill,  George  W  : 

493 
242 

Kersten,  Hartman  
Kessler,  George  

....MS 

Meister,  Conrad  
Mellen,  R.  H  

...842 
...735 

Hill,  Jacob  

«20 

Mensch.John  

...-J71 

Gardner,  John  M  

....580 

Hill.Nathan  
Hill,  Thomas  J  

359 
....742 

Klein,  Jacob  
Klostermann,  G.  L  

....390 
....293 

Merriman.A  
Merriman,  J  B  ,  M  D 

...405 
...121 

Geer,  James  

...817 

Hillison.H.  W  

....725 

Knight,  E.B.,  Jr......... 
Koehler,  Adam  

...322 
....354 

Merriam.L.T  
Meserole,  John  P.          • 

...:'.:!l 

Geiger.J.  L  
Oilman,  J.  H  
Gilmore,  A.  P  
Gilmore,  W.  W  
Girton,  M.  A  
Glenn,  David  A  
Gooch,  Richard  
Goodrich.  James  P  

...217 
...456 
.  .  .485 
...654 
.  ...472 
...426 
...258 
...424 

Hoctor,  John  
Hodges.G.J  
Holdren,  John  
Holly,  W.  DeF  
Hoover,  H.  H  
Horner.A.  J  
Horton.I.A  
Howell,  Thomas  

....7:i9 
....788 
.  .  .  .279 
300 
....574 
...554 
247 
....372 

Kreiter,  Peter  

L 

Messer,  Gilbert  
Miller,  Adam  
Miller,  Daniel  
Miller.D.C  
Miller,  Dennis  
Miller.Diek  
Miller,  H.  E  
Miller,  Henry  

...751 

...:;:i 

..769 
.  .  .743 
...605 
..813 
..774 
.  .2112 

Goodyear,  L.  M  
Goodyear,  M.  L  

...B70 
...500 

Hoyle,  John  W  

....804 

Lahman.J.  E  
Lahman,  John  D  

....270 
...473 

Miller,  J.  M  

..SCO 

Grant,  Ulysses  S  

Lamb,  Edward  C  

...38!) 

Miller,  R  F  

Gray,  James  E  

...620 

Hubbard,  M.  D  

564 

Landau,  William  
Landis,  P.  H  

....307 
...684 

Miller,  Rinear  

...4C4 

Gray,  J.  L  
Gray,  Thomas  

...2»» 
...643 

Hulbert,  George  W..   .. 
Hullinger,  JL  

..    320 
....771 

Latimer.C.  W  
Lauer,  George  

...603 
...572 

Mills,  S.F  
Missman.B  

.  .8:8 
...789 

Grove,  William  
Gruver,  Uriah  
Guyot,  Charles  A  

...539 
...824 
..  762 

Hunt,  Isaac  E  
Hunt,  Otis  
Hussey.J.  B  

....463 
....792 
....404 

Lawrence,  John  
Lawrence,  John  T  
Leake,  John  C  

....504 
.  ..622 
....679 

Missman,  H  
Mitchell,  Hon.  L.  W  
Moeller,  Charles  E  

..MS 

...481 
...712 

Hyde.J.W  

363 

Levan,  Jacob  
Levan,  John  M  

...475 
.  .465 

Monroe,  James  
Moore,  John  H  

..  35 

...779 

H 

I 

Lievan,  Mathias  
Lincoln,  Abraham  
Lindeman,  H  
Little,  Joseph  T  

...835 
...  79 
.  .  .611 
.  .  ..461 

Morrill.N.G.  H  
Morris,  Charles  A  
Mossholder,  N  
Mossholdcr,  W.  H  

.  .:«!! 

...5:»; 
...278 

Hagerman,  A.  C  
Hall.JosephG  

...800 
...644 

Ingalls,  Hon.  C.  H  

....01-2 

Little,  Walter  
Lloyd,  Eli  

...837 
...272 

Murray,  David  .. 

...290 

Hamilton,  John  M  

...179 

Luce,  James  C  

...383 

Harden,  D.  C  
Harden,  Jacob  
Harden,  W.  W  
Harms,  A.  W  
Harms,  G.  A  
Harper,  Alexander  
Harper,  Thomas  
Hart,  Charles  D  
Hart.Kev.  J.  E  

...199 
...524 
....365 
...600 
...754 
...842 
...586 
.  ..519 
.  .  .449 

J 

Jackson,  Andrew  
Jacobs,  John  (J  
Jefferson,  Thomas  

....  48 
714 
....  27 

Lyman,  George  A  
I,yman,T.  A  
I.yon  ,  Horace  

M 

....620 
...335 
...791 

N 

Nealis,  James  
Neir,  R.  E  
Nelson,  Haldor  
Nickey,  A.  J  
Noble,  George  H  

.    7W 
..72t 
...3B5 
.826 
,.4M 

Hart,LeviE  
Harrington,  A.  J  
Harrington,  C  
Harris,  D.  M  
Harrison,  Benjamin  

.  .  .745 
...G64 
...243 
...450 

...107 

Johnson,  Andrew  
Johnson,  E.  C  
Johnson,  Howard  
Johnson,  James  H  

...  83 
....543 
....832 

....400 

Madison,  James  
Malach,  J.George  
Maloney,  Daniel  
Malonev,  M  

...  Si 
...630 
.  .  .817 
...484 

Noe,  G.  T  

Harrison,  William  Henry 

...51 

Johnson,  O.  P  

....575 

Martin,  Jacob  

....532 

llartman.  David  
Hatch,  C.  L  

...656 
...561 

Johnson,  Truman  
Jones,  Charles  

....  721; 

.  .  .  .223 

Matteson,  Joel  A  
Mi-Alpine,  W.  J  

.  .  ..147 

.  .  .423 

Oglcsby.  Kichard  J  

.  .  163 

INDEX. 


Olsen,  Nels  

480 

Risetter,  L.  L  

375 

Stevens  N   D 

415 

Van  Patten,  C.  F  

.  .729 

Ortyiesen,  George  

593 

Roe,U.C.,M.D  

665 

Stiles,  E.B  

815 

an  Patten,  Harmon.  .!.. 

..833 

Rogers,  F.  E  

....466 

Stitze),  John  

....396 

aughn,  B.  D.,  M.  D  

.  .  691 

Rogers.  W.  L  

782 

Stone,  Samuel  

....669 

entlcr,  Andrew  

..34C 

Rosbrook,  C.  J  

....785 

Stout  William 

778 

osburgh,  S  .". 

p 

Rosenkrans,  A.  H  

i76 

Strader,  William  M  

810 

osburgh.JohnP  

..An 

Rosenkrans,  Jacob  

....711 

Straw,  William  S  

311 

room,  Cornelius,  

1''7 

Root.H.  B  

634 

Strickland,  S.  E  

....645 

Hyan.E.J  

....748 

Stroup,  Uriah  

.  .  .  .723 

Paddock,  W.  E  

319 

Ryon,  George,  M.  D  

195 

Swartwout,  N.  F  

....715 

Page,  W.  B  

.....252 

Rust,  Theodore  

351 

Swarts,  Moses  

....787 

W 

Palmer,  John  M  

167 

Sweitzer,  Tobias  

....767 

Patterson,  I.  R  

632 

Swigart,  William  H  

596 

Patterson,  S.  H  

555 

Swygart,  Mrs.  C.  M  

....610 

I'etri,  August  

S 

Petrie  N  A 

344 

Wagner,  Jacob  

...717 

IVttenger,  E.  M  

.71(8 

Walker,  E  

...214 

Petticrew,  David  
Phillips  Arthur 

385 
313 

T 

Warner.A.C  
Ward,  Lewis  B  

..018 
..841 

Phillips,  Richard  
Pierce,  Franklin  
Pluinnier,  J.  P  
Polk,  James  K  
Porter,  Alfred  P  
Powell.  Nelson  
Powers,  Hon.  Abijah... 

259 
71 
8J9 
59 
332 
728 
207 

Sanders,  Henry  
Sanders,  J.  W  
Santee,  J.  M  
Sawyer,  Darius  
Sawyer,  Leander  C  
Sawyer,  L.  C  
Schick,  August  
Schippert,  John  

324 
626 
....7C5 
741 

616 
573 
Col 

Tait,  Joseph  
Talcott,  William  B  
Tayler,T.G.,M.D  
Taylor,  Zachary  

229 
....392 
....706 
...  63 
701 

Washington,  George  
Wasson,A.P  
Watson,  Maj.  James  A.  .  . 
Weigle,  A  
Weise,  Frank  
Weishaar,  E  
Wells,  Thomas  
Welty  C  F 

..  19 
..640 
..750 
..798 
..834 
...254 
..839 
llll 

Prentice,  A  
Prestegard,  O.  J  
Preston,  Charley  F.  ... 
Preston,  James  H  
Preston,  W.  F  
Pulver,  J.  S  

805 
736 
239 

674 
360 
788 

Schmucker,  H.  C  
Schoenholz,  John  
Schott.Mrs.  C  
Seavey,  Fletcher  
Seebach.John  
Senger.D.B  

545 
....741 

795 
....581 
258 

Thomas,  Evans  C  
Thompson,  G.  W  
Thompson,  J.H  
Thompson,  R.  J  
Thorp,  E.  L  
Thummel,  A.  E  

752 
....559 
....822 
....410 
....440 
685 

Wernick,  Ernest  
Wertman,  Jacob  
Wetherbee,  D.  J  
Weyburn.M.C  
Whitney,  A.  R  
Whitney,  Col.  Nathan.... 

..'-'77 

..  513 

..-.'II 

..I:KI 

Senneff,  Jacob  

529 

Thummel,  Rev.  C.  B  

....813 

Will,  Charles  I  .-.. 

..690 

Seybert,  Charles  W  
Seybert  ,  George  

.581 
810 

Timothy,  Otis.  
Trainer,  Charles  

....846 
....306 

Will,  Hiram  
Williams,  C.P  

..819 
...376 

Seybert,  James  W  
Seybert,  Wallace  

814" 

Treacy,  Rev.  James.  .  .  . 
Trostle,  John  M  

283 
...  .287 

Williams,  H.  E  
Williams,  Mark  

...4*3 

Shank,  John  

210 

Trouth,  John  

....541 

Williams,  Wick  

...780 

Quick,  James  

403 

Shaw.B.  F  
Shaw  John  L 

308 

Trude,  W.  B  

492 

Williamson,  H.  A  

..257 

Quick,  Thomas  H  

3S6 

Shaw,  S  

602 

Truman,  F.  A  
Tuttle   W  T 

....  768 
231 

Willman,  John  B  
Wilson,  Stewart  

..562 

...200 

R 

Sheap.W.L  
Shippee.S.  H  
Shippert,  W.F  
Shippert.M.J  
Shoemaker   S  A 

516 
592 

542 
601 

Tyler,  John  

....  55 

Wiltse,  Stephen  
Wingert.JohnW  
Withcy,  George  C  
Wood,  John  

..759 
..301 
...583 
..155 

Shultz,  Joseph  
Sitts,  JohnD  

....352 
274 

U 

Woodford.F.  W  
Wooley,  William  C  

..460 
...425 

Radley,  A.  C  

661 

Smith,  Daniel  

569 

Rafensperger.  Lev!  

291 

Smith,  George  E  

345 

Ransom,  S  

1114 

Smith,  IraS  

210 

Y 

Raymond,  D.  B  

282 

Smith,  J.E  

6ttl 

Uhl,  Henry  

....302 

Raymond,  E.H  

282 

Smith,  Merritt  

....731 

Uhl,  Hiram  

....526 

Reichard,  Daniel  

553 

Smith,  Prof.  E.  C  

53:i 

Uline.S.H  

....393 

Reinhart,  Andrew  
Reitz,  Lafayette  

267 
57!) 
514 

Smith,  Robert  
Sneed,  James  

....414 
700 

Utley,  Joseph  

.  .  .  .453 

Yates,  Richard  
Yetter,  John  

..159 
..802 

Reynolds,  John  

123 

Stager,  John  F  

323 

Rhodes,  Simon  

27:! 

Stainbrook,  George  F.  . 

19S 

Richardson,  A.  A  

419 

Stainbrook.I  

797 

V 

Richardson,  J.  W  

799 

Steele,  George  

z 

Kiehey,  Andrew  

749 

Stcnger,  George  

221 

Kickarii   E  H 

848 

Sterling,  John  M 

2-ljj 

Riegle,  S.  W  

Stctler.T.  H.,  M.  D  

-J-J7 

Van  Buren,  Martin 

....  47 

Rikert.O  

69:; 

Stevens,  <_'apt.  John  

131 

Van  Epps,  William  H... 

....350 

Zug.Israel  

..807 

INDEX. 


f 

<& 

us 

"3% 

IT1 

~*mJi> 

f*S—      9®3^ 

BAITS 

*,<nK        A    r-v^x-vyf- 

W 

•9 

•& 

X> 

Qr^"           ?€£%& 

*-^g>            , 

}TfT 

Adams,  John  

22 

Dysart,  William  

168 

Jackson,  Andrew  

....  42 

Reinhart,  Andrew.  ..... 

....486 

Adams,  John  Q  

38 

Edwards,  Isaac  

....316 

Jefferson,  Thomas  

...   2(5 

Reitz,  Lafayette  

....578 

Anderson,  Erastus... 

368 

Edwards,  Ninian  

....118 

Johnson,  Andrew  

...   82 

Reynolds,  John  

12i 

Arthur,  Chester  A.... 
Beach,  Melville  

98 

618 

Eisenberg,  Peter  
Ewing,  William  L.  D 

....518 
.  ..126 

Kennedy,  W.  M  
Leake,  John  C  

....688 

Rosenkrans,  Jacob  
Sennefl'  Jacob 

710 
528 

488 

Fifer,  Joseph  W.  .  '.  

....'82 

Lincoln  ,  Abraham  

...  78 

Smith,  Daniel  

...  .568 

Bissell,  William  H.... 

150 

Ford,  Thomas  

.'.'!.-M8 

Madison,  James  
Matteson,  Joel  A  

...  30 

Stetler.T.  H.,M.  D  

.!!'5 

Bond.Shadrach  

110 

French  ,  Augustus  C  

....142 

McMahan,  William  

...648 

Stone,  Samuel  

....668 

Brink,  Isaiah  

672 

Garfleld,  J.  A  

....  91 

Mechem,  W.  E  

....698 

Taylor,  Zachary  

62 

Buchanan,  James  

74 

Grant,  U.  S  

....  8<i 

Miller,  T.  J  

....638 

Tyler,  John  

....   54 

Carlin,  Thomas  

131 

Hamilton,  John  M  

....178 

Monroe.James  

....34 

Van  Buren,  Martin  

...  46 

Clayton,  Thomas  

296 

Hampton,  W.  P  

....458 

Morrill,  N.  G.  H  

....326 

Vosburgh,  John  P  

388 

Cleveland,  S.  Grover. 

102 

Harrison  ,  Benjamin  .... 

....IOC 

Morrill,  Mrs.  C  

....327 

Washington,  George.  .  .  . 

18 

Coles,  Edward  

114 

Harrison,  W.  H  

....   50 

Oglesby,  Richard  J  

...162 

Wcrnick,  Ernest  

....276 

Cullom,  Shelby  M  
Duncan,  Joseph  

m 

Hart,  Charles  D.  .  •.  
Hart,  Rev.  J   E  

....518 

Paddock,  Riley  

348 

Wertman,  Jacob  

....628 

DeWolf,  Mrs.  Mary  P. 

588 
236 

Hausen.S.C  
Hayes,  R.  B  

90 

Pierce,  Franklin  

....  70 

Williamson,  H.  A  
Wood  John 

154 

'       ' 

Hortou   I.  A 

0    '    '    .'.'.'."/  

9fti 

l.'iH 

Dysart,  Samuel  

190 

Hoyle,  John  

....658 

Powers,  Mrs.  Amanda.  .  . 

....205 

Book,  D.  G  

719 

Harms,  A.  W  

597 

Mossholder,  N  

537 

Swigart,  William  H. 

Burger,  J.  J  ' 
Butler,  T.  A  

437 
557 

Hot  lor,  John  
Hill,  Mrs.  Judith.  . 

357 
357 

Powers,  Abijah  
Prestesard  ,  O.  J  

215 

Wernick.Krnest.... 
Williams,  C.  P  
Wiiif.'ert,.lohn  W.  .  . 

Durin,  L.  C.  
Eastwood,  S.  D... 

397 
597 

Liev-an,  John  W.  . 
Miller,  J.  C  

719 

417 

Rosenkrans,  A.  H  

Smith,  Merritt  

<77 
737 

PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


847 


of  his  father's  family  to  come  West.  As  before 
stated,  he  came  to  this  county  in  1837,  and  took 
up  a  claim  on  which  he  still  resides,  and,  when  the 
land  came  into  market,  purchased  eighty  acres.  lie 
has  ever  since  given  his  attention  to  agriculture, 
and  has  increased  his  real  estate  to  one  hundred 
and  twenty  acres. 

Mr.  Timothy  was  married  in  1838  to  Sarah  L., 
daughter  of  Cyrus  and  Louisa  (Andrus)  Minor. 
She  was  a  native  of  Lebanon,  Madison  County,  N. 
Y.,  the  date  of  her  birth  being  April  1, 1820.  Her 
parents  were  also  natives  of  New  York,  her  father 
being  a  joiner  by  trade.  She  is  the  eldest  of  seven 
children.  Her  father  has  two  children  by  a  pre- 
vious marriage,  one  son  and  one  daughter,  and  her 
mother,  who  had  also  been  married  before,  had  one 
son,  by  the  name  of  A.  R.Norton.  The  parents  of 
Mrs.  Timothy  came  to  this  county,  December  1, 
1876,  and  settled  in  Franklin  Grove,  where  her 
father  pursued  his  trade,  and  also  carried  on  farm- 
ing. Here  they  died,  the  father  on  March  3, 1846, 
and  the  mother,  September  27,  1839. 

Our  subject  and  his  wife  have  been  the  parents 
of  eight  children,  as  follows:  Charles,  born  Janu- 
ary' 3,  1849,  married  Persis  E.  Coats,  and  is  a 
farmer  near  Springfield,  111.;  Andrew,  who  was 
born  December  9,  1842,  married  Dalla  Reed,  and 
died  near  Louisville,  Ky.;  he  was  a  farmer,  and 
left  one  son  and  one  daughter.  Clara,  born  Janu- 
ary 8,  1845,  married  Henry  A.  Black  and  resides 
in  Austin,  111.;  John,  born  May  13,  1847;  Inez 
A.,  who  was  born  June  24,  1849,  married  Michael 
Kennedy,  editor  of  the  Dixon  Sun;  Daniel  R., 
born  February  6,  1852,  married  Flora  Taylor  and 
resides  at  home;  George  O.,  born  May  9,  1854, 
married  Florence  Leadham,  of  Clinton,  Iowa; 
Hattie  M.,  born  September  29,  1859,  is  the  wife  of  ! 
Nathan  A.  Whitney,  of  China  Township. 

Mr.  Timothy  has  lived  a  remarkably  tem- 
perate life,  never  indulging  in  intoxicating 
liquors  of  any  kind,  and  is  rcmaikably  well  pre- 
served, looking  many  years  younger  than  he  really 
is.  His  wife  is  also  hale  and  hearty,  and  together 
they  are  a  good  illustration  of  the  results  of  a 
sober,  honest  and  upright  life.  lie  is  a  man  who 
is  prompt  in  the  fulfillment  of  his  obligations,  and 
is  well  known  for  his  integrity  and  honest  deal- 
43 


ings  in  all  business  matters.  He  has  spent  his  entire 
life  as  a  farmer  and  has  also  dealt  considerably  in 
cattle.  He  relates  many  interesting  incidents  of 
the  early  days  when  the  settlers  did  their  mar- 
keting at  Chicago,  it  then  requiring  eight  days  to 
reach  that  place.  Wheat  was  then  only  thirty-five 
cents  a  bushel  and  other  farm  products  in  propor- 
tion. Mr.  Timothy  has  never  taken  a  very  active 
interest  in  politics,  but  usually  votes  the  Repub- 
lican ticket.  His  wife  is  a  consistent  member  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 


ENRY  HINTZ,  who  follows  general  farming 
on  section  24,  Nachusa  Township,  was  born 
in  Mecklenburg,  Germany.  April  23,  1866. 
His  parents  were  Peter  and  Sophia  (Miller) 
Hintz,  who  in  Mecklenburg,  their  native  province, 
were  reared  and  married.  For  several  years  Mr. 
Hintz  engaged  in  running  a  flat  boat  from  his 
home  to  Hamburg,  Germany.  Three  children  were 
born  unto  them  in  the  Fatherland,  but  one  had 
died  ere  the  emigration  of  the  family  to  America, 
in  1872.  They  crossed  the  Atlantic  in  a  steamer, 
landing  at  Castle  Garden,  New  York  City,  in  the 
spring  of  that  year.  Stopping  not  in  the  East, 
they  continued  their  journey  to  Dixon,  III.,  and 
soon  afterward  settled  upon  a  farm  in  Palmyra 
Township,  where  the  father  was  employed  as  a 
farm  hand.  He  was  in  very  limited  circumstances 
at  that  time,  in  fact,  was  $40  in  debt,  but  ere  his 
death  became  well-to-do. 

In  Ogle  County,  Mr.  Hintz,  Sr.,  purchased  one 
hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  land  and  to  the 
development  and  improvement  of  his  farm  devoted 
his  entire  time  and  attention  until  called  to  his  final 
rest,  January  23,  1888,  at  the  age  of  fifty  years. 
He  was  a  worthy  and  valued  citizen  and  in  political 
sentiment  was  a  Republican.  In  religious  belief 
he  was  a  Lutheran,  to  which  church  Mrs.  Hintz 
also  belongs.  She  still  resides  on  the  old  homestead 
in  Ogle  County,  at  the  age  of  fifty  years.  With 
her  live  her  two  sons,  William  and  Charles,  who 
operate  the  farm  for  their  mother. 

Our  subject  is  the  eldest  of  the  three   brothers. 


PORTEAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


He  was  a  lad  of  six  summers  when  he  crossed  the 
Atlantic,  and  under  the  parental  roof  he  remained 
until  after  attaining  his  majority.  He  was  reared 
to  farm  life  and  when  he  started  out  for  himself 
continued  to  engage  in  agriculture.  As  a  compan- 
ion and  helpmate  on  life's  journey,  he  chose  Miss 
Elnora  Kioto,  their  union  being  celebrated  in 
Taylor  Township,  Ogle  County,  January  31,  1889. 
The  lady  was  born  on  her  father's  farm  in  that  lo- 
cality, on  the  8th  of  October,  1865,  and  is  the 
youngest  daughter  of  Louis  Floto,  whose  sketch 
appears  elsewhere  in  this  work.  In  the  common 
schools  her  education  was  acquired,  and  she  re- 
mained at  home  until  she  gave  her  hand  in  mar- 
riage to  Mr.  Hintz.  Unto  them  were  born  two 
children,  but  one  died  in  infancy.  The  other  is  a 
little  son,  Harry  I. 

In  1889,  Mr.  Hintz  purchased  eighty  acres  of 
land  on  section  24,  Nachusa  Township,  and  lias  since 
engaged  in  its  cultivation.  He  is  one  of  the  wide- 
awake enterprising  young  farmers  of  the  commu- 
nity who  will  undoubtedly  make  of  life  a  success. 
In  politics,  he  supports  the  Republican  party  and 
keeps  himself  well  informed  concerning  the  issues 
of  the  day.  Himself  and  wife  are  both  members  of 
the  Evangelical  Association.  Although  they  have  re- 
sided in  Lee  county  but  a  short  time,  they  have  al- 
ready formed  a  wide  circle  of  friends  and  acquaint- 
ances and  made  many  warm  friends. 


E MANUEL   II.    RICKARD.      On  section   5, 
Palmyra  Township,  Mr.   Rickard    and    his 
wife  own  a  fine  farm  of  one  hundred  and  thir- 
ty-six acres,  highly  cultivated  and   improved  with 
first-class  buildings,  and  there    they    have  resided 
since  1883.     He  also  owns  nineteen  acres  of  timber 
land    in  another  part  of    the    township,  and    has 
large  landed  interests,  the  value  of  which  is  rap- 
idly increasing. 

Mr.  Rickard  was  born  in  Medina  County,  Ohio, 
November  14,  1857,  and  there  remained  until  com- 
ing to  Whiteside  County,  this  State,  in  1880.  His 
pa  rents,  Daniel  and  Christina  (Hunker)  Hickard, 
were  natives  of  Pennsj'lvania,  the  former  born 


February  9,1825,  in  Bucks  County,  and  the  latter 
June  12, 1822,  in  Westmoreland  County,  both  being 
of  German  or  Dutch  ancestry.  They  were  married 
February  5,  1846,  in  Westmoreland  County  and 
began  their  wedded  life  on  a  farm.  After  the  birth 
of  two  children — John  and  Isaac,  they  removed  to 
Medina  County,  Ohio,  where  they  carried  on  farm- 
ing and  where  the  mother  died  May  23d,  1888,  at 
the  age  of  sixty-six  years.  She  was  an  excellent 
woman  and  an  earnest  member  of  the  Lutheran 
Church.  The  father  is  still  living  on  his  farm  in 
Medina  County,  with  his  daughter,  Mrs.  E.  G. 
Tinstman.  He  is  a  Republican  in  his  political  views 
and  a  prominent  man  in  Moiitville  Township, 
where  he  has  resided  for  a  number  of  years  and 
where  he  has  held  various  local  offices. 

Our  subject  is  the  fifth  child  in  a  family  of  six 
sons  and  three  daughters,  all  of  whom  but  one  arc 
now  living  in  Medina  County,  Ohio,  our  sub- 
ject being  the  only  representative  of  the  family 
residing  in  this  State.  He  was  married  in  Jor- 
dan Township,  Whiteside  County,  111.,  September 
28, 1882,  to  Miss  Anna  E.  Williams,  a  native  of  that 
township,  where  she  was  reared  and  educated.  Her 
parents,  Osborn  and  Martha  (John)  Williams,  were 
born  in  Columbia  County,  Pa.,  married  July  27, 
1848,  and  some  six  years  afterward  removed  to 
Illinois  and  settled  in  Ogle  County.  A  year  or  two 
later  Mr.  Williams  purchased  a  tract  of  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  acres  in  Jordan  Township,  White- 
side  County,  and  afterward  became  the  owner  of 
two  large  farms  in  Lee  County,  upon  which  he 
placed  fine  improvements.  He  died  July  8,  1884, 
in  the  sixty-first  year  of  his  age,  his  birth  having 
occurred  October  20,  1823.  He  came  of  an  old 
Pennsylvania  family,  descendants  of  Roger  Will- 
iams, and  his  parents,  both  of  whom  were  Quakers, 
died  when  he  was  a  boy.  He  was  diligent,  gener- 
ous and  industrious;  loved  to  see  peace  among  all 
men  and  no  discord  among  churches.  A  successful 
farmer  he  acquired  a  comfortable  fortune  in  that 
calling.  lie  was  a  Republican  and  was  prominent  in 
local  politics,  having  held  the  office  of  Justice  of  the 
Pence  for  many  years  and  serving  as  Assessor  of 
his  township  and  also  as  Supervisor  for  some  years. 
Mrs.  Williams,  who  survives  her  husband  and  re- 
sides on  the  old  homestead  in  Whiteside  Coun- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


SI!) 


ty,  was  born  March  12,  1823  of  Quaker  parents. 
Mrs.  Rickard  is  the  youngest  of  three  children,  and 
was  born  on  the  7th  of  May,  1862;  her  brothers, 
Com  ley,  and  Reuben,  are  both  farmers,  and  are  mar- 
ried, the  former  residing  in  Lee  Count}'  and  the  lat- 
ter in  Whiteside  County.  She  is  a  lady  of  culture  and 
refinement  and  well  educated;  before  her  marriage 
she  followed  the  profession  of  a  teacher  for  some 
time.  She  is  the  mother  of  one  child, — Clark, 
born  July  14,  1885.  Mr.  and  Mr?.  Rickard  hold  a 
prominent  place  in  the  social  circles  of  the  commu- 
nity and  their  pleasant  home  is  the  favorite  resort 
of  the  young  people.  In  politics  he  belongs  to  the 
Republican  party. 

On  another  page  in  this  volume  will  be  found  a 
view  of  the  attractive  residence  of  Mr.  Rickard, 
with  its  rural  surroundings. 


JOSEPH  P.  PLUMMER,  manager  of  the 
Riverside  Shoe  Factory  at  Dixon,  was  closely 
connected  with  the  inception  of  this  well- 
known  factory,  one  of  the  most  important 
institutions  of  the  city.  The  buildings  occupied 
by  the  establishment  are  conveniently  constructed 
and  arranged  after  the  most  modern  plan  and  with 
a  view  to  sanitary  conditions.  It  is  devoted  to 
the  manufacture  of  children's,  misses'  and  ladies' 
shoes,  while  the  Dixon  Shoe  Factory,  which  is  un- 
der the  same  management,  turns  out  men's  shoes 
only.  They  give  employment  to  as  many  as  six 
hundred  hands  and  have  a  capacity  for  five  thou- 
sand per  day  of  children's,  misses'  and  ladies'  shoes, 
the  regular  output  being  about  three  thousand. 
The  capacity  of  the  men's  shoe  department  is  about 
seven  hundred  per  day  and  is  usually  run  at  its 
full  capacity. 

The  company  also  has  a  factory  at  Jefferson  City, 
Mo.,  for  men's  and  women's  peg  work  in  boots  and 
shoes,  and  owns  a  small  factory  in  Chicago  for  a 
similar  grade  of  work.  Frederick  Watson  and 
Joseph  P.  Plummer  have  the  management  of  the 
concern  while  all  goods  are  shipped  to  Chicago  for 
common  distribution  by  the  owners  of  the  factories, 
C.  M.  Henderson  A:  Company.  Mr.  Plummer  has 


been  associated  with  the  Henderson  Boot  and  Shoe 
Company  since  1875  with  the  exception  of  two 
years,  during  which  he  was  with  his  father  in  the 
wholesale  drug  trade  in  Chicago.  Prior  to  remov- 
ing to  Rockford  he  was  with  the  company  in  Pitts- 
burg,  Pa.,  and  came  West  when  its  headquarters 
were  transferred  here. 

Mr.  Plummer  was  born  in  Richmond,  Ind.,  Feb- 
ruary 8,  1859,  and  when  fifteen  years  old  com- 
menced in  business  for  himself.  His  father,  Jona- 
than W.  Plummer,  is  a  member  of  the  firm  of 
Morrison,  Plummer  cfe  Company,  one  of  the  largest 
importeis  of  drugs  in  Chicago,  located  at  No.  200- 
206  Randolph  Street.  His  mother,  whose  maiden 
name  was  Hannah  Ballard,  was  born  in  Lorain 
County,  Ohio,  the  daughter  of  Thomas  Ballard. 
The  parents  of  our  subject  are  adherents  of  the 
Friends  Church,  and  prominent  in  that  society  at 
Chicago.  He  has  given  largely  to  charitable  insti- 
tutions and  benevolent  purposes,  and  is  a  man  of 
upright  character  and  large  influence. 

In  Pittsburg,  Pa.,  Joseph  P.  Plummer  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Saiah  H.  Lightcap,  who  was  born  in 
that  city,  and  is  an  accomplished  and  refined  lady. 
Mr.  Plummer  is  Secretary  and  Treasurer  of  the 
Electric  Light  Company  of  Dixon,  and  one  of  the 
organizers  of  the  company.  He  is  also  Vice-presi- 
dent of  the  Dixon  Ice  Company,  of  which  Mr.  Wat- 
son is  President.  His  business  abilities  are  of  no 
common  order,  and  his  judicious  management  has 
been  rewarded  by  the  possession  of  a  competency. 


ARTIN  WILLIAM  BRAUER.  Many  of 
the  most  thrifty  and  intelligent  agricul- 
turists of  this  section  of  Illinois,  were 
born  and  reared  on  the  other  side  of  the 
Atlantic,  and  to  Germany  especially,  is  Lee 
County  indebted  for  some  of  her  most  interprisiug 
and  prosperous  citixens.  Such  is  the  gentleman 
whose  name  heads  this  sketch,  and  who  was  born 
in  Javer  Dukedom,  Oldenburg,  Germany,  March 
12,  1815.  He  was  reared  and  received  a  good 


.Sf.O 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


education  in  his  native  place,  and  at  the  early  age 
of  sixteen  years  went  to  sea,  setting  out  as  man- 
before-the-mast.  He  sailed  the  seas  on  merchant 
vessels  for  about  ten  years,  being  as  far  north  as 
longitude  ten  degrees  and  as  far  south  as  Costa 
Rica.  At  the  expiration  of  that  time  he  returned 
to  his  native  home,  and  in  1840  sailed  for  the 
United  States.  Proceeding  directly  to  this  State 
he  settled  in  Palmyra  Township,  this  county. 

In  1848  Mr.  Brauer  returned  to  Germany,  and 
while  there  was  married  in  his  native  place  to 
Miss  Helen  Harms.  This  lady  was  born  and  reared 
in  Oldenburg,  and  like  her  husband,  came  of  good 
old  German  stock.  Immediately  after  her  mar- 
riage she  accompanied  her  husband  to  the  United 
States,  and  has  assisted  him  in  building  up  their 
attractive  homestead.  She  became  the  mother  of 
two  sons — Anton,  a  successful  young  farmer,  mar- 
ried Miss  Lillie  Butler,  and  they  live  on  a  farm 
in  Sterling  Township,  Whiteside  County,  this 
State,  with  their  two  children,  Myrtle  and  Lee; 
Frank  lives  on  the  old  homestead,  which  he  man- 
ages in  connection  with  property  of  his  own, 
comprising  one  hundred  and  seventy  acres.  He 


married  Miss  Dora  Walter,  of  this  county,  and 
they  have  three  children,  Ettia,  Fred  and  Walter. 

Religiously,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Brauer  are  sincere 
Christian  people  and  members  of  the  Lutheran 
Church.  Mr.  Brauer  uses  his  political  influence  in 
favor  of  the  Democratic  party,  but  formerly  was 
a  Republican. 

One  of  the  most  valuable  farms  of  this  county 
is  owned  and  cultivated  by  Mr.  Brauer,  who  is 
well  and  favorably  known  throughout  the  county. 
As  a  splendid  example  of  what  may  be  accom- 
plished by  an  energetic,  determined  and  econom- 
ical man,  we  point  to  Mr.  Brauer,  who  is  a  repre- 
sentative farmer,  and  who  owns  a  splendid  estate 
of  one  hundred  and  forty  acres  of  fertile  land, 
with  a  flneand  substantial  set  of  buildings  thereon, 
besides  thirty  acres  of  timber.  He  secured  his  farm 
upon  first  coming  here  in  1840,  when  it  was  in 
a  wild  and  unbroken  state,  and  on  it  he  began 
life  in  true  pioneer  style  and  has  since  brought  it 
to  its  present  fine  condition.  As  is  plainly  to  be 
seen,  he  is  the  architect  of  his  own  fortune,  which 
he  has  accumulated  by  thrift,  sagaciousucss  and 
perseverance. 


